11th - 12th May, The Centre, Milton Keynes
Mon, May 13 2013 10:48
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CAMPAIGN 2013
Yes - that was us just outside John Lewis's ...
Thanks to MKWS for the extra table. It was down to me to come up with the plan as Trebian is away for his holidays ...
I decided to use the Society space for our 54mm Bosworth participation game, and the extra tables to help publicise the Naseby Project's open day next month ( see Naseby Open Day ) - this is a publicity and fund-raising event so if you can get involved it could help a great heritage project edge closer to achieving its goals).
We were perfectly position in both cases ... next to Rupert's Blewcoats who helped promote the Naseby day and explain the battle, and next to DBMM and HFG demos for the DBA (with Phil Barker and Sue Laflin joining in on the Saturday) ... So full marks to Neil and his band for theming it nicely.
(the Battle of Bosworth presented as a DBA game in 54mm)
There are still a few enhancements that need completing with the game but I focused mostly on adding in some captions for this outing: members of the public love the big figures and without a wargamer's eye for detail, appreciate the extra information more than they notice that I haven't fitted all the new spears, yet.
Elsewhere around the show there was a really good range of display and participation games, covering a lot of the history and breadth of styles that today's wargaming offers - from Megiddo to Sci-Fi, and whimsical what-ifs like Peterborough's Napoleonic invasion by Montgolfier balloons game ...
(Bosworth: Richmond's army)
Many thanks to Graham Fordham for scaling his printed cloth 'Fluttering Flags' up from 15/28 to 54mm for the project.
(Bosworth: Richard III's army)
Although we played the game several times each day, at a public event like this most of our time is spent explaining the concepts and talking about the historical battles.
In the games, Richard had a consistently poor weekend habitually rolling well below the Earl of Richmond (later Henry VII, of course) whoever played him and whichever dice were rolled.
(scenes from a disappointing weekend for the last Plantagenet king of England)
It is, of course, all in the deployment - a vindication of Mike Ingram's theories (though usually DBA is unpredictable enough to allow Richard to rewrite history on a regular basis).
Hastings and St Leonards put on an epic Megiddo ... hundreds of figures (though I understand one less mare on heat than might have been the case) ...
Bedford Gladiators put on a very impressive Command and Colours game on the now familiar hexagon terrain system from Kallistra ...
... and right next to our 54mm DBA was this splendid DBMM 6mm demonstration. You might say, the Alpha and Omega of the DB approach. Of course, this was extremely useful when explaining ideas of scale to browsers (each 80mm of frontage representing around the same in each game - just a different approach to denoting what soldiers are fighting in the line) ...
Even bigger than the SoA 54mm knights were these jousting fellows (splendid 90mm toy shop figures similar to the one I used in Greyhounds in the Slips). Ancient and Medieval wargaming was indeed very well represented at the show in all its engaging variety.
(wargaming at Campaign 2013: something for all the family)
This was as good a selection of our period as you get at many a bigger show - and nicely presented to encourage newcomers and browsers to get involved ... rather fewer of the 28mm sprawlgames, rather more variety of scale, size and concept.
Outside our period, 20th century wargaming was well represented, air, land sea and under it. There was some Krush the Kaiser and some Bolt Action, but I really like the Huntingdon club's 1:35 scale Stalingrad Crossfire game ... OK, it was big ... but not because it was sprawling, but because the toys were, well .. big. Indeed, almost adhoc in scale ...
(BT tanks lurk round the corner from Univermag in the Stalingrad crossfire)
Hard work, and a long day (especially the Saturday), but well worth it. Wargaming should do very out of this, and most of the sceptics seemed won over ...
Thanks to everyone who took an interest ...
DBA Northern Cup at Triples next.
Comments
20th April, London, Docklands
Mon, Apr 29 2013 02:44
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There was an ancients theme to Salute this year ... well sort of: Jason and the Argonauts - but very much the Ray Harryhausen approach as you would expect from the Warlords.
For actual historical ancients games I think there were fewer this year. I think I may have said that last year ... but of 85 (yes, 85) games I can see listed, 14 purport to be Ancient, Dark Age or Medieval. Some of those turn out to be fantasy - and some are purely commercial tasters.
(President and Secretary reflect during a quieter moment at Salute)
That leaves a handful of games being used to present ancient and medieval battles to a wider audience. The Society of Ancients did an Ilipa Lost Battle, The Lance & Longbow a dramatic Impetus battle of Cravant, and the Oxford Wargames Club an innovative grid-based Heraclea.
(Eric Cruttenden and Alan Waller presented this 28mm battle for the Society of Ancients)
(the river crossing at Cravant ... from an original photo by Simon Chick)
(a panoramic battle of Heraclea)
Beautiful figures in the Cravant game from Simon Chick, and spectacular hand-finished terrain boards - a great advert for medieval battle, and not a bad demonstration of how good modern 28mm figures can look.
