Paul and I managed to snatch Victory from the jaws of Defeat last night in a thrilling 14 move Roman Civil War game,against Graham and Brian.
This is the scenario,Paul and I were the blue legion of Arsolius,whilst Graham and Brian were the red legion of Ludicrus.
This is how the table looked before any movement,the "testudos" could advance towards the walls without being shot at,could then form line and fight!!-a huge bonus to the reds,which they utilised to the full!!
Brian's flank starts to move towards my flank-I had "fixed" the fighting points of the attackers so that they had a very good chance of beating the wall defenders,but of course they then had to face fresh troops behind.
This is move number 3 of a 14 move(!) game,and all along the line the reds are attacking-could we hold out?-it was nip and tuck!!
Hell's Flames!! they are in,albeit just a couple of cohorts,but Paul and I had to now use our reserves,and Graham is "pressing" our left flank with a combination of cavalry and archers.
Paul is "firefighting" and rushing reinforcements to his left,as Graham is looking grim(so what's new?)-look at the reserve cohorts that the reds have!!!!(note: dead figures-more of them later)
Hurrah!! on my flank,Brian has been ejaculated!!! and is retiring(it's good being retired) to lick his wounds.However in the centre his Auxiliaries are doing grand work and have broken Paul's Auxiliaries-help!!! Graham looks distressed,or is he straining????
Paul is now under a lot of pressure,but has a cunning plan-Graham has failed to attack our far left flank,which has allowed Paul to get his cavalry to turn and will eventually charge Graham's disordered cohorts-another hurrah!!!
Brian's heroic attack against my weakened defenders has driven one cohort away from the wall,but as he climbed over,a well aimed shot from my bowmen,saw him take morale and flee!!-only another 4 cohorts to deal with!!!
In the centre,it looks like "Red Square"-luckily Paul's cavalry(just out of shot) are about to charge,and re-take the position-phew!!
Move number 12,and all along the line the weakened Red Cohorts are reeling from our onslaught-you can see that we are holding Grahams combination of cavalry and archers with just one cohort,in the gap,on our far left flank.
Brave little fellows!!-is it all over?-YES it is......................
One last push saw Brian's cohorts collapse,and the game was won,but not before casualties had been inflicted on the blue defenders..................
Oh dear! it's going to take more than an Elastoplast and a good doctor to fix him up!!!!
This was a tremendous game,thrilling and tense from the start,with both sides standing a good chance of winning-great stuff!!
As far as the "casualties" are concerned,I have been painting them up since I got them from Lancashire Games-here are a few shots.............
A couple of shots showing the figures painted and put on their bases,bought from York,just needing "flocking".
Flocked and ready to die for the Empire!!!!
All of the cohorts in the game were Prince August (cast your own) figures,whilst the cavalry and archers were Lancashire Games,as were the Red Auxiliaries,and of course the Testudos were from Warrior Miniatures.
Roll on Sunday, an English Civil War game,possibly fighting over the same terrain(??)
I love that first photograph of the table, it looks brilliant!
ReplyDeleteBut, my word, some of those casualty figures are a bit gruesome ... 'Those about to die will do so horribly!' :)
Hi Roy,I think i got a bit carried away with the red paint!!-thanks for comments,we had a great game.
Deletejohnc(william)
What a great looking game,,,,I've just bought the PA Roman and Celt moulds (they were having a buy 2 get one free offer) on the strength of your collection..... need to get casting. Black Tree do some very good Romans and have a 50% sale most Januarys, so I will top up from there in the new year.
ReplyDeleteHi Springinsfeld,we enjoyed the game,and I do like the PA Romans and Celts-they don't do any cavalry,but Lancashire Games cavalry are the right size to fit in,and you can easily convert one of the Roman figs to do as archers.
DeleteI feature in the PA "Gallery" if you want to see more of the Romans and Celts.
johnc(william)
Hi John...if you are interested, Black Tree have a 50% sale on their ancient figures at the moment (lasts about 2 days). The service is appalling but I can handle that when saving all that money. The Roman artillery is very nice.
DeleteHi Springinsfeld,Black Tree certainly do good deals but being a POP(poor old pensioner) I can't justify spending money which could best be spent on "Captain Morgan Rum!!"
Deletejohnc(william)
Ogrish casualties! Many years ago, my Nephew and I made some casualty figures for a Battlemasters type game. We used plasticene and made mostly prone figures. But soon we devolved into a contest of grotesqueries that would do a zombie movie proud, many brains and disjecta membra. Lots of fun and some odd stares from the adults....
ReplyDeleteHi Doug,nice to hear from you again-it is very easy to get carried away with "Ghoulishness" isn't it?
Deletekeep the comments coming,
johnc(william)