Egypt 47BC.

Last night the "4 Tops" donned our swords and sandals and fought a very close and exciting game pitting Romans against Egyptians.

Top photo is the scenario,bottom is the table as the "boys" saw it on arrival!

Brian,in charge of the 10th Legion(Caesar's favourite) advances against the Egyptian centre commanded by me.

Graham,commanding the 7th Legion is pushing against Paul's right flank-and getting a bloody nose for it!!! However, the Romans are moving around the clump of Palms and will out-flank Paul if he isn't careful-grand tactics and wargaming.

Graham has now switched his attack against Paul's elite infantry,and is paying the price(for the time being!!)-all seems to be going "swimmingly" for the Egyptians-you just know what is going to happen don't you?

After an initial good start,Brian is throwing some devastating dice,and my line is crumbling before my eyes!! But what of my Left flank ?????

It was now my turn to throw some awesome dice,stopping Brian's troops in their little plastic tracks-hurrah!!!(but his second line is now advancing to support his first-oh dear!)

Now my left is crumbling,along with my centre-now I do like a crumble,but normally with custard,not blood and guts!!!-all looks lost!-come on Paul..............................

Paul is having mixed fortunes on his flank,but some excellent work with his skirmishers and chariots are playing havoc with the Romans-another hurrah!!

Caught in the flank with archery fire,and his rear threatened,Graham decided to retire (it's good being retired!) his whole Legion and reform it-good,and wise move!

Even with me putting my low-rated reserve into the fray,it was only a matter of time before the centre was in Roman hands,Graham's Legion,now reformed,attacked Paul with renewed vigour,and forced him back-things are not looking good!!

I thought the "Chuckle Brothers" were no more!!-this is a general shot down the table showing the sorry state of the Egyptians-however in a last show of defiance,we "pee'd and poo'd" in the oasis just to annoy the Romans!!
Second game of the year,and all is going well-long may it continue.

WW2 Painting update part 2

I have now completed the Africa Corps armour.

Three PzKw Mk IIIs, one PzKw MkIV and a lovely model of a Sdfz 222.

WW2 painting update

I thought it was time to paint some support for Dave's Italian desert force.

These are intended to be very early Africa Corps armour for our planned North African games

Not finished yet but will be shortly....

Lovely models from Blitzkrieg Miniatures

ECW Solo project.

I've been at it again-playing with myself in the garage!! Having painted all the 15mm figures I got from Santa (ie Wife/Daughter/Sister) I have fought another battle in what I hope will be a series of battles in and around the county/town/village of Brockwell.

These are the Xmas figures-48 cavalry,4 guns and 20 crew, and some command figures-all from Warrior Miniatures (he even threw in some "extras" in the form of a lovely little cart,2 "dubious" women and a preacher!-the figures were wrapped in Xmas paper too-what a guy!!)

This is the scenario and terrain map that I used for the battle.
I have given up (for the time being?) my Kallistra hex terrain,as a bad job-unless the table is as flat as a pancake(and mine isn't!) the bloody pieces don't fit snugly and the plastic fasteners keep "plinging" off all over the place!,so I have used a green mat that I bought from Aldi,for a couple of pence, chalked on the roads and river,and the result is as follows.........................

Doesn't look too bad,with a few bits of terrain  it will look even better................................

Rudimentary,but effective,I think,now for the armies........................................

Parliamentarians in the foreground,with the Royalists waiting for them in the background!
It was obvious,to me, from my last game that I needed lots more cavalry and guns,so thanks to the chap with the long white beard,I have all I need for some good games.
I will give a detailed report on the actual game later on in the week,or early next week.

The Pass of Apollo 210BC

For our first game of 2020 we staged a Carthaginian vs Romans game last night.Brian is still poorly(get well soon matey!) and Dave is being kept captive by a Japanese Warlord somewhere in Sunderland! so it was up to Paul,Graham and I to have what turned out to be a real classic!

Top photo is the scenario,bottom is the table before any movement.-Paul was Hannibal,Graham and I were the Roman generals.Paul had two "hidden" Numidian light cavalry units,which he placed (although we didn't know it!) one behind the temple and the other in the woods to the right.When he "exposed" them(now,now!) they did devastating work.