Full marks to the Oxford club for taking a home-grown historical game - which they had devised because they were interested in bringing out what they thought were the essentials of battle in the period. - I wish I had had longer to spend with it ...
Amongst the commercial generic games, Rob Broom's Dark Age game stood out, along with some Saga and Dux Bellorum demos ...
(Rob explains the set up over his War and Conquest game)
... and in the fantasy ancients theme, a mythical spin on that old favourite 'Escape from Atlantis' at least seemed to capture the younger minds ...
(participants attempting to Escape from Zeus ...)
The commercial games are, of course, there to demo the mechanisms and sell copies of the games - so they pick lyouts that will be full of engaging eye candy and bring out challenges, fun and mayhem in the game.
For now, that always seems to mean a generic rather than historical episode - which contrasts with club and society games - which generally have nothing to sell and which almost universally recreate historical events.
(15mm eye candy from the Heraclea game)
(28mm eye candy from the War & Conquest game)
In that respect, there may be less difference between this post and the BattleDay post than I'd first have thought. It will be good to see 28mm ancients getting to grips with the challenges of depicting real historical battles. And, yes, I know there are exceptions - I feature them here every time I see them.
The full size spectacular this year was the reconstructed beam sling featured in the reenactment zone. Making the 'for and against ExCel' propositions, I wonder how many venues could accommodate that indoors?
I enjoyed the display, and every time I walked past, the people in the stand seemed fully engaged talking to visitors and demonstrating weapons and equipment - they were making very good use of their space I think. Thumbs up for that!
I was very busy helping out the Pike & Shot Society this year .. But, at the show, I also managed to see ...
(Mexican American war)
(World War Two)
There were lots of plastic 28mm figures, masses of WWII and cabinets full of MDF buildings. Even Magister Militum had a commercial spin off table (complete with players in livery tee shirts) and Kallistra had 3 tables of hexon terrain ... so, if there was a theme to the Jason & the Argonauts Salute, what would it be? Probably playing an imaginary Bolt Action WWII scenario with plastic 28mm figures hiding in MDF ruins on a hexagon tablescape.
If that wasn't your ideal wargame, there was always Slingshot ...
Me? Well amongst a lot of predictable stuff I managed to get a look at Peter Pig's new Vikings. OK, I had seen them on the website and in announcements on TMP etc. but they had looked a little ... er ... 'unspectacular' in Martin Goddard's customary flat grey primer.
In fact, the figures are little beauties ...
(a handful of my new Peter Pig Vikings)
I know the picture just makes the point that most figures do look unspectacular in raw metal - but bear with me ...next time you see them they will be painted and you will get it!
Unashamedly hollywood, they have big beards, big axes, broken shields, spears through their chests ...
With so many 54mm and flats incoming, I had pretty much decided not to do another 15mm project in the near future - but as soon as I saw them I knew that my Dark Age DBA options would need a Viking army adding! I'll do a proper job, mind.
Next outing Milton Keynes ... see the 54mm Bosworth game ..!
13th April, Bletchley
Sat, Apr 27 2013 12:58
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The Society of Ancients BattleDay 2013
Chalons 451
This year's BattleDay was full to capacity ... I had hoped to put out some SoA gear while the talk was in progress but I listened to Simon instead - the room was full and over-spilled out into the lobby and I didn't want to disturb anybody.
That was all good as the introduction was very interesting, and people were not wanting to browse til lunch anyway.
There were 13 different rules represented, with two interpretations each of the ever popular DBMM, Armati and DBA (/Big Battle DBA etc.). Wow!
Well I just about managed to capture all of them - and I just about managed to speak to every one about their games. Apologies to the Shrewsbury DBA team: I twice caught you between games.
Here they are ...
I hope the pictures speak for themselves: most of the games were presented in 15mm (C&C:A was done with 20mm plastics, HC and W&C with 28mm, Warmaster and The Die is Cast 6mm) - the presentation of many of the games was remarkable ... 6mm and 15mm in particular doing a wonderful job of capturing the rolling landscape of Chalons.
The prize for the best terrain went to Mark Craddock's hyper realistic foam mat (which uses an ingenious system of magnetic grips to hold the game surface to the landscape structure) for the Armati Epic game ... and the overall best game went to Simon MacDowall's Comitatus.
Both seemed to have a cast of thousands, all beautifully turned out.
Organiser Richard Lockwood had, as usual, prepared a set of souvenir figures to award to notable deeds and anecdotes ...
(you can click the image for bigger pictures)
It gives him a good excuse for circulating amongst the games collecting impressions and noting down the stories players always tell. I was fortunate again: an ex President who commanded the Alans and defeated in personal combat the new President (who had taken Attila's contingent opposite). It got noticed.
It was not enough to win us the day as no sooner was the great warlord killed than alarm spread across the battlefield at the death of Aetius too. The Alans packed up and left (the Roman alliance proving more precarious than the Barbarian) ...
This was in the epic Armati. It was not untypical.
