The West has fallen

 Club night and I managed to get a decent parking space, what a boon it is when your car parks itself, perfect for an old codger like me.

I had organised with Ed some time ago a War and Conquest Dark Ages game so I took the opportunity to bring along my lovely Western Patrician Roman army which does not get out very much these days while Ed was happy to stay with the Romano-British. Ed has turned out to be a very decent opponent with WAC and he has two notches on his belt already leading the Seleucids against my favoured 12th Legion.

I took three Legions, a German Foederati warband, some Alan cavalry and some archers, Ed also had four battle formations, three Romano-British and one Welsh along with cavalry, skirmishers and a large unit of archers. He had missed out a unit of Pedyts which are a must, it was no big deal and I said it was a ready excuse should I lose, this would come back to haunt me, what made it worse is that I was lazy and instead of using my actual Welsh troops I substituted, yes, the damn Pedyts.

As we deployed I had the idea of advancing my Alans and archers on the left, killing off the enemy cavalry and turning in on the Romano-British line, I would wait and see what happened elsewhere before committing the Legions. Ed had put his cavalry opposite mine along with his skirmishers then at the end of his infantry he placed the large archer unit. The Romano-British cavalry were superior to my horse archers and could have ridden them down without a problem, but for some reason Ed formed them into skirmish and I smiled inside. My first volleys were good and and the cavalry ran and took the skirmishing foot with them, things were looking good, I had also advanced the Celtae Seniores to attack what in my mind were the Pedyts but had Welsh accents. 

Legions are ready

British on the left, Romans on the right

British

Things now turned sour, the British cavalry rallied and returned and no matter how many arrows I threw at them for the rest of the game they just brushed them off, the Celtae had smashed into the Welsh and were making heavy work of beating them, I threw Quinta Macedonica in against a unit alongside the Taff's and despite having all the advantages the Macedonians threw them all away. On the right I had pulled back my Germans as they were suffering heavy casualties from the massed archers, my elite Lanciarii Gallicani Honoriani were also under fire from javelins to their front so before I lost my combat edge I was forced to charge the Gauls and the Germans into the British line. I was taking a chance with both these assaults as the Gauls were up against a formation in shield wall, but they were elite, the German attack was a bit of a forlorn hope which I needed to tie up the British hearthguard.

Romano British milites

Quinta Macedonica advances

British left flank

Things got worse, my Alans and skirmishers were held up trying in vain to kill off the British cavalry, the Macedonians, Gauls and the Germans all began to suffer heavily and before too long were running for the rear. The Celtae did at last manage to rout the Welsh but it had taken so long they, like my left flank, could not interfere in the disaster taking place elsewhere. I handed over my sword.

Casualties rise in the Roman ranks

The invulnerable British cavalry

Macedonians throw away their advantage and possibly the game.

From my point of view the battle was simply a slaughter, although I managed in most turns to cause a decent amount of casualties Ed's saving throws brought these to naught time and time again, especially that bloody cavalry. On the other hand his men dealt out punishment which I failed to brush off. Whatever he had offered the dice gods it had worked a treat, I was undone once again with no excuse.

I was hoping to try Italian Wars at the club but despite having enough pikemen and cavalry for a small game I really do need more shooters before doing this. Thankfully they are now on their way from TAG and I expect them tomorrow. I am very close to finishing my French pike block and it should be ready next week which will allow me to get started on those gunners.

Complete, nearly complete, and about to start

Wars of the Roses rules always put Treachery or the threat of it high on their list of priorities, despite it only being proven on one occasion (Northampton) and arguably on another (Bosworth). Furioso for the Italian Wars has Impetuous, and I got to thinking why, the only battlefield example I can bring to mind is the Swiss at Bicocca, the rule can cause your whole army to merrily waltz off leaving you, as the commander, merely a bystander. I do have some tweaks to the rules which others have added or play tested which may mitigate this happening but I don't think they are enough. There is also a Furioso rule when traditional enemies (Swiss v Swiss, Swiss v Landsknechts or Landsknechts v Landsknechts) will ignore what is happening around them to engage said enemies. I find this a tad more realistic than Impetuous so I intend to look a bit closer at both these rule mechanisms, something for the long winter evenings perhaps. Julian and I have our second game next Wednesday.

 I ordered some poplar trees from The Last Valley a while back and they arrived today, I am very pleased but wondered where the trunk had gone, either Andy knows his trees or he was just lucky. Lombardy poplars are overgrown all the way to the ground, who would have thought, when you can see the trunk they are 'cultivated'.

I am having a niggling problem with my drawing tablet, which is something I need to get sorted so of course I got into a chat with someone at Wacom Support who felt it more important to wish me a happy day than get to the nub of my problem which was ensuring my day was far from happy. Yes, I have reinstalled the drivers, yes I have rebooted the PC, yes I reinstalled the programme, and why should I take a survey when I still have the problem no matter what kind of day you wish on me and were so delighted to have talked it over with me. Also just once in a decade I would like to be the first person in the call queue, why do we never catch these people when they are not busy, not once in years.

 I have a sore back from picking up my troop boxes yesterday the wrong way, so for now I am Mr. Grumpy.