Macedonians v Persians

Well once again we have had a lull in activity on the blog. The summer holidays have meant that it has been a while since our last game. John is on holiday now so no games for another two weeks! We did have a very big 40mm game a couple of weeks ago ( SYW Prince August ), with over a thousand figures on the table, and Paul is promising to do a write up on it. Come on Paul!
Anyway I found these pictures of an Ancients battle we fought a few months ago. I had already posted some photos of the initial dispositions at the time and promised a write up but failed to deliver. So here is a very belated account, written from my perspective. Any inaccuracies are honest and purely due to my fuzzy memory!
The battle was between a Macedonian army led by Alexander (me) and his general Parmenio (Paul) and the Persians led by their Great King Darius (John). The photo above shows the initial dispositions. The main terrain features were a low ridge between the armies with a ruined temple at one end and, on the Macedonian right and Persian left, a slightly higher hill which seperated the enemies.
As i have said before a picture paints a thousand words so here goes a run down of the action.
The Macedonian left wing commanded by Parmenio. Alexanders plan was to seize the central wing and hold with his left wing while attacking the Persian left centre with his Companions and right wing phalanx.

The Persian centre infantry.

The Persian left wing cavalry. John would send this powerful force forward and half would swing out left to attempt to outflank the Macedonian right wing.

The Macedonian phalanx with Thracians screening.

The right wing cavalry. Two units of Companions led by Alexander himself (Red and Blue). My plan was to swing out wide as if to out flank the Persian right wing then direct these diagonally at the Persian left centre infantry while a unit of Hypaspists advanced rapidly to block Johns left wing cavalry.

The armies advance to contact. In the right bottom corner is the Hypaspist unit.

The Persian left wing advances on to the hill.

The centre left infantry. The target for my Companions.

On the centre ridge Parmenio has advanced quickly with his Agrianians and skirmishes with Scythian cavlary and Persian archers.

Darius throws in more cavalry and elephants to dislodge them while Parmenio advances with his Hypaspist unit on to the ridge.

The Hypaspists have successfully blocked two of Darius left wing cavalry units and the Companions wheel in to attack the Persian centre. This attack would break into the infantry with a fifty fifty chance (odds or evens). I had the Red Companions following the Blue in case they failed to break in.

Aview from the Persian lines. The other two Persian left wing cavalry units are off to the left out of picture having to avoid the palm grove on the hill.

On the Persian right wing the Greek mercenaries advance.

The fight for the ridge. The Agrianians are under severe pressure but they are doing there job tying up Persian troops and blunting the attack of the elephants.

Evens! The Blue Companions break into the Persian infantry.

A view of the action along the line. The Red Companions have wheeled away as they are not needed. In the centre Alexander has ridden to Parmenio's cavalry to lead them in exploiting the break through.

Macedonian peltasts engage the Persian centre as the phalanx moves up.

Alexander assumes command of the left wing cavalry.

Follow me! is Alexanders order. The cavalry are led by a third unit of Companions.

On the right a critical moment as the Persian left wing ouflanking cavalry threaten to charge into the exposed phalanx.

On the Macedonian left wing the phalanx advances to crush the Greek mercenaries.

The right wing Hypaspists are finall y defeated by the Persian cavalry. In the background the Blue Companions slaughter the Persian infantry.

A general view of the battle at the same point in time.

Darius despatches his Red Cataphracts to counter the Blue Companions.

On the ridge the Agrianians are finally overcome but the Persians are disordered and depleted.

Viewed from behind the Persian centre Alexander can be seen leading his cavalry to exploit his breakthrough.

The phalanx crashes into the Persian centre which wavers under the attack.

The Red Cataphracts advance to engage the Blue Companions who are still mopping up the Persian infantry while Alexander pushes through the gap with the Brown Companions in the foreground.

Alexander drops off the two units of Allied Greek cavalry to shore up the right wing and attack the disordered Persian cavalry while he leads his Brown Companions on his mission - to kill Darius!

The Persian left wing cavalry finally launches its attack and collides with the disordered Hypaspists. In the foreground the Greek cavalry charges the reforming Persian cavalry. In the background (by the dice!) the Red Companions prepare to snuff out the Persian flank attack.

The Macedonians hold the central ridge.

The left wing Macedonian phalanx coninues its advance. Part of the unit is slowed by the slopes of the ridge by the temple.

Darius (in his chariot) witnesses the destruction of his centre.

The high water mark of the Persian flank attack as the Macedonian cavalry close in on their flank and rear.

In the distance Darius can be seen as he turns his chariot and flees the battlefield.

Alexander leads his Companions after his quarry.

Darius executes a hand break turn in his chariot as his centre crumbles.

Darius and his body guard flee as Alexander approaches. The Persian infantry in the centre have melted away.

Darius leaves the field of battle.

A view of the battlefield at the end of the game. Parmenio can be seen with his Generals at right centre after his cool handling of the left wing in classic Parmenio style.