Here are some close ups ...
(Field of Glory)
It was great to see FoG at the event (I think for the first time): another big game on a striking textile print. Very effective.
(The Die is Cast)
I was impressed with the 6mm games and managed to get my camera close to Justin 'VVV' Taylor's forces (The Die is cast) ... The figures are by Baccus.
(Hail Caesar)
At the other extreme, and much easier to get at were these 28mm Germans in the Hail Caesar game.
(Command and Colours: Ancient)
... and how about these beautifully presented 20mm Romans ...
However, it may not surprise regular readers that my favourite figures were the 15mm collections on the epic DBMM, Armati (Epic) and Comitatus tables:
(that marvelous Armati Epic landscape)
(that's a proper body of cavalry ...) ...
(battle at close quarters in the Comitatus game)
(finely turned out 15mm figures)
I hope this whets your appetite for forthcoming articles and reports which, as well as on blogs and websites, will form a good chunk of Slingshot material over coming issues.
At the end of the afternoon, Richard did his debrief and introduced the awards and prizes presented by Society President, Roy Boss.
Missing from the mugshots is your humble blogger/photographer who received the Attila award for killing the Hunnic warlord in melee. As I was the cameraman at the time, I have inserted a picture I took during the game recording the skills I used to take down the mighty warrior!
Sorry this blog entry has been delayed a while - it took a while to edit all these photos ...
Reports elsewhere ...
Hmmm ... I wonder what they will pick for next year ....
Comments (1)
2013 BattleDay near Milton Keynes
Tue, Apr 9 2013 12:02
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The Society of Ancients Shows North stand will be at the BattleDay on Saturday ...
…the fight grew fierce, confused, monstrous, unrelenting...
The tenth annual Society of Ancients Battle Day, Saturday 13 April March 2013
Sycamore Hall, Drayton Road, Bletchley, Near Milton Keynes, MK2 3RR
Chalons 451 AD
Looking forward to the tenth annual Battle Day this coming Saturday.
We have a record FIFTEEN games coming:
Armati 15mm - Armati 15mm - BBDBA 28mm - Comitatus 15mm - Command and Colors: Ancients 20mm - DBA 3 15mm - DBMM 15mm - FoG 15mm - Hail Caesar 28mm - Impetus 15mm - Piquet Archon 15mm - The Die is Cast 15mm - War and Conquest 28mm - Warlord 15mm - Warmaster Ancients 6mm
Plus we have refights also being played in Scotland, Australia and New Zealand.
23rd March, Alton
Mon, Mar 25 2013 08:11
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(a round of the 2013 Society of Ancients UK DBA League)
Nearly Easter, now, but we still seem locked in frozen weather, snow and alarmist public service warnings.
Rule 1: keep calm and carry on: nothing is ever quite a bad as the panic-mongers and sensationalists at the BBC would have you believe (the only reliable source of information in the UK, these days, seems to be your own eyes and ears).
So I braved the driving sleet and snow and ploughed round the M25 to Alton, as did most of the players who had signed up. The turn out was good. I'm glad I made the effort - the return trip was painless, and the event was great fun.
Martin had organised a wealth of prizes to reward the players, including a number of DBA armies and a selection of BUAs and camps. I think everyone picked up a token of one sort or another.
Star Prize was a very attractive Nabataean army kindly donated by Colin O'Shea and made up of tough looking Donnington Miniatures, new and ready to go to war for the winner (see pic.).
The format is 'matched pairs': each player brings along a pair of armies (preferably historical opponents or similar ...) ... and will use his/her pair every other game. When using them, the opponent chooses which to go with ... otherwise aggression, terrain, deployment etc. goes as normal.
6 UK-style games against a 45 minute clock, 3 either side of lunch ... Randomly drawn opponents and prize-giving around 4:30.
This format offers just about everything I like ... quick games that are broadly historical ... a balance of variety (half the games are what you chose to offer, half are what other players prefer) ... a random draw ... and generally an absence of uber armies ...
In the end I opted to take along a couple of my Gothic style armies ... based on Stilicho's 405 Fiesole campaign where he used Gothic foederati against Radagaesus. So Goth against Goth, really, but I employed the Ostrogoth and Gepid lists to give variety to the two armies.
Elsewhere, the was a very enjoyable mix and some well-presented armies.
All of my 'away' games were close affairs, I thought (though the score lines varied). Lots of terrain made fighting off the Dacians a challenge. I just lost a very dicey game using Blemmye against Colin's Arabs. And I managed to pinch the points in the Sub Roman war ... Richard pushed his warbandy Brits up a road, I managed to absorb the charges and surround them (and fortuitously called the combats in the right order in what proved to be the last turn)
Martin kindly asked me to represent the Society of Ancients for the presentations, so as an alternative to lots of handshakes, here's a line up of happy campers ...
A very successful day based on a simple but effective formula. In addition, thanks to all of the sponsors and individuals who donated prizes. Much appreciated all round.
