Tommy's Wargaming blog

 The second game of Warfare was against Sciri led by Jim Mclaughlin. The highlight of the game for the Sciri was outscouting the Romans by 70%, but I didn't care as it was less than 100%. The terrain was appalling for Jim's mostly Cavalry army. A village, a forest, and a wood across his front and a deep water flank on his left. He only had one place to put his Cavalry, between the wood and the deep water. Jim charged my Superior and Exceptional Legions and chose the file with his Legendary general first (unluckily only rolling a wound). I managed to kill all 4 of his Devastating Charger Cavalry and then on taking a Short Spear Cavalry out in a subsequent turn, broke the army. The final score was very harsh on Jim, 15-0 as I only lost 3 bases.  The humorous moment of the game was my ally needing a kicking to wake up (I.e. unreliable in the first turn, but then reliable from the next turn).  In the photo, the 4 wide Legions are the Exceptionals and the poors are on my base ...

 Warfare  2023 Game 1 This year at Warfare I took an MSU (Multiple Small Units) version of Later Republican Roman. The practice games had gone reasonably well in general. The list was 2 4s of Exceptional, 6 4s of Superior, 3 4s of Average, all Melee Expert Impact Weapon, and 2 4s of Poor Impact Weapon. All Shield Cover as well. My first game was against Keith Spedding. I have beaten Keith twice in the past but I feel both those times were luck rather than any particular skill on my side. I got terrain on both sides of the table and actually won Scouting by 20%. There was also a village on Keith's base edge to try and stop evading. It was going well in the early stages. At deployment however, I made an absolutely fatal error against the Sassanids. I put the Exceptionals together and should instead have had one on each flank. Black dice from the Sassanids were repeatedly rolling wounds, and 2 sequences of rolls even gave Keith 2 wounds. My Average Legions were going through a fo...

 For Warfare 2023 I'm reprising my Later Republican Roman but in a different version. A Legendary Professional CinC, a Competent Professional Sub, a Competent Professional Ally, and a Mediocre Professional Sub. This gives me 13 command cards and crucially in my opinion, 4 generals, to counteract the fact that one may be hesitant. The fact the generals are all Professional allows me to gift cards from the CinC to the Subs as and when he wants. More on that later. My 13 Tugs are as follows: 2 Exceptional, 6 Superior and 3 Average Impact Weapon, Shield cover, Melee Expert Legions. The remaining 2 are Poor Impact Weapon Shield Cover. Why all Legions? They can manouvre like extremely well, they are all very tough, apart from the poors, and they can all go into rough or difficult terrain as per the situation. Next why all 4s of Legions? There are more Kab tests potentially, but the army is also more manouvreable when it's in small units than large or Medium sized units. This next poi...

 Another Blink and you'll miss it game. Terrain consisted of a deep water secure flank and 2 vineyards on Keith's rear to restrict the placement of his Ilkhanids. Scouting was a draw but being the defender Keith deployed first. I screened his Ilkhanids with mixed units, and attacked his Knights with my Knights. His free Knight unit attacked 2 other mixed units and ended up breaking to weight of numbers and lucky dice. Better quality and Keith's bad luck in being on the wrong end of a mismatch for the 4th game in a row, I.e. he drew the short cross and faced 4 Later Crusaders, saw his army break. His flank charges came to naught. The highlight for the Armenians was that despite throwing 5 reds, 3 whites and a green, my Brothers only caused 3 wounds to his camp, obviously tired from their earlier exertions in previous games. I lost one unit of Superior Knights for a score of 15-2. 60 minutes or thereabouts. 44 points proved enough for 5th place in the end. On to Limerick, Ire...

 Should probably have attacked the flank of the Crossbows as opposed to going after the poor Spears. They had poor cards apparently had the mixed units. 3 big rough pieces dominated the table but with open areas in which to insert my Knights. Robin's Knights very subtly in reserve behind shooty Ayyubids. Round 3 vs Robin Spence I managed to outscout Robin by 40% I believe and the terrain consisted of a deep water flank with rough pieces spread around the table. First bit of luck was 3 wounds on white S dice against one of Robin mixed units with one of mine and then my beating it in one impact and Melee. I caught a couple of Mamluks with a Superior and an Average Knight eventually and was feeling very confident. I broke the unit facing the Superiors but I think in the long run lost both the Knights due to flank charges. I also had a run of 6 or 7 blanks on green dice. Before these units died however, I broke the poor Spear unit that was hiding in rough with my fanatics. I just could...

