Scourge of Princes Renaissance Rules

Introduction

Would you believe it! I've actually played a wargame? My first in over twelve months. To be truthful I've actually played twice; on separate occasions too. This is a positive move.

I have a mate in town who's also a wargamer. He's a lapsed competition gamer who played DBM, DBMM & MEG so we have a lot in common. In late summer he lent me his copy of Scourge of Princes by Sam Mustafa to see if I fancied a game.

In next to no time, I was hooked. Not least because it gives me an opportunity to use my Renaissance armies, which I haven't used since I stopped playing FOGR in 2017.

15 mm Byzantine Infantry Commanders (Donnington "Originals")

Introduction

These complete the commanders for my "fantasy" Byzantine army for Art de la Guerre (ADLG). At 200 points each army is allowed three commanders. I finished two mounted commanders early last month, so I now have four commanders: one spare in case I ever play a 300 point game (very unlikely).

My intention is to use these for the Byzantine armies of Justinian to Nikephoros a five-hundred year span marked by frequent changes in arms and armour. Accordingly, I’ve opted for models whose equipment is indicative rather than strictly historically accurate. Even so, I’m reasonably confident that each figure will be plausible for at least some point within that period!

Early Medieval Byzantine Flags II (Conjectural)

Introduction

On Monday I posted a set of these that included flags with square tails. In it I said:

They are all highly stylised compared to the reference image. The absence of swallow tails is deliberate. I printed mine 10 mm high and, at this size, simplicity counts for a lot.

If you are feeling brave you can cut, shape and curl the tails to match the reference. I decided not to. Mainly because I really didn't fancy cutting a shallow taper on something 2.5 mm high.

This is a case of famous last words. After I posted a link to Bluesky I received some photos of Varangian Guard re-enactors with a very similar banner design. Of course theirs had swallow tails, but some photos showed banners with only three tails. I also received various contemporary images also with three swallow-tailed banners:

From "Synopsis of Histories" by John Skylites, late 11th century. Images from Wikimedia.

I began to wonder...