GOTHS AND GEPIDS
These armies derive from an Armati Gothic army, hence the matching look. I gave the wagon laager camp to the Ostrogoths and made a second one up for the Gepids incorporating the Roman watchtower (a splendid Baggagetrain 10mm item): a much better employment of it than its previous appearances as a BUA (like ... as if I know how best to use a BUA in this game ...) ...
Gepid (II/71): Ag:3; Steppe; Kn Gen; 3xKn; 4xWb; 4xPs.
Ostrogoth (II/76a) Ag:3; Arable; Kn Gen; 4xKn; 1xLH; 4xWb; 2xPs.
(The Gothic cavalry is mostly Lurkio with some Black Hat/Gladiator and Chariot)
The Ostrogoth, I think is clearly slightly more attractive (it is easier to see how to use the extra Kn and LH than 2 extra Ps, I think: anyway, my opponent took the Ostrogoths in all 3 games ...
So my game involved using the Ps to tie up the enemy foot, and to use the Warband to tempt the Gothic knights into a position where I could gain the edge: certainly I should be able to tie them up with 4 Ps at my disposal, and certainly, with an advantage in Knights, the enemy will try to get them at my Warband ...
But could I take advantage in those circumstances? Well it worked for me in 2 of the 3 games. In the 3rd the enemy indeed took the bait, and allowed me to engage with overlaps ... however, he won all the combats, taking down all the warband, a Knight and the General in one turn!
Some plans do not withstand contact with reality!
However ... that's 2 successes out of 3. Last time in this format I lost all 3 of my home games ... so my choice was obviously a touch wiser this time.
I'm also pleased that all 3 (indeed all 6 of my games) were completed inside the distance (which at 45mins doesn't allow for much dithering): Knight and Warband armies against each other are 'result armies'!
************
I also won 2 of 3 away games - so came an unlikely third ... winning another trophy and picking up a Chariot Miniatures Theban army which will need painting! Thanks, Magister Militum: lovely stuff!
Alton DBA Pairs tournament: 1: Lindon Paxton; 2: Martin Myers; 3: Phil Steele.
Riches indeed! See what I mean? What more could you ask of a one-day tournament?
BattleDay and Doubles Masters next ....
Comments (4)
17th March, Berkhamsted Castle
Fri, Mar 22 2013 10:21
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Something must have stood at Berkhamsted in 1066 when the Witan decided to meet the bastard duke William of Normandy there, by Roman Akeman Street, and offer him the vacant crown of England.
The Normans very soon built a classic motte and bailey castle, and much of that original structure is evident today in its upgraded but ruined forms.
The original castle and perimeter would have been built out of wood, the stone castle being built by Thomas Beckett in the late 1150s. As well as being a well frequented royal castle with an attractive deer park, in 1216, Berkhamsted was on the front line in King John's Civil War.
(what was once there: click on it for a bigger view)
The siege of 1216 was the subject of the Battlefields Trust walk ...
England was at war from1215 to 1217 in the aftermath of the signing of Magna Carta. Many barons clearly intended to hold a reluctant John to the terms that he had been forced to issue. They turned to Dauphin Louis of France for assistance.
(view of the bailey from atop the motte)
Louis landed in May 1216 and marched on London, where the people and rebel barons proclaimed him King. Militarily, however, many castles and walled towns held out for John, including Berkhamsted, which Louis besieged in December.
The siege lasted just two weeks before a surrender was ordered - by this stage, King John was dead and William Marshal was endeavouring to broker a peace in favour of the 9 years old Henry III (so it is thought heroically holding on was no longer called for) ...
('spurs' visible on the outer ring - north flank)
There is a long standing debate concerning the outer earthworks at Berkhamsted (visible in the picture above) ... some holding that they are third line of defences thrown up to keep the attackers off the main ditch and wall ... others that these are actually Louis's siegeworks, pressed hard against the fortress.
The earthworks only exist (or remain ...) to the North and East, and feature seven so-called 'spurs' - 'D'-shaped platforms the rounded part of which face away from the castle. They are very reminiscent of the plan of projecting towers of course (and to me, at least, have always seemd too close to the walls for it to have been practical for a besieger to have built them in such short order).
You may know better, of course ...
(the motte seen from outside the eastern perimeter)
It is believed that Louis used trebuchets at Berkhamsted - the very latest in continental military engineering ... probably sited on the high ground to the East of the fortress.
(looking out toward the higher ground)
1216 was Berkhamsted's last military action, but it continued in significant use for several centuries. Although it is of quite early design, it has a comparatively spacious bailey which was well appointed with fine buildings, and the large moat made it secure enough to hold the captured King Jean II after the battle of Poitiers ...
This was something of an exploratory visit by the Battlefields Trust, and very welcome. It should become part of a 'Magna Carta trail', and, hopefully, visits will become a regular feature by the time of the siege's 800th anniversary in 2016.
