Solo games for two,part two!

 Today Paul and I had a terrific battle,as per previous blog.We both surveyed the table,took stock of what troops we had,and off we went!!

Both sides advancing,Paul(with the most photographed hands in the world!) attacked immediately with his scythed chariots and elephants,with highs and lows against the phalanx-the light skirmishers both did sterling work too.

The companion cavalry did well against the Persian cavalry,mainly because the had a plus two onto their dice-however it was "nip and tuck" for a few of the melees.

On the other flank,things were not going too well,despite the plus two advantage!!

The lonely elephant is holding up my phalanx advance-we'll have to sort that out!-and we did-hurrah!

Paul has moved his mercenary Greeks over to protect the Temple,whilst I am organising my lines.

My phalanx is organised,and Paul has sent his Cardaces infantry in against them.We had the phalanx at plus two onto their dice,and you would think that the phalanx would just roll over the lighter armed Persians-not so!!-this was the best part of the game,and the phalanx nearly came unstuck!!!

The last hope for the Persians-Paul charged the Companion cavalry with last of his reserves-Greek mercenaries-they inflicted massive casualties on the Companions,but in the end they were beaten-another hurrah,and had to retire(its good being retired!)

This was a good tactical game,and could have gone either way-well done to us both.Next week I am planning an American Civil War game.

Solo games for two!!

 Paul and I have been having a couple of games on a wednesday mornings,using my "pom-pom" rules,so far we have been playing only ancients but hopefully we can get to other periods over the next few weeks.

This week we are playing a Macedonian vs Persian game,with Alexander's army having to "re-claim" a temple dedicated to Zeus,which the Persians have desicrated!

This is the table set up,Macedonians on the left,Paul has decided that he would command the Persians.

This is the Temple,that the game is centered around.

The persian army-very colourful,and includes scythed chariots,elephants and mercenary greeks,and lots of cavalry.

The Macedonian army.with Alexander on the small hill-will he lead his companion cavalry forward himself??(no chance!!)

I have been painting two WW1 armies-German and British,and intend playing the very early part of this horrendous war-because I am stretching the limits of history, I am calling it World War John!! If finances permit I might get a French army,just to bring a sense of historical reality into my games.

Both armies,Infantry and machine guns-ignore the Tanks(a moment of madness!!)

Cavalry and artillery.I am having a bit of trouble deciding rules for ranges and movement,but should be up and running soon.

Battle of "Kalistra River" 218BC.

I have been trying out my new armies(aren't Elephants a bugger?) and had this very interesting battle/game.Both Roman and Carthaginians are approaching the river Kalistra,hoping to force a crossing-the photo's tell the story.................

 Bottom photo shows the terrain,before that the two armies facing each other!

Top photo shows "nearly there!" bottom shows the first clash,both sides suffered casualties from pilum and impetus.

Bloody Elephants!!!!

Top photo shows both first lines retiring(it's good being retired!) to reform behind the second line. Middle photo shows the second lines engaging-a real dice tussle followed... bottom photo shows the Romans breaking the Carthaginian line,so all was lost,and the Romans claimed a well deserved victory.

We will be playing tonight(Sunday 9th)-an English Civil War game-report will follow!

A most excellent game.

As per my last blog,I played the Battle of the Sambre,using my newly completed Romans and Gauls,and what an absorbing game it turned out to be.

The game begins-the Nervii facing the 7th and 12th legions on the Roman right,the Viromandui facing the 8th and 11th in the centre and the Atrebartes facing the 9th and 10th legions on the Roman left.-as can be seen in the bottom photo, the legions were still trying to organise themselves as the Gauls were just about to hit them!!

Top photo shows the "clash" along the whole Roman line,bottom photo shows a cohort of the 7th legion on the verge of being wiped out!!-The Romans have thrown their pila inflicting a pom pom on each tribe that has contacted,putting them at a minus one from, the dice ,but despite that the Gauls threw magnificent dice,and more than held their own.