This was a hugely enjoyable game of the kind which remind you just why you wargame. It felt historically "right", it could have been won by either side, and all 3 of us had smiles on our faces (even Darius!) when it was finished. John must once again be credited with setting up (its a set up!) a nicely balanced game, as he almost invariably does. I just hope he doesn't mind the bias in my report! Once again thanks for looking and I hope it was enjoyable to read about a very very enjoyable game.

Napoleonic Battle

Firstly, apologies for the lack of posts in the last month, I have been very busy at work and have suffered from a bout of flu in the last 2 weeks. Well thats my excuses dealt with, I am not sure what John and Pauls are! Anyway I have little in the way of new games to report (as I have not been able to attend for a while) but I have been busy painting and progressing my Vauban fortifications. Hopefully I can post a couple of pics of this in the next week or so when our official photographer (Paul) is available. I have however been able to dig out the pics from the last game I participated in. This was a Napoleonic bash which gave me a second chance to get my Russians on the board and also a couple of new units from Grahams ever growing Austrian army.
The scenario was fairly straight forward, a village at one end of the table held by Austrians and attacked by a small but potent force of Russians (commanded by John). Reinforcements for the Russians would arrive at the opposite end of the table (commanded by myself) and Austrian reserves would arrive in the rear of the village (commanded by Graham). Paul would command the initial Austrian forces positioned in and around the village. Johns grenadiers prepare to assault the village supported by artillery.

The Austrian defenders.

Another view of the defenders. These troops are about to be assaulted by the Russian grenadiers.

Austrian cavalry stationed (lurking?) to the rear of the village.

A general view of the dispositions.

Looking torwards the village from where the Russian reinforcements will arrive.

Austrian reserves enter the table behind the village. These troops will advance to take up position in the open ground beyond the village.

The Russian grenadiers storm over the bridge into the village.

Looking up the table. The attacks on the village are pressed home while, in the distance the heads of the Russian reserve columns can be seen.

The Russian reserves advance towards the idiots, sorry the village (the village idiots?).

A view of the Russian columns.

The Austrian reserves, having advanced past the village, fall back (scuttle?) on seeing the Russian reserves.

The Russian attacks on the village fail and the commander requests additional troops from the reserves. I send him another 4 battalions for the meat grinder.

The Russians advance while the Austrians form their defensive line.

The Austrian defence in depth.

The Austrian high command, Paul (on the left) and Graham. The Russians I have sent to reinforce John can be seen beyond the bridge. They would arrive in time to throw back an audacious counter-attack from the village by Paul.

The Russians form up to counter the attack by Paul. Ahead of them can be seen the remants of Johns grenadiers.

Pauls attack is thrown back but it was a close run thing! The Austrians in the village were now a spent force and, although the Austrian reserves were presenting a solid front against the Russian right wing, their position became untenable with the loss of the village. A narrow and bloody victory to the Russians. At least thats my recollection of events! Hope you enjoyed the pictures and, as usual, any comments or suggestions are very welcome.

Modern battle

Somewhere in the Balkans

We occasionally enter the world of modern warfare and treat these games as tactical exercises which usually involve hidden forces awaiting the advance of the opposition.

The game involved the advance along the length of the board by David and Graham's troops. They had mechanised columns with some air support and were restricted by terrain to using only the bridges for the heavy armour. The terrain was rolling and a village dominated the exit from the first bridge, situated on the ridge above the river.

Surely this would just entail a simple deployment exercise from one end of the table across to exit over the second bridge? You'd think they were expecting trouble!

This is the view of the table from the exit position, the dominant village at the far end of the board with the approach route in the upper right corner.

No sign of any arriving troops, or anyone else for that matter!

Hold on ....  is that a farmer and his cattle north of the bridge?

  

The invading forces have arrived. The locals have been warned ..... flee and take what you can with you. The local taxi has obviously broken down, with no time to repair it, the owner has abandoned it.

APC's head an armoured column, fully alerted to any hostile motion.

Will this be another fruitless day?

The figures and vehicles are all plastic and are our usual minimal cost purchases from Pound shops and other bargain bags. (See £30 army blog).

A bit of imagination and a nice paint job (well done again John) works really well.

Once again movement is done with our usual measuring sticks and the game is covered by our usual rules base upon number of bases/points when firing multiplied by an average dice. (2,3,3,4,4,5).

We don't have complicated tank/aircraft rules as we prefer to resolve them by a simple roll to hit/miss followed by damage inflicted against a points value. Hit it hard enough and it is out of action! ............Simples

 

I will leave you at the point that Graham

 has sent his infantry across the river on

foot exploring the open fields, led

by his Officer.

Will that be wise?   BANG! 

He drops.... now his squad are stalled.

What to do ?

Note the Hit/miss dice. Sponge covered, hence no damage to paint ...

