Gamer at the End of Time

  In what is probably the last MeG Podcast of the year the team look back at the recent Ribble Rumble competition held in Stockport, the maybe partly controversial list changes for 2022, and a look forward to the MeG scene in 2022. The regulars are joined by Graham Wilmott and the one and only James "Hammy" Hamilton.

  The MeG Podcast turns its beady eye on the competition played out at Warfare 2021 over the last weekend in November. The theme of the competition was "Biblical" armies so a chance to dust down and use those chariots. The team, plus guests, tell us how they did, and as ever we have all the lists used in the competition for your perusal. So read on to hear what happened ...

  So we come round to the last game of Warfare 2021 and I get to play the MeG author himself, Simon Hall who is using New Kingdom Egyptian. I have despatched one Egyptian already, can I do the same again...

  Following the crushing of the Egyptians I am sitting well up the table, if a bit off the pace. In the third game I find myself facing Hammy's Early Libyan horde who have won both of their games so far. Can I beat "the blob" army ...

  Having gotten the better of a Minoan army in the fist game I found myself drawn against that most high profile of the enemies of the Hittites, New Kingdom Egyptian. Will this be a second Battle of Kadesh, read on ...

  The MeG competition at Warfare is traditionally a "biblical" period competition. I took my recently completed Hittite Empire army. To find out if I acquitted myself well or suffered a bronze age collapse, read on ...

  Following the last MeG Podcast episode -  The Great Raid, Mongol style 1220-1223CE - Richard and I had a game where we used the lists we had drawn up for the podcast. So Subutai faced off against Jalal al-Din; which list prevailed? Read on for a short account ...

The MeG Podcast goes back to history in this episode with the team looking at a number of army lists in the context of Subutai and Jebe's "Great Raid", plus a look back at the recent Derventio IV competition. Read on for links and supporting information ...

  After a run of some success, I am brought back to earth at the Classical themed Derventio IV held at the very hospitable Boards & Swords venue in Derby. Read on for a short overview of what opponents I fought and how the games went ...

  Sunday afternoon and the 5th and final game of "Skullrollers". After 3 wins and a draw I am well placed and meet John Munro with his James IV Scots army of Flodden. Can I repeat the success of the English on that day, or fall short ...

  We now turn to the second day of the MeG "Skullrollers" event. After two wins and a draw on day one I'm doing pretty well if a bit off the pace of the leaders. So how did the fourth game turn out ...

  So we now move onto the third game in the 2021 "Skullrollers" competition. The third game in a day can be the hardest due to a bit of mental fatigue setting in, so to find out if it got to me read on ...

  To follow the account of the victory of my Seljuqs over the Almoravids in the first round of the 2021 "Skullrollers" competition, here is what transpired in the second round...

  As mentioned in my last blog post over the weekend of the 25th/26th September 30 eager MeGers gathered at the London Grand Tournament for the MeG World Championships - a.k.a. "Skullrollers". At the last LGT event I had taken Middle Sasanid Persians and managed to finish 3rd; this time I took Sultanate of Rum. This is an account of the first of 5 games; to see how I did read on ...

Over the weekend of the 25th/26th September 30 eager MeGers gathered at the London Grand Tournament for the MeG World Championships - a.k.a. "Skullrollers". This had last been run in 2019, with the 2020 edition becoming a victim of the pandemic, and so there was a lot of interest. Sadly due to Covid restrictions overseas attendance was understandably low, but a few brave Europeans did make the journey. So now the dust has settled, and the warriors and kings have departed, here are the lists used ...

  A bit of a hiatus since my last update, but as they say if you have nothing to say, say nothing. However, back with something a bit different from all the ancients and medieval stuff; this time we wander into the Thirty years War ...

Over the weekend of 21st/22nd August I played in a 4 game MeG competition held at Element Games in Stockport. The competition was styled "Warriors of the Cross and Crescent" with a list of armies between 1000 CE and 1149 CE available for use. I chose the Sultanate of Rum and thought I'd write about the army and how I did ...

  So with the Warriors of the Cross and Crescent competition in Stockport now done and dusted, the Podcast Team look back at how they did and how their armies fared. Read on for a link to the podcast and the gory details, plus nearly all the lists used over the weekend ...

Welcome to the latest Mortem et Gloriam Players Podcast additional content blog post. In this episode Ray, Richard and Nik look at the Wars of the Roses with special emphasis on the Battle of Bosworth Field. Follow this link for the podcast -  https://rayfredjohn.podbean.com/e/episode-9-the-battle-of-bosworth-field/ The lists discussed, figure suppliers and suggestions for reading material are all below.

  A few weeks ago I posted on  Zhao Kuangyin and Peace Through War; an Early Northern Song army - a piece about doing an army that is often seen as a rather poor performer. I commented that I was using figures that were not quite right because " I am not sure anyone does a proper 5 Dynasties/Early Song range anyway.". Well, that prompted me to have a look around and things changed. Read on to find out what ...

