The Alternative Armies Blog

Welcome to the Alternative Armies blog. This blog tells you all about what we are up to and it is where we post our latest tabletop gaming news and articles.
We cover Flintloque and Slaughterloo, High Fantasy, Other Ranges as well as our 15mm scale fantasy, science fiction and historical ranges.
Our game systems and free content such as PDF downloads and reading articles. Enjoy and do dig back in time to see what was going on before now.

Feel free to comment and ask questions. We are always happy to help gamers with their hobby.

Monday 18 March 2024

L’Art de LaGuerre Tournament (Recon 2024) sponsored by Alternative Armies

It is our pleasure to have given prizes from the 15mm Isarus Dark Age Range to the chaps organising the Biblical to 1000AD tournament which is happening at this years HMGS South Recon 2024 convention this April in the USA.

Prizes for first and second place with our compliments.  Here are the details of the convention as it relates to the L’Art de LaGuerre Tournament and we think there are still places to be taken in play currently sixteen players but could be more. Follow these external links for more information and to register.  Pictures are from the club’s own game.  This year is the first L’Art de LaGuerre Tournament to be held and we wish them the best of fortune.

L'ART DE LaGUERRE Tournament

Saturday APR. 27th, 2024

Wyndham Orlando Resort & Conference Center Celebration Area

3011 Maingate Lane, Kissimmee, Florida USA

16 Players Biblical to 1000 AD 200 pts 

For More Information on RECON 2024 – HMGS-South go online HERE.




RECON 2024 – HMGS-South

This link will allow those interested to register and book a hotel room too if they desire.  


If you play the Ancient and Dark Age periods then we have the Arabs, Late Romans, Byzantines, Vikings and many others suitable in 15mm scale.

Thank you for your attention.

GBS

Monday 11 March 2024

Patrol Angis back in print and offer on Ion Age 15mm and 28mm

IonFans!  The time has arrived.  It took a bit longer than expected but the new print run of the core Patrol Angis book is now in and back in stock.  The first of three books (with Callsign Taranis giving you vehicle rules and more plus The Khanate Return giving alien foes and Planetary Militia) it has all you need to play skirmish with two or solo play.  Full details on the website.


We have a code for you to use celebrating this book’s return.  Enter this in the box at checkout... 

 march2024  

...and your cart total will reduce by 20% on screen before proceeding to shipping.  Use the code for any Ion Age 15mm or 28mm or books and so on. Ends 25th March.  Enjoy!


The Ion Age 15mm Range

Patrol Angis is a skirmish level of wargame which means it typically has between a dozen and about forty miniatures a side in play during a game. It works well with more but those amounts are ideal. Most games have one Platoon sized force per player and have one or two or maybe even three players. A Platoon or Lance which contains typically twenty two (22) miniatures. In Patrol Angis you play either as the Prydian Army in its quest to reclaim worlds lost to the Marcher Barons during the Civil War or you can play in the employ of Canlaster or Yordist or any of the other dozen smaller array of Marcher Barons. This includes playing as a “Conda”' or paid professional mercenary for any side.

This is low intensity warfare title where troops mainly on foot, root each other out over small objectives. It’s not massive, not often glamorous, but it’s pure adventure, it’s the stuff of heroes and it’s skirmishing at its best! Easy to get into and to build upon. It’s the starting point for your wargaming in The Ion Age!

It is a book or a digital download or a game pack with miniatures, dice and bases.


While Patrol Angis is meant for use with the 15mm range it can be used with the 28mm Ion Age Miniatures too. Simply change centimetres to inches and you are ready to go with Retained Knights, Muster and more. We have made great efforts to have both scales match up and it means the rules will work with both.

Thanks for Reading!

Friday 8 March 2024

Grapeshotte expansion for Flintloque back in stock!

There are four books for Flintloque 3rd edition and we are delighted to announce that the expansion title which ties the three game books together is now back in stock at Alternative Armies. The World of Valon is vast and deep and to celebrate the return of this ninety six page title we have a 20% discount code of all Flintloque and Slaughterloo orders until 25th March 2024. 
 
