Onwards ever Onwards.

 My wargaming was not over when my son grabbed a victory from my Barbarian assault a week or so ago, I managed one day of rest when mate Robert appeared for the first of our two evening games. Robert had not played War and Conquest but is a seasoned wargamer and was happy to try the rules out, he chose the Seleucids as he has 'prior' with them, I decided to lead the new army putting aside my guilt of not commanding Legio XII.

The game was only over a few hours and was a typical ancient clash, infantry in the centre and cavalry on the wings, Robert kept his elephant way out on his right hoping it would disorder my cavalry, he needn't have bothered as my horse archers were routed by the enemy cavalry. I did manage to hit the behemoth later, it went out of control and as luck would have it it went straight for one of my victorious vexillations, the lads took this in their stride and Nellie hit the deck. As the phalanx reached my line several melees broke out but the Romans were left masters of the field.

A very mad elephant.

Phalanx v legion.

On the cusp of victory.

Thrax.

Seleucis.

Thrax's men had fought well against the pikes and I am sure Robert would be a serious opponent with a few more games under his belt, not that he did anything wrong in this small clash but we all know it takes time to get to grips with how a ruleset plays. I was just happy to play and get my armies on the table.

The next evening we settled on a return to old times and played a small Johnny Reb game, back in Scotland we had a small group which played a lot of ACW in my loft space, melting in the summer and freezing in the winter. Robert as always took the Good Guys while I led the Rebs. We didn't get very far as we chatted, reminisced and enjoyed throwing dice, Robert went on the defensive along a line of fences while I attacked, I had decided to put my strongest brigade into an attack on the Union left but we called a halt as time ran out and things were just getting interesting.

I have been doing quite a bit of painting recently, I got the artillery crew for my 88mm Bunkerflak but found only two would fit on the vehicle, the rest will be additional gun crew for games of Chain of Command which needs five men as opposed to Bolt Action which requires three. I had also painted up my last (for now) Roman unit over two days to get them on the table, or at least giving my son a choice of fielding them. I also managed to scratch an itch and complete some shieldwall markers for Thrax. This left me with nothing left to do for now so I turned to the Fallschirmjager given me by Robert, I had a look at a video on YouTube on using Contrast paints for Late War German troops in camo smocks. Stuart at the club had used this method on his recent Volksgrenadiers and I was impressed, I took the plunge and bought some extra paints and primer. I also needed some more grass tufts, some extra figures, a box filler from Charlie Foxtrot and magnets, I could have gone further and got Fallschirmjager support units but have decided to use my Heer units for these, no need to double everything up as I have done with other stuff. Will I be able to live with this, who knows.

Markers.

Artillery crew.

 Talking about old times, I had a Bolt Action game with Jimi last night, I have been concentrating on Chain of Command recently as you can tell and just could not be bothered to pick up the huge tome that is Bolt Action version 3. Yes there are some nice changes on the side of commonsense but yes, there is still some real stupid stuff in there. No matter I asked ChatGPT for a scenario and it came up with a Soviet attack on the village of Chernovka held by the Germans as they await reinforcements, the AI provided everything including the orders of battle, easy peasy. The AI obviously had a thing for the Jerries as the defenders included a StuG III and a PAK 40 against a T-34/76 and a BA-64 armoured car.

Chernovka about to fall.

Jimi has winter troops.

PAK 40 late to the show.

For the Motherland!

I decided to simply run all my troops at the village and hope for the best before the Germans were reinforced, luckily for me Jimi held off his StuG and the PAK 40, in the latter case because he was unsure what it was and got it mixed up with something else. Jimi is not a WWII rivet counter like the rest of us. I was set upon by a sniper and a panzerschrek team and as I closed the range I managed to take out both of these although I still kept my T-34 away from the StuG. The Jerries countered with a small pioneer squad along with a flamethrower but they could not get the thing to light up and duly suffered for their rashness. To make matters worse the reinforcements only came on in bits and pieces. The Russian steam roller continued and more German units bit the dust, including the PAK 40 crew. With one turn remaining we called it a day, the Soviets had retaken Chernovka. Not a bad little game, Jimi being saddled with his usual luck just when he didn't need it.