Welcome to the latest Mortem et Gloriam Players Podcast. In this episode Ray, Richard and Nik look at “The Bronze Age Catastrophe” in the early 12th century BCE which saw the Sea Peoples invasions and the collapse of a number of long standing civilisations.

Many months ago it was arranged that the first "proper" UK MeG competition  post-restrictions  was to be held at Battlefield Hobbies, tickets were sold, armies planned. Alas, the extension to restrictions on meeting up put the kybosh on that. However, Ray and Hammy came up with an alternative plan split across 2 separate venues. Read on for what transpired ...

Back in April I blogged about my quest for suitable cavalry figures for Khitan Liao cavalry. I decided on figures from Khurasan Miniatures with some minor conversions. At the time I commented that I would then move on to the rest of the army, and here is what happened ...

  Zhao Kuangyin, aka Song Taizu reunified China at the end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period founding the Song dynasty. However, the army of the Song has had a bad press, so why choose to do this army ...

  Way back in the mists of time circa. WRG 6th Edition, I bought an Essex Miniatures Chinese army pack which eventually became a Han Chinese army. Those figures are long gone but with the advent of Mortem et Gloriam (MeG) I have once again painted up a Han Chinese army. To find out more about it read on ...

  Sasanid Persian was the first army I used seriously when I started MeG and has been one of my more successful choices ever since. Here I go through an army list...

  The dust has settled on the first "proper" UK MeG competition of 2021, and the team look back at their army choices - why they chose the armies they did, the composition, and how they fared in the heat of battle. Did they regret their choices? Did they make mistakes? Read on to find out ...

  A couple of weeks ago Ray and I had a game to allow him to practice with his Almoravid army for the Post Covid Cup he was running. I delayed this write up until after the competition because of that. Read on for the game ...

  As a friend (Tommy) posted a blog entry  (go read it) about his take on an Imperial Roman list yesterday I thought I'd do the same - maybe a lack of imagination here but its one of my favourite armies. So here is a version I have used with some success ...

  A few weeks ago I did a piece on how I came to have an Early Carthaginian MeG army . Well the inevitable happened and it expanded out to cover a later date. Read on to find out what transpired ...

  Welcome to the latest Mortem et Gloriam Players Podcast.  In this episode Ray, Richard and Nik look at the Huns in the Balkans, 435 to 440 CE. A short, but important period of history. The lists discussed, figure suppliers and suggestions for reading material are all below.

  "Needing" an army for the Classical/Hellenistic period, a period I am not that interested in, I almost accidentally ended up building an Early Carthaginian army which turned out more effective that I thought it would be. Here is a bit of an account of how it came to pass ...

  After the last MeG Podcast on the later Crusades it was inevitable that one of the lists got a run out. So Ray ran the Later Crusader list that went down so well on the podcast, whilst I used an Ilkhanate army that I painted up last year during one of the lockdowns. As to what transpired, read on ...

  In the last edition of the Mortem et Gloriam Players Podcast there were quite a few mentions of the 7th Crusade of Louis IX but no list. So here is a quick piece to go with the podcast to remedy, at least in part, this deplorable situation ... 

  In a change of venue the material to go with the Mortem et Gloriam Players Podcast is now being hosted on this blog. So read on for the lists discussed, suggested figure ranges, reading material and more ... 

  For a long time I have had the desire to do a Liao army, mainly for the reason that you don't see it very often and because the Khitans, who formed the Liao , seem to be a somewhat overlooked power despite their immense influence on China from the early 10th century to the early 12th. Even after the fall of their Liao dynasty a remnant formed the Qara Khitan empire in Central Asia until conquered by the Mongols, and it is likely that the west got the name Cathay for China from these Qara Khitai.

In which our two heroes explore the joys of Tribal manoeuvre with many Yellow Cards used for wheeling and for MF1 moves. Read on ... 

So with a bit of a Bowie lyric we kick off a piece about flags that I've been adding to a number of my units over the past couple of days. Over the pandemic period I have painted up quite a few additional units for my Muslim horde that covers quite a wide range of armies, both planned and morphs. However, a few of them have not had the banners added that I had intended.  In addition, there are some units that I have given a bit of a make-over to refresh them, and as part of this I have given them new banners. 

After what seems a lifetime since the last game I played, a game of MeG finally occurred in 2021 thanks to Ray Duggins who could provide a suitable venue. The armies that faced off were Ray's Carolingians led by Charlemagne - an army Ray has been painting up during the pandemic - and a Khazar army I put together from figures I have that are reasonably suitable (I think), although my generals had rather Chinese style banners ... Ray has used his Carolingians before; Khazar is new to me but an army I have been thinking about trying out for a while. 

  A blast from the past. Last year Ray Duggins and I played a few games in Ray’s garden under social distancing circumstances – with a festival tent to keep inclement weather off us. We wrote up a couple and posted them to the MeG Facebook page, but I thought it might be worth posting one of them here. Commentary is from both of us. 

Well, after quite a bit of dithering I have finally arrived at the next stage of wargamer egotism by starting a Blog. Nothing fancy, just bits and pieces as they attract my attention and I feel the need to get them out onto the web.