Sumerian Midgard Game

 

Armies of Lagash and Ur deployed

Opposite end from the Lagash side

Ur attackers advance

Lagash defenders advance

Battle cars charge and counter-charge

Infantry combat in the centre

Battle cars in combat on the Lagash left flank

Last Sunday afternoon I played a solo game of Midgard Heroic Battles with my Sumerian armies out in the shed. These beautifully illustrated rules, written by James Morris, published by Reisswitz Press and available on the TFL's website, have only been just released. I played a set battle with similar 300 point armies, the attackers of Ur and the defenders of Lagash. As it was my first game, it was quite slow going, I had to check a lot of the rules and look things up especially the traits of units and heroes. The rules are designed to cover historical, legendary and fantasy battles in an age of heroic deeds and are well supported with a QRS, army lists and rosters. Managing your army's reputation (represented by tokens) while destroying your opponent's reputation is the key to winning games.

After a slow start I got on a bit of a roll after a few turns and the casualties quickly mounted. In the end  the defenders of Lagash won a mighty victory by 8-4 reputation tokens. Heroic deeds performed by the heroes of your army can certainly change the action in a game but most of the fighting in my game was done by units of warriors. There is a lot to like about these rules, they are fun and remind me of WAB and Dux Bellorum games I've played and enjoyed in the past. Much of their appeal for me is for heroic Bronze Age and Dark Age games but I'm sure they will be very popular, whatever your gaming interests and preferences may be.

Ur battle cars on the left are destroyed

Infantry combat continues

Ur skirmishers support in vain

Skirmishers fail to evade

Army of Ur's reputation is in tatters

Lagash wins 8-4

Sumerian ADLG Game - Lagash versus Ur Revisited

 

Forces deployed - Lagash on the left, Ur on the right

Opposite end

Shooting commences

Armies close

I haven't played a game with my Sumerian armies for about two years, so thought it was high time to get them out on the table again. Last Thursday afternoon Craig came over and we played a Sumerian ADLG game out in the shed. We diced for sides and I commanded the army of Lagash and Craig commanded the army of Ur. Both armies are very similar and could really represent any Sumerian city state. The spearmen of the army of Ur have copper helmets and copper studded cloaks as depicted in the Standard of Ur in the British Museum. The spearmen of Lagash have copper helmets, crossed leather belts on their upper bodies with long spears and a front rank of axe armed shield bearers with large shields as depicted in the Stele of Vultures in the Louvre.

I had already deployed the armies on a small 6 x 4 foot mat to save time and Craig was the attacker and moved first. The armies advanced within shooting range and exchanged missile fire. I charged on the left flank with my battle cars and in the centre with my spearmen and royal guard axemen. A protracted combat ensued which was soon joined by units on both sides on the Lagash right flank. Craig had terrible luck with his dice in the game and couldn't take a trick in combat. Some games are just like that, as I had experienced recently in our Second Bedriacum, Strength and Honour game! Gaps appeared in the Ur line, a commander was killed in combat and before long the army of Ur had broken. 

Combat in the centre

Battle cars in combat on the Lagash left flank

Gaps appear in the Ur line

Army of Ur breaks

Sumerian ADLG Game

 

Armies deployed - Lagash left, Ur right

Archers and slingers exchange fire 

Armies advance

Ur spearmen wheel in the centre

Royal Guard of Lagash

Here's another post from the archives, a Sumerian ADLG game, Craig and I played about five years ago. Craig commanded the army of Lagash, while I commanded the army of Ur. Again I don't remember too much about this, apart from the fact that it was a great victory for Lagash!

