Field of Glory

I started playing field of glory when it was released. I had been a big DBM player with a couple of games every month, sometimes many more. After having played it for about 10 years we stopped playing and didn't touch our ancient and medieval armies for over a year. When FoG arrived we played a couple of games and took quite a liking to it. Now our group is back playing ancient and medieval games every few weeks

So far we have played the following games, a couple of them several times.

1, Mid Republican Roman Vs Carthaginian. (Rise of Rome)

2, New Kingdom Egyptian Vs Assyrian. (Swifter then Eagles)

3, Middle Egyptian Vs Minoan Greek. (Swifter then Eagles)

4, Middle Egyptian Vs Sumerians. (Swifter then Eagles)

5, Norman Vs Nikephorian Byzantine. (Decline and Fall)

6, Norman Vs Anglo Danish. (Wolves from the Sea).

7, Armenian Vs Arab Conquest. (Decline and Fall)

8, Thematic Byzantine Vs Arab Conquest.(Decline and Fall)

9, Medieval Spanish Vs Portuguese. (Storm of Arrows)

10, Successor Vs Successor. (Immortal Fire)

11, Principate Roman Vs Early German. (Legions Triumphant)

 12, Early Teutonic Vs Late Polish. (Oath of Fealty)

13, Classical Indian Vs Alexandrian Macedonian.(Immortal Fire)

14, Normans Vs Arabs.

15, Late Crusader Vs Komnenan Byzantine (Swords & Scimiters)

Armies we have but haven't used yet include : Hoplite Greek,  Hunnic, Late Roman, Sassanid Persian, Parthian, Christian Nubian, Libyan, Free Company, Ottoman Turk.

What we have found is each period plays very differently. For the biblical era, Skirmishers are quite useful. For the medieval era they're pretty useless. Romans are quite hard to beat in a pitched battle but vulnerable in rough going or while moving through woods. Their aren't any super killer armies as long as you play historical match ups. The rules take some learning, after 20 + games were still learning new bits or finding things we've done wrong. Then there is learning how to play and which tactics work for which armies. 800pt armies are taking 3-4 hours to complete games with, however after a few more games that should come down to about 3 hours tops. The online support forum has been essential in quantifying the rules, without it we would still be struggling on a couple of points. Overall we're really enjoying the games and I'm pretty sure we'll be playing FoG for a good few years to come.

FoG Projects

The rules have most certainly revitalised our ancient and medieval wargaming. Armies are being dusted off and added too with plans for more armies being drawn up. I've decided to build a new army I've wanted for a long time. I've finally got round to making a Late Crusader army. I was going to buy it in 28mm but have gone for 15mm to fit in with the numerous other 15mm armies we have. I'll be posting the progress as I go. It's not going to be a quick project as I'll be painting in my spare time, but I hope to paint 1 or 2 bases worth of figures a week. I've already got all the mounted troops, I got the other members of our group to have a look in their lead piles for any medieval figures. We came up with sufficient figures for all the Crusader Knights and all the crossbow men I'll need. The spearmen, I'm going to be ordering from Legio Heroica for their military order spearmen. Their crusader range is very nice and looks like it was based on the film Kingdom of Heaven(so not completely historical). Their spearmen are the only 15mm figures I've found that have the look I'm after. The personality figures are also worth getting with Richard I, Saladin, Baldwin and a couple of others. Although Baldwin has the silver mask as in the film. In reality he didn't wear one and was quite the warrior King, but it makes him stand out on the table being instantly recognisable.

Researching the period has been fairly easy, especially with having an interest in the period and owning several books on the subject. I have however spent some time doing extra research and going a bit deeper below the surface. I will hopefully be posting the research on my website for anyone wanting to build a crusader army. It should include some background information with uniform guides, shield, banners, pennants and flag designs as well as pictures and photos of my army as I paint it.

I haven't yet decided on the final army composition. The army is small as the troops are expensive, especially the knights. It should look similar to this with the units having 4,6 or 8 bases each:

1 x CinC Inspired commander

2 x Sub Generals, probably troops commanders

2 units of Military order Knights. Templers and Hospitallers

2 units Outremer Knights. Possibly English, French, Jerusalem or Italian

2 units of Military order Spearmen, Templar and Hospitaller.

2 units of Outremer Spearmen, again English, French, Jerusalem or Italian.

2 units of Military order crossbow men, Templar and Hospitaller.

2 units of Outremer crossbow men, English, French, Jerusalem or Italian.

The army is going to represent a Crusader army from 1174 - 1198. This covers the period from Baldwin IV to Guy de Lusignan and the fall of Jerusalem to Richard I leaving Outremer in 1198. It's quite a big period to cover but the army was pretty much the same during this time. The knights arriving in Outremer would each have different livery colours and Heraldry, but the Templers and Hospitallers would have looked the same.