Hannibal vs Alpine tribes.

Last night Brian,Paul and I had another fast-paced and exciting game,based on Hannibal and his Carthaginian army trying to get through an Alpine pass,guarded by local tribes.Brian was Hannibal (although if you read on you will see his new name!) whilst Paul and I were in command of the tribes.

This is the scenario we based our battle plan around,very simple but sometimes the best.

An overall view of the table,with the Spaniards on the right high ground and Hannibal's army marching to their relief,while the Tribes gather on the left to attack them,keep an eye on the elephants,commanded by "Billius Smartius"

This shot shows Hannibal's column,being led by the "performing" elephants.Brian's plan was to hold the high ground where the Spanish were,and attack with his cavalry,elephants and heavy African infantry on our left,where  Paul was stationed,his Celts were to support the Spanish and try to hold out centre back.
Our plan was to  "mess" Brian about on his right whilst I, with most of our good troops,attacked the Spanish position.

CHARMING!! What a greeting,looks like such a nice chap too!

In this shot Brian (Billius Smartius) has launched his un-supported elephants against Paul's archers,who unleashed a rainstorm of arrows,which had his elephants "packing their trunks and trundling back to the jungle"
Not content with this humiliating reversal of elephant fortune,Brian reformed them and sent them in again,un-supported,into another rainstorm of arrows,causing them,once again to "meet one night in the silver light,on the road to Mandalay!!" -Oh how we laughed!

In the meantime some serious fighting was taking place all over the board.

My attack on Brian's Spanish central position,shown here,did not go well,he charged downhill and drove my tribes back,into their second line,compromising my whole position,however my tribes on the far right were doing well and pushing the Spanish back,forcing Brian to use his cavalry.

This photo shows my attack going in,which upset Brian's plan,I pushed onwards but was eventually pushed back by the cavalry,what a tussle this was proving to be.

This is a good overview of the table (and Paul's quite bright F1 tee-shirt) showing my central attack,which did very well,and Paul's "messing" tactics going well too-this was not to be the case later on ,as he was "smote" by Brian's heavy infantry!!

Brian launched his heavy cavalry against twice his number,was almost surrounded,and was beaten and driven back to the pond,however his remorseless advance by his infantry proved too much for Paul's tribes and they "melted away"

Brian has taken control of this sector of the battle field,his Spanish cavalry are driving me back,and his infantry are now on the plain,and cutting a swathe through my centre!!

My reserve tribe,on the far hill,came into play and steadied the position,I was also winning the central melee against the Carthaginian Celts,things were not looking too good for Hannibal!

This looks more like a "brawl" than a battle!!-hard work indeed,with both Brian and I putting more and more troops into the fray.
On our left flank,Paul moved his heavy cavalry behind the victorious Carthaginian infantry and beat them off the board! Things were now looking good for the tribes,and Brian knew it was only a matter of time before he was totally beaten,so we called it a night.

This was a great game,again,with lots of movement,colour,and devious moves.

On Sunday,Michael is coming down from Aberdeen to pick up some Figures that Graham has been painting for him ( he appears to have fully recovered from the Pigmentum Penicilus Virus,he was suffering from) and I have a "quirky" game planned,based around Napoleon's Egyptian campaign.

So,roll on Sunday.

Marlburian game 23.6.13.

Last night we had,once again a full complement of six players!!
The game I had chosen saw everyone who played,have an independent command,independent battle plan and objective,and it proved to be a real tussle.

This was the map with the general dispositions shown,the scenario was in the objectives set,and were basically to beat their opponent and if possible take their high ground.

This is the table layout,with the Spanish and North African troops on the left background,commanded by Graham,with the British commanded by Brian in the foreground.Richards troops are out of picture on the right (Bavarians) and Paul's French are shown in the background on the left too.

These are Richard's Bavarians,this was the first time he had commanded independently etc. etc. and he made a good job of it overall,although he did take a "bloody nose" in the first few moves!!

Have you ever seen such industry? Moving sticks and pens flashing like there's no tomorrow!!

Richard's Bavarians are on the move,towards the small Hamlet,and onto the high ground-Brian is moving his British to meet this threat.The Bavarians were fired on whilst still in column,and took fearful casualties,forcing them to retire-first blood to the British!!

On the far flank,Paul and Graham get stuck in! The fire-fight on this flank did not go well for Graham,and his first line had to retire,however he had ordered his second line,backed up by cavalry,into the fray,and the fight continued right up to the end of the game!!

Richard has calmed his troops down in this shot,and is trading blows with the British,a large cavalry force is descending on the centre,from both French and Spanish-this is going to be exciting!

Yes,here it comes-the inevitable cavalry clash! Initially Paul was pushed back,but a well placed second line gave him the advantage in the subsequent moves,and the Spanish were beaten eventually,but not before they audaciously and successfully charged the "stranded" Bavarian infantry regiment you can see in this photo!

With the Bavarians in all kinds of dis-array,and the cavalry battle swinging in the French direction,it was going to be touch and go as to who was going to win this game.

Silence descended on the garage,whilst the players wrote their last orders (we're not in a pub are we?) By the way,nice pose Dave!!

Graham's cavalry are on the back foot and his infantry are "knackered",but Brian has defeated the Bavarians and is about to take their high ground,so a draw was declared!!

This was a good game,which threw up some good points of discussion,and, I assume, was enjoyed by all,it was certainly good to watch as a referee (one of two for this game,as Dave was the other)

The three musketeers will probably play on Thursday,and then on next Sunday,Michael is coming down from Aberdeen for a visit and game.

Final photograph,showing Spanish being "smote" by the French!!

