Battle of Colchester 61AD

I'm running out of superlatives to describe our games!! Last night we had an absolute "corker" of a game,based on the ficticious battle of Colchester,pitting Romans against Britons.

This is the scenario and initial troop dispositions,Brian commanded the 14th Legion,whilst Paul took the 9th and 20th,plus aux.inf. and the bolt-thrower in Colchester itself,I took command of all the Britons.
I understand that a few of our readers use these scenarios and maps to stage their own version of these games,and I take that as a great compliment-thank you!

This is a shot of the table before any movement,with Brian's forces in the foreground,he was protected by a hedge running from Colchester to the bridge,which made it impossible for me to use my chariots against him

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The lone auxilliary infantry unit,occupying Colchester,Paul was expecting an all out assault by me against this tiny force,however I opted to defeat his cohorts first then turn against them!!

This shot shows the first move-Brian is moving all of his cohorts away from his defensive position behind the hedge,to form another line further back!! I( and Paul) was expecting Brian to reinforce the Aux. inf. in Colchester,however he had a "cunning plan".The cavalry can be seen moving into charge range on the left flank-this was one hell of a tussle and lasted most of the game.

Action!! my warbands have contacted Brian's troops as they were forming up on the far side of the hedges,we both had successes and failures here,but at least I had stopped him moving to help Paul.

This shows the cavalry battle in full swing,after the initial clash (which I won) Brian held on and with some great dice throws managed to stop his troopers from running away,this was essential to stop me running riot in his rear(that doesn't sound right but you know what I mean!!)

On Paul's flank,the full fury of the British warbands was being un-leashed,with war cries resounding in the garage,the wild-eyed warriors descended on the hapless cohorts,devoid of support from Brian,for the time being,Paul was by himself!! Melee after melee ensued and I finally drove him back,but suffered losses which would tell later in the game-woe is me!!

Brian's back cohorts can be seen in this photo,marching to help poor Paul,who is fighting for his life,so Brian did have a "cunning plan" after all!! Brian's worry was that if my cavalry were victorious,I could get into a position behind him,and threaten the whole of the Roman forces.

This was crucial,I had to throw everything I had into the melee before Brian's reinforcements arrived,the clash of arms and the smell of fear(or was that last night's curry??) was everywhere,I had to break through to win the game,are the Gods with me?

Brian has defeated my warbands on the left,and has now sent even more cohorts through Colchester to support Paul,my cavalry have won their flank,and are now moving to threaten Brian's rear, but is it too late?

A final photo,my "knackered" warbands weren't strong enough to take on the fresh cohorts,but my cavalry was in a good position behind the Romans,so we decided that a Draw was a fair result!!
This was a great game,played with "dash" and good grace throughout,Roll on Sunday,when Paul will arrange a big Marlburian game.

A mention must be made of Allan of Lancashire Games,who,I believe, must be in league with the Devil!!-I ordered three packs of figures on Monday afternoon,and they arrived on Tuesday morning!!-how can he do that?? The devil's work obviously!!-well done Allan,great customer service,and jolly nice figures too!