 
5027 Grapeshotte contains the full rules for Artillery in Flintloque, Queene of Battle expansion artillery rules to cover garrisons, sieges, new troop types and more. The Armoury of Valon giving firelocks and artillery along with exotics and new troops for every nation on Valon. The Sterling Appendices giving rules for vehicles in play, faith in play, attaching characters, singers and more. Also two fold out and pull out colour A3 sheets of blast templates and the famous triangle of death cannon caseshotte template. In Print and as a Paid Digital Download. Written by Gavin Syme and with artwork by Edward Jackson it fits right in with Beir & Bones, War in Catalucia and Death in the Snow. 
 
 
The miniature range is huge so whatever part of Valon you wish to fight in you can browse and look. When you have found what you are looking for proceed to checkout and in the discount box enter this code “ march2024 ” and the total on screen will automatically deduct 20%. Then proceed to shipping. This covers all books, miniatures, painted stock and even Slaughterloo Divisions (with their built in saving on top) in the World of Valon. Also En Garde and Kitton. Code is valid until 9pm UK time 25th March 2024. 
 
On the home page of our Website click on the ‘world of valon’ main section on the left menu to drop it down into all the armies, artillery and more. 
 


If you want to Begin in Flintloque then check out 5024 Escape the Dark Czar which gives ten resin miniatures, core rules, scenario, bases and dice to get you going. The discount code applied to this starter set too of course. 
 
Thank you for Time.

Tuesday 5 March 2024

War Bot II for any scale is free in shipped orders until 9th May 2024

By popular request and a year of asking by tabletop gamers worldwide we are proud to announce a brand new any scale War Bot (following up on AS016 War Bot) which is free in all shipped orders until 9th May 2024. As many orders as you like and as long as the package is shipped (no digital download orders only sorry) it will be included.  You can purchase it as well and once its free period is over it will be a standard code. Until 9th May packages leaving us here will all have this 40mm tall model in them.

AS028 War Bot II: A five piece metal and resin model suitable for any scale of gaming with a total height of 40mm.  Legs with a rotational pose upper body as well as two rotary gun arms and a set of ariels.  Use it as a robot in 28mm scale, a battlesuit in 15mm and a full size mecha in 6mm.

Here are all the views of the War Bot and below is a scale photo showing it next to Bradley 6mm Science Fiction, HOF 15mm Science Fiction and Alternate Stars 28mm Science Fiction miniatures.


When mere infantry cannot hold the line nor defeat the foe you need...War Bots!  All three are in the Alternate Stars Range.

Deals and Offers of 5% to 50% off regular prices are on the website.  These offers are added to all of the Value Sets, Platoons, Core Forces and more which are always there from every range.  The added ones will change towards the end of this month when the Spring Mega Event begins.  For now you can save on Jes Goodwin Dwarfs, Elf Line Infantry, Library Barricade, Space Marine, Norc the Fomorian Hero, Scimitar Monster and others in 28mm.  In 15mm now is Automata Infantry, the Griffin, Big Mouth Beast and more. For 6mm scale BR030 Pilgrim Heavy Tank is there.

Thanks for Reading!

Tuesday 27 February 2024

Halcyon Miniatures joins Alternative Armies

A new boutique miniature range is now released on our website and manufactured by us in agreement.  We welcome Nottingham based Halcyon Miniatures with their first set of 28mm metal miniatures to the family! 

See their new page for this 28mm Range.

What has been released?  The range begins with its first round of eight poses which are Storm Troopers in plate armour as well as their commander plus a homunculus and a psi-operative too.  Useful in any game system.

All miniatures in this range are ‘tabbed’ meaning they use a slot base.  Extra value is given by us in that we supply a brand new resin circular slot base free with every figure purchased from Halcyon.  These are the same bases shown in the painted examples.

We have a great deal of 28mm Science Fiction to offer including The Ion Age and Alternate Stars.  You can see here a scale comparison of the Shia Khan Perimeter Borg with a Grima Robot Trooper.