I've got another Sumerian game planned, using the same armies which have increased in size since then. This will be a Magna sized MeG game with the army of Lagash under King Eannatum and that of Umma under King Ur-luma (these will actually be the troops of Ur). The Sumerian Shakespeare site has a great page on the Sumerian "Hundred Years War" between Lagash and Umma which was fought over the possession of the fertile fields of Guedena:

A History of the Wars between Umma and Lagash

Ur battle cars smash into Lagash archers

Lagash battle cars lumber forward

Battle cars collide on the Ur right flank

Ditto on the Ur left flank

Gaps appear in the Ur line

Still slogging it out in the centre

Sumerian Command 1

 

Here are two Sumerian infantry command stands that I've just finished painting and a Sumerian king in a battle car and two straddle cars that I painted a while ago. I will use these as commanders for my Sumerian armies of Ur and Lagash and have two more infantry stands and another king in a battle car to paint. The figures are by Eureka, Warlord/Cutting Edge and Newline Designs. A great website to check out if you're interested in the Sumerians is Sumerian Shakespeare.

Sumerian Spearmen of Ur

 

Here's another post from the archives, a unit of Sumerian spearmen with copper studded cloaks as depicted in the Standard of Ur. The figures are a mix of Castaway Arts, Wargames Foundry and Cutting Edge Miniatures/Warlord Games.

Sumerian Mortem et Gloriam Game

Side view of the table - troops of Ur on the left and Lagash on the right

Armies advance

Lagash skirmishers and onager chariots

Ur skirmishers and chariots with army commander on a straddle car

Ur right flank command with skirmishers and chariots

Lagash left flank command

Lagash centre with two commands

Last Wednesday afternoon out in the shed I played a solo Sumerian Mortem et Gloriam (MeG) game. I've had these rules for a while but this was my first game with them, a Pacto (small) sized game with my 28mm Sumerians using 80mm base widths, featuring identical army lists from the cities of Ur and Lagash. The rules use a combination of cards and dice and, are very much designed with 15mm points based competitions in mind, but can be played with any scale (most of my painted armies are 28mm). There is a pre battle system with cards for determining invader and defender, the terrain and out scouting. I was a bit confused by this but ended up with Lagash invading Ur on an open plain next to the Euphrates.

The actual mechanics of the game itself are quite different and innovative. Cards are allocated to  commanders depending on their level, anywhere from five cards for a legendary commander to two for a mediocre one. The cards enable actions and movement, while shooting and combat are resolved with five coloured dice ranging in strength from black, white, green, yellow and red. There are three symbols on the dice a Skull, a Crossed Sword and Arrow and a S = Special. A real strength of these rules for me is the army lists with 650 detailed lists, grouped geographically and historically, available as free downloads on the MeG site along with an excellent QRS, army builder and other materials. A new updated MeG Compendium will be released at Salute this year along with 15mm Quality Cast plastic armies of Late Romans, Huns, Goths and Sassanids by MeG and the Plastic Soldier Company.

In my game the chariots were quickly in to the action with a charge and countercharge on the Ur left flank. This proved quite brutal and fairly disastrous for the chariots of Lagash and they were wiped out immediately with two kills. This caused a kill a base (KaB) test (basically a morale test) for all units within three base widths. The commander was wounded and then routed and was removed. In the centre two commands closed, a base of Ur spearmen were killed and the ensuing KaB test distributed wounds and slowed down movement (S dice result).

On the Lagash left flank the chariots charged the opposing Ur skirmishers and chariots. The Ur skirmishers ran away but still managed to inflict two wounds on the Lagash chariots, slowing them down so they failed to contact. Back in the centre a Lagash base of spearmen was killed and the subsequent KaB test saw the whole command wiped out, the Lagash army was broken. This was very brutal and bloody but I actually prefer this in a game, when things are resolved quickly, instead of dragging on for ages. Anyway I really enjoyed my first game, although I'm sure I got a few things wrong, but with a few more games under my belt, I will have a better grasp of the rules.

Ur left flank declares a charge

Chariots of Lagash countercharge

Disaster for Lagash - Chariots of Ur score two kills!

A block charge of Ur Spearmen, Guardsmen and Archers

Lagash chariots on the left flank charge

Ur skirmishers run away scoring two hits to slow down the Lagash chariots' charge

Surviving Lagash skirmishers on the right flank cower behind the hill

One of the Lagash centre commands is destroyed, the army is broken

The Lagash army commander heads for the hills!