It has to be said that Graham was a bit "tardy" moving his legion forward of the protecting hill on his right flank-no amount of cajoling or attacks by Paul's Spanish javelinmen could make him move forward,MEANWHILE........................................

On my flank,all hell has broken loose!-as I was forming my lines,Paul launched his Celts against me,so to "blunt" the attack I threw (unwisely!) my cavalry at him,only to be beaten-woe is me!!!-never mind my three lines are formed and raring to go.

Getting tired of waiting for Graham to advance,Paul is marching his heavy Africans and Spanish troops through his Elephant line-oh dear,Graham will have to react now-hurrah!!

Spurred(sorry about the pun!) into action,Graham's heavy cavalry are taking on the Celtic cavalry,in the central pass-this was thrilling stuff,and the melee swirled this way and that for a couple of moves before the Celts were victorious.In the background you can see that Graham's legion is now engaged,and he is winning-another hurrah!!

This shot shows the state of play at around move number 7-all action!-Graham is looking pensive!

On my flank,the Hastati have been replaced by the Princepes,and my Triarii are marching into the central pass to try and stem the Carthaginian flow-this is tense stuff!!-Where are the Elephants??

My Triarii are now in position,holding the gap like heroes!-Paul is facing them off with his Carthaginian Heavy cavalry-these charged in and messed my troops about something rotten!!!
That line of Elephants looks ominous-he wouldn't,would he??

YES!!-I suppose there are worse ways to die than being trampled by 3 tons of pachiderm,but at the moment I can't think of one!!
In the background Graham is making real headway against Paul's troops,but the Elephant "tsunami" has made his flank insecure-woe is us!

A general view of the table at about move number 10,just before Paul let his Elephant line loose against my triarii-the whole table is alight with fighting-marvelous stuff.

Back in "sync" now,my legion has "shot it's bolt" and the Carthaginians have control of the central pass,and Graham's legion has been stopped in it's tracks-so we can't get to the table edge and claim a victory-this was on move number 14!!
What a great start to 2020,well done to us all,and roll on next week!

Battle of Westwood Junction 1879.

This morning Paul and I had an exciting and colourful game involving US Cavalry against Indians(Sioux and Cheyenne).Brian is poorly,and Dave and Graham are still sunning themselves in foreign lands!

Top is scenario,bottom is table before any movement.I commanded the Indians,Paul the cavalry and civilian workforce!

Action!!-this was designed as a "knockabout" game,and certainly lived up to that title!
This shows my attack on the worker's camp-I took a bit of stick coming into contact,but so did the workers!

Top photo shows my advance on the "junction"-the cavalry had a longer range than my Indians,so I took some casualties! Bottom photo shows my slow progress through the woods-Paul's reinforcements are not showing themselves yet,as he threw a 4 on the dice,indicating that they would come onto the board on move 4!!!(clever stuff eh??)

My attack on the "junction" is progressing quite well,and I am holding my own(!!) against Paul's defenders-still no sign of the reinforcements.

The attack on the junction continues,as my Sioux burst forth from the woods-just as the reinforcements arrive and set up a firing line and the gatling gun-oh dear!!

Oh dear indeed!! a combination of rifle and gatling fire destroyed the leading elements of my attack!!-would numbers tell??

Momentarily I gained access to the junction compound-hurrah!!-only to be assailed by fresh troops,and,heeding the saying of "he who fights and runs away,lives to fight another day"-I ran away!!!! HOWEVER..........................

The worker's camp is overun,and all the workers are being killed-hurrah(unless you are a worker!)

Reinforcements are making mince-meat out of my Sioux,and forced them all to flee(notice I didn't use the word "retire")
Although Paul had technically won the game,I claimed victory because there weren't enough workers left to complete the railway!!(straws/grasp etc.)
This was an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours before getting ready to get "hammered" for no good reason tonight!-Someone on the radio said that Christmas and New Year is "Torture dressed up as Celebration" and I guess they were right.
We would like to wish you all a very happy and healthy 2020.