 Tough game for Rob. Full Armour made all the difference in the game by matching his Melee Expert. Some of Rob's casualties and my Average Knights back in the box.  Blew a Knight unit apart with Crossbow fire and started swinging around. Very fun and interesting game. My final casualties. The Brothers were a wound off breaking. 420 points to buy Fanatic was clearly worthwhile. Big clash on the right. My Averages have died but a lot of First Crusaders are about to be put to the sword. Probably slightly outwidthed my army's ancestors. Long First Crusade and Later Crusader lines opposite each other. Blink and you'll miss it game against Rob Brand's First Crusade. Terrain was more cluttered with a wood on the left and in the centre sector, and there was a coastal flank as well. "Well Captain, what are our orders? Charge hard". I eventually managed to beat up the enemy infantry, and my Full Armour gave me enough of an advantage against Rob's Knights that I kill...

Steve's and my initial deployment  A very rascally Ghuzz unit evading my mixed units The central clash Steve's casualties before it started slipping away. Surviving just about. Steve's waterway covering my left. The Ghuzz had taken casualties but too little too late. My Fanatics are playing "keep away from those people bearing points sticks!" All the competitors at the event, and I believe a Bloodbowl competition was happening at the same time.  I'll just preface this report by saying I had a wonderful weekend and 4 immensely enjoyable games. Round 1 Steve Stead with Almoravid in Africa I started Saturday morning with a very tough game against an army which counters mine. My advantage is my Cavalry if they're not facing Steve's Spears. I won PBS in a way, but getting the terrain into coastal with a deep water flank, which was abutted by Steve's gentle hill. I got outscouted by about 40%. I placed my poor Bows one on either side with mixed units in ...

 The 4th round of Warfare vs Jason Broomer with Middle Republican Roman. Again it features a deep water secure flank because of the anticipated Numidian ally. A town in Jason's centre placed by me, while he placed 2 gentle hills, the one on his right being of major significance. I sent a unit of Superior and Exceptional Legions to take the large gentle hill. Jason very skilfully maneuvered his Spanish and a 6 of Legions opposite me in such a way that I had to choose to attack him with either 1 Superior base or 1 Exceptional base in combat.  The Averages and 1 Superior Legion are forming a delaying force against the Numidians. I eventually broke the Javelin Short Spear unit in the town with a Superior Legion. This time Caesar woke up and broke the unit a turn earlier than he should (read amazing dice rolls by the Legion.) I also killed his general, downgrading it to Mediocre. While this was happening, I somehow was beating the Spanish and a 6 of Legions nearly single handedly w...

Round 3 of Warfare Top table with oxygen masks required for being near the top of the mountain. My opponent is Matt Haywood with Middle Sassanid. I lost the opening dice roll and ended up invading in plains, but fortunately I got a deep water secure flank. Nothing else on the table terrain wise.  The first clash, 2 Kushan Superior Cataphracts vs 1 Superior Legion. Those Cavalry are looking to swing round the rear of the Sassanids to wreak havoc. I eventually lost the Legion as expected, but I got the Cavalry behind the flank of the Cataphracts. I lost the Superior Legion in this pic due to 2 Cataphracts ganging up on it. Just to give context to the dice. They were Caesar's first roll in this game against Average Unprotected Horse Archers. I eventually got the Horse Archers to 3 bases but too little too late. The Cataphract in the front of the Superior Legion was the only unit I killed off Matt in the end. The Exceptionals did perform very well then. My mistake of the game was turni...

