2025 Retrospective

The last calendar year has been one of the more enjoyable from a hobby perspective, at least since the late 70's and early 80's when the world was still young and full of possibility. 

Painting

From a painting perspective I managed to finish my AWI British with the last of the Hessians:

This allowed me to make a start on an AWI Continental Army in February, completing it in August; exclusively Perry from memory and comprised of 498 foot and mounted figures, 28 horses and 6 artillery pieces:

Unfortunately none of my AWI figures have seen the table yet, but that will hopefully be rectified in 2026 with at least a few games of Sharpe Practice and/or Rebels and Patriots. 

I then managed to squeeze in a bit of terrain in the form of some Najewitz Modellbau 15mm Spanish villas (more of this to come in 2026 as they are part of a Spanish village set), and some 28mm Grand Manner Napoleonic European terrain:

The latter is a source of particular embarassment as they really are lovely pieces but have been languishing in my pile for over ten years. I have at least seventy of them, so I immediately became enthused and primed a couple of dozen, only to have barely laid a brush on them since.

The last four months of 2025 saw me turn to what I shall always think of as my 'Arab Spring', with the completion of a 15mm Ghaznavid army:

Closely followed by a Daylami Dynasty army:

Thankfully both these armies have seen a game each, although both have lost. The curse of the new army? 

Perhaps, although both results were quite close and, in the case of the Ghaznavids at least, but for two rounds of appalling dice throwing on my part they probably should have won. Fun games both.

Apart from a dozen or so buildings and artillery pieces then, the final tally for 2025 is 1356 figures in total comprised of 1161 foot and mounted figures, 187 horses and 8 elephants. 

Not a bad effort and I feel quite happy with this result, especially as a fair chunk were 28mm figures.

Gaming

My gaming revolves around two hour or so sessions on every second Monday night with my friend Dale, and fortnightly Saturday Ancients DBMM group games. I would estimate that this equates to forty gaming sessions during the year, so I'm certainly not starved for table time.

The main difference however is that the DBMM games are always begun and concluded on the Saturday with most taking around three hours or thereabouts, so that is around twenty DBMM games completed in total. 

The Monday night games however span everything from WWII Naval through Napoleonics to a Midgard 28mm Dark Ages game we are currently planning, which gives me the variety I enjoy. Some games, such as General d'Armee, can span many evenings so I would estimate we have probably only played eight or so discreet games during 2025.

All up then, probably around 28 games during the year, and if I could remember to take  photos and write up a few more AARs that I so enjoy seeing on other people's blogs I would have had the definitive number.

Possibly the big realisation for 2025 is that I don't really enjoy solo gaming. 

Having finally laid claim to a gaming room I didn't actually get around to using it and have now had to surrender the downstairs to one of our expectant children, who has moved in with her husband and twin infants. 

I of course made the appropriate noises of complaint as I moved the shelving and completed armies back to my painting/hobby room, but have accumulated considerable goodwill toward my real aim which is to construct a purpose-built air-conditioned detached room either in the backyard here, or the next house if and we decide to move.

Purchases

I don't really want to think about these. The usual impulse buys of several gaming mats from Lithuania, a 15mm WWII US tank division which I will probably never get to, Mirliton Renaissance Swiss and Burgundian armies etc. etc. 

The purchases have definitely gone down dramatically from ten or so years ago but I can't resist the new and shiny, usually as result of something I have seen on another blog. 

I like to research and complete projects in one go as much as possible, which is presumably why the more recent purchases are still top of mind and are invariably completed ahead of much older ones, for which the enthusiasm has to be rekindled.

Projects for 2026

First off will be the completion of an Arab Conquest army, scheduled to make an appearance against some Norse Irish a week on Saturday. 

I really don't like such deadlines as I prefer to paint at my own pace, but I do seem to have made some progress over the past few days and have today just completed another thirty-nine cavalry.

Beyond that, I have some 15mm dark ages Welsh in mind and will then return to my badly stalled ECW project to complete the cavalry and dragoons. 

I'd also like to complete the 20 or so Foundry French artillery pieces I have had on my desk for the past three years, if only because it would then allow me to field a full 28mm French Napoleonic army against my already completed 28mm Spanish and Portuguese armies.

For which I'll need to build the wargaming room in the backyard, of course.

Happy 2026 everyone!

15mm Daylami Army Completed

There is a fair bit of overlap between the DBMM Ghaznavid and Daylami army lists so I decided to purchase another half dozen or so packs of Forged in Battle Daylami foot and archers to field a Daylami army in its own right:

The Daylami were from the mountainous areas in northern Iran and emerged as a dynasty in the 900's until they succumbed to the Seljuk Turks in the 11th Century. Initially resisting the Arab conquest of Iran, they came to progressively adopt Islam. 

