Tiny Crusades - Crusader Camp

So, having decided on the Arab (and natural) scenery I knew I needed some stuff for the Crusader half of the table - I opted for the Crusader Camp pack from Irregular's 6mm Scenics and Accessories range.

The description starts with Tents - so I was expecting a couple... got a few more though!!

A nice mix of sizes there - the only tricky bit is deciding which Military Order will get which tent(s) 🤔

The pack also included a selection of pack camels and camp attendants to give it some character and life:

The description also included horse traps - which I'm not sure I'll do anything with, but it's of course a sensible inclusion in the pack:

The pack also included a few pieces not mentioned in the listing - which is a shame as they are very characterful little details!  First, a couple of bases of supplies:

The photos don't really do these justice - there are sacks and crates and lots of detail there.

Finally, the pack includes some camp fires, a cooking station (with some roast beast) and some armour on a cross (now, I'm not sure if that is just the big boss' armour, some kind of Crusader tropaion or a grave marker - I guess I need to do my research!):

These little pieces will go a long way to making the camp feel like a living place rather than just tents - they were a very nice surprise in the pack!

I think this, with the Oasis and Copse I covered earlier will do for terrain - although I do want some rock formations or something to help break up the battlefield a bit more (I'm hoping if I'm careful with size they will also be useful for other games in different scales too).

Tiny Crusades - Oasis and more

I knew I needed (and wanted) some suitable scenery pieces for the Tiny Crusades project - so back to Irregular Miniatures it was!

For the Arab half of the project I opted for the Oasis from the 6mm Scenics and Accessories range - now, as usual with these kinds of things it seems the description was vague and didn't really confirm to me what I was going to be getting but I thought what the heck and went for it anyway; and I wasn't disappointed!

First, and rather obviously, the Oasis piece itself - a pool base with a selection of different palm trees to surround it:

The one lying down just needs its hole on the base cleaning up and it'll fit right in.  The ones with the spread out palms come as two pieces, the others are single piece.

The listing on Irregular also mentions 'flat topped house' - well it turns out the pack included three such buildings, each a different design too:

But that's not all the pack included - there was also what looks to be a little market scene and a tent:

Finally the pack also included some pack camels - two strips of sitting camels and one strip being led by a merchant perhaps:

It's a great pack - full of useful and characterful pieces that will really tie the table to the setting.

I also picked up the Copse of Palm Trees as an obstacle on the battlefield.  This pack includes a solid base plate and an assortment of palm trees (the same types as the Oasis):

I think it's a really useful piece for this project so I'm happy to have it in the collection.

The baseplate for the Copse needed a little bit of flattening but nothing too scary or difficult (flat surface and gentle pressure from my hand did the trick).

So, a nice little selection of pieces that can help populate a desert-y table for clashes between my Arabs and Crusaders!

Tiny Crusades - Arab Empire Army Pack

As you may have read, I picked up Army Packs to boost both sides of the Battlepack I got from Irregular Miniatures - here's what I got in the Arab Empire pack.

First up, the Commanders - one mounted and one on foot:

For some regular foot troops - 2 strips each of spears and spear command, and 4 strips of archers:

A couple of different styles of more irregular missile troops add to that part of the force:

6 strips of medium cavalry provide a nice solid core:

3 strips of heavier cavalry add some punch:

The pack also included 3 strips of cavalry command:

A couple of light cavalry strips round out the horse-mounted content of the pack:

But the pack did include 2 strips of Camel Cavalry! I'm oddly happy about having some camels in the force:

Finally the Army Pack contained these strips - I'm not entirely sure what they are, but I guess some kind of slingers? 

As with the Late Crusades Army Pack, this lot added to the Arab Empire half of the Battlepack I got will give me a good sized force.  I still need to decide on basing for this project - and then I'll be able to work out if there's any other strips I need to finish off units!

