Command and Colors Ancients - Lake Vadimon 283 BC

 

The Romans, Etruscans and Boii deployed

Opposite end

Etruscan light infantry suffer casualties from a retreat

Roman leves with casualties from shooting

Romans play a mounted charge
card, on their left flank

And on their right flank

Last Friday afternoon I played a solo Command and Colors Ancients game out in the shed. The scenario was Lake Vadimon or Lake Vadimo 283 BC with a coalition of Etruscans and Gauls, the Boii tribe, taking on a Republican Roman army under Publius Cornelius Dolabella. The Romans had five command cards and moved first, while the Etruscans and Boii only had four command cards. This turned out to be quite an interesting game, as the Romans despite a significant advantage in cards and troops, never really got going and most of their centre never got in to action.

Polybius provides some details on the battle:

the Boii, seeing the Senones expelled from their territory, and fearing a like fate for themselves and their own land, implored the aid of the Etruscans and marched out in full force. The united armies gave battle to the Romans near Lake Vadimon, and in this battle most of the Etruscans were cut to pieces while only quite a few of the Boii escaped.

Polybius, The Histories, 2.20.1-4 https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/2*.html

The Romans played a mounted charge card early in the game and were able to inflict casualties and force a retreat on the Etruscan light cavalry. The Boii warriors on the coalition left flank attacked, causing casualties and eventually killing the Roman legate. A double time card allowed the Etruscan infantry to attack on their right flank. After several turns of combat here the Etruscan leader and infantry emerged with a surprising but hard fought 8-5 victory.

Boii auxilia are nearly done

Roman cavalry momentum advance
on their left flank

Boii warriors attack on their left flank

Etruscans charge on their right flank

Romans are forced to retreat

Etruscans charge again

Boii chieftain and cavalry charge in the centre

Etruscan leader and infantry
win a hard fought 8-5 game

Border Wars Game - Foray with the Elliots and Armstrongs

 

Elliot attackers and Armstrong defenders assemble

Elliots deploy 

Well fed Chillingham cattle, the objective of the foray!

Elliots advance 

Armstrongs respond

Casualties and wounds from shooting and combat 

Last Sunday I met Rick and Gary down at the Vikings Club in Lanyon for a game of Border Wars. It was the monthly Sunday meeting of the Canberra Regional Wargame Group. We used to play here all the time but this was only my second game there since 2020. The scenario was Foray (p.65 of the rules) which involved a raid on an Armstrong bastle with the objective their cattle and sheep. Gary commanded the Elliot family attackers and Rick was the Armstrong defenders. The two sides had 11 figures a side, with a leader, two heroes and eight soldiers, four mounted, seven foot, about 115 points. The Armstrongs only had half of their force with reinforcements hopefully arriving in turn three.

This was Gary and Rick's first game of Border Wars, I was umpire and had only played one game previously but it provided plenty of laughs. Gary often has atrocious luck with his dice and true to form managed to consistently roll ones and twos even with D10s! The game uses dice for activation, combat and shooting, D10s, D8s and D6s as well as markers and cards - Special Actions, Heroic Actions and Special Events. The Armstrongs were comfortably leading through out the game having killed an Elliot hero early on and retrieving most of their stock. In the final turn the Elliots managed to win the game by killing the Armstrong leader and heroes.

 

Cheviot sheep are wrangled away
from the thieving Elliots

Armstrong reinforcements advance

The families fight over the remaining cow

Armstrongs escape with the prize

Elliots win the game in the final turn,
killing the Armstrong leader and heroes

Border Buildings, Civilians and Livestock

 

Civilians and Livestock

Bastle with stairs

Bastle with ladder

Here are some Border buildings, civilians and livestock that I've just finished painting to use in my Border Reivers games. The buildings are by Sarissa Precision and Warbases. I've done a quick and dirty paint job on these but will touch them up, silver the wood and paint individual stonework when I have a bit more time. The civilians, a shepherd and his wife, are by Timeline Miniatures, I have quite a few more of their Border Reiver figures to paint but will have to track them down somewhere in the lead pile! Usually I label everything to keep track but have been reorganising it all in to plastic crates. The livestock are by Flags of War and are Cheviot sheep and Chillingham cattle.

Spartacus Slave Revolt Game

 

Spartacus/Kirk Douglas

A command stand, Crixus?

Spartacus Slave Revolt Army deployed with camp

Slave revolt camp

The armies advance

Here are some photos of a Spartacus Slave Revolt, Hail Caesar game I played with Alan Traves down at the Vikings Club at Lanyon about nine years ago. I remembered this game and the photos I had of it because I've started painting some untrained slaves for my own Spartacus Slave Revolt army. Alan had a very nice army, mainly Foundry and 1st Corps figures, and they thrashed my Romans, another day of shame and ignominy for the legions! I have a lot of the same figures but also some of the excellent Companion Miniatures range of slave revolt figures which were actually sold by Aventine Miniatures for a while. Anyway they should be fun to paint.

Combat in the centre

A flank charge on the Roman right

The Legions flee!

Spartacus' army lives to fight another day

Maurayan versus Nandan Indian ADLG Game

 

Armies deployed

Opposite end

Maurayan right flank

Maurayan centre

Maurayan left flank

Nandan right flank

Nandan centre

Nandan left flank

Last Thursday afternoon Garry came over and we played a Maurayan versus Nandan Indian ADLG game out in the shed. The two armies were very similar, the main difference being two units of Maurayan guardsmen, while the Nandan infantry were all mixed units of swordsmen and archers. I commanded the Nandan army who were the attackers and wasted no time in charging on both flanks. In the centre the infantry held off and tried to take advantage of their superior fire power. It was quite a hard fought and close game right until the final turn, when the Nandan right flank was destroyed and the infantry collapsed in the centre.

Nandan right flank charges

Left flank does the same

Infantry in the centre hold off and fire

Nandan right flank is under pressure

Maurayan heavy chariots pursue

Nandan right flank is in tatters

Nandan army breaks