Ye Ballade o' Fair Lady Mary Bell

 

Nothing ready from the painting table, so here is something I prepared earlier - on 17 Jan, in fact!

Here is my next Solo Wargame inspired AI comic book adventure. This time, its set in the Borders region between England and Scotland in the late 16th century. Based on this game       Bydand: Ye Ballade o' Fair Lady Mary Bell - Verse I

Panel 1 – The Quiet Valley

Lady Mary Bell’s small party travelling a peaceful Border valley 

Panel 2 – The Hamlet Ahead

A distant hamlet offering rest and hospitality. A few thatched cottages, smoke rising. The escort gestures toward it. Jessie the maid relaxes slightly.

Panel 3 – The First Threat

Jessie screaming as three Reivers emerge from the wooded hill The horsemen appear like wolves from the treeline—steel caps, padded jacks, long Border spears.

Panel 4 – The Second Threat

Another trio of mounted Reivers thundering past startled farmers Dust, hooves, panic. Farmers scatter; a child clutches a sheep.

Panel 5 – First Shots Fired

Calivermen firing as smoke billows across the valley. One Reiver wheels his horse and flees; the others lower their weapons and charge.

Panel 6 – Clash of Leaders

Mounted Heidman duelling the escort leader while a lancer attacks a caliverman. Steel flashes. Horses rear. The Heidman’s face twisted with fury.

Panel 7 – The Heidman Falls Back

Wounded Heidman reeling away, blood on his jack. He clutches his side, horse staggering. The caliverman nearby drops his weapon in terror.

Panel 8 – “Behind the Dyke!”

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Escort urging the ladies behind a stone wall as Reivers circle. Mary and Jessie duck behind the rough dyke; horses loom overhead, blades slashing down.

Panel 9 – Reivers Dismount

Four Reivers advancing on foot toward the wall. Shadows lengthen. Mud splashes. Their expressions are grim and determined.

Panel 10 – The Fight Splits

Second Heidman and a Reiver attacking the English leader; others engaging a caliverman. Chaotic melee. Spears, daggers, and short swords clash.

Panel 11 – The Leader Falls

Escort leader collapsing, mortally wounded. Mary watches in horror. Jessie covers her mouth. The caliverman shouts for them to flee.

Panel 12 – A Small Victory

A caliverman wounding a Reiver, turning the tide briefly The Reiver staggers back, clutching his arm. Mud and blood mix on the ground.

Panel 13 – Surrender and Return

Mounted Reiver defeating a caliverman; others firing ineffectively. The caliverman raises empty hands. Smoke drifts uselessly from the guns of the remaining footmen.

Panel 14 – Heidman Approaches the Ladies

Victorious Heidman moving along the wall toward Mary and Jessie. Predatory calm. His blade drips. Mary’s expression unreadable.

Panel 15 – A Farmer’s Brave but Futile Aid

Local farmer rushing in, only to be wounded and driven back His pitchfork snaps. Jessie cries out. Mary remains strangely composed.

Panel 16 – Last Defenders Fall

Caliverman firing and missing; his coverman slain by the Heidman The coverman collapses into the bog. Mary and Jessie shrink behind the dyke.

Panel 17 – The Secret Bargain

Reiver whispering to the ladies as chaos continues nearby. Mary leans in. Jessie looks shocked. The Reiver’s eyes gleam with cunning.

Panel 18 – The Escape and Aftermath

Mary and Jessie mounting the pack mules, following the Reiver over the wall. Other Reivers remount and retreat to the woods. One abandoned captive lies bound on the ground. Mary glances back with a faint, enigmatic smile.

That one did not take as long as the Death Mask of Ramallah and turned out better I think, although sometimes the AI just would not cooperate - it randomly created this image for panel 11 - I actually liked the postures and expressions better - but could I get the bloody thing to change Lady Mary to match all the other images of her.....could I ##%^$!