David has sent his APC and dismounted

infantry up the steep slopes from the river

as well as over the bridge to scout the village approaches.  Oh he'll never fall for the

exploding car booby trap will he?

An RPG missile takes out the lead APC.

In inauspicious start .......... game on!

To be continued    ............

Ready Painted Russians

Someone asked a while back to see some more of the Russians that I bought from Reinforcements By Post in Bangladesh. Well here are a few shots of them in a game we played last Sunday. Sorry for the slow response but this was the first time they had appeared on the table for a few months!

I bought 10 battalions, each of 24 figures, for the very reasonable sum of £314. This included the cost of the figures and postage and packaging.

The figures are Old Glory 2nd Edition. I think all in all I bagged myself a bargain. 240 nicely painted Napoleonic 25mm figures for about £1.30 each! On top of this the sevice from Neil was friendly and prompt and he even found time to email me about wargaming in general. I thoroughly recommend his ready painted units.

The Russian masses emerge from the woods in the game from last Sunday. I will post a few more photos from this game and give an account of the action, hopefully tomorrow.

£30 Wargame Productions

£30 Wargame Productions

The Battle of Calais 1365

(continued)

I left the English standing motionless on the higher ground, calmly awaiting the approach of their arch foes, the pride of France nobility.

They did not have long to wait! Preceded by deadly crossbow armed mercenaries, the heavily armoured foot knights begin their advance along with spearmen.

Menacingly, the mounted nobles, the French elite are standing their ground. They are not located in the centre as in earlier days. They are on the left wing and are faced by Henry's mounted arm.

(NB Note the new terrain boards)

The battle is joined on the right flank first.

The French, led by their covering crossbow men advance in numbers. Slowly they close upon the enemy and hope to swamp the fewer numbers of longbow armed archers. 

Spearmen from Normandie and Brittany advance (Dave, we had to get that one in!!  Brittany spears? Oh dear!)

The English loose huge volleys of arrows and decimate the advancing enemy.

Steel plate is no protection against this weapon. The targeted men at arms fall.

  

The battles clash on the right as the French centre and left wing infantry close to contact.

As men at arms clash an English knight John of Kent rides forth and issues a challenge to the French commander Guy De Lac.  Mortal combat will ensue and no quarter is expected.

Combatants draw apart, a halt as the cry goes out ....... their leaders offer combat to the death!

The battle is short and violent ...........  despite a ferocious attack and some telling blows upon the French champion, he cannot make up in effort for outright battle craft.  

 A deadly blow fells him!

Guy raises his arm and the French surge forward.  

The battle now rages all along the lines, both wings engaged as the infantry struggle for supremacy. 

Then the ground itself shakes beneath the hoofs of thousands of mounted knights.

This will decide the fate of Kings. Spears splinter against shields. Men fall never to rise.  

Despite fearsome losses to arrows Guy rallies his right wing and although fewer than the English, he inflicts a major set back upon them and they are pushed back over the hill. 

In the centre, a French battle aimed at the King's camp closes. Arrows fail to halt them and Henry's bodyguard march to match them. The fighting is bloody and the tired French are bundled back down the slopes, ushered on their way by move volleys of arrows.

Who will land the telling blow to seal a glorious victory?

Slowly the tide turns against the English on the flanks. The battles, after initial success as they roll down the slopes into the enemies, are held then beaten. Will the noblemen rescue honour for Louis?

Alas it is not to be ......  a rout !! Sauve qui peut!

The French pursue and the field is theirs.

All in all a great game and from starting at 19:10hrs we were all finished at 21:15hrs.

Time for a coffee, biscuits and recriminations..

ha ha. The dice throwing is everything.

Hope you are inspired to mooch in cheap shops and take advantage of some bargains. Happy gaming.

£30 Wargame Productions Present

The Battle of Calais 1365

An English army, intent upon invading France, has landed in Calais & sets up camp.

The French under Louis, respond by marching to Calais and set up their own camp, intent on driving the English under Henry, back to England.

...................................

The above scenario was the setting for our battle tonight as John and I fought this vivid period battle. The reference to the £30 in the title reflects the cost of the entire number of figures in both armies as well as the trees and camp tents.

We have used these figures at one of our local shows and it aptly demonstrates that our hobby need not be out of the reach of any one's pocket. We feel it is so important that we show that you don't have to have either small numbers of expensive metal figures or deep pockets to have a viable and visually stunning wargames battle.

The figures are readily available in pound shops and with a touch of paint and a base were ready for titanic clashes.

Both armies were facing each other and we knew there were no subtle manoeuvres going to happen this evening.

Longbows vs crossbow  ......  

spearmen and knights on foot .......  

nobles of the land on emblazoned horse.

The assembled French host (pic) moves in serried ranks

against their smaller in number yet deadly armed foes.

  

The battle commenced as the French 

army marched forwards,

their foes standing on 

their ridge, their camp defended

by those  fearsome 

archers.                        

                                   

Who prevailed?  .....................   to be continued