Top photo shows the hard fought melee on the Roman right,the 7th are fighting for their lives,but the 12th(boo hiss!!) refused to move to help their comrades,the bottom photo shows the 8th and 11th having a real tussle!

On the Roman left the 9th and 10th are being hard pressed,but gallic casualties are mounting and soon gaps in their lines would appear!!

A general view of the table-the Romans are now getting their act together,and one or two Gallic warbands have had enough and are streaming back over the river.

Same general view from the bottom end of the table-look at the 12th Legion-still refusing to move from their hill-top!!!

The "rot" begins-the 9th and 10th have sent the Atrebates packing,and the 8th and 11th have done the same to the Viromandui in the centre,however the 7th is still being roughly handled by the Nervii,and still the bloody 12th won't go their help!!-decimation looms!!!!

A general view showing the tribes flowing back,in numbers, to the river-too many casualties! The Legions are also suffering casualties-the 7th has been wiped out to a man,but the 8th is moving onto the Nervii flank and they to must see the end is in sight!

The Roman legions are now totally re-organised and the chase begins(look at those lines!)

Oh,now the 12th moves down the hill to join in the "fun"-too late my friends-I feel a nasty shock awaits you in Rome- the figures at the back are the Roman casualties-7 units,against the Gallic casualties of 17 units(plus the whole army!!)

An absolutely cracking game,and an historically correct outcome-roll on more games like this.

 

The Sambre 57BC

I have at last finished my 15mm Imperial Roman army,and have added some more Gauls to face them!-I intend refighting the battle of the Sambre (57BC) using the new armies instead of the Caesarian legions as per history..................

Top photo shows my "inspiration" from the book by Charles Grant,The Ancient Wargame,bottom photo shows the terrain and table layout I will be using-the Roman forts were under construction when the battle began.

This shows the Legions in a dispersed manner,constructing the forts.

The signal for the tribes to attack has been given-the game will begin,probably tonight,and a full report(move by move?) will follow.I will,of course, be using my Globally acclaimed "Red Pom-Pom Rules!"-really looking forward to it.

 

Battle of Fort Dexter 21AD.

On Sunday night Dave,Graham,Brian and I had a 15mm Roman vs Barbarians game using my "solo" rules...................

Terrain map and table layout-all Roman figures are from Warrior Miniatures,all Barbarian figures are from Lancashire Games.

Detail of the Gallic Chariots-Graham commanded the Gauls,Brian commanded the Germans and Dave and I shared command of the Romans.

Both Barbarian commanders begin their attacks,using chariots and light cavalry to "soften" up the Legions and cavalry.

The Roman line stands firm-Graham has used his chariots only to begin his attack,and the warbands(as you can see) are still on the hill,awaiting the outcome of the chariot's skirmishing.

Then,CRASH!! the warbands hit the Roman line and all hell was let loose-the blue "pom-poms" denote the cohorts haven't thrown their pila-but when they did the Gauls didn't like it one little bit!!

Brian's Germans are now making their presence felt against an Aux. Legion-I had blunted his attacking power by using my Cavalry very aggressively,tying up half of his warbands-however the remainder were quite effective,being used in a dense (wedge) formation.

Top photo shows the result of the Gauls carnage-Graham was virtually wiped out! bottom photo is the view from the Roman side of the board-the Germans were doing well,but their flank was in real danger(Roman Legions now free to harass them at will)-so a solid Roman victory-hurrah!!

Because I have only used these rules playing solo games a few "anomalies" crept into the game,which I noted,and if we use these rules again,I will have to implement some changes,but altogether a good game,and enjoyed by us all.

Now an "intriguing" photograph-I was passing a high class furniture store(Barker and Stonehouse) yesterday,and saw this chair in their window-what I want to know is "why would anyone want a pair of stirrups on a chair-what possible use could they have???"

YEE-HAR_ride 'em Cowboy!!!