2025 - a gaming year in review

Well, it seems 2025 was a particularly productive year, something I hadn't quite realised until I started putting a retrospective together. Followers of the blog will know it was only a week ago that I posted a review of my Chain of Command related activities, but looking back at other rules and periods it dawned on me that there was more than enough to warrant a second post. Excuse the indulgence! 

The biggest new painting project for the year was undoubtedly the German tribes for Infamy, Infamy. I didn't buy the figures during the year, which is partly why they became a 2025 project, they were long overdue painting. The vast bulk are from the Victrix plastic range, with shield transfers from Little Big Men Studios.

The few metal figures in the collection are from Wargames Foundry, like this group of wailing women.

As mentioned, the spur to paint the figures was to play games using Infamy, Infamy. My regular opponent Dave has quite a Roman collection and they were just awaiting suitable opponents. I wrote up a detailed report of one of our first games, which you can find in this post. 

The figures also featured in a number of games at the club.

I needed to add a small group of slingers to the German force and adapted those from a set of Gripping Beast Dark Age Warriors that I had lying around. Little did I know, but that decision would then lead me down a completely different rabbit hole. One thing led to another and within very little time I had a Saxon warband. A long story, but one you can follow in more detail in this post. 

This was inspired in part by our Dux Britanniarum campaign Warriors of the Old North. We played the first game at the tail end of 2024 and it continued into the first half of 2025 with another three games. 

All the figures came from Dave's collection, so there has never been a need for me to create an additional warband for this campaign. Well there you go, sometimes this hobby can lead you down all sorts of unexpected paths. 

When it came to basing those Saxons I did it with a number of rule sets in mind. That started me thinking about how I could use some of my existing figures for other periods for different rule sets. 

I have a number of Hundred Years War figures that were created with Lion Rampant in mind. While those rules were fine for a casual game at the club, I was keen to do something on a grander scale. I'd played my first game using Midgard in April. That was a big, multiplayer scenario set during the Trojan War and was very enjoyable. 

When I saw that James Morris had compiled lists for the Hundred Years War I looked to see if I had enough figures to put together a French and English force. I was close, but not quite close enough. What I did have, were a number of Perry plastic sprues that would provide me with enough figures. For a reasonably small investment of time I could add the various crossbow men, archers and men-at-arms to make up the numbers needed. 

The only other additional work was to make up a handful of suitably based figures to represent both French and English heroic leaders.

All that remained was to create suitably sized sabot bases of the standard 120mm Midgard width that would hold up to eight figures per unit.

Our first game used the lists for Agincourt. We decided to see how the rules would play out if we created a scenario that tried to mirror the actual battle. Anyone familiar with Agincourt will know that is likely to create a game with a decidedly English bias. Nonetheless, we thought it might be a good way to test out how well the rules replicated the historical situation. True to that narrative, the French struggled across the muddy ground to confront the English. Those that did make it across came to grief in front of the stakes set up by the archers. French courage was not lacking and their heroic leaders racked up a significant number of reputation points leading charges. While few fell in combat, the same cannot be said for the men they were leading, which ultimately assured English victory. 

That was a satisfying result, in so much as we felt the rules were able to give a plausible historical outcome. That inspired a second game, using the 'defend the hill' scenario in the Midgard rulebook. That delivered a more satisfying game, where the opportunities for victory were more evenly balanced and with the outcome only decided toward the very end. 

As it happens, the sabot bases also work for another set of medieval rules Blood and Horse Droppings by Rob Jones. I've played these before and as Rob is a medieval historian there's no surprise that these do a good job of focussing on the challenges of command in the period. Given I had the figures and bases it made sense to give the rules a run out again at the club.

Much comes down to decisions made by commanders as they enter or continue to fight in melee. As always with the period (and in common with Midgard), leadership and heroic deeds count for much. By the way, the rules are free and available as a pdf download from Rob's website Historian in Harness.

Having played a giant Trojan War game using the Midgard rules, our host also wanted to try doing something similar, but this time using Hail Caesar (or, as the detractors at the club like to call it 'Fail Caesar'). These were my first games using those rules and I have to say, they didn't grab me. Despite the game looking quite spectacular with hundreds of 28mm figures, I found the rules rather vanilla and the games not as engaging as Midgard.