It also seemed happy to give Jessie the maid varying facial expressions and different poses but insisted on leaving Lady Mary in virtually the same pose throughout the entire course of events! Anyway, I had more fun doing it and I will probably do another one soon, so hopefully readers don't object too much?!

AWI Americans # 5 - The 1st Virginia State Regiment

Thanks to our old friends at Wikipedia this time - seeing as somebody cast aspersions on my AI buddy for the last unit potted history - here is what "we" know about this unit:

The 1st Virginia State Regiment was a regiment of regular state troops from Virginia which fought during the American Revolutionary War.

Formation

The regiment was authorized by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia in December 1776 as a force of regular troops for the Commonwealth's defense.

In the Continental Army

In 1777, Virginia had difficulty meeting its quota for the regular line of the Continental Army. As a result, in July 1777 under the command of Colonel George Gibson, the regiment began a march North to temporarily join the Continental Army in the Philadelphia Campaign. In January 1778, the Virginia General Assembly passed an act directing that the 1st Virginia State Regiment "now in Continental service, be continued in said service instead of the Ninth Virginia Regiment, made prisoners by the enemy in the Battle of Germantown." The regiment camped at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-78 and at Middlebrook in the winter of 1778-79 and participated in the Battle of Monmouth. The regiment remained in the service of the Continental Army until late 1779 when redeployed to Virginia.

A rather fetching uniform of red and blue

The eagle eyed may have noticed these boys are a bit thin on the ground, the whole unit only comprising 13 figures rather than the more usual 18.

I thought these were all I had left, but after painting and basing was completed, I found a sprue with another four unassembled infantrymen on it - dammit! Maybe I need to build one more unit......!

Well, that's the last of my AWI "Rebel" units and probably all I need although as Jon alluded to last time - never say never! I only have one gun and no cavalry in this collection, so maybe they are on the cards - I will have a look at the Perry metal range for those probably. 

On the painting desk, I am moments away from completing a 12-figure version of the 7th Chasseurs a Chevel de la Ligne, using Perry plastic figures, so they will likely be my next post in a few days' time.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Just randomly checked our local version of eBay, called TradeMe, and saw this - at that price, it was obviously meant to be - 

AWI Americans # 4 - 2nd Canadian Regiment (Congress's Own)

 This unit was 100% "inspired" (read copied from) JJ's Wargames blog, where I saw a beautifully painted version of it a couple of weeks back.

Thanks to AI, here is a brief outline:

The 2nd Canadian Regiment, also known as Congress's Own Regiment or Hazen's Regiment, was an "extra" Continental regiment authorized by the Continental Congress on January 20, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War (AWI). Commanded by Colonel Moses Hazen, it was primarily composed of Canadian volunteers and refugees from the Province of Quebec who supported the American rebellion. Key details about the 2nd Canadian Regiment:

Purpose: Congress authorized the regiment to encourage Canadians to join the American cause, aiming to make Canada the "fourteenth colony" in the rebellion.

• Structure: It was one of the few regiments directly responsible to Congress rather than a specific state, leading to its nickname "Congress's Own". It was originally designed as an "oversized" regiment of four battalions (though never reaching full capacity).
• Service: The regiment saw action in various campaigns, including the battles of Staten Island, Brandywine, Germantown, and the Siege of Yorktown.
• Recruitment: Due to low numbers after the retreat from Canada, Congress allowed Hazen to recruit "at large" from any state to fill the ranks.
• Duration: The regiment was formed in January 1776 and disbanded on November 15, 1783, at West Point, New York. 

Another, separate unit known as Livingston's Regiment (1st Canadian Regiment) was also raised, but it was disbanded on January 1, 1781, with its remaining members absorbed into Hazen's 2nd Canadian Regiment. 

Now, here is my version!

The Light Company uniforms are based on an image in the same source as I used for the purple hunting shirts. Other versions look more like the British LI helmets - lets go with the Ridley Scott solution once more 😂

Hope you like the uniform as much as I do - when I saw JJ's version, I knew that was the next unit I was going to paint! Only one more American unit left, and I may be able to claim this collection is complete - well, the infantry portion, anyway!