We took the car in for a service last week to Mercedes Preston and I saw just what I wanted, unfortunately it cost £92,000 and the Memsahib did not like it, if there had been a small Batman logo on the door or bonnet I would have took my chances and lived a live of lonely penury. On the way out her loveliness asked me to pop into BMW, two hours later I signed on the dotted line. So a service turned into a new car. I really need to keep away from showrooms.

Mine.

Not mine.

On the health front, yep, still waiting. 

If only .........

I have now finished my War and Conquest weekend courtesy of my son Stewart. My new 3rdC Roman army is basically finished and ready for the tabletop and as much as I would have liked to lead Thrax's boys in battle my son Stewart regards Roman troops as walking tanks, so I let him take the new army. I have to admit I have a superstition about the 'Thunderbolts' and felt I could not abandon them so the first battle would be a 'Civil War', quite appropriate for the 'Crises'. I also wanted to show him that the Romans are not invincible so decided to take a Barbarian Warband army for the second battle, tongue firmly in cheek, again an appropriate clash for Maximinus Thrax.

The Twelfth mustered with four cohorts two of which were recruits, the supports were one Auxiliary cohort, some Auxiliary light infantry along with some skirmishers, the cavalry were horse archers and kontos armed Contari. Across the field were four legionary vexillations and some Lanciarii, these were supported by skirmishers, Contari, German cavalry and Roman horse archers, a bolt shooter completed the line up. I realised too late that my right flank was going to be in trouble, so I held the III Cohort back just in case, I then made things worse by losing my Light Infantry but to be fair they had refused to charge into the enemy javelins in the wood which then set them up as a target for the enemy Contari.

Legio XII Fulminata.

Thrax.

Thunderbolts on the left, Thrax on the right.

On the left I did manage to chase off the enemy horse archers but lost my own to the Germans, I now felt pressured to attack the enemy infantry before both my flanks failed. My assault proved a triumph and two of the enemy fled, despite being commanded by Thrax himself XXII Primagenia also fled in sympathy. Stewart looked despondent but my men could not catch the routers and most of them managed to rally and come back, my Contari tried to catch I Minerva in the flank but had to withdraw. So far my massed archers had failed miserably to inflict casualties on anyone they fired at, much like Stewart's bolt shooter, but unlike the Scorpio my archers broke for the rear having suffered horrendous casualties. 

Both sides advance.

My unfortunate horse archers.

German cavalry.

Still early days.

On my right Auxiliary I had fought magnificently but their enemy once again returned and just as things were again looking good they were hit in the rear by Contari, nonetheless they fought to the last man and tied up both these units for some time. Things are a bit hazy now, but the upshot was that I stabilised the right flank and routed the Contari and Javelins that were there, II Treverorum managed to hold out after being routed twice. Despite fighting a depleted II Cohort Thrax and his bodyguard were being beaten back. Stewart handed over his sword.

My Auxiliaries surrounded.

Roman v Roman.

Thrax leads XXII Primagenia.

My light infantry refuse to charge.

I made a mistake leaving my right at a disadvantage, however if I had put the Contari on the right my left would have been easily overwhelmed by two cavalry units against my skirmishers, so it was a hard decision and I was lucky that I got away with it. The Twelfth had proved themselves once again against a difficult opposition and remain No.1.

On Sunday it was a very different battle Barbarians against a well trained, professional Roman army. I fought one of the most memorable battles years ago against mate Matt Smith who took a Warband army against the Thunderbolts, the Twelfth gained their fearsome reputation in this battle which was a tremendous but ultimately victorious struggle, I wanted to try such a fight again. This time I was the Barbarians, and I kept it simple with five large warbands, some Noble cavalry and some skirmishers, I was going to keep it simple and just charge the enemy relying on my numbers and skill in the first clashes. Stewart brought three vexilations and three Lanciarii with two cavalry units and also some skirmishers. We deployed one unit at a time and by the end we were on the opposite sides of the battlefield.

