Romans vs Barbarians 19.5.13.

Tonight we (all of the famous five) fought an Ancients game,based on a Roman raid against a Barbarian Fort. The Romans,commanded by Graham and myself,had to take on a forward contingent of 3 warbands,cross a river,attack another small fort,and then attack the main fort. Brian commanded the forward units and some excellent cavalry,Paul commanded the smaller fort and 4 warbands,who could support him only after the fort was attacked,and Richard commanded 4 warbands in the main fort.

This shot shows the table layout,with the Romans in the foreground,and the forward Barbarian contingent,facing Graham's Auxilliary troops. Graham rolled forward and took on the warbands,who proved to be a pretty stubborn lot,and after 4 rounds of melee,when no victory was in sight,he threw in the cavalry,who tipped the balance in our favour-thrilling stuff!!

These are the Noble cavalry,lurking outside the fort,with Richard's warbands in side,and Paul's outside,waiting the order to advance.

The forward warbands are eventually beaten,by a combination of infantry and cavalry!! Graham could now reorganise his forces and advance,covering the left flank of the Legion-well that was the plan!!!

Go on Graham,drive all before you,nothing can stop you now ?????

My Legionaries have formed "Testudo" and are attacking the smaller fort,Paul's troops took exception to this,and stopped me in my tracks,however after a couple of good dice from me (can you believe that?) I prevailed and the fort was taken. All I had to do now was to reform,and join Graham in the middle and advance onto the main fort-Simples!!

The Roman lines are being formed,come on my soldiers advance onto triumph and glory!! Hello,whats this? a bold counter attack by massed warbands and noble cavalry,That's not in the script!!

The most photographed wargamer in the universe looks on as the Barbarians pile forward,eager to stop the Roman advance,this is going to be bloody! Richard looks tense!!

What a bloody mess! How did we ever get ourselves into a situation like this? We are being assailed along the whole front,melees being won and lost,warbands retiring,then cohorts retiring,the whole game hinged on my cohorts holding out against overwhelming numbers,and Paul's dice throwing-no contest then!!

How audacious! Paul has re-captured the smaller fort,and driven my cohorts back down the hill,woe is me,all is lost,where's Graham??

Graham is heading back to Rome,and so are my Cohorts,with the Barbarians winning all over the field,they were declared the winners! Just as well really,I couldn't stand to see Brian sobbing again!!

This was a well played game,and we all enjoyed it.Doesn't Richard look smart in his white shirt and stripey tie? From now on I am going to insist that we all  come smartly dressed to every game-it's all about standards you know!!

Roll on Thursday.

I bought a Dacian army from Lancashire Games at Falkirk,and have started painting them.This is the third unit under-coated and ready to go!

These are the two completed units,I actually enjoyed painting them,even though the weight of the shields made them a "bugger" to stick on.Brian gave me a tip which solved the problem,he advised "liquid nails,combined with super-glue- it worked a treat!!

A close-up showing the chieftain figure and the embossed shields,I must admit I'm quite pleased with them!

Any way Roll on Thursday,probably horse and musket,but who knows??