I have not had much time for painting as of late. I do have about 75 plastic Orcs primed and ready to go. I just haven’t had the energy or time to sit down and get it done. I think I am going back to my original color schemes for the bulk of the orcs. I used a dark flesh base for one set and a bubonic brown base for the other. I plan on having 4 “regiments” with a mix of those and a smattering of gray and green skin. It should give a nice diverse look.
Historians tend to characterize the later Renaissance as the beginning of the horse and musket period. I think this is accurate for any of the wars after the English Civil War as they more or less follow linear tactics. The English Civil War and Thirty Years War seemed to have tactics founded in ancient times. For instance, often the infantry were deployed in a checkerboard pattern. The rear ranks would step in when things went badly for the front rank. Formations were largely static, as in no battlefield formation changes. There is still an infantry and cavalry arm which some can shoot and others can melee. Artillery is probably the biggest difference between the two periods. Even then, it was not terribly effective at this time.
Speaking of the pike and shot era, I came across something the other day. If you ever asked 3 people how the pike element interacted with the shot elements in a regiment, you likely would get 3 different answers. While reading a issue #95 of MWAN magazine, I found it contained a simple set of rules for the TYW. In the design notes, the author felt that the shot element’s frontage was rarely wider than that of the pike element in a typical regiment. His train of thought was that there needed to be sufficient width to shield the shot in case they were forced back by enemy cavalry. As the battlefield deployment was a checker board, the lead regiment would be forward creating a void for the shot to settle into so it would not only be protected from the front but also the flanks as well. I still do believe that at least some of the shot would simply dive under their own pike wall and shelter on the ground until the threat was gone. Likely a mix of the two.
My son and I did manage to get a replay in of our first LotR scenario. Same setup but the monsters were reduced to just one monster per encounter. The scenario was finished by the good guys (us) successfully. No pictures as we just wanted to get it done with and move on. We ended up also picking up 5 of the 6 treasures. No Wraiths were rolled so the worst critter encountered was a warg and rider. I still think the goblins should have the possibility of ore than 1 per encounter. The scenario did play well and a couple of our characters were wounded but the urgency was rarely there in this game. We ended up with a couple of spells, a magic 2 handed weapon and about 850 gold. Now what to do with all that gold on a LotR adventure. I reckon more mods are coming.
John's Wargame Page 