Last night saw the "Feisty Five" of Paul,Brian,Dave,Graham and I visiting sunny Spain for this very exciting and interesting "El Cid" game.
Top photo is scenario and bottom shows the table before any movement.Graham was Ali Ben Turpin,in charge of the Moorish infantry and Guard,Brian was in charge of the Moorish Cavalry,whilst Dave took command of the Spanish infantry and Paul commanded the Spanish cavalry-I sat this one out and took photo's and generally contributed nothing!!
The game started with a bang!! as Dave attacked the low hill,defended by Graham-this melee lasted 4 moves with neither side gaining and advantage,until Dave threw some amazing dice to drive the Moors off eventually-hurrah!!-In the background Brian is lining his cavalry up against Paul's(who had better fighting and morale points,but Brian's troops had javelins to throw before contact!!)
Doesn't that look nice??-not for long though....................
CRASH!!!-once again our rules prove their worth,even though Brian was fighting at -1 from his dice because he was fighting Heavier types,he had inflicted casualties with his javelins,so it came down to dice throwing,which didn't produce an immediate result for either side-great stuff-the melee swung backwards and forwards,for three moves!!
How about these two photo's for a study in concentration!!-this is in between moves,when we write our orders for each unit(using arrows etc.) to give them directions for the next move!
Dave has launched an attack in the centre,and is pushing Graham's troops back,but still Graham wouldn't send in his elite Guard units-is he mad???
Dave's Spanish have taken the hill and are surrounding the remaining Moorish infantry unit-Graham is in real trouble now-his centre is gone-where are the Guard???
Things are not going very well in the cavalry battle!-the Moors are being beaten,and driven back-oh dear!-however,what only Paul and I knew was that his Andalusian cavalry,posted on his far right flank,were "suspect" and that,on the throw of a 2 or a 5,they would leave the field of battle,once they were confronted by the Moorish cavalry-this was done,and only one unit fled!!
Brian is beaten in all sectors,Graham is being driven back on his camp-is it all over???
I think Brian's body language says it all-YES!!!! a magnificent win for "El Cid" and his Spanish army-well done to Paul and Dave-rumour has it that Graham is sending his Elite "Black Guard" to the Job Centre on Tuesday-because they are classed as Un-employed!!!!
A good game,well played,lots of banter and good humour-great wargaming.
Roll on Thursday-could be a 7YW game.
Last night saw the "Fab Four"(Paul,Brian,Graham and I) visiting sunny Spain for this great Marlburian battle.
The "Usual" scenario and table before any movement.Paul and I commanded the British and allies,Brian and Graham commanded the Spanish etc.-the scene was set for a great tactical and manoeuvering game.
We're off!!-this is taken from the Spanish side of the table,showing Brian's troops defending the village of Santa Martinez,against the determined attack by Paul's British and allied Prussians.
Graham is diligently writing his orders(which is an integral part of our games) to send his cavalry around the hill,upon which Santa Simone stands,Meanwhile in the centre and right,our troops are advancing to take on the Spanish-very sedate,and true to the period-this is how it should be!
On Paul's flank,all seems to be going well,he has driven the defending regiment out of the village,and is now reforming prior to mounting a massive attack,to take the village-hurrah!!
My British infantry are taking on the Spanish(who,it must be said ,had a much lower firing and morale score than mine) and are getting beaten!!!
Instead of an easy climb up the hill,Paul finds himself involved in a fire-fight!!-this wasn't in the script!!!!,however he did prevail and eventually took the village and secured the hill-another hurrah!!
Graham is looking smug(or is it wind?) and so he should-a craftily placed gun battery and two regiments of Irish are keeping my troops pinned down-my central infantry have been forced back,and I am moving my reserve infantry as fast as I can towards the doomed centre-this is not going well(!!)
A general(no pun intended!) view of the table at about move number 10-I am in all kinds of trouble,but Paul has achieved his objective,so it looks like a draw will be called for(and possibly rejected by Graham and Brian!!)
Move number 13(unlucky for us!!) and Brian is so confident that he has sat down to write his "memoirs". Graham is still putting me under pressure-it's all over!!