The core DBMM army list itself is quite simple with only three main types of infantry, being bow, auxiliary troops with spears and axes, and skirmishers. This is why I thought I'd present the army in one post rather than a series of posts of essentially the same thing as I worked my way through the project:

The Daylami infantry are described as having painted or leather-covered shields and wielding two pointed spears and battle axes. Unfortunately none of the two-pointed spears or axes are represented in the Forged in Battle Daylami foot, but they look sufficiently tribal enough to do the job:

One interesting variation is the option to field up to six elements of Indian 'fast blade' mercenaries which may be useful against some opponents (I did eight plus an element of skirmishers to use up all the figures in the pack):

This is the fourth army completed in 2025 and I'm quite pleased I managed to finish it this side of Christmas. All up it is comprised of 316 infantry and command figures and 6 horses:

They are off for their first outing this morning against some Carolingian Franks. I'm not overly hopeful as the Carolingians are a knight-based army and in DBMM all they have to do is score higher on a D6 (after adding and deducting factors) to 'quick kill' the Daylami infantry, whereas the Daylami need to double the knights' score to kill them. I do plan to annoy my opponents however with constant chants of 'Daylami Army, Daylami Army', styled after the 'Barmy Army' English cricket supporters who are following the English cricket team on their current Ashes tour of Australia.

Next up, an Arab Conquest army which will complete my Arab spring, or summer as it is now.

General d'Armee Peninsular Battle

This is less an AAR and more a brief summary of a recent game, but at least I remembered to take a few pictures for a change.

My Monday evening gaming friend Dale and I have been thoroughly enjoying General d'Armee and, after recently playing the Albuera scenario from the rulebook, had the taste for another Peninsular game with me playing the British with a brigade of Portuguese allies, and Dale the French.

The French objective was to capture either the redoubt or village, or both, and as the attacker was provided with two additional battalions to assist with the task. Each player could also choose two divisional supports from a list of options.

As the British player one of my options was exercised by default in the protection afforded by the redoubt, but on the assumption the French would be fielding only two cavalry regiments and artillery batteries I chose an additional Hussar regiment and RHA battery, to give a total of three cavalry regiments and three artillery batteries. 

Both forces were comprised of five brigades, with the French having four infantry and one cavalry brigade and the British three infantry and two cavalry brigades.

The next thing to do was to dice for the General's ability using 2D6. 

A 2 or 3 result means he is a 'Blusterer' which reduces the number of ADC actions available each turn among other penalties, while an 11 or 12 means they are 'Incomparable', which adds an ADC. To much amusement I threw a 3, meaning my commander was a Blusterer. 

Dale sportingly offered the chance of a reroll which I declined, only to be followed by him rolling a double 1. A pair of Blusterers facing off against each other.

The initial deployment was as follows:

The British were thin but in a strong position on the hill with two brigades flanking the artillery ensconced in the redoubt. As the Portuguese included a couple of militia units I thought the safest place for them would be to hold the village, while it was my plan to run the Hussar Regiment and RHA around the forest in an attempt to pressure the French and slow their advance:

Unfortunately this was to be proved short-lived, with the French deploying in the woods and inflicting casualties upon the British before they had a chance to get past. The British cavalry withdrew to the safety of the hill while the French pushed on through the woods, with the Portuguese Cacadores attempting to halt their advance:

Meanwhile, on the left flank the two British cavalry regiments there prepare to face off against two French cavalry regiments while the French push forward their attack on the British center:

The first photo of the two above outlines a particular annoyance as I managed to roll five out of five hesitant brigades, where anything but a 1 or a 2 on a D6 means they obey orders. This was even more galling as I remember I played a precious ADC on the cavalry which entitled them to a re-roll, and they still failed. 

Dale had the same level of luck at various times and, frustration aside, it is one of the elements of GDA which provides a lot of laughter.

Back on the right flank, the Cacadores suffered heavy casualties and withdrew from the woods, leaving the Portuguese artillery exposed. Similarly, the RHA artillery limbered up and withdrew to the safety of the hill and the protection of the Hussars:

The cavalry combat just out of sight on the left continued for several turns with the British finally prevailing, with two French and one British regiments dispersed leaving one British regiment standing and the master of the left flank. Meanwhile the main French attack in the center presses home under heavy canister fire:

One French battalion is dispersed, but the other three press on and force a British battalion to retire, leaving only a skirmish line to defend the right flank of the redoubt:

Things are very much in the balance when the British line rolls a double six, inflicting four casulties on the French column as it tries to close plus an additional loss with the casualty dice awarded to them for being British infantry in line, for a total of five casualties on the column and necessitating a compulsory discipline test:

The French fail the test and the battalion disperses, which in turn forces a discipline test on the brigade with the two remaining battalions also dispersing. With the Portuguese in the village also having repelled a French attack, the French decide to call it a day on turn 14 out of a possible 16.