Given the horrors of early Spring this year, the walk was well-attended, BFT members combining with local heritage enthusiasts and military historians.
The heavens opened at the appointed hour, and the first phase of our visit battled against a vicious sleet storm - however, the worst of it soon abated and there were occasional windows in which I could get some of these somewhat grey and overcast photographs.
My next outing will be to Alton for a pairs round of the SoA UK DBA League. See you there.
Comments (6)
10th March, Wolverhampton
Thu, Mar 14 2013 10:51
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WMMS 2013 Alumwell
Another show and another freezing cold Sunday morning. Is it just me? I'm getting fed up with de-icing cars and hoping the snow won't settle! Thankfully Will had offered to drive (we were picking up some heaters for Treb's shedquarters so needed French versatility more than we needed German joy ...) ...
The Society of Ancients showpiece was my Bosworth presentation, which is now just about all there.
(Big Figure DBA ... Bosworth 1485)
I will have a little more supporting material available next time out (presentation boards on the battle and the archaeology etc) ... and around 5 more flags from Fluttering Flags ... 54mm is such a pleasure to work with that I'm sure I'll find some further enhancements.
In truth, ancients were a little thin on the ground at Alumwell this year, little more than our medieval game and Rob Broom's War & Conquest ...
(Rob Broom's 'Prelude to Amphipolis')
But walking around with my camera later in the day, I did discover some remarkable 6mm figures opposite Pete Berry's Baccus stand. It is wonderful what can be done these days - so, as my project is with big figures, here is (just about) the other end of the range.
(mass, but also ...)
( ... fine detail ... click on the pictures and take a look)
There was a bit of an 'oh my word' (or variations on that theme) on one of the very fine AWI games at the show ... I was just admiring the set up and taking a few pictures ...
(Battling for America with Will McNally's rules)
... when I spotted these fine fellows were playing the game using Lance & Longbow/Gentleman Pensioner Will McNally's rules. Now we had a very good game of Germantown with these after last year's Phalanx show. It also has to be said there's nothing trendy about these rules - they had clearly been selected on merit (and I think Will had a fascinating chat with the players when the DL Books stand was a little less busy).
WMMS is very much a traditional military show, with plenty of modelling displays and some costume societies present. I quite like the 18th century uniforms and militaria, and it added to the lace-colonial feel ...
Plenty of teddybear fur, too, these days ... I see on TMP that the correct term is 'fun fur' and I guess we should be careful lest anyone assume we are sanctioning cruelty to teddybears ... I think it looks very good in the right display (it could draw me back to cloths rather than boards ...)
Plenty of it under this sprawling 28mm ACW game ....
A relatively quiet show by mid afternoon, I also had a chance to touch base with Rob Broom, Martin from Warbases and Martin Goddard at Peter Pig who is doing a very nice Viking range and will be putting out a warrior and raiding game which looks promising.
Martin had his Square Bashing WWI game (Western Front) to try out at the show ... a foretaste of the flavour that will be 2014 I suspect. Can you believe that come next August, it will be 100 years on? ... My Grandfather was a tank gunner at Cambrai (that must make me old).
Bosworth update
This shot of Richard's artillery position came out nicely. The figures are by Irregular Miniatures, the guns are conversions of Renaissance pieces from Irregular's 42mm ranges. Note my trendy use of teddybear fur for the Fenn Hole marsh ...
But I must share with you what was, appropriately, the last game of the day ...
I'm sure many readers will 'get' enough of how DBA works to follow this. I was playing Richard, and the score was 3 elements destroyed each. So whoever destroyed the next element would win the game. Needing that extra kill, I had the pips to charge across the battlefield with the support of my cavalry and engage Henry in combat.
Now this would be very foolhardy - we all know the Bosworth story - and in my version, William Stanley fights for Henry but can only be moved in turns where the Henry Tudor player rolls a 6 for Pips. This had not happened, so, on the edge of the battlefield, Stanley hovered.
Put it this way: I might kill Henry anyway, attacking with the cavalry support. If not, there was a 1:6 chance Stanley would join in against my flank (which I could, of course, survive, on good dice) - otherwise, if he wasn't dead already, I would have Henry's flank another turn on. These considerations lured me in.
I'm sure you can figure out the rest ... I charge, Henry holds, and in his turn he rolls a 6 on demand and Stanley takes my flank.
(Bosworth at Alumwell: the end of Richard's 'death ride')
It was the end of the game: the dice were caught on camera ... Henry rolled another 6, as Richard, I rolled a 2. I lose and with Stanley on my flank, I cannot recoil. In DBA the recoil becomes a kill (when I'm prevented from recoiling). Game over ...
Leicester ... Car Park ... the rest is history ...
It was a lot of fun, and with rehearsed stupidity, the move was still the obvious one (I really had no game changer anywhere else)
**************
Thanks for another great show, Alumwell - an enjoyable day out but, man, did it turn cold at the end. Ffffreezing ...
