Saturday, September 26, 2020

Lohwand: Research...

 


Fantasia 1940

My head is swimming a bit from all the research I've been doing the last little while; the more so because today I unearthed yet more resources from my own collection that I'd forgotten about: issues of "Ancient Warfare" magazine, for example. Or "Kmt: a Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt". 

Also role-playing games: Cthulhu Invictus, along with the companion volume; Basic Role-Playing: Rome; Cthulhu Dark Ages. It's almost like I've been working on this project for years subconsciously!

And, just before lunch I stumbled upon the Maze & Minotaurs RPG site yet again. I'd downloaded everything in the past but I made sure to download it all again. (It's free!) Doing so reminded me that there might be a lot of relevant material within its rules and supplements.

The Lead Adventure Forum

Also this morning I posted a reply to a query about what figures I am planning to use. I quote it here:

I'm planning on using 60mm plastic figures where possible, 54mm (1/32nd scale) otherwise. I haven't gotten rid of my smaller scale force either so maybe at some point I'll use them as well.

For the Tharkallan Empire I've decided on Expeditionary Force (XForce) 60mm figures:

http://www.expeditionaryforce.com.sg/catalogue-c-9.html

In addition to the Early Imperial Roman range [i.e. Tharkallan Empire], they make Celtic Barbarians, Early Germans, Classical Greece, Ancient Macedonians and Ancient Persians.

They also have a range of Hundred Years War French and English.

Their future plans include Punic Wars, Ancient Egypt and Biblical Era, IIRC.

For immediate Enemies and Allies(?) of the Tharkallan Empire the western "Celtic" tribes are covered: Kost, Celtos, Teleos, Soleos, Brithos, Erin, and, possibly, Slontos. I will try and give them some sort of tribal identity. I don't mean collecting an army for each, but finding some way to swap them, either standards, or shields, or having detachable figures that can be switched around on the bases to make the unit look more like one tribe than the other.

The Early Germans will work as Wenelian barbarians, and also Toonolian Marsh tribes.

If XForce does come out with Ancient Spanish, then I will use them for Shem and Zingara.

Imther (and my Dunlendings) will be Ancient Thracians (part of the XForce Macedonian line).

For Amazons I am planning on using LOD figures which are also 60mm. Oronin, Oraya and Ologog comprise the Amazon Confederacy.

https://lodtoysoldiers.com/

They have a War of Troy range which also includes Greeks and Trojans.

The XForce Classical Greeks will supply: Ilmoria, Vilmir, Lormyr and Holay. Perhaps Sylila, but it just occurred to me that a non-Confederacy Amazon nation might be a good idea. Some Macedonians might find there way in as well.

Kos, Kroy, Ossary and Corlay will use LOD Greeks and Trojans.

Dara Happa, Saird and Turan will be a mix of Ancient Persians and Macedonians. Dara Happa being more Persian and Turan more Macedonian.

Deelguy and Eyagi are desert tribes, but otherwise I know nothing about them. The Hyrkanian Steppes and the Redlands have horse nomads. Erigia and Pent are still a bit nebulous as are the further Eastern nations, except Pan Tang, which I am intending to be very Chaotic, with Samurai as warriors, and many demons and monsters of various sorts.

The Shield Lands, comprising Furyondy, Jemmerdy, Valon, Olokand, Ulek and Vanch, I am planning on using the XForce Medieval range.  I think the character of the nations becomes more "Rus" as one goes eastward. Vanch is a frontier nation, mostly wilderness. The conflicts there will be small scale, between local Marcher Barons and the Forest Tribes.

Dol Amroth will also use Medieval figures. They are Swan Knights per Tolkien, but are NOT Elves or Half-elves*. I have already sourced the helmets that I think will work with the XFoce knights. They are my version of the Knights of St. John, only I am not using Christianity or Islam as religions. For religions I am doing something else. A blend of Glorantha and other sources. So, Humakt as premier War God.

* I don't want to use Elves and Dwarves, nor Orcs. At least not, the Tolkien, or D&D or GW versions. Trolls, along the line of Gloranthan Trolls, and half-trolls, like the Tusk Riders I like. I'm working on Tusk Rider conversions right now. I have some mounts, and am just waiting on suitable rider figures (in transit.) Sprites as found in the Thane Tostig saga, definitely, and Evil Dwarves as suggested in the Narnia stories, maybe. Beastmen, yes. Giants, yes. In Lohwand they are about 6" tall.

Shazar, Tarkesh, Haradwaith, Calormen and Carmania are the Turks. But they are not Islamic. They probably all worship a pantheon headed by Tash - see "A Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis.

Umbar are a mix of Carthage and Corsairs, ala Tolkien.

Haida Pakala are also pirates or corsairs of even more irregular appearance.

The Chakan Forest area is veing populated by Chintoys Aztecs, Mayans and Incans.

Stygia is Ancient Egypt, of course. I have some figures for them from an old manufacturer and they are part of XForce's plans. The rest are a bit more muddled, and subject to change.


After posting my reply I had a flash. I've been thinking a lot about the Auxiliary cohorts of the Tharkallan Empire. In Roman times they were recruited in regions outside Italy (i.e. non-heartland regions) but they served away from their recruitment areas. So, in Lohwand, I might reasonably recruit Auxiliary cohorts from conquered areas like Granbretton or Filkhar, etc. And those contingents would be found serving elsewhere. 

And then I began thinking what do the Granbretton Auxiliaries look like? Do they have beast helms, for example? Or at least horns on their helms? 

Scanning an issue of Ancient Warfare magazine featuring articles about the army of the First Princeps (Vol XII, Issue 1), I found an illustration of a marble frieze (p14-15) dated to the 1st century AD and showing helmets with side feathers. The Legio V Alaudae, "The Larks", is suggested. And I know from the WRG book on the Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome that the Romans were a lot less "uniform" that wargamers tend to portray them.

So perhaps I will make some embellishments to the basic figures.

Another flash of inspiration I had while typing my LAF reply was that one of my southern nations - Slontos - might be of "Celtic" origins. (This because of the similarity in spelling to the others.) It is on the north coast of the "Southlands" continent, essentially like the Vandals in North Africa. 

Downloading the Mazes and Minotaurs material all over again reminded me that there are Amazons in the game. And since I am still working out what to do about them I took a look; I might use some of the M&M ideas. One idea I did have about them otherwise was that they might be similar to the Alans (IIRC) in that they use their subject peoples as warriors. I'm still deciding about that option.

The Perfect Captain

Lastly, one of the things I found today was an issue of Medieval Warfare magazine which had articles about Ireland (Vol VI, Issue 4), and in that I found reference to "Strongbow". And that reminded me of the Perfect Captain rules of the same name.

And that reminded me that they had sent out an email saying their site would be disappearing sometime in October! i.e. Next week, perhaps! 😨

So, if you haven't seen their stuff, and you like good period rules, then I advise checking it out while you still can:

The Perfect Captain

You won't be disappointed! :-)



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