The game was played over five Monday evenings with just over two hours per evening, so approximately twelve hours in total. For us, GDA provides a nice balance between unpredictability while rewarding the effective use of Napoleonic tactics. There is just enough in the national characteristics and force compositions to keep things interesting, and the rules are not overly pedantic in terms of unit movement and formation changes.

Perhaps one criticism is that with the use of D6s things can be a little too unpredictable at times. However these are often the events which provide the biggest laughs and at the end of the day, to my mind at least, it is as much (if not more) about the entertainment.

In retrospect it was probably a bit of a tough ask for the French. As is our wont, we have reversed the roles and I am in the middle of an attack with the French. 

Dale, as the British, has managed to roll another double 1 for his C-in-C. At least he will be getting used to being a Blusterer by now.

Ghaznavid Army Completed

After having completed the Ghaznavids a couple of weeks ago I thought it time to take a few pictures of the assembled army:

As DBMM armies go, it packs quite a punch. Even though it is ostensibly cavalry-based, the limited infantry options are quite effective and the ability to field up to eight elephants can be very handy, albeit expensive:

Some of these figures, such as the horse archers, Daylami infantry and four elements of  allied Arab cavalry will find their way into other armies now that I have decided to press on with Daylami dynasty and Arab Conquest projects:

This is my first complete Forged in Battle army. I have done a few of their lovely buildings in the past and various camp and baggage figures, but never a whole army. They have a great range and the figures are well-proportioned with a nice amount of detail:

A couple of minor quibbles in that some of the mounted figures don't have a large contact point to affix them to horses and the sculpts require a little but of cleanup, although nothing too onerous:

The army consists of 283 foot and cavalry figures, 110 horses and eight elephants, making 401 figures completed in total, and took just over two months:

They have already lost their first outing against some Nikephorean Byzantines, primarily due to an appalling run of bad dice throwing rather than anything I would have done differently. When you field a line of six elephants against skutatoi and essentially all you have to do is beat them on a D6 to kill them, but fail to do any damage for two rounds of combat, you know it's not going to be your day. Hopefully that means I have got all the bad luck for them out of the way in a single game though.

I'm nearly halfway through the Daylami so will probably save any posts on them until they are completed. In the meantime I'll try to post a quick AAR of a recent Napoleonic battle, if I can remember what actually happened.

Last of the Ghaznavids and First of the Daylami

The last two weeks have been spent tying up the loose ends for my 15mm Ghaznavid army. This has seen a variety of troops completed and first up were three elements of artillery. The DBMM Army list only calls for one, but the Forged in Battle pack allows for three and they will no doubt come in useful at some stage:

Nice figures, although to my eye the bolt shooter itself is on the smaller end of the scale:

In the same pack there were enough figures to complete three elements of Naffatun, naptha-throwing infantry:

These are nice little figures carrying bags full of incendiary weapons:

The army list also allows a variety of pike, sword and bow-armed Afghan and Muslim infantry, although not a large amount as the Ghaznavids were primarily a cavalry-based army:

I also found that I had a couple of horse archers and six command figures left over, so I asked Forged in Battle if they would include a few extra horses in a recent order as it seemed a pity to waste them, and they obliged with a dozen free of charge:

Most DBMM armies allow the inclusion of a camp which strengthens the army, unless one's opponents manages to sack it. Baueda have some nice Arabic tents so I ordered a handful. In spite of three coats of Testors Dullcote the blue on the command tent is still reflecting under a harsh direct light, although less so to the naked eye:

Painting in the creases on the command tent was a pain, but I was generally happy with the result:

I was also pleased with the two smaller tents, although the brown one looks a bit like a chocolate in an assortment box:

Finally, the Ghaznavid army list also allows for up to nine elements in total of Daylami allies, a people from the mountainous area in northern Iran. 

There is a separate DBMM Daylami list which includes Ghanznavid allies so I decided to purchase enough to provide for a Daylami army in its own right. I have also purchased options for Arab Conquest and Seljuk Turkish armies and, given it is not yet summer, this is turning into a bit of an Arab spring for me. Here are the nine elements' worth of Daylami that can ally with the Ghaznavids:

And the completed Daylami contingent thus far, with a lot more of the same to come over the following weeks:

The Ghaznavid army is therefore now completed and I believe it has taken me around ten to eleven weeks, which I am quite pleased with. I'll try to haul them all out for a group photo over the coming week.