Maharajah 2012 round 1, battle 2

Mike's Romans v. Steve's Sassanids

The Romans are on the far side of the table.  Cavalry on their left, legionary divisions centre & right.  The Sassanids have cavalry on both flanks, elephants right centre & infantry left centre.

The Sassanids have advanced both cavalry wings and sent their skirmishers forward in the centre.

The real action begins on the Roman left as cavalry fights cavalry.  The central legion is advancing on the elephants.  Their right has wheeled to face off the cavalry trying to flank them.

The far flank has developed into a stalemate.  The first Sassanid charge was beaten off & they settled down to an archery contest.   On the near flank, one of the auxilary medium cavalry pulled off an against the odds win v. cataphracts to swing the advantage there towards Rome.  In centre legion has charge the elephants.

The cavalry fight on the right is spluttering on, both sides on the verge of breaking, but no one getting in the killer blow.  The far flank is still stalemated.  The Romans made short work of the elephants and have turned right to face the Persian infantry.

On the right, the Sassanid cavalry have finally broken, but the victorious cavalry seem reluctant to throw themselves back into the fray.  On the far flank, the Sassanids are melting away under javelin fire, not helped by a blundering light cavalry unit impaling itself on a cohort.  In the centre the legion is making slow progress, but a 9 unit infantry unit takes some wearing down.

The Roman cavalry has finally got back into the action, but the decisive move was a cohort from the right flank getting in a flank attack on Persian infantry.  This was the last straw for them and when the Persian infantry broke it was all over.

So Mike has won through to fight Jim's Pontic army in round 2.

Nick in Launceston: Angels 20

A quiet night at the club.  There was another 2500 point doubles Flames of War game.  No references to poetry this week -- unless I can find something about big guns being turned into plowshares (involuntarialy).  Nick and Rob played Angels 20 -- WW II air combat using 1/100 planes.

The scenario was the initial scenario in the book -- two ME 109's at altitude 3 vs two Hurricanes at altitude 2.  The British win if they can climb both planes to altitude 5 without damage, and either side wins if it shoots down a plane of the other side.  (The scenario assumes there are tempting bomber targets at Altitude 5 that the Hurricanes need to intercept)

We stuffed up a few rules -- like victory conditions (assumed it was just one British plane that needed to get to Altitude 5, and didnt notice the 'undamaged' bit) and the climb rules (we forgot to add the +4 to your next die roll to climb a level if you end a turn trying to climb). 

The Hurricanes tried to get to altitide, but consistently rolled low dice.  In fact, they rolled low dice for shooting, for initiative, for everything!  One of the ME 109's got on the tail of one Hurricane.  The poor plane couldnt shake it off, and took a point of damage.  The Hurricane kept climbing, but the ME 109 has better climb, and kept up with the Hurricane, inflicting more damage (crippling the plane).  The Hurricane made one last attempt to go to altitude 5, but failed, and ended up suddenly going to Altitude 0 in a ball of flame as the ME 109 on its tail finished it off.  

A quick game -- my though is that the game would probably be better with 3-4 planes a side.  And we didnt include any aces, so the battle was a bit 'plane jane'

The best thing about Angels 20 though is that the planes are 1/100 scale -- perfect for Flames of War. 

Angels 20.  Note the ME 109's are Airfix 'mini kit' models, and not the Angels 20 models.  And the stands are my own, not the supplied 2" stands.

Maharajah Trophy 2012 Round 1

Jim's Pontic army v. Mark's Imperial Romans

700 pts (including house rule command pts so about 500 RAW) on 10x6 table.


The Romans deployed a cavalry division of 2 heavy and 3 light on their right, an auxilary division of 4 heavy inf on the right and 2 legionary divisions of 4 legionary and 2 skirmishers in the centre.
The Ponts deployed 2 phalanx divisions in the centre, each of 3 phalanxes, 2 light inf and 2 skirmishers, and a cavalry division on each flank of 2 heavy cav & 3 light.

The Ponts made a general advance though it was slowed by poor command for the left hand infantry division.

The action started with skirmishing on both flanks with both side's rights getting disrupted by morale under fire - which delayed close action.

The Ponts are still trying to get their cavalry to grips on both flanks.

The infantry finally get to grips in the centre.  On the far flank the Pontic cavalry still haven't caught up with the retreating Roman horse.  On the near flank the Pontic cavalry have now got support from a phalanx, but the heavy auxilia are proving a tough nut.

On the far flank the Pontic kontoses plus some nifty light cavalry moves saw the Roman horse quickly destroyed once they were caught up with.   On the rest of the front both sides are having mixed fortunes with neither side gaining a decisive advantage.

The Pontic cavalry have turned right and the lead unit has smashed into the flank of the right hand legionary division.  The legionaries held on for a while, but finally cracked under the pressure.  On the Pontic right the auxilia also finally cracked and the Roman army broke.