AWI Unit # 3 - 12th Mass Continental Regiment 1776

Well, they could be - they could be any of a number of other regiments wearing brown coats with red facings, too!

I quite like this colour combination

They really are very nice figures!

I don't recall what the flag is either - I am channelling my inner Ridley Scott with some of these units!

That's the lot for tonight - a couple more still to come, and I have started work on Perry plastic French Chasseurs a Cheval - so they will make an appearance in due course, too.

AWI Americans #2 - 4th Maryland

These are based on a couple of sources although I made them an entire "unit" (read battalion) when I think they are actually just a company - oh well, never mind! You get a few men in hunting shirts in each box of Perry American AWI infantry, and I combined them all to create a single unit

I gave the musician a different hat based on absolutely nothing at all!

Thanks for taking a look at my blog and hopefully you leave a comment to mark your visit!

Friday Night Fantastic Fantasy Game

Lots (and lots!) of images in this report so I won't be putting too many words in. Basically, four of us played a team game using Andrews AS9 rules, with a warband each consisting of a grade 3 leader a grade 2 magic user and four "minions" I supplied half of the Warbands, Julian had his own and Andrew supplied the fourth plus random "nasties" that appeared with monotonous regularity throughout the game.

A couple of pre game shots of the playing area - tiles and terrain all by Andrew

A "few" close ups of the terrain, courtesy of John, all supplied and painted by Andrew

Initially this was my warband but I had to replace the lady in green because Andrew said I should use a figure with a large sword.

This was the substitute!

Two archers were all I was allowed for "missile" troops

And I had these two as well

More shots of the area of operations

This was Johns warband led by "Eldric" ?

The first "nasty" to appear was a not very nasty Harpie or Succubus

She was quickly dispatched by Johns 2 ic

My main body searching for loot - the two archers had sprinted ahead.

There they are!

Two of Julians "minions" opened fire on my archer in green, she killed one of them but was then struck down by the second arrow.

This was Chris's warband - except, he wasn't there, he was still at work doing some $%#^%#!! UAT for a new software system - so Andrew had to run this group - he was my teammate, while John and Julian worked together.

More nasties appeared adjacent to Johns warband - this did become a bit of a theme!

Andrews magic user cast a spell and took control of Julians figure, sending it off against its own comrades!

My 2 ic and a "grunt" searching another loot pile.

Johns' leader Eldric on the left, Andrews leader in the centre and my archer on the right. My figure basically spent the entire game next to a loot pile, failing to roll a 9 to reveal what was in it!

A two headed thing 

The nasties fell into fighting each other at one point

A huge apparition towering over Andrews 2 ic magic user.

A "historic" giant - I don't know what it is but apparently a 1980's classic

Eldric and his one remaining follower in combat with one of the "nasties" near the end of the game

Having survived the fray and accumulated the most victory points, my leader and the one remaining archer headed off the table to ensure Andrew and I won the game.

Now here are an assortment of close ups from John - I am too lazy today to incorporate them into the narrative

Basically, all four warbands barely survived - Julian's in fact did not - he lost every figure! Andrew might have had three remaining although I don't know for sure, John and I certainly only had two each. We all had three randomly selected spells that any of the figures could use in any turn, but only once per turn - so the bog-standard minions could cast one of the spells - but they needed to roll an unmodified 9 on 2 D6 to succeed, whereas the grade 3 leader only needed to roll 6 or better. I had a doozy that as soon as I was able to use it, automatically put two hits on the target - so I had a 50/50 chance of hitting every turn the leader tried to use it - not bad - that took care of most of Julian's band, thank you very much!

A fun game that didn't take took much effort or thinking to play - just what you need at the end of the working week! The terrain and figures all very aesthetically pleasing too, I hope you will agree. More AWI troops will be on display in my next post.