I hope it warms up for the Battlefields Trust's walk around Berkhamsted Castle at the weekend.
But look out for DBA at Alton ...
... and the Society of Ancients BattleDay in Bletchley next month.
2nd - 3rd March, Bournemouth
Sat, Mar 9 2013 06:25
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I am very grateful to the team that regularly put the Bournemouth Armati weekend together ... and to the players who travel often great distances to participate in the event.
All games are preset historical match-ups, and all the kit required to play, down to the gice are provided by the organisers. Although Armati is no longer a 'living' and fully supported historical game, such is the appeal that players fly in from Scotland, Ireland and France for the event (my trip from the East Midlands is modest by comparison).
There were 20 scenarios this year, running from Megiddo to Barnet ... so that's 40 armies ready to pick up from the command table ... and all the scenarios with the appropriate lists are complied into a guide of which every player is given a copy. I would recommend this to anyone.
Armies are mostly from Roy Boss's extensive collection ... with some help from co-conspiritors Mark Fry and Peter Barham.
It is a hotel-based event, and having arrived late on Friday, I was just a few drinks, a good night's sleep and a wholesome breakfast away from my first game. I usually hope for Dark Age and chivalry armies in these events: like most tabletop games, Armati does cavalry better than phalanxes - and the combination of longer movement and obligatory charging makes getting a result within the time frame relatively painless.
That said, if you must play Hellenistic games, play Armati, where the pikes 'units' have to be welded together into a phalanx, and where shooting up light troops is an irrelevance to the game result.
By my usual standards, therefore, the draw did not suit me ... of the 5 scenarios, I was drawn only one Medieval battle - the rest were BC 317 or earlier.
Of course, that's a very limited perspective ... I drew 5 great opponents, the scenarios I played were reasonably well-balanced and certainly engaging ... the armies provided were a joy to play with, and I seemed to keep on the good side of Lady Luck (she can be a flirt, and she knows how much I love her six dimples ...) ...
So here they are ...
N.B: the 'scenarios' range from preselected and historically opposed lists (most of them are straight like this, using the standard, bland, Armati terrain) to actual scenarios with built in unique effects. For ease, deployment is behind traditional Armati screens ...
We deployed some distance apart ... this game was slowed by the lengthy approach. I had the Seleucid.
I had the Etruscans and was battered upon by 'non-key' Gaesati - I fought them off at some length - but by then the battle was over. A clear win for the warband army.
I had promised myself to play simply, but this was Saturday evening and I was a bit daunted by the quality of the Assyrians ... so I resorted to Hittite tactics, left most of my Foot out-of-command, allowing me a very mobile 'hit and run' force of small chariot raiders. Although I lost my general in the process, my raiding parties managed to inflict defeat on the Assyrians before they got to my vulnerable infantry (on whom they were undoubtedly looking like a wolf on the fold) ...
That was Saturday ... a series of hard fought, fairly even games of which I won two.
However, I indulged many a libation on the Saturday night, and the luck of the gods shined down upon me all Sunday.
Although this is a Biblical/Antiquity army, I can play it like turks! 9 units of horse archers. Against Assyrians, however, you need some skill and some luck (as they shoot back).
Vincent beat me in Glasgow in a game where I thought if I'd got a bit of traction, lucky or otherwise, I might have won. Here fortunes were reversed ... I could do no wrong. Vincent set all the combats up to his advantage. I won all the key ones on the dice. Job done.
As I say, as a gentleman wargamer, these days, I had determined to play nice historical games all weekend ... set up in the middle of the table with two flanks, then get on with the game without too much clever stuff. The games are better that way.
But it did result in me scoring a huge points tally on the Sunday. But not enough to challenge the leaders, I assumed. I was therefore taking pictures for the Society when I was called up in second place ... Second! ... well I never ...
Just for the record, second place comes with a £20 Amazon voucher (now that will come in very handy). As I am always happy to admit, I like winning etc. every now and then, so an unexpected 2nd place put a big smile on my face ... especially as we'd drawn scenarios that don't usually suit me and I'd had a lot of fun with them. Thanks.
Excellent weekend ... simple trip there and back - and I'd stayed on for the Monday excursion - which this year was to the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth ...
P.B.Eye-Candy on a visit to the D-Day Museum
Follow the link for pictures of tanks and stuff like that.
Great event ... why don't you join us next year? Before then, we'll be doing Bosworth on the SoA stand at Alumwell on Sunday.
16th-17th February, Burton upon Trent
Wed, Feb 20 2013 04:38
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I like this event, and Burton Town Hall is a good venue. And the parking is free.
I hadn't really enjoyed the new version of FoG at Usk, so having to take charge of the army solo (Chris was on family duty for the Saturday) was a little daunting. We had chosen a Palmyran army with a balance of troop types (15 Battlegroups: 4 cataphracts, 4 horse archers, 4 Romans and 3 light archers) ...
