Lion Rampant War of the Roses Game - The Convoy

Yorkist defenders and Lancastrian attackers with the wagon convoy

View from the opposite corner of the table

Lancastrian attackers and wagon convoy

Yorkist Scurrers and Foot Men-at-Arms

Yorkist Longbowmen and Irish Galloglaichs

Yorkist Longbowmen and Foot Men-at-Arms

Last Wednesday night Rick and I met down at the Vikings Club in Lanyon for a Lion Rampant, War of the Roses game. The scenario was The Convoy, where the Lancastrian attackers had to escort and protect a wagon convoy from one corner of the table to the other. The Yorkist defenders had to prevent this and their forces were split in three, one each in the remaining corners of the table. Both sides had 36 points. In the end we ran out of time with the convoy about half way across the table but the Yorkists were in pretty bad shape and three units had already routed.

View down the road

Lancastrian Mounted Men-at-Arms

Yorkist Scurrers retreat

They charge again

Reinforcements arrive

Lancastrian Longbowmen

First Game of Command and Colors Medieval - Utus River 447 AD

Command & Colors Medieval board with Utus River scenario from the Byzantine side

Command & Colors Medieval board with Utus River scenario from the Hun side

Yesterday I finally received my long awaited copy of the new GMT Games boardgame, Command and Colors Medieval (CCM) by Richard Borg. This morning I played a solo first game with the Utus River scenario, the first of nineteen scenarios, with Attila and his Huns taking on an Eastern Roman army under Arnegisclus. The details of this encounter are fairly obscure. For gamers familiar with Command and Colors Ancients (CCA) much is the same but there are changes, some that reflect the increasing importance of cavalry and the reduced role of infantry in set battle in the fifth and sixth centuries.

All cavalry units are now four blocks rather than three and Heavy Infantry now fight with four dice instead of five. Other changes include bow armed medium, heavy and super heavy (cataphract) cavalry for many scenarios with the Huns and Sassanids, superior armour class and superior stature, Parthian shot rules for evading light bow cavalry and Inspired Actions tokens which can be used when playing a Leadership Command Card. Medium Infantry now move like Auxilia and may move one hex and battle or two hexes and no battle. The Inspired Actions feature is an interesting addition to CCM and there is a reference sheet for this. The tokens can also be used to Move a Leader, Bonus Battle and Bravery and can be gained in a number of ways.

In my solo game the Byzantines performed quite well and were defeated by the Huns by nine to seven victory banners, a surprisingly close result, and were actually leading the game at one point. The mounted Hun medium and heavy bow armed cavalry are really powerful and mobile units, especially with an attached leader, and are a double threat in ranged or close combat. I'm really looking forward to trying out the other eighteen scenarios in CCM and will definitely be planning and playing games with miniatures like we've done with CCA.

Huns defeat Byzantines 9 to 7 Victory Banners - surprisingly close!

Battle of Saguntum 75 BC - Sertorius versus Pompey

Sertorius & Spanish forces on the left, Romans under Pompey on the right

Opposite end

Spanish right flank

Sertorius with his Veteran Legionaries

Roman left flank with Pompey and his legions

Spanish allies on the Roman right flank

Spanish and Roman forces clash

Spanish cavalry and skirmishers

Action on the Roman right flank

Last Sunday afternoon Craig and I met down at the Vikings Club and we played a L'Art de la Guerre (ADLG) game of the Battle of Saguntum 75 BC with Sertorius taking on Pompey. It was one of the quietest monthly meetings I've ever seen, with only three others playing DBA, no doubt the fact that it was a June long weekend contributing to this. Craig was Sertorius, as he is about to take off for a three week Iberian holiday, while I commanded the Romans under Pompey.

This turned out to be a cracking game that went right down to the wire and it was neck and neck for most of the game. In the end it was a narrow victory for Pompey, although his entire corps was wiped out and he survived numerous general death rolls, including three where his unit was routed! Sertorius, on the other hand, led his corps of four veteran legionary units through the battle almost untouched, though his Spanish allies were killed almost to a man. Thanks to Craig for a great game.

Sertorius' Lusitanian cavalry, Scutarii and slingers

Lusitanian Scutarii

Gaps appear in the Roman left flank

Roman right flank has more success

The game hangs in the balance

Crunch time

Roman left flank is destroyed

Romans are victorious on the right

Huns

Here are some Gripping Beast Huns. The noble cavalry I painted ages ago but the horse archers are all recent. I have heaps of Wargames Foundry Huns to paint for this army. Aventine and Footsore both have really nice Hun/Steppe Nomad ranges. I may have mentioned this before, but I really like steppe nomad horse archer armies and have Scythians, Parthians, Sassanids, Huns, Seljuks and Mongols.

Samnite Infantry

Here are some Samnite infantry that have been stuck in the painting queue for quite sometime. These figures are all from the Victrix Unarmoured Samnites set. It is a minor miracle that I've actually finished these with all the noise, dust and chaos of our home renovations. Power tools and painting are not a mix I'd recommend to anyone.

Samnites versus Gauls ADLG Game

Samnites deployed on the left and Gauls on the right

Opposite end of the table

Gallic centre

Gallic centre

Gallic left flank

Gallic right flank

Samnite left flank cavalry on a hill

Samnite infantry left flank

Samnite centre with the Linen Legion in reserve

Campanian and Apulian allies on the Samnite right flank

Last Sunday Garry, Craig and I met down at the Vikings Club in Lanyon, for the Canberra Regional Wargame Group's monthly meeting. If you're interested in historical wargaming and live in the ACT check out their facebook group with regular posts, including photos of games at the weekly and monthly meetings. We played a 200 point L' Art de la Guerre (ADLG) game with Samnites versus Gauls. Garry commanded the Gauls and Craig and I were the Samnites.

The Gauls were the attackers and had strong heavy and medium cavalry forces on both flanks. They advanced and their left flank charged and soon their centre and right flank were engaged as well. At first the fighting was close and the losses even but as the game progressed the more lightly armoured Samnites suffered and gaps appeared in their line. In the end the Samnite centre remained but both flanks collapsed and the army was demoralised.

We are currently having renovations on our house so posts on this blog will be fairly intermittent over the next four months or so. Hopefully we will get in a game at the next club monthly meeting, a Sertorius in Spain, revolt scenario is the plan.

The Gauls advance and Samnite light infantry skirmish

Gallic left flank charges

Gallic centre and right flank charges as well

Action on the Gallic right flank

The fighting is close and losses even

Gaps appear in the Samnite line

Victorious Gallic left flank surges forward

Samnite left flank finally collapses

Samnite centre remains but the army is demoralised