O Group was a rule set that consumed many of my evenings at the club. We managed to play through both the France 1940 and the 1941-43 Eastern Front supplements. For these we used my opponent's large 15mm collection and terrain, most of which was amassed for Flames of War, but has since been repurposed for O Group. 

It's not a complex set of rules, but it does have a lot of nuances. We found it really benefited from repeat play and without keeping too long a gap between games.

We like the system, but we do have one gripe. That's with the scenarios and in particular the victory conditions. Despite setting objectives that can be captured, any game can also be won by inflicting a number of casualties on your opponent. As a result, we've often found the game coming down to our ability to pick off low hanging fruit to rack up those casualties, rather than a focus on capturing key objectives.

More recently we started playing the scenarios from the Normandy supplement, which was an opportunity to use my 12mm collection which I had created with O Group in mind. 

The 12mm collection also saw use at the club playing Crossfire, where I introduced the rules to a gamer I have known since my Advanced Squad Leader days.  

Despite the disparity in the size of their respective rule books, he found much to like about Crossfire's elegant simplicity. Talking of which, I've been using the elegantly simple 2'x2' introductory scenarios designed by friend of the blog Dick Bryant. It's been a very useful tool for taking people through the rules, whether they be new players, or those just inquisitive to discover how the rules play out. For those games I've been using my 20mm terrain and the multi-based figures I still have in 20mm for playing Crossfire (more about those here).

Playing games set during the American War of Independence using the Sharp Practice rules is of particular interest, but 2025 saw very little of that. Sadly, there's only so much game time available each year. However, that period was not entirely neglected. I was able to paint up three groups of ragged Continentals, a lovely set from Eureka Miniatures.

There was only a solitary game using Sharp Practice and that was set during the Peninsular War, not in the rebellious American colonies. However, there were no complaints from me. Once again, our host supplied a magnificent table and an equally magnificent selection of figures.

John Savage, the author of What A Cowboy, very kindly shared a draft version of his modern variant of those rules entitled What a Cartel (these have since been published in the 2025 Lard Magazine). It was an opportunity to dig out my rarely used figures and terrain for Afghanistan and we ran a simple extraction scenario, where a team of private military contractors attempt to save a downed helicopter crew.

Whilst not miniatures, I also played through the whole of an Undaunted: Stalingrad campaign with a good friend. He's an avid historian of the war and an equally enthusiastic player of board games, but any attempt I've made to entice him over to playing miniatures has failed. I've long since given up hope of bringing him over to the dark side, but that doesn't mean we don't continue enjoying gaming together.

So, another full year of gaming. It's funny really, because that's not how I felt about the year when I was first reflecting back. For some reason my mind focussed on the lost opportunities and disruptions. In hindsight these now seem minor and while a year with even more gaming would have been great, it would be churlish to complain. Huzzah for 2025.

Wargame Butterfly? Me? Hmmm....

While the blog has been quiet for a few weeks, I have been anything but quiet when it comes to the hobby. However, I have to confess, I've been massively distracted and wandered off down a few different paths. That said, in my defence, it's not been a matter of new projects, it's been more a matter of taking several projects to the next stage.  

Having said that, one of those probably qualifies as a new project. Why? Because I bought the figures to start something new, even though they don't qualify as a recent acquisition. In time honoured fashion, they were bought on a whim and by the time they arrived my ardour had begun to cool. No longer, I'm pleased to say.

So, what happened? Well, my regular opponent Dave was eager we should give Infamy, Infamy a try. Fine with me, but I have to confess that my knowledge of the broad scope of time that falls under the banner 'ancient period' is not a slice of history I know much about. Naturally, it follows that I don't have any figures for the period in my collection. However, the idea of asymmetric warfare on the borders of the Roman Empire had some appeal. It also coincided with a sale at Victrix. 

That was convenient, because one bag of their Germanic Warriors includes 60 figures, probably just enough for a force for Infamy, Infamy. Order was duly placed; figures arrived; I made up about six of them; became distracted by another project; put them aside, and, there they remained for almost a year.

Jump forward to recently and Dave and I played a game, finally. Dave had Romans, but no Germans, so we proxied some of his Saxons. We both enjoyed the game and needless to say it was the impetus I needed to get moving with those Victrix Germans. In the end it has been a remarkably quick project that is almost complete. It's the 'almost' that's held me up blogging about it, but I thought I'd not wait any longer.