Germans on the left Romans on the right.

Romans.

Germans.

 I thought the Romans were going to have difficulty getting past the terrain so set my warbands off immediately at speed to close them in even further. The Romans managed to grab a hill on their left so I decided to leave this alone, they were happy to stick to their hill so I took on the javelins with Warriors 2 and sent them packing. I also managed to rout some archers and a Lanciarii unit, on the debit side I lost a warband to Thrax and his bodyguard, however overall things looked good. On the other hand my pursuers continually failed to exert any enthusiasm and the enemy kept rallying, this would happen time and time again.

Roman archers run away.

My leader about to hit the Roman centre.

Things are looking good.

Intense combat.

My Leader fought magnificently in the centre but once again actually managing to maintain the success was sadly lacking, I had been doing very well on my left but again the Romans would flee only to come back as my men had left their trainers with the wagons. The Contari, who had routed three times now came to the party and caught a warband in the flank, this unfortunate unit now routed, my remaining warband on the left was now surrounded by Romans and although fighting like Trojans eventually succumbed to the pressure. I was now left with only two warbands and my Noble cavalry, the latter had been threatening Thrax and his men and would have found it difficult to ride past him to help on the left, maybe I should have at least tried but they kept Thrax out of the fight for most of the game. Soon I was left with only my leader and the remnants of his hard fighting warband, it was time for me to hand Stewart his sword back.

I am ready to charge the centre.

 

Get after them!

  

The above does not do justice to this intense conflict, at least twice it looked like the Romans were on the ropes but my lack of decent pursuit moves and Stewarts incredible morale throws allowed them to came back time and time again. I will admit some of his early routs were also the result of some bad morale throws on his part. This will go down in the annals as the Battle of the Whingers as we both implored the dice gods not to desert us, if only this or if only that, and yes, I actually changed my dice half way through.

We chose 3,000 point armies and took our time so each game lasted around five hours, with eats and some beers, a satisfying and best way to play a wargame. For me War and Conquest brings highs and lows, frustration and elation while allowing me to put large armies onto the table and throw buckets of dice, nothing else I have seen or played can beat it. Yes it is Old School, but tell me anywhere that 'New School' is better, in wargaming or elsewhere.

I made a supreme effort before the battle to finish off my last unit of Lanciarii so that Stewart would have the complete army to choose from, I also painted up my Slave Trader set from Foundry as the Rally Point. I was on a roll and managed to weather the Pz I and Bunkerflak, I also found another Panzer I in my 1939-1942 box, duh. I got a Luftwaffe 88 crew from Empress as they have jackboots for early war, I will only be able to put two figures on the vehicle as there is just not enough room, the others can act as extra gun crew for Chain of Command.

I have a busy week ahead, mate Robert will be here on Tuesday and Wednesday for some games in the evening although we have not decided what we are doing yet. I also have an important appointment with the NHS on Wednesday, or at least I am hoping it is. 

I continue with my work on the Arab-Israeli atlas, about a third of the way through now.

 

Let There Be Light

 Yes, it's me again, a short while after saying syonara. I had a knee jerk reaction to some news regarding my health which I now realise was the wrong thing to focus on, several people have questioned why I would stop blogging as I obviously enjoyed it, I made excuses but in the end I realise my blog is as much a part of my wargaming hobby as the battles and troops are. I may not blog as often in the coming months but I will continue. So, lets go.

I had asked if anyone would like a game of Chain of Command this coming Tuesday, sorry but I seem to be unable to shake my interest in this game that I once threw in the bin. With everyone busy I thought all was lost but Paul offered me a game yesterday out of the blue and I grabbed it. He has Americans so I decided to branch out and take Volksgrenadiers, once again I was the attacker, you can see a pattern here. I set up a village and poured over the support lists, I decided on a Panzergrenadier squad, an adjutant, second Senior Leader and a Panzer III N, I wanted to be sure I could command all four squads which would be difficult with one leader. Paul had very few support points and not enough for a tank, I expected a medium or heavy MG.

