The Painted Thumb

Well not 'cavemen' but specifically neolithic humans. Did they use armies?  When did organized warfare start and how organized were the soldiers?  What weapons did they have and for what reason would they fight wars? As a miniature gamer, I am interested in military history.  I found this interesting article on the interwebs and thought I'd repost it here.  It is a draft of an article by historian Arther Ferrill. It tries to start a discussion about some of this questions. It is a short read and I hope you enjoy it. Neolithic Warfare by Arther Ferrill

This is the first of five AAR's from the events I attended at MillenniumCon 2012 .  I was so glad to be able to spend the whole weekend at the con for a change. At previous conventions, I've had to leave early due to lack of funds or other obligations. For the Friday evening session, I attended the Star Navy game playtest game hosted by Desert Scribe .  I am always interested in a good spaceship combat game and the 5150: Star Navy rules provided a satisfying experience.  The game mechanics are very simple and based on the Two Hours Wargames 5150 rules which cover many different genres. The Scenario: Each player took a flotilla of ships which represented an independent faction. As rumor had it, a large, undefended convoy was en route to an asteroid field in deep space.  All four factions received the same intel and arrived at the asteroid field at exactly the same time.  The convoy however, was not as undefended as they had all hoped. The 'Treasure' Con...

Just wanted to post info on a few upcoming conventions happening in my area. GuadaComaCon 2012 , August 18, 2012 - This is a one-day convention in beautiful New Braunfels, Texas. Fellow blogger DesertScribe is the host for this mini-con. Events include a spaceship miniatures game hosted by DesertScribe ( see a previous game by the Scribe ), a homegrown fantasy minis game run by Hill Cantons , and Ed from Two Hour Wargames will run a ground based sci-fi minis called 5150: Star Army. FoWSA 2012 , September 15th, 2012 - A Flames of War tournament here in San Antonio. Hosted by Biff Coon. This is the seventh year for FoWSA and it has always had great attendance! Bring a 1500pt Mid or Late War army. First two rounds are shortened to just 750pts so a flexible army will do best. MillenniumCon 2012 , November 9-11, 2012- The Premier Miniature Wargame convention in Texas, held each year in Austin. Hosted by Lone Star Historical Miniatures . The events are varied across genre and game ...

Alternate rules for placing terrain in HotT from the "The Stronghold" The Stronghold Rebuilt: Random Terrain For HOTT : Introduction Basic ideas for this variant are freely nicked from the 5 th December draft of DBA 3.0. They allow variation in terrain ...

Critical Mass Games put together an incredible miniature table for the Salute 2012 convention in the UK. It is an alien swamp world for a 15mm skirmish game.  Please click the link below for the posting on the Alien Dungeon blog. I would have loved to use this map for my GURPS: Prime Directive game .  Alien Dungeon: Alien Swamps : I often marvel at the amazing terrain and miniatures that people produce that never gets the recognition that they deserve. Along those line...