Refurbished figures

As well as painting some new figures I spent some time a while ago re-painting some old command figures (painted by Graham) which had become a bit faded and battered. I created a couple of command stands out of them, one of Napoleon and one of Blucher. Figures are Elite and Connoisseur, and the bases are big as these are army commands:

Indians vs Persians. Ancients battle 20.6.13.

Wargaming just doesn't get any better than this! With over 900 figures on the board,including light and heavy cavalry,light and heavy infantry,skirmishers,chariots,elephants and even some camels!!

Paul,Brian and I had a great game last night,pitching an Indian army against a Persian army,the game was in the balance until the very last move,we were all exhausted at the end!!

Here is a photo of the table before the game started,with the Indians (me) on the left and the Persians (Brian and Paul) on the right.You can see that the middle was dominated by two temples,and neatly split the Persian command in two!

We allocated fighting points to units,made out our battle plans,and started the game.With both sides eager to get to grips,both flanks moved aggressively forward.......

My left flank cavalry and chariots gave Paul a bit to think about during the opening moves,my chariots crashed into his front rank cavalry and caused some casualties,I then replaced them with cavalry,as Paul reeled away from them,this was epic stuff.Meanwhile my centre was advancing slowly,light inf. to the front backed up by Elephants and finally heavy infantry.Paul was biding his time,and sat on the high ground awaiting my attack.

On my right flank,facing Brian,I had made my skirmish troops "elite" status,hoping to wipe out Brian's skirmishers,then launch my Elephants at his infantry! Brian's troops took all my "elite" shooting like some kind of joke!!-making no impression I had no option but to send in the Elephants!!-that'll teach him!! However after their initial charge,the Elephants dropped to a lower fighting rating,and were sent packing!!

This shows the centre of the board,my chariots are about to charge Brian's,who has cunningly backed his up with mercenary Hoplites and Camels,would I be the match of him??

Paul can be seen trying to stem the flow of the victorious Indian cavalry,he used his horse archers to very good effect,using hit and run tactics-very annoying!! -the tactics not Paul!!

Meanwhile,on the other flank,my first line of Elephants are being beaten,will my morale on these ponderous beasties hold??- NO!! they took off at a rate of knots,luckily to their right,and off the board. You can see my second line ready to attack,I hope they do better.

My right flank again,in disarray,skirmishers trying to support the second wave of Elephants.

The centre! Brian,having sent my chariots packing has launched his Hoplites against my heavy inf. I thought I stood a good chance here-Stupid Boy!!
In the background the Elephants are making a mess of Paul's troops on the hill,however in susequent moves I was beaten and forced to retire,but my following heavy infantry took the place of the Elephants,and the fighting raged on!!

Paul's first line of cavalry are regrouping in the background,whilst his second line are making a good stand against my super-duper cavalry.

This shot shows my "high tide" mark in the centre,just before th Elephants were shoved back,Paul has replaced his front rankers with more efficient troops,and this caused me some consternation! What you can't see on the far right of this photo,is Brian's cavalry charging towards the flank of my advancing heavy inf!! this was to prove decisive in defeating my last line of attack in the centre.

This should be called a "Gloato Photo!" Paul,against all the odds,threw a 5 on his dice,whilst I threw a 2,and he won the cavalry melee on the hill-I couldn't beleieve it!! The "chuckle brothers" thought it was hilarious of course!This signalled the end of the Indian army,with this flank lost,and the right flank lost,and the centre in all kinds of bother,I had to capitulate!!

The last shot,the Indians had nothing left to shore up the defences,you can see Brian's magnificent move with his heavy cavalry hitting the flank of my advancing infantry!!

well ,this was a great game,played in very good spirit,correct use of troops and tactics,a credit to all three of us,apart from just a hint of a gloat from Laurel and Hardy!! you'll be sorry.

Roll on Sunday,probably a Marlburian game.

New Painting

I have managed to get a little bit of painting done in the last few weeks and have just finished a few command bases for my French Napoleonics. The figures are Perry Miniatures and here are a couple of photos:

 Both are Cuirassier Generals and I enjoyed doing them. I also refurbished a few old figures which I will post next time.

New Purchases

For some reason I lost the photo of the Hussar regiment that I bought in the previous post! So here it is.....

New Purchases

A couple of weeks ago I was very fortunate to pick up three Austrian cavalry regiments on Ebay for a very reasonable (low) price. They are three light cavalry regiments, a Hussar and 2 Chevau-leger, and were painted by Mac Warren. They are Elite miniatures and gloss varnished and remind me so much of the early Miniature Wargames magazines photos with Connoisseur figures painted by Mac Warren and Peter Gilder. I used to look at those photos and wish I owned such beautiful shiny figures, and now I do!

Falkirk Show

Press Complaints Commission

I am led to believe that there has been some adverse comments via the Press Complaints Commission regarding the publication of certain photographs which are causing domestic grief amongst the membership of the group.

For the record, non of the pictures were taken with long lens cameras, via satellite or images from drones ( although some present were droning on by the end of the night!).

The said persons are under no obligation to compensate (bribe) the reporter involved in the publication of such celebrity paparazzi snaps in order to cease being revealed............

 but it would help!!

Michael looking very pleased with himself ...............

captions please?

 OOOH! so this is what it feels like being away from the wife!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here John, our resident diarist, is compiling notes of infamous quotations and anecdotes which he assures us will be used in evidence one day.

Is Brian looking nervous?

 

 

The gloating twins Dave & Brian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian showing us all how to gloat correctly...   a definite triumphal pose

 

 

Finally , thanks to Dave's eagle eye for a bargain on E Bay I managed to buy this and another based Austrian 7YW battery for the princely sum of £13

 

 

  

Oh and did I mention recompense??

More back issue pics of games later this week .........