Kassira’s Legions march towards one of the Underworld’s great pillars in an attempt to destroy death itself. The Death’s amass an equivalent defensive force!
This was really an exercise in seeing how quickly a big battle like this could be resolved utilising Featherstone’s Chimera. I don’t think I’d want to play battles much larger than this, but the temptation is always there, largely as huge forces of 1/72 figures can be amassed for very little compared to their 28mm brethren. £20 could get you near 100 figures easily, and more often than not more.
One of the things I did notice with this battle though was how much better Kassira’s forces looked compared to the Deaths’ army. Browns just mean they blend into the table, whereas the black, red and white is just so striking! And evil looking…
I think what I initially hadn’t notice was that I had strayed into the Zorn palette by accident.
The Zorn palette is an extremely effective limited colour palette consisting of vermillion, yellow ochre, titanium white and black. I’m not sure of the colour theory as to why it works so well, it just does. That does mean however that my other forces won’t look as striking. So I may need to find an equally striking limited palette to counter Kassira’s army!
Rules wise I’ve added some tweaks. Giving certain things multiple wounds. So cavalry get 2, lightly armoured vehicles 3 and tanks and elephants 5 (I really need to get some elephants). It made those things feel a lot better than they would have otherwise. I remember in my last game the cavalry felt far too weak and vulnerable, and I think with the madness that I’ve created here it is more about things feeling right, than historical accuracy.
My excitement for knights jumping out of half tracks (possibly due to 40k poisoning the well of my brain… I do love Chaos Terminators in a Land Raider), was somewhat stunted, as the Knights were slaughtered by their Colonial British opponents. This is because all infantry get 1 melee attack each regardless of what they are armed with. The only advantage a single infantryman will have over another is their armour save. Admittedly the knights in this battle did roll poorly. However, I wonder if a figure is armed exclusively for melee they should get a further bonus to fight. Cavalry get 2 attacks, so upping melee infantry to 2 may be overkill. Maybe melee infantry on the charge can get 2 in the first round of a fight, and I could potentially up cavalry to 3 on the charge, that could be fun.
I’m also thinking about terrain now. Grassy fields are certainly serviceable, but I could really do with something a bit more different. If nothing purely from a blogging aesthetics viewpoint, I’d like my Ghost Legions stuff to look very different from Deathzap.
I’ve got a few old Dapol house kits I’m doing Lovecraftian stuff too, which should be good for some line of sight blocking stuff, but I’d really like an entirely different surface to play on. Surely after millennia of warfare the underworld looks a bit mad. Ancient and medieval fortresses wrapped in barbed wire, surrounded by trenches and bombed out villages.
Of course that’s not to mention all the weird and wonderful things you’d expect to find in the underworld!
Despite the tank victory, Kassira’s forces had lost too many infantry in the assault and a retreat was sounded. I played a simple up and at ‘em scenario, and decided that after four rounds the side that had taken the most casualties would lose. It was a surprisingly even match up, but the Deaths clinched the victory.
Deathzap 
That is a very attractive tabletop. As for mounted knights versus others you could give cavalry (of any kind) and extra attack; in Warhammer the horses get their own additional attacks. You could also give them an impact bonus.
Some other things you could include: different initiatives – the more skilled go first in melee. Knights can be assumed to be very skilled in close combat. On the other hand, their armor might slow them down compared to an unarmored soldier. In my fantasy medieval games Vikings go before knights on foot, but knights (even with their armor) go before ordinary warriors. I assume being on horseback gives an advantage in initiative. An armor save of 4 or 3+ is also not to be sneezed at but that would be reduced significantly when they are shot at rather than in melee. I also allow individuals with pistols to get off a shot in the first round of melee.
Another thing is terrain; Open terrain is just going to be a turkey shoot for modern types shooting at medieval ones. Close terrain gives the chance to get into close combat. The other thing you can have is some troops, in reserve, appearing on flanks, something which could occur when defenders have the advantage of knowing the territory.
In my own fantasy/Sf games I like any excuse for bright colors, but I have grungy looking troops in the same game, the grungiest being zombies.
The Zorn Palette – great stuff. I think all wargamers play with colour in some way. Even the basic colour must work its way into the paint brands who I guess want to sell product so you get masses of colour choices which is good in its own way. I really liked painting some ECW soldiers using zorn – I found it slower but enjoyable in a different way. I could get even more shades than a paint manufacturer has. And there are zorn palette mixes. Yet I doubt I could replicate the colour mixes. So if you want one offs they are a great thing to play with. If you want consistency then like me the commercial guys have the solution.