The Americans in CoC annoy me, they have very large twelve man squads and automatic weapons, they also get to fire when moving with no penalty to their accuracy, I disagree with General Patton on this, sure put a wall of lead up but hitting something would just be luck. It costs command points to do this but hey, I have to moan about something. 

There were two objective markers on the table and I decided to first of all hit the one on my left, I set up my LMG squads to cover a ruined building which had an objective near it and then quickly brought on my tank and the rest of the troops. Paul put one squad in the building and one on some woods to the right, his third squad would turn up on my far right eventually, but it took some time to make its presence felt in the battle. I managed to get several double turns and advanced one squad very quickly along the side of a nearby church and charged a lone Ami teamand wiped it out, capturing an NCO. I then moved against the remaining part of the platoon in the woods and caused them to run, I also sat on the enemy Jump Off Point here, things looked very good. On the other flank a squad had almost killed off a Yankee Scout Team and caused them to retreat.

Carried away with my success I now moved my LMG squads out and towards the objective, what could go wrong. In the woods Paul had left a Senior Leader isolated and my squad there charged the poor man, incredibly he beat off his attackers and kept going, elsewhere a sniper began to pick off some of my NCO's and my morale dropped, I was putting a ton of lead (32 shots) into the fortress and getting nowhere apart from the odd kill, this was taking far too long. But what about the tank I hear you say, well that moved forward to the crossroads and was just about to take the house under fire when Paul's support turned up, not an MMG but an anti-tank gun, it barked and the Panzer exploded, morale fell again.

Oh dear.

My first NCO goes down.

Men of the match attack Yankee right.

I was now in trouble as the survivors of my squad in the woods were stuck there as I was now down a command dice and needed them elsewhere, my right hand squad's NCO was stunned and useless so they also had to seek shelter to stop being wiped out, I was left with my seemigly dreadful LMG squads hitting nothing but brickwork. Paul had tried to get his Senior leader to run for his own lines but the machinegunners had only managed to stun him, agh! With things not looking so good the turn ended, I had captured the JOP but Paul's morale managed to weather this, however he lost an objective so only one remained and I was hopefully closing in on it. I continued as if mesmerised by the squad in the building near the objective, I almost had them as their numbers collapsed, I could smell victory. then Paul threw four sixes with four dice.

That damn house.

Thaat's not a machine gun.

Should have stayed in the house.

This proved disastrous for me, he managed to get a roll for reinforcements, five men, and reinforced the remnants of the squad in the house of death, I was gutted. His left hand squad now had come into the battle and my LMG squads began to suffer. we were now both down to three dice each as the dual continued, I turned my attention to the newly arrived squad and for once my boys began to deal out significant casualties, however, time and time again I failed to hit an NCO in order to trigger a morale  test. We were now both down to one point of morale and two dice, the tension mounted, eventually Paul managed to get two good order throws and my morale crumbled.

Too little too late.

The end.

A nerve wracking game which saw ups and downs for both sides but Paul just managed to get that bit of luck when needed. Yes I could have been luckier but also in the cold light of day I think I could have made some better decisions. No matter, a good win for Paul and an entertaining afternoon for me.

I have been busy elsewhere, I have completed half of my last Lanciarii unit and will start on the rest later this week. My son is coming for a few games at the weekend and my new Romans will be on the table so I needed a Rally Point for them, I got the Slave Trader set from Wargames Foundry and will complete this little vignette this afternoon, I was also given a couple of Roman civilians from Rob at the club so these I will use as Strategic Intervention Points along with some others I already have..

My new vehicles arrived from Mardav, 3D printed and beautifully detailed, I have now primed and drybrushed these and may get a chance to detail and weather them today or tomorrow. I have sent to Empress Miniatures for their Luftwaffe 88mm flak crew, these are the only guys I can find with jackboots as I have painted up the Bunkerflak in grey for early war and Barbarossa. I will only need at most three figures but the others will still come in handy for extra gun crews.

Bunkerflak and Pz I

I believe that is it, I see the BBC are pushing their King and Conqueror series, I have seen clips and going by past attempts at portraying the Dark Ages I do not hold out much hope.