One final shot of my flank(or what is left of it!)-with me losing and Paul winning,an "official"(because I'm writing this blog) was declared!!-hurrah!
Another good game,it just seems to get better and better,so roll on Sunday,probably an "El Cid" game.
We have been reading some very favourable comments about our "Assaye" game on various blogs,including TMP and Big Andy's blog,so thank-you very much,we appreciate it-keep the comments coming.
I have now "sussed" out how to get my photo's-top is scenario and bottom is table before any movement.
Paul's Africans are in the foreground and Brian's Gauls and Spanish are in the background.
My Placentians manning the earthworks-a formidable obstacle to attack!!
This shows the initial skirmishing taking place in the woods between my horse archers and light cavalry,against Paul's Numidian cavalry(which he handled superbly throughout the whole game,using good "hit and run" tactics-the swine!!!)
Brian,as usual,lost no time in attacking the earthworks,softening my troops up first with some well-directed javelins and slings-this worked a treat and put me at a dis-advantage in the melee that followed!
My defenders are being hard-pressed by Brian's determined attack-at one point he broke in,was repulsed,and had the audacity to break in again!!!-great wargaming!!
With Brian and I fighting for our lives,Paul is "sedately" moving forward with the cream of the Carthaginians,including Elephants,taking their time(or to put it another way-fighting to the last of Brian's troops!!!)
With encouraging words(mainly four-lettered!) from Brian,Paul has at last almost made contact with the defenders-no need to hurry,Paul,plenty of time!!!!
At last!!-the Africans have arrived-and what an arrival-I was hard-pushed to keep them out for the first round of melee,but the Elephants had been allowed to pull the defences down,if they could make contact-and of course they did!!! Would this open the flood gates????
YES!!! they did-being attacked on all sides now,and the earthworks breached,I was doomed!!
The end is nigh!-even with me putting in my last reserves and weakened troops,I stood no chance against the fierce onslaught of the combined might of Paul and Brian!!
Last shot,showing a relieved Brian,and the sorry state of my "army"-well done lads,another fantastic game.
Brian brought along his latest painting job,and purchases(from Crusader Miniatures)
Two shots of, one of three,Universal Carriers that Brian has-a fantastic paint job-really impressive.
This shows the 24 figures that were in the pack-very fine detail,wonderful little models.
Look at that detail-Brian will probably have them finished by now!!!!
Roll on Thursday-possibly a Marlburian game.
The "thrifty three" had yet another cracking game last night,working around an "incident" involving Hadrubal Barca against the inhabitants of the town of Placentia in Northen Italy.
I can't get this bloody computer to access the photo's I took last night,so I'll just have to wait until my I.T, Support Team(aka Son!!) is available,to help me out!!
Brian and I have been painting like mad lately,and these are the results.
Two shots of Brian's Tiger Tank from Warlords Games-the detail is wonderful,as is the paint job! To give the tank a bit of weight and stability,Brian has inserted 2 metal horses in the chasis!!-now that's what I would call "horse power!!"
German Paratroopers flank the Tiger-again from Warlords Games-the painting and basing is "cracking".
Brian is also painting up some British,all based around the D-day Landings.He has,on his painting table,3 "Universal Carriers" and 3 Cromwell tanks!!-he's going beserk!!
My Priests etc. and the first unit of Vikings are finished-a colourful lot!!
Priest and Bishop outside a "scratch-built" Saxon Church-at Falkirk,I scoured the hall looking for a Saxon Church,and was offered a one from Colonel Bill,for £109!!(MDF,and I would have to build it myself!!) so I got home,found 4 bits of wood and glued them together to make this.....
It must be good,they're all queuing up to get in!!!!
Two shots of my first Viking unit-I enjoyed painting them,and did them quite quickly(as you can see!!)
A local "Train" shop has started selling a few bits and pieces for Wargamers,including some Vacuum formed terrain pieces-I bought this one,which I think will be able to be used in a number of Scenarios and periods.............
Amera is a local company,based in Prudhoe,and the price is right too!!!-they do a good range of pieces,including bridges,tents,hangers etc-worth checking out!