 My second round of Warfare was against Lance Flint and his Palmyrans. This was the "Saturday afternoon need to think a lot" game so apologies for the lack of photos. I defended this time and decided to again go for dense with a mountainous or forest secure flank. My target was the Poor Unskilled Bows on the mountain in Lance's deployment. I put my Average Legions opposite both of them. I spread out 1 Legion to deal with his 4 Horse Archers. Then I put my Exceptionals and other Superiors against his Cataphracts. My Cavalry were aiming at a Bow unit on Lance's right. My Poors were safe with the camp. My dice luck was consistently brilliant in this game and it helped me break not only 2 Cataphracts, but a Roman Cavalry with a by now 3 base Superior Legion. Foolishly I charged the Cavalry in a previous turn, not thinking that the path of charge would leave that Legion's flank exposed to Cataphracts. Fortunately one file hit the 10th, and I committed Caesar to that fi...

  First of all, thanks so much to everyone for a wonderful 3rd MeG competition. The venue was  excellent as well in my opinion. I'm going to start with describing my very gimmicky composition, Late Republican Romans. Legendary Professional CinC, Competent Professional Ally, Mediocre Professional Sub. 1 8 of Exceptional Impact Weapon Shield Cover Melee Expert Legions. 4 6s of the same but Superior. 2 8s of the same but Average. 1 4 of Poor of the same but Orb replacing Melee Expert. 1 4 of Cavalry Short Spear Unskilled Javelin. Poor Fortified Camp. My first opponent is Keith Spedding with Early Sassanid Persian. A tough proposition for the first round. I won the PBS phase decisively and forced the terrain into dense with a mountainous or forest secure flank. As the invader, in true Roman fashion, I lunged forward with my Legions against Keith's Cataphracts and 4 of Elephants. See that big hole in my line? That's where the X Legio were. Fortunately I'd caused lots of dama...

 This was a tough game against a Chinese army that was a near mirror image of mine. My opponent was Mark Hargrave. I put my Chariots under a Talented Instinctive Sub on the left, 2 Polearms in the centre and the rest of the command was an 8 of Devastating Chargers with a 9 of Bow Skirmishers. The CinC is very stretched, I took a massive risk. Lots of anti chariot terrain suits Mark's army. The Tsu in Loose keeping the Barbarian Light Cavalry in Skirmish in rough terrain. Renders them quite unthreatening apart from their shooting. I've started to do damage and am picking on the mixed units. Only 1 shooting base per file, so he's only using black or white dice at best. Picture includes my opponent from the last game against the eventually winner, Minoans vs Saitic Egyptians. I think we'd both lost a couple of units by now, but I had a slight advantage. My mounted Polearm Melee Expert was paying off in the long run against Mark's Chariots. Another advantage is that bec...

 So after winning the first round of Warfare, I was playing Lance Flint with one of the 5 Minoan armies. Honestly, a Minoan is one of the armies that counters 5 Hegemons so I didn't feel confident going into the game. A wall of Chariots against Long Spear, with Skirmishers intermingled, and Superior, Fully Armoured Long Spear Chariots behind. My only saving grace is the Spears are 2 deep, and my shoot and charge negates shield cover. The Spears are starting to get beaten. I think the Chinese have lost 2 units though, 1 being the 4 of Chariots. I lost the Skirmishers again, as well as the Devastating Chargers. Things are looking bleak for China. My Tsu were never going to survive a 3 sided assault. Funny moment, 2 black dice = 2 wounds. I believe Lance lost one of his Dendra, a Javelin Chariot, 2 Spearmen and a Slinger Sug. I lost my army, but look at how badly damaged at least 2 Minoan Tugs are. 15-9 to Lance leaves me in joint 10th if I recall correctly. The draw for round 2 of Wa...

First of all, I'd like to say that at Warfare just over 2 weeks ago, I had my most enjoyable and fun competition that I've ever had. The fact that games don't often end in bloodless draws is part of the reason as well as the decisive nature of the scoring system. Chinese counter the Hittite and Mitanni Chariots with their own Chariots and Tsu, the latter in Close formation. A few Chinese units hanging back on the right.  Shoot and charge is not a Mitanni Chariot's best friend. One Chariot has been hit in the flank, but the unit to its front could die at any moment. Casualties so far on the Chinese side. My opponent has 1 point from running down my Skirmishers. 2 Mitanni Chariot units a wound off breaking. Possibly advantage Chinese at the moment. So far the score is 4-1 to the Chinese, who have killed 2 Chariot units. My opponent sensibly pulled back the first Chariot unit that suffered casualties. A few Chariots are isolated on the Chinese side. More Chinese Casualties...