I gave some thought to how I wanted the figures based. The most versatile option would be to base them individually and use sabot bases to move them around in groups during a game. My only issue is that I find sabots have a habit of making the units look too regimented (and yes, I know, you can get sabot bases with the slots in irregular patterns, but there's something about the fact the whole sabot base is square or rectangular that still creates the illusion of a uniform shape. Call me fussy). 

I decided to go down the same path I did for my Mahdists for the Sudan. I would base the figures in 3s, 2s and individually. That way I can remove casualties; keep an irregular shape to the groups, but also have the convenience of multi-based figures to aid movement. It has worked well for the Mahdists.

It wasn't until I'd painted most of the figures that I realised I had run out of suitable MDF bases for the multi-figure basing. Order has been placed and I'm now waiting on delivery to base those figures. In the meantime at least the individually based figures are finished.

The Victrix set gave me enough figures for five groups of ten and a number of leaders, which pretty much gives one of the forces recommended in the army lists in the Infamy, Infamy rule book. Of course, the key phrase here is 'pretty much'. I think we all know what that means.

I needed a few small additions. Groups of skirmishing/missile figures are useful and these can include slingers, archers and javelins. I thought I could solve the slingers quite simply and without purchasing more figures. 

I had a box of Gripping Beast Dark Age Warriors and the set includes lots of hands with slings. The easiest solution seemed to be to use the bodies and sling hands from Gripping Beast. To help them blend in and match the other warriors in the force, the heads would come from those left over from the Victrix set. It seemed like a good idea, but it didn't work quite as well as I hoped.

Two things bugged me. Firstly, the Victrix heads appear too big for the Gripping Beast bodies and, secondly, the Gripping Beast poses lacked the dynamism that is so apparent in the Victrix figures. Looking at the Victrix set I could see how several of their bodies would lend themselves well to representing slingers. The solution was to buy a spare sprue online and just make use of the Gripping Beast sling hands. As it happened I thought a few of those GB heads would work okay on the Victrix bodies, which they do. It was the simplest of conversions. By turning the heads on the bodies so the figures were facing side on, it was easy to create an entirely new configuration that gave me the dynamism I was after.

Once painted I was much happier. These looked the part.

I also thinks this speaks to the versatility of plastic figures. I understand completely why some people dislike them, but as someone who has made plastic models all his life, I don't have any issues. In fact, quite the opposite. 

The two figures below are based on the same Victrix torso/body. Aside from the option of using a different head, the only real difference is how the heads are angled. As I've done with nearly all the slinger conversions, the heads are adjusted to face sideways rather than forwards. The end result, a very different looking figure, without the need for complex surgery.

In terms of basing, aside from the 3,2,1 scheme for the main body of warriors, the leaders are on slightly larger bases that will line up with the larger bases I'll use for three figures. To these I've added rocks, these are to help identify which figure corresponds to which leader card while playing the game.

So, that's where I'm at with the Germans. Hopefully I have the remaining figures based soon and ready for a game.

At the same time I've been diverted to painting up a few more figures for my Hundred Years War collection. These are all based on Perry Miniatures plastic sets. I put these together a few years ago to play simple skirmish games like Lion Rampant. To be honest, they don't see much action these days. Lion Rampant works well enough as an introductory game or a quick game on a club night, but it feels too much like a squad based action than something from the medieval period. 

More recently, I've joined in several big games set during the Trojan Wars using Midgard which I've enjoyed. By good fortune I stumbled across army lists for the HYW that the rules' author James Morris had put together. 

I don't have enough painted figures for a game, but I do have quite a few unassembled plastic frames of various Perry sets in my stash. They've been sitting there for far too long and this was a good reason to pull them out and get painting while my mojo was raging. I probably needed to paint up about 30-40 figures to give me what I need in extra figures for various types like archers and men-at-arms.

First to be completed were three bases to represent English leaders/heroes and another dozen men-at-arms. To distinguish the commanders I've based these in twos on a round base and made use of a set of flags I have for the period from Battle Flag.

Having used some of the Gripping Beast Dark Age Warriors in my attempt to create slingers for my Germanic warriors I've also been inspired to try and do a speed paint job on a couple of dozen of those to give me a rather generic force that could be used to represent anything from peasant levy to tribal warriors to armed serfs. So, in short, a very busy workbench at the moment, but too many works in progress and not enough completed projects to warrant a blog post. More to come!