Huns versus Middle Imperial Romans

This was the first game of the club's new Basic Impetus League for 2024.  My Huns faced Brad's Romans.

It was a long game as the Huns flitted about, shooting away and gradually wearing down the Romans.

No surprise, the Romans were out scouted.

Still, they found a position between two patches of difficult terrain.

The Huns, setting up last, focus on the Roman right,

where their artillery and archers are not.

The Romans shuffle right becoming disordered.

The Roman light cavalry have fled,

Huns are sneaking round the flank,

but the Romans are boldly advancing their artillery.

Roman cavalry has about-faced, while their righthand legion is taking casualties.

Hun skirmishers are screening the Roman artillery.

A charge by one unit of Hun cavalry against the weakened legion ends in a shocking repulse.

A second charge ends with the Huns perilously exposed.

The Hun army decides to redeploy as only a light cavalry army can do. 

The Roman cavalry stands firm protecting the flank.

The exposed Hun cavalry fights for its life.

The Roman artillery blows the Hunnic skirmishers away.

Well, the dice were kind.  

The imperilled Hun cavalry prevails! 

But that Roman cavalry is still blocking the way.

However, the Roman left flank is now open.

The Romans try to reposition as they are at risk of being surrounded.

The Roman cavalry have finally been broken.

The Huns start looking for weak spots.

The Roman commander's legion has broken, and another legion is now surrounded.

It refuses to die quickly.

But it does.

Victory to the Huns.

Europe in Turmoil II: The Interbellum Years 1920-1939

Second play of this game.  This time I was the right-wing faction and slightly confused as the colour used is blue, with red for the left, which I suppose if fair, but I still had to keep being regularly reminded.

Not a complex game, but lots of challenges making decisions as they all seem to aid the other player or not do much.  They do require careful reading to make sure all conditions are met, and targets correctly identified.

Hard to tell by just looking as to who is in the lead,

but the major boost to the final RW score was the control of adjacent independent countries.

(They are the ones in yellow and control is the light blue or red counter)

The rearmament process is good for avoiding some cards,

but the outcomes can be elusive. 

The events are just aide memoires to help guide card play.

Final score was something like 42 to 27 in the RW's favour.

Achaians versus New Kingdom Egyptians

I picked the Achaian army of Trojan War fame to face Dave's New Kingdom Egyptians as they are roughly historical opponents, plus I get to use chariots.  My army was constructed from my Carthaginian figures.

The Egyptians won the scouting.

They also won all the subsequent initiative rolls, bar one.

That was the one after my general died, go figure.

The Achaian infantry shuffle over screened by their bow armed skirmishers.

The chariots peel off to support the slingers in the fight with the Egyptian chariots.

The Egyptian army has more and better chariots than the Achaian army.

The slingers are proving effective against the Egyptian chariots.

Make that very effective.

The infantry has clashed, but somewhat inconclusively.

Achaian spearmen were doing well, but the Egyptian foot maintained their cohesion.

Not so their chariots: one down, two to go.

The Achaian Pylian spearmen (on the right) have gone right through their opponents,

but the Line Spearmen (on the left) have suffered serious losses.

The Achaian Myrimidons (centre) are slowly grinding down the Egyptian commander's unit.

But the Achaian commander's chariot is in trouble.

Could this be the turning point?

The Achaian commander is routed...

The battle continues.

Can that Egyptian chariot return in time to save its comrades?

Can the Achaian Pylian infantry take the Egyptian foot in the rear?

The answers were no.

However, while the Achaian Line Spearmen perished,

so did the Egyptian commander.

The loss of another Egyptian chariot at the same time,

clinched victory for the Achaian army.

Ark Royal by Mike Rossiter

Excellent read containing two intertwined stories.  There is a good summary with plenty of detail on the Ark Royal's service combined with the search to find (spoilers) the wreck.

Harrowing descriptions of planes taking off and landing on the carrier, sometimes in very adverse weather.  Nicely varied and excellent flavour for the period, really made me think of how World in Flames naval mechanics do a pretty good simulation, even with the abstraction of timescale.

A Pair of M10s

For Stolberg I am short two M10s.  I was planning to use spare armour, but Tactics had a pack and so...

While not stated on the box they came with options for M10 GMC, M10C 17 pdr and M36 'Jackson'.

This caused a bit of confusion and searching to find which bits I needed,

wasn't that hard, but...

Everything went together well, but getting the crew in was a bit fiddly.

The main challenge was applying the transfers.

It required a bit of perseverance.

The crew does add life to the model.

Interesting to compare with one I already had and can be seen here: One M10.

