The Battle of Tereventum - Part II

Last night we finished up the Battle of Tereventum we started last week. My friends Ed and Phil couldn't make it, but my friend Michael did a fine job filling in for them as Carthaginian 2nd in command to Charlie's Hannibal. For the Romans our crew of Mike, Ralph and myself. To be honest things looked pretty grim for the Romans early on due to our poor performance on day one. My pre-game pep talk was for us to try to take our lumps as gracefully as possible.

I didn't take any photos, but the lovely close-up above was given to me by Michael. He's working out how to use a new camera, and was taking close-ups and macro photos all night so there aren't any sweeping battle panoramas for this update. Instead you can have the nice eye candy above.

In the game Ralph turned the tide in favor of the Romans early by getting hot and destroying the Spanish cavalry unit that gave us so much trouble on day one. On the left flank he also caught a Numidian light cavalry unit with his Roman battle cavalry which put it out of commission.  In the center Mike continued to hold on against the other Spanish cavalry near the enclosed field eventually eliminating it, but not before an African spear unit was able to hit his fragmented legion on the flank also routing it.

As the turns rolled on the remaining elephants routed another Roman Velite unit and the main battle lines closed. One of my superior morale legions ended up rushing into battle unsupported against a larger hoplite spear unit but amazingly was able to get the upper hand against it due to some very good dice on my part. On the right Ralph continued his hot streak and flanked a carthaginian local legionary unit which eventually routed it and brought the Carthaginian army to its break point. At game end the Roman army was one battle group away from army break as well. A close game that came down to the very last unit lost - a Pyrrhic victory for sure, and a very enjoyable game.

Charlie and I will be getting together at Mikes for another campaign session so we can get the next battle to the tabletop as soon as possible. 

A Swarthy Crew

This is my first pirate crew for our upcoming club pirate game. Our shore party squads are 10 figure units, so I painted up 13 figures: Ten to go ashore and three to man the boat as a skeleton crew while it is at anchor. You might be taken aback by the gray bird on the first mate's shoulder. That's not a vulture, it's an African Gray parrot. I took these photos outside and the light was pretty harsh, so the shading on the figures doesn't really show up very well. Here's hoping I can get an overcast day later on so I can take some better photographs.

The Battle of Tereventum - Part I

Today we got together to play another game in our ongoing 2nd Punic War campaign. This one pitted equal sized Carthaginian and Roman armies fighting over the province of Tereventum. To the left you can see the initial Roman deployment.

Here, opposite the Romans are the Carthaginians. Opting for a larger quantity of slightly lesser quality troops the Carthagian army has less battle groups, but they contain many more bases of figures. The Carthaginian cavalry is also more numerous and of higher quality than the Roman cavalry.

As the battle progressed the Carthaginians advanced across all fronts with their cavalry pushing one flank and their Elephants surging ahead of their heavy infantry. The Romans advanced in a large wheel maneuver towards the only major terrain feature - an enclosed agricultural field.

Early on the Roman's Italian allied infantry had great success pushing into the fields routing the Carthaginian medium infantry. One Roman legion was able to route a Gaul cavalry unit a well. From there things stabilized for a few turns. The Carthaginians lost an elephant unit, then the Romans lost a legion, then another Carthaginian elephant.

Things stabilized for a while longer then heated up on the other flank. The larger Carthaginian Numidian light cavalry destroyed a smaller Roman Numidian light cavalry unit. Before we ended for the day the Spanish heavy cavalry crushed two Roman legions in succession in a few turns. In both engagements the Spanish were fighting 1:3 odds against and still destroyed the Roman infantry - crazy!

We had to break for the night. We hope to finish the battle next Friday night. The battlefield stands about as depicted in the photo to the left. The Carthaginians have a good advantage on the right flank, the Romans on the left. In the middle things are up in the air, although there's a remaining pair of Elephants that have burst through the Roman lines. As Roman commander I'm a bit nervous about the outcome of this battle at this point. What we did learn today is things can change quickly and being on the short side of the odds isn't necessarily a death sentence.

August 2012 Game Night

Last night was our club's monthly game night. I've been having some issues with my back so I didn't play in any games but I did stop by to drop off some boat kits for a few who needed them and I was able to take these photographs. There were three great games hosted. These photos are of Phil's Pacific air-to-air game using the new Angels 20 figures and rules from Axis & Allies.

Earl and Mark hosted a War of 1812 skirmish game using Brother Against Brother rules. When I left there was action all over the table on this one.

 Charlie hosted a Normandy WWII game using "Ain't Been Shot Yet Mum" rules. I watched this game for a while and the rules seemed interesting although they do have a bunch of British mechanics and terms in them that might take some getting used to for us 'yanks'.

 Finally Gordon brought in his Islands and boat for us all to see in person. They look even BETTER in person than in the photos he sent earlier in the week. Earl brought his Old Glory 22 gun warship which is partially painted now. The photo below right shows it next to the smaller 8 gun cutter. I think somehow I did OK with the scaling. Everyone is excited for September game day which will be our first run of the pirate game. Arrrgh!

First Painted Boat

My friend Gordon has poured on the gas on getting his boat finished. Here it is painted and equipped with eight 9 lb. guns. Looking REALLY GOOD Gordon! I can't wait to see it with some crew and sails on it.

Pirate Project Continues . . .

Last weekend a bunch of my fellow club members got together to build some of my laser-cut boat kits for our big upcoming pirate game. I was so busy helping everyone build their boats that I completely forgot to take photos. Well my friend Gordon just sent us some photos of the Islands he's making for the game. The islands look AWESOME. As an added extra surprise Gordon used his finished boat as part of the photos to lend some scale to the islands.

Gordon's boat, like mine, still needs to be rigged and painted, but I'm super excited to see another person's completed boat. This is going to be a super game. I can't wait.

Old West Outlaws

This is my band of outlaws for our old west gunfight games. They'll be competing with my banditos for loot from the local stagecoach, bank or saloon as the case may be. I'm not sure how far my collection will grow. For now two squads seems to be plenty. It's always great when you can finish a project by only painting up twelve figures!

Ships boat (Dory)

You can't go ashore to plunder or bury your treasure without a ship's boat, aka dory. This was created to be able to carry a few based figures (hence the lack of a middle seat) from your pirate ship to the shore. Laser-cut plywood and balsa. We needed a bunch of these in a hurry and I think this will fit the bill nicely. 

Four Gun Sloop

This is the second pirate boat I've designed to be cut on my laser for our club's upcoming pirate wars club project. This one is a four gun sloop. I've kept the stern decorations generic so the builder can embellish the circular area with any design they like. I imagine creative use of bits from the dead lead box would be applied here.

On the deck are four Old Glory 25mm 9-lb. deck guns and a Pirate captain for scale.