Tiny Crusades - Late Crusader Army Pack

On the back of the Irregular Miniatures Battlepack (see the Tiny Crusades Introduction post for more!) I decided to boost both sides a bit before getting stuck into the prep work (still trying to decide on basing!).  Thankfully Irregular offers absolutely great value Army Packs - you take a bit of a punt as the packs are assembled by Irregular to be a 'realistic and balanced composition' and there are no lists of what you get, but for the great value I took the plunge.

Here I'll run through what I got in the Late Crusader Army Pack I got to add to their half of the Battlepack.  Hopefully this will show you the kind of thing you can expect from the Army Packs which contain about 50 strips (cavalry counts as two strips).

First up, some Commander types - a cavalry stand and two foot:

Bolstering the staple foot troops are 8 strips each of Crossbowmen and Spearmen:

There was also a couple of strips of skirmishing archers:

6 strips of peasant types provide some fodder low-cost troops:

Four strips of dismounted knights offer an elite foot choice:

On the mounted side - a couple of strips of Turcopole style troops:

And of course the knightly-types - most with banners, a couple without (to go with the mounted general no doubt as his bodyguard):

When added to the Late Crusades half of the Battlepack I think this will be a good-size force.  Just have to decide basing system and work out how to make best use of the strips available to me.

Introducing... Tiny Crusades

Well, this certainly qualifies as an impulse purchase - I was browsing around the Irregular Miniatures site and came across their 6mm Battlepacks - two opposing forces and a ruleset for a very decent price.  Well, whilst I have plans for Achaemenid Persians at some point, I couldn't resist using the Battlepack offer to try out some 6mm and spied that in the list of forces available for the Ancients deal there were Crusaders and Arab Empire... why not do a little Crusading in 6mm I thought?!

So, I placed the order and didn't really know what to expect but for the price I was happy to take a punt... and when they turned up I was not disappointed!  Now, I've tried my best to work out what each of the things are, but if I’m wrong I will amend this page!

The Battlepack included a set of Irregular's very own Ancient Rule Box - a single double-sided sheet of rules and some coloured cards. I've had a quick read through and think the rules have some interesting ideas - definitely giving me some food for thought.

Anyway, I'm sure most people who might be reading this are here to see what miniatures I got so let's get on with that.  First up, let's look at the Arab Empire force.

General and a strip of Heavy Cavalry to form the leader of the force:

On the foot soldier front, there were two strips each of spearmen and spear command (well, they have standards?):

And 6 strips of archers - the middle ones and the ones on the right might be more Skirmishing types(?):

On the cavalry side there were a couple of strips of Turkish Horse Archers:

And finishing off the Arab Empire side a selection of mounted command, medium cavalry and heavy cavalry:

Onto the Crusaders side - again a General and a Cavalry strip to form the leader:

For the Infantry a mix of spearmen and crossbowmen:

Next on to the mounted strips - first a strip of Turkish Horse Archers, to represent Turcopoles I presume:

As for knights (obviously the thing everyone thinks of when it comes to the Crusades, right?) there were four 'command' type strips and four normal strips:

I need to give some serious thought as to how to point all this up using the Ancients Rule Box.  The rules allow for a couple of different ways to depict units - these forces seem set up for 'System 2' whereby units are mostly 2 strips in size necessitating a bit of pen and paper book-keeping.  I think this might be the best option, but even then I know I still want to add some more stuff - but that'll need to wait until points are sorted so I can keep both sides equal.

As for the quality of the minis - I know it's difficult to make out on unpainted metal, but they have what looks to my untrained eye to be a nice amount of detail without being too intimidating.  Lances and spears had some bends and although mostly easy to put right, I have clumsily broken one lance already. 

I'm trying to decide on basing for these - whilst the Rule Box sets out frontages measurements in-game are in mm rather than base width (etc) so I think I can be flexible as long as I pick a consistent approach across the collection.

Finally - the service from Irregular Miniatures was quick and smooth and I can definitely recommend them based on this purchase.