Yes,I've been at it again,playing with myself in the garage,but messing with Romans and Barbarians this time.
The game I had was probably the fastest,most exciting,and tense Ancients game I've had for a while(and I've had some cracking games lately!).
As per the 7YW solo games I made some cards for each Barbarian unit,laid them on the terrain,turned them over,replaced cards with figures,then had to make a battle plan for the Romans to beat the Barbarians-again this was a very interesting part of the whole process of solo gaming.
Part one of the process-lay the cards randomly onto the terrain,where I thought a Barbarian commander would want troops.
Parts two and three of the process-mark the Barbarian dispositions onto the map,then think of a battle plan for the Romans,and put their dispositions onto the map.
Part four of the process-put all the figures onto the board in their pre-marked positions!
Part five is the good bit-actually playing the game!!
The first move saw the whole of a section of infantry warbands and cavalry come whooping and hollering at the Roman lines-luckily I had some cavalry exactly where they were needed and intercepted this charge.
On my far left flank 4 warbands refused to move,giving me time to readjust my Aux.infantry stationed there.
My right flank auxiliaries are being attacked here,I managed to hold this flank,which is more than can be said for the other flank!!
The central warbands and chariots have decided to join in the fun,and my whole line is under attack,as is my left flank(I really don't want to talk about the left flank!!)-Note Blue pins behind the Roman cohorts to show that they haven't thrown their Pila,and the Red pins to show which units are at minus one from their dice due to bad morale.
My left flank was a disaster!!-lost every round of melee,officer got killed and the whole of the flank took off back to Rome!-this reversal forced me to turn a couple of cohorts to meet the threat,and this was enough-phew!!
Nearly all of the central Barbarian troops are beaten and have retired(run away!!) leaving the Roman cohorts victorious(happy and glorious!)
As I said in the beginning of this blog,this was a great game,and with a little "tweaking" of the rules I have come up with a great way to fill in times when Paul,Brian or Dave are not available-talking of which,half way through this game Dave 'phoned and said he would be available for a game on Sunday-hurrah!
So,roll on Sunday.
There are good and bad things about Solo Wargaming-the good thing is you have as much time as you like to play the game,formulate plans etc. etc.-the bad thing is when your wife tells someone on the 'phone that "He's in the garage playing with himself!!"-I despair!!!!!
However,a while ago I put together some rules for solo games,eliminating any book-keeping,so as I haven't any games planned for this week,I decided to have a couple of games.
I used my 7YW figures,the Prussians would be attacking and the Russians defending,over the same terrain for both games.
I made cards out for each Russian unit,placed them face down on the terrain,and then turned them over,and replaced them with figures,after "adjusting" them for historical dispositions(ie you wouldn't get cavalry forming up in front of a battery,etc. etc.) I then had the very interesting task of coming up with a Prussian battle plan,the objective of both games was to capture the two villages on the maps.
Game number one-The Russians were strong everywhere except their right flank,so my plan was to attack that flank,whilst holding the centre,but also to "demonstrate" against the right hand village.
My attack begins in the centre,whilst my left flank troops advance on the Russian right-because I have developed my solo rules with a very"vicious" morale section,I lost a unit of cuirassiers,and the Russians a gun battery,in the first move!!
I have stormed the gap between the Village (A) and the Russian right flank-the red pin behind the Prussian unit on the left denotes that it is at -1 from the dice for the rest of the game after failing a morale test.
The centre is denuded of Russian troops,I have captured the right of the Russian position,the only slight problem is the small village......
A combination of Hanoverians and Horse Artillery sorted that out!!!
This game was really interesting,and fun-using hit/miss dice for artillery,and then throwing a 4 or 5 to get the enemy troops to take morale(the same for muskets and melee) was so unpredictable,and frustrating at the same time-great stuff!!
The second game saw a different Russian set up,with the cards being laid as before,and once again I had to come up with a battle plan to beat them.
The second game saw the Russians strong everywhere except the central village,so I decided to attack it obliquely with my infantry,protecting their right with masses of heavy cavalry-this worked a treat-my howitzer set the village on fire and forced the gun battery sheltering there to "retire"
The Russians mounted an attack on my horse battery facing the small village,but I managed to beat them off.
On the far left flank,I hadn't intended to get my troops involved but an attack by the Russians stationed there,forced me to use them-to good effect it has to be said!
This shows my main attack starting,moving towards the central village.
Village captured,and Hanoverians making "mincemeat" of the Austrian troops placed to protect it.
Russian Dragoons stationed in the small village,mount an attack against my right flank,but are seen off in grand style(however it must be pointed out that they did manage to destroy my horse artillery battery in the process!!)
My left flank is quickly being secured,and a mass brawl of a cavalry battle in the centre,which went on for 4 moves,has been decided by most of the Russian heavy cavalry going "off" as per the vicious morale rules.........
The mass cavalry battle in progress-what a tremendous melee this was!!-however once the Russians had disappeared,the infantry line was in real danger..........
As you can see!!-this was thrilling stuff,and just goes to show that "playing with yourself" can be fun(!!!!)
I don't know if I will be playing on Sunday yet-if not,then another Solo game will be played.
Last night's game was a frantic,fast moving and colouful affair,leaving both Paul and I wanting more,however Paul is flying off to Crete on Tuesday,so we'll have to wait!!
Because the action was so swift,I didn't take as many photo's as usual,but here are a few to whet the appetite!
My central Princepes advance against Paul's citizen spearmen,whilst on the left both sets of heavy cavalry advance-what a clash this is going to be!!