Heart of Darkness

Halfway through John Company Jeff had to go off on an expedition to find his phone.  So it was appropriate that Richard and I had a go at this game.  It is almost solitaire and we only completed one turn, but it does tell a lovely story.  Maybe one that is no longer in fashion, but so it goes.

Having played some games on Boardgame arena, this game would be perfect for some computer hosting as there are lots of counters to pull out to populate adventures.

Anyway, my explorer, hired by a media mogul, "discovered" a lake and painted a beautiful picture of it which was reproduced on the front page of one of the mogul's esteemed journals. Well done!  

John Company

Another day another new game to learn.  Tough going for this old dog.

Richard billed this as a mystery game and sent out the following invitation:

"Topee or not Topee?"*

by Richard C

* (and No, I'm not trying to take the Pith here)

 

Please come along to my new Board game

Now you might end up an Officer out for Trophies and fame,

so it could be all guts and glory or it could all end in shame.

Either way, I think that you'll be glad that you came.

 

The game is about your Company in more ways than one,

we'll need to work together or it could all come undone.

Your share of the profit could be amazingly fat,

on the other hand its very easy to fall flat.

 

If you can do a deal as a Writer,

the company's future will be brighter.

Our Ships need to serve our common cause,

but will they sail to our shores?

  

Empires will rise and Empires will fall,

but the roll of the dice will have everyone in thrall.

One will have the Office that will be the envy of all,

but, if you don't make it work, it could be your own down fall.

 

There WILL be an Elephant in the room which we'll all talk about

but just wait until you see what happens when it goes Walkabout!

We won't need to do this daily,

but they certainly didn't tell us about it at Hailey!

 

Everyone will have a share,

but can we agree to make it all fair?

Nepotism is allowed if everyone agrees,

and you could end up retired in a Country Pile.... unless you can't pay the fees.

 

We'll all get to vote on laws that we like,

otherwise we can tell the Prime Minister to take a hike.

You might be able to call in a favour at a time that you choose,

It could be the difference between if you win or lose.

   

You won't have to read the rules,

I will explain them to you, so you don't just sit there like fools.

Some people think the game is in bad taste,

so the doors will be locked in case you try and leave in great haste.

 

I hope you will come,  I think it will be fun.

One way or other, a great tale will be spun.

 

Jeff and I took up the challenge, and while the game can accommodate more, three was enough in what was, for me at least, very much a learning exercise.

Like a lot of games/rules, it is essential to follow the correct sequence and that is very important with John Company and rather hard as plans and excitement spur you on, then it all gets complicated when, compounded with limited familiarity with the game/rules, you make mistakes.  But we powered on and completed three turns, enough to have a go at trying to calculate victory points.

Beautifully presented game and looking forward to playing again.

Letting Go

Two sayings spring to mind:

• Too much is not enough.
• SABLE - Stuff Accumulated Beyond Life Expectancy.

After religiously following the first bit of advice I am now trying to deal with the second bit.

It is hard to do, but by doing so I earn all important Brownie points with my partner: I've got to learn to let things go, well, a few things.

My Napoleonic focus is clearly 15mm (although I do have some 6mm).  The 6mm came from James and so it was excellent to be able to pass on to him this accumulation of 1/72nd Napoleonic figures, some of which I've had for decades, others only a few years.  Of course I can't just let things go, I had to photograph them and post them here.

But most importantly I had to find them a good home, and in a bit of serendipity I was sitting next to James Fisher in the movie theatre (The Three Musketeers - Milady) and was chatting beforehand.  He had been to Tactics and bought some 1/72nd figures and in the belief that more is better, I offered him some surplus figures I had.  Better still I was able to find them when I got home and drop them to him at the club that evening.  My partner even provided the bag to put them all in, thereby earning me an extra Brownie point (as it was a lovely Koko Black carry bag, not needed, but too nice to just throw out - plus the boxes fitted perfectly!)

C'est magnifique!

But they weren't ever going to be painted and based, 

never mind see the top of a table.

A dream.

Had ideas for some skirmish action,

as well as just much needed support units 

for those Napoleonic campaigns I was going to do in this scale.

This pack is really old.  

I found it in a toy shop and was amazed as it was just what I needed...

But obviously not.

Beautiful for the box art alone.

These were for the Quatre Bras scenario that I thought I would reproduce

 in 1/72nd having already done it already in 15mm (with plans underway for 6mm as well).

Again, for Quatre Bras.

I think I had two packs as they came as a mix of hussars and dragoons,

and I did complete one 12 figure unit.

Better still here is a blog post on them.

Officers were always in short supply, so this pack was a God send.

Excess.

But at least I had plenty of fun with them as can be seen 

here, here and here.

A mixed bag.

And a surprise.