CARRONADE 2016. PART 2.

Here are some more photos of games from Saturday.

Two views of the battle of Gaugamela in 15mm.

Romans v Celts in Caledonia, 1st Century AD. 

Pegasus Bridge inspired Bolt Action game.

A Bolt Action demo game. Bolt Action WW2 Brazilians. It was a close shave, but they captured the bridge.

A larger scale Gaugamela game.

Two views of the Wellesly in India game by Westhope WC. This came 2nd in best display game.

Ged and the Leuchars Veterans with their Custer's Last Stand participation game. This was a busy table all day and, I believe, was awarded best participation game.

CARRONADE 2016 PART 1

Last Saturday, I made the trip to Carronade 2016, the show put on by Falkirk and District Wargames Club. I missed last year's show, so was looking forward to it. For the first two hours, I tried to sell my unwanted wargaming stuff, with moderate success, on the flea market.  

After grabbing a quick  lunch, I wasready to to check out what was happening. I started in the smaller hall on the first floor. There were a good selection of games.

A detailed table for demo games of Afterlife.

Another view of the table, with a couple of Iron Mammoth Design's 40 foot container models, displayed in their unpainted state.

Lion Rampant.

Another view of the forces getting to grips with each other in the Lion Rampant game.

This was a popular Mad Max inspired participation game.

Various views of the battlecruiser action from this refight of The Battle of Jutland

More pictures and comment to come.

DBA 3.0. TWO MORE BATTLES.

After our taster game of DBA 3.0, Rick suggested we try the big battle DBA rules. For this, we used three standard sized DBA armies. We fought two different battles on two separate Thursdays. 

The initial set up. The Picts are in ambush positions as the British advance.

For the first game, we decided to ignore the set up rules and set up an historical battle. The battle was Nechtansmere or Dunnichen, between the Picts and Sub Roman British. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dun_Nechtain

The middle command of the Picts charges down from the hill as the Britons try to change from marching order to deploy into battle order.

Two Pictish commands attack the Britons, to try to drive them into the lake. The third command is the plug to stop the Britons' escape.

The Picts crash into the Britons, pushing them back.

Having lost impetus, the Picts are attacked by British cavalry and take losses. In the foreground, the Pictish warband clash with British infantry.

The casualties suffered by the Picts left two commands demoralised.

History was not repeated, as the Picts lost. Two commands lost at least 4 elements and became demoralised. That meant they could not attack, only defend, and only then if pips were spent to hold them. The British were able to defeat the commands in detail. The army morale check was then failed, giving victory to the British.

The second game was based on a randomly rolled battlefield from a Commands & Colors scenario. It was between Rick's Early Imperial Romans and my Early Germans. 

The initial set up. We used coloured beads to denote the commands and CinC. Each command got one pip dice.

As the attacker, I took advantage of Rick's poor pip dice to get my warbands across the river.

The Romans retaliate with a cavalry charge.

An overview of the battle. The Romans are beginning to attack the German right flank,

The German assault begins to cause casualties to the Romans.

The Romans exploit the weak German right flank. 

The Germans continue to push forward, unaware that they have been outflanked.

A view of the German plight.The right flank German command was now demoralised.

A second German command becomes demoralised during the Roman counter attack.

The end state. The Germans failed the army morale check, once two commands were demoralised.

The DBA 3.0 big battle rules give a feel like old style DBM. I have not played DBMM, so can't say what influence this may have had. The rules have tweaked the troop types enough to allow and encourage historical tactics and usage.

Playing DBA again has reignited my interest in the period.

SAGA: FIGHTING FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN.

The most recent Thursday game of SAGA, saw my Scots take on Rick's Anglo Saxons. The scenario was 'sacred ground'. The terrain was simple, two sacred groves and a stone circle on a hill.
The stone circle was a new piece of terrain, to replace my old one. A simple job. A plastic Stonehenge set picked up in a publisher's outlet , drybrushed and stuck on  flocked bases. A lot easier to move.

Opening positions from the Scots' lines.

The early moves saw Rick use tricks from his SAGA board to move units quickly. The Anglo  Saxons were able to score victory points from turn 1. This would prove decisive.

The Scots Warlord leads the advance on the stone circle.

The Scots levy enter the wood. They would start to score victory points. The battle for the stone circle can be seen in the background.

The battle for the stone circle, a closer look.

Almost unnoticed, the battle for the wood on the Scots' right flank had been going on. The rmains of a Scots warrior unit holds ground and so scores points.

The battle for the stone circle continues.

The Scots levy keeps up a barrage on the Anglo Saxon warriors in the left wood.

The Scots warlord amd his thegs, drive the Anglo Saxon Warriors from the stone circle.

The Scots levy,, after relising that shooting was useless, pile into the left wood .

The Scots warlord holds the stone circle, after killing the Anglo Saxon Warlord.  stone circle. It is still contested by Anglo Saxon warriors, who took advantage of the fight to get back in the circle.

The Anglo Saxons in sole possession of the right wood. 

After 7 turns, it was clear that the Scots could not generate enough victory points. The  Anglo Saxons were declared the winner. 

The game turned on Rick managing to double his units using abilities from the SAGA board. He was able to score victory points in that first turn. The Scots never caught up. It was enjoyable trying , though.

SAGA: BATTLE AT THE BRIDGES.

A few Thursdays ago, we had another go at SAGA. This time it was the Battle At The Ford scenario. 

Once again, Rick took the Anglo Saxons and I used my Scots.

Starting positions. The Scots on the left, the Anglo-Saxons on the right. 

View from behind the stone circle of the starting positions of the levy archers.

Warlord and the bulk of the Scots set up to take the right hand bridge.

The Anglo Saxons attack over the bridge to drive the levy archers from the stone circle.

After causing casualties, the Warriors engage the Scots levy. This forces the Scots Warlord to move to intercept.

The Anglo Saxon Levy cross the bridge to support the warriors attacking the stone circle.

The Scots Warlord and his bodyguard cause heavy casualties among the Anglo Saxon levy and warriors. 

The Anglo Saxon warlord and his bodyguard holds one bridge (after seeing off the Scots warlord). A unit of Thegns attacks a unit of Scots warriors. The Levy engage the remaining Anglo Saxon Warriors.

The end of the game. The Anglo Saxons claim victory as they hold both bridges and score more VPs for having figures on the opponent's bank.

It was a close result on points, but a comprehensive Anglo Saxon victory. I concentrated too much on one bridge and ended up with neither of them.

A couple of weeks later, we played the Sacred Ground scenario. After having problems with the stone circle terrain, which meant having to remove it, I knew I had to find a solution for he next game. More details in the next post.