My right flank Hastati are just about to get to grips with the Numidians on Paul's left-this should have been a walk over,but of course you always have to factor- in Paul's dice throwing!!-and ,true to form, the horrible little Numidian light troops gave the Romans a good old fashioned "hammering!!"(for the first round only though!)
On the very far left,my Triarii are facing exactly equal points-this will go down to good luck and good dice throwing-so in other words I stand no chance!!-however,Paul's dice throwing let him down and I eventually won this flank-Hurrah!!
As if "scripted" by the Gods,as the central lines clashed,an almighty streak of lightning,followed by an almighty crash of thunder,rocked the garage!!-compare the light from the garage door in this shot ,to the light in photo number two!!
However,after the initial shock,we fought on and hardly cried at all!!
My troops were magnificent in this and subsequent melees,and drove the Carthaginians back almost to the camp gates-another hurrah!!
On my right,things are not going so well,the Numidians have driven back my first line of Hastati,compelling me to exchange lines and use my second line-the cavalry battle in the foreground went on for 6 moves-thrilling stuff!(and look how dark it is outside!)
As the rain lashed down and the thunderstorm continued,the game was played out-this shows both side's Numidian cavalry getting involved-in the background Paul has replaced his Numidian light infantry with heavy Spanish types-oh hell!(look at the lightning outside the window!!)
On my right,the battle continues,through some bad dice by Paul,and some unusually good dice from me,I am winning and pushing the Carthaginians back,but slowly.
It's all but over,Paul has sent in his camp guard(sacred band) but even they couldn't stem the Roman tide-another hurrah!!
Hannibal has mounted his remaining Elephant(no smutty jokes please!!) and is about to go and take some poison!!
This was another good and exciting game,with everything you would expect from an Ancients game-well played Paul,and have a great holiday.
Seeing as Sunday's game will be Paul's last game for a couple of weeks(he's going to Crete to help solve the Greek debt crisis by giving them some Euros!!) I thought I might give him a preview of what he can expect ........
No comment is needed on these two photo's,except that the Romans(me!) are on the left of the screen.
The Hastati,all bunched together on my right flank.
My Princepes,bunched together in the centre,facing Hannibal's citizen spearmen.My Princepes are backed up by 3 units of Triarii.
My far left flank,consisting of 3 units Triarii,and a light cavalry unit,facing the dreaded African infantry,armed in Roman fashion.
This is Paul's left flank consisting of Numidian light troops backed up with 2 Spanish infantry.
Paul's central Citizen Spearmen supported by Spaniards,with Spanish cavalry on the right.
The Man himself,directing operations from inside the camp!!
Finally,a shot down the table,taken from my right flank-doesn't it look grand?
Roll on Sunday-Brian won't be coming along,as he's not too well at the moment-get well soon mate!!
Our colonial games tend to be fast moving,colourful and damned exciting!-last night's game was all of those things-Paul was the Khalifa,and I was the "Sirdar"(Lord Kitchener)
The scenario and table before any movement.
My plan was for the Egyptians to thwart the Dervish cavalry and bombard the town prior to the infantry moving in to capture it at the point of the bayonet!
The task force was to isolate the Fort,and the main attack was to drive the Dervish rifles away from the front of the Town and then concentrate their fire on the inevitable Haddendowah attack!!
Three shots of Paul's troops-first his cavalry(which were wiped out by the Egyptian lancers!),his defenders of the Town(which came out of their defensive positions and beat the "crap" out of the Northumberland Fusiliers and the Seaforth Highlanders!!The last photo is my newly painted Perry musicians group,but the question must be asked-how did that horse get up into the tower??
The top photo shows my British contingent disembarking from the barges,and forming a firing line-however I got too involved in taking the defences with two regiments,and suffered the consequences later on.The bottom photo shows my Egyptians also forming a fine line c/w gatling and artillery-hurrah!!
My Seaforths have driven a group of Dervish back,but are being attacked from the flank by another group-I was too impatient,and should have waited for the Egyptians(on the right) to support me-the Scots were driven back and wiped out-woe is me(and them!!)
My Lancers,in grand style,are driving back the Dervish Baggara cavalry-however Paul has backed them up with a couple of units of Haddendowah infantry,and they drove me back-I then threw some lucky dice and eventually won the melee on the third round-"phew" tense stuff!
The action in front of the town is hotting up-you can just see the first elements of Haddendowah infantry sneaking their way through the palms to attack the rear of the British line!!
The "Task Force" was knocking hell out of the main Haddendowah attack on the left flank,using a combination of artillery fire and volley fire,but weight of numbers and "fanatical zeal" was going to prove too much-double woe is me!!
Oh dear,the Notts regiment seem to be in a spot of bother,as Paul has launched his "Black Death" against them-this was the rear of the British line,so all is lost me thinks!!
Keeping up the momentum of his attacks,it is now the turn of the Egyptians to face the "Black Death"-although one unit of Egyptians did manage to get into the Town-hurrah!! but they were eventually wiped out-Boo!!
Things were not looking good for the British(understatement of the year?)
That's it!!-the end of the game,and we both were exhausted,but elated at the same time-Paul because he had won,me because the game was successful!!
Roll on Sunday,hopefully Brian will join us(he has been moving house) and possibly Dave(he has been working shifts) for another exciting game.
Next month's "Wargames Illustrated" carries a report on the Carronade Show,and we are hopeful that a photograph or two of our game will be featured.
All of the figures used in this game were from Warrior Miniatures(a lot of them "modified") except a few from Irregular and Perry.
The building are solid blocks of wood "chisselled" out to represent doors,windows and stairs,the "palms" are from a local pet store(exotic fish department!)