Bolt Action 500 pts

Jim's Brits v. Steve's Germans

500 pts, Top Secret Scenario on 6x4 table.

The troops come on from opposite sides and have to capture (or rescue) the objective chap at the centre of the table & carry him back off your table edge.  The Brits are coming on the left & the Germans on the right.  The Brits rushed a squad forward to secure the objective and then pull him back.  The Germans advanced more slowly taking the option of trying to kill the enemy rescuers before taking the objective.

The British strategy turned out to be more effective.  This is a scenario where casualties are immaterial & while the Germans may have had more fun (mowing down deliberately exposed troops), the Brits won the day with a strategy specific for the scenario.

500 pts made for a quick  battle (about an hour) & was good for learning the rules, but even a 6x4 table seemed very empty.   1,000 pts on a 6x4 looks like a better option.  

The battle was good fun, but we decided that it would have to be much better still in 28mm - picking out the individual weapon types isn't easy with 1/72 (& would be even worse in 15mm).   Any excuse to get more toys ?
 

Nick in Launceston

Another 2500 point Flames of war game on an 8x6 table.

Exact lists are secret, due to the upcoming competition.  But on a side note, William Blake published a famous poem, 'Tyger, Tyger, burning bright' that I think is a classic!.

Nick B and Nick R vs Rob and Shane.  Eventual result was a draw -- but it could have gone either way given another 30 minutes!

Nick in the USA -- Salem, Oregon

As most of you know, my mother in law died suddenly about a month ago, and the family all suddenly ended up in Salem, Oregon, making funeral arrangements etc. It was a hard time for my fantastic wife.

Being in a new city, I of course looked up the local wargame store, and when I had some errands to do, dropped in to explore. Interestingly enough, they had an Early War Flames of War tournament scheduled for the next weekend. I of course couldnt play. But I did manage to drop in for 30 minutes to take some pictures. Apparently turn out was light -- if the tournament had been late war there would have been a lot more there. Also, the tournament had an interesting structure -- there were prizes, but the entry fee was 'puchase $50 or more FOW stuff from the store' - an interesting way to boost sales.

There was an interesting mix of players. From memory, the forces were:
- German Panzer
- German Panzer
- German Panzer (Afrika Korps)
- French Tank
- British LRDG
- British Infantry.

The store was a typical US store -- a good selection of stuff, with a massive play area out back. I made some purchases -- including Angels 20 1/100 scale fighter game, the Desert fort Ruins I had been looking for, and some dice tins. I am planning to play Angels 20 this week -- I'm looking foward to it!

 

Pike & Shotte in 28mm

We had an early start night for the benefit of our out of town players.  SteveP had the lurgi, but Byron made it.   Mike brought the English Civil War figures he has painted up - enough for a small battle.

Jim & Steve's Royalists
v.
Mike & Byron's Scotts

Pic taken from the Royalist left after their first move.  Both side put their cavalry on the far flank.  The cavaliers immediately charged forward 3 moves, but not quite into contact.  Their foot moved forward more sedately.

The cavalry fight was resolved quickly.  With 2 cavalier units v. 3 Scots both sides were content with both sides breaking the other.  Meanwhile the infantry are closing slowly.

In the centre the large Scots commandeered musket unit is approaching the village.  In the foreground Scots musketeers have charged the light guns before there was a pause in the action for da Angelo's pizza.

The Royalists have counterattacked in the centre & destroyed the commanded musketeers and their supporting pikes with a converging attack by pike & shotte.  Their musketeers & pikes in the centre are dangerously exposed, but are surviving on bad Scottish dice.

The Royalist centre has been blown away by artillery & muskets, but their two infantry battalia just survive on half strength.   However the Scots battalia on the near flank has lost another unit and is now broken giving a narrow victory to the Royalists.

The small numbers of units made luck more of a factor than in larger battles, but it was still an interesting and enjoyable battle and the there's no doubt that the 28mm figs look great.

.

Operation Cromwell Practice

Steve's Panzers + Mark's Hungarian Light Infantry
v.
Jim's Soviets - Guard Tankovy + Strelk

Each army 2 coys totalling 2,500 pts.
Breakthrough Mission on 8x6 table, Russians defending.

The Soviets are defending the near corner with an infantry cordon.  On the right the infantry is dug in behind the river.  On the left the infantry had to deploy beyond the table centreline & are moving  to take up a position behind the river.  An IS2 tank platoon is in the cornfield on the left seeking to delay the German advance.  The other IS2 platoon is in reserve.

The Axis advanced armour & infantry to the left then turned left to attack the objective.  The 1st tankovy made a fighting retreat, but were whittled away.  The Axis reserves came on early and gained the near objective, but the 2nd tankovy platoon coming in from reserve on the right doubled over & took it back before turn 6.  The 2nd tankovy then turned right to help defend the centre where the Strelk were selling their lives dearly.  Firing from hull down on the ridge they knocked the panzers about, but the Strelk died and the Hungarian infantry took the objective.