Fortunately, we got a nice draw ... the amiable Martins in the morning, and seemingly regular opponents Hutchby and Thorne in the afternoon. Another Palmyran, and some obscure Japanese, respectively.
Palmyran armies vary from predominantly mounted Parthian-style Eastern armies to what are basically Roman frontier armies (Romans with extra cataphracts ....) ... It was one of these latter that Jayne and Andrew had chosen. But don't expect our game to resolve which might be the better choice. We lost 4 attrition points a piece (so the the score was 9-11 against us as our's was the smaller army ... more cavalry meaning fewer battlegroups).
Against the Japanese we were miss-matched ... separated by 5,000 miles of geography and more than 200 years of history. The Japanese are a big army of archers which probably could not have downed a middle-eastern cataphract however much they shot - but who knows as the confrontation never happened (so there is no history from which to extrapolate). Undeterred, and with a game spirit, I advanced rapidly covered by skirmishers, and did succeed in getting the cataphracts into contact with these medium foot in the open. To no avail - another losing draw.
Sunday saw our team restored to full manning ... and facing more regular Northern Doubles opponents, Andy and Kevin Ellis and more far distant enemies from the time machine ... Warring States Chinese. It is the topic of quite another article as to why Chinese weaponry and armour is so highly rated compared to western equivalents ... suffice to say that these Chinese would probably have fled on sight of determined western soldiery ...
Thankfully, they did. Whilst I was grinding through indecisive pulses of skirmish and counter attack on the flank, Chris piled in with a combination of armoured cavalry and armoured infantry against the Chinese centre ... Crossbowmen protected by armoured halberdiers behind field defences. Fortune favoured the brave (for a change), and the desperate Chinese threw in their Inspired Commander (sun was going down on the game). He died too, and the wavering centre collapsed. The game ended before we could mop up ... a very gamely played score draw to us.
We were all back on message to finish - entirely back on message ... against an Aurelianic period Roman. Even so, we fought them in green hills far from Palmyra. Very impressive thickly painted bed sheet terrain as good as I have seen (courtesy of our opponents, John Hogan and Lee Sanders) ...
We had played Lee at Usk last year and enjoyed big win, achieved mostly by my Aragonese high rolling late in an otherwise very even game. This was similar, but they had their revenge ... And the cataphracts who had performed so well in the morning were clearly tired after a good lunch. They took a couple of Roman units to the brink but could not finish them off. Both teams pressed on through the game turns to get a finish and on the game's last turn, the Romans got it.
So, in all, a slightly below par outcome from a series of thoroughly enjoyable games. Although V2 seemed better, I think that was mostly down to us picking an army without spears and pikes in it. There was still plenty of nonsense playing out around the tables - just less gaminess in our encounters.
Even so, we are now 8 games into V2 and have 7 draws and one result. With V1 we generally would expect 50% or better (not saying who would win ... just on the game getting completed within the time limits).
Although I do think the game will have more traction in other periods, a 12.5% completion rate for a team that regularly gets results is not a good sign - and the interminably fiddly nature of FoG is entirely unimproved in this new version. As an example, ranges for skirmishers have been reduced which produces fewer casualties. I can't see how this improves the game (skirmishers still slow the game down ... they just contribute less to getting a result). Infantry lines still kink implausibly to produce far-fetched flank opportunities (which consequently deter charges, again slowing the game).
Nevertheless a weekend full of good things ... nice to catch up with old friends (and make some new ones) and good to see stalwarts like Adrian Garbett back wargaming ... Great terrain in our last game (I'm intending to copy this method), lots of nicely turned-out armies, great organisation as always ... and some predictable and unpredictable winners.
Tim Child and John Hickman (Later Carthaginian) won the DBMM event, Dave Handley and Steve Royle (Classical Indian) the FoG-AM .... I understand Peter Kershaw won the best army prize with his Slave Revolt DBMM army - but I wasn't 'camera and notebook in hand' as I was on my way back from the stage where I had picked up the best baggage award. Yay!
Good to see proper Ancients armies picking up all the prizes.
Like many others, I always make an effort at Burton - because they try to encourage and reward people making an effort (there's a clue there for tournament organisers ... and it doesn't require a degree in rocket science!) ...
PALMYRAN BAGGAGE TRAIN
OK, since you ask ... here's a few more pics ...
Since Queen Zenobia first mounted her camel, in the wargamer's mind, dromedaries have been associated with the fabled desert city ... Add to that Chris's comment on Palmyra ... 'Roman ruins' ... and I had my theme.
The composition recycles several broken or redundant items from my terrain boxes together with a handful of camels from Chariot and Irregular, and a handful of figures - one each from Irregular, Gladiator and New Era Donnington (the Roman lady) and a couple of Middle Imperial soldiers from Chariot.
Plus some cake decoration palm trees.
The nebulous idea is that the army's baggage train is arriving or departing a defended watering hole or urban area well to the rear of the battlefield. A couple of soldiers guard the archways from the rear, to give the model more than one view point. I have tried to indicate a bit of Roman style groundwork by glueing on some Warbases bricks and infilling with wood filler and sand.