We have other ranges produced under agreement with us each of which has something rather special and unique about it. From the miniature madness of Grinning Skull (the shown Zargaliens) to the Space Raptors of Loud Ninja Games and the Space Monkeys and Psi-Knights of Ganesha Games.

Until the 5th of March every order shipped out from us here in Scotland automatically gets the FM62R Giant Tick which is great in any scale as well as sci-fi and fantasy plus dungeon crawl too.  It is from the Asgard Fantasy Range and you need do nothing but order to get it. Perhaps the new Psi-Operative can control it?

Thanks for Reading,

GBS

Saturday 24 February 2024

Furioso and War Game Scenarios the Italian Wars by Rodolfo Verginella

We were delighted at Alternative Armies to be involved with supporting a new book on the Italian Wars 1494-1559 which would involve the Furioso wargame rules by Steve Danes and the 15mm scale large range of miniatures we make for the period.  The author Rodolfo Verginella gifted us a review copy of the book as printed by Amazon and this article is our look at the book and how it links into Furioso on the table.

You can find Wargame Scenarios the Italian Wars on AMAZON.

You can find Furioso and Furioso the Italian Wars in print and digital on our WEBSITE.



The book itself is a well produced ninety eight page perfect bound full colour title.  It contains an introduction, how to read game scales, orders of battle, rule sets to use, links and bibliography which are all well presented.  The meat of the book are the TWENTY full scenarios of historical battles beginning with Seminara 1495 through Ravenna 1512 up to Scannagalio in 1554.  Each scenario is either small or large based on history and features information on who and what happened and their forces as well as map and guide to armies for three different rule systems.  These are Impetus, Pike and Shotte and Furioso.  For Furioso you are told units and their sizes plus special notes.  This gets you to the table and then the game rules take over.


This title is an impressive piece of historical research by a fluent Italian speaker and is very easy to follow.  It has garnered excellent feedback from wargamers on those groups which deal with the Italian Wars.  Many of these members are customers of ours and players of Furioso.  Our own copy is now dog eared from use and will be referred to again and again.  It is well worth purchasing if you play this period as specialised resources such as this can be thin on the ground.  There are some spelling errors and a slight re-organisation of sections (attaching captain's value to scenarios) would be helpful but these are very minor detractors.

Our 16th Century Renaissance Range in 15mm scale features in Rodolpho’s book and while you can play Furioso in any scale from 28mm to 6mm it is our chosen scale to use  Over 150 poses as singles plus horses, buildings, ruins, encampments, tents, walls and historical characters such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Cesare Borgia.  We also have packs of bases for Furioso and army packs which come with free bases and all you need to field a sizable force.  One of the largest selections of 15mm Landsknechts on foot, mounted and artillery anywhere to be found.

If you have any questions we welcome them to sales@alternative-armies.com and we are happy to do our best to assist you.

Thank you for your attention.

Gavin Syme (GBS)

Thursday 22 February 2024

The Wizards Party returns 28mm painted by Studio Maxi

Now in production and as a valuer saver pack and single miniatures for the first time on the website we present our final Fantasy news of the month with the return of a classic Alternative Armies code the Wizards Party!

Originally released in the early 1990’s this pack has been asked for a lot and it is our pleasure give you the Star Wizard, the Laden Ogre, the Magical Youth and the Magician’s Donkey great for any system, collecting and dungeon crawl too.  Examples here painted by the talented Studio Maxi Costales.

FL11 Wizards Party is one of many codes in our Adventurers and Wizards 28mm Range.  It resides alongside Adventurers, Halflings, Assassins, Evil and much else.

Until 5th March the FM62R Giant Tick is free automatically in every shipped order from us as a gift.  We appreciate your hard earned spend with us.  See it above in the dungeon facing off what will likely be a fire ball!

The Wizard’s Party goes really well with the recently restored Jes Goodwin Dwarfs by Asgard Miniatures in the 1980’s.  

Thank you for your attention!