The Battle of Marathon

This was a modified Big Battle DBA game played at the Red River Area Wargamers meeting in Fargo on September 17, 2005.

The initial set up is shown, Greeks left, Persians right. The far end of the board was impassble swamp, the near end was hilly bad going. The Greek side was deployed in five command divisions of 15 stands each (12 Spears, 3 Psiloi), one of which was an allied command. The Persians were more numerous and composed of Psiloi, Auxilia, Chariots, Bows, and Spears. (My guess is that there are about 250-300 15mm figures on the Greek side, 300-400 on the Persian side.) 

The game lasted about 4 or 5 hours and its result was not the historical outcome. The Greek right and center were demoralized by the Persians and so the Persian side won this battle.     

A BUA for my Commenan Byzantine Army

The structure is made completely of corrugated cardboard from a box and cardboard from a Mountan Dew soda pop12-pack. The latter is good material because one side accepts glue well while the other side has a glossy coating. 

This coating allowed me to score the opposite side, thus creating a sort of hinge that was very useful for the towers. A singly based 15mm figure could stand in each of the tower tops and about four could stand on each of the walls. The inside can accept a garrison measuring up to 40x40mm.Elmer's white glue, all-purpose filler and super glue (CA glue) hold it together.

The scenic materials are various sizes of Woodland Scenic ballast, Life-Like grass (bright, small dyed wood chips) and some common rocks.

The trees are cut "pipe cleaners" available from a craft store. What you can't see is how they are easily removable. Their bottoms are plastic pegs, cut from a plastic rod.

I used a pin vise (tiny hand drill) for making a center hole in these pegs, into which I twisted the "trees." The pins sit in holes drilled into the BUA's base. I did this so the trees wouldn't get twisted when transporting the BUA.

Skythian Horseman

One of six Hellenistic Greek figures I am incorporating into my Skythian army. It is thought that the Skythians used Greek arms captured in war to outfit themselves in addition to their own arms.