I'm glad they liked it.
Excellent weekend. Thanks, Burton.
Comments (1)
10th February, Kelham Hall, Newark
Tue, Feb 12 2013 03:54
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Many thanks to COGS/GCN for a great day out at Hammerhead. And thanks to everyone who stopped by and/or played the game.
First up, just to say that although it does capture my vision, the version of Bosworth at Hammerhead was very much still Work In Progress: the bad situation heaped on my shoulders by Vapnartak stalled the final stages of what was originally scheduled for the start of the month.
Well, I eventually got back to completing my tasks on the unloved project with a few days to go - but encountered some unexpected delays: in 54mm you can't always get all the components or variety you want so I had sculpted some masters which just needed casting to complete some of the elements. Hmmm - but I hadn't left sufficient time for my mould to be a complete failure (the one and only home casting failure I have had). Inevitably I wasted more time than I had available.
Still, Hammerhead is very much a games, rather than an exhibition, show - so a very late night ensured the nearly finished project was ready to play. Yes, half the foot figures are a bit ghostly, and those bases are not harmonised with the battlefield yet. But come see us a Alumwell ...
(Battle of Bosworth: aerial view ... click it for a larger view)
This is the battlefield based on the new location. Roughly arranged on a standard North/South orientation. The battle takes place in the fields around Fenn Lane, the old Leicester to Atherstone road, just east of where it joins the Watling Street. Whitemoors Car Park (probably the site of Richard's baggage/rear area*) is just off table in the north-east corner, Stoke Golding just off the south-east corner.
Crown Hill is the gently rising ground in the corner, Fenn Hole the marshy area which Henry left to cover his right as he attacked the Royal army.
The battlefield is a rearranged pasting table - so approximately 3' x 4' ... a direct scale up from by 15mm trial games, less 6" at the back: the 15mm games were on a 2' x 2' using 40mm bases, this double size uses 80mm frontages.
Losing 6" at the back was a compromise for the convenience of the fold-away battlefield. It is actually no loss - it means the standard DBA camp elements must be left off - but as they play no part in the historical battle this probably no bad thing. Even so, I have put some baggage behind Richard's side of the table as it helps those familiar with the area by marking Whitemoors which is on the traditional battlefield trail.
(Denouement - game 4: Richard and his cavalry take on Sir William Stanley close by Fenn Hole)
What I like about Hammerhead is that they have successfully created a show where people play and enjoy the games. Bosworth got played an impressive 7 times. Just what I want having gone to the trouble of designing and testing the scenario, then taking it all along to the show.
Most of the games were played with people unfamiliar with DBA, and generally not ancient/medieval (indeed 'historical') players. The fact that V3 of DBA is still not available is a bit of a downer as we had some converts ready to buy. The best I could do was steer them to John Curry where you can now get a reprint compilation that includes version 2.2 (all the lists, some articles on tactics and refights etc.) ...
Ancients on the Move regulars will recognise that I supplied the photos!
Most of the games gave us a historical outcome (vindicating, perhaps, Mike Ingram's inreptretation of the battle, which I have used for the scenario - orbats/deployment) ... though, as usual with DBA, no two games were alike. As several pundits pointed out, re organising the space around the table, I do need somewhere to park the casualties! More anon.
(some of the other stuff I saw at Hammerhead)
Elsewhere, there were a number of interesting trade stands and some familiar faces trying out some unfamiliar (and familiar - check out that prating mantis in the middle of circular battleboard ... surrounded, all elephant-like) ... More of the games were fantasy/Sci-Fi/pulp genre than historical - but for all that, looked considerably more imaginative than some of the dry colossal games today's historical exhibitors too often clog the halls with. Great to see plenty of youngsters playing wargames! Hopefully, we sowed a seed for the future with them.
(smart looking 54mm Napoleonic skirmish game)
Amongst the historical games, there were a number of 15mm WWII games (not all FoW), some aerial combat games and a compact and well produced Napoleonic game. The shoppers seemed happy with their loot ... I didn't really have enough time away from the game for that but my instinct was that there weren't that many historical traders (I shall wait til WMMS or use the post). Great show nonetheless.
I will take some Slingshots and games along to Burton Doubles next week, and to the Bournemouth Armati weekend. Otherwise, see David and friends at Cavalier or the Shows North crew at Alumwell (WMMS).
By then we should have the definitive Bosworth on show and ready to play
16th & 17th Feb Burton Doubles
24th Feb NDBML Manchester
24th Feb Cavalier Tonbridge
2nd & 3rd March Armati-by-the-Sea
10th March WMMS Wolverhampton
*formerly assumed to be Connected with Henry's baggage - but on no evidence from the finds - just accepting the spurious Ambion Hill location for the battlefield makes it a plausible guess. Correctly identifying the field puts it behind Richard's lines.