Thanks again to Jonathan for spearheading the efforts of the website, schedule & getting the people lined up to put on the games.
For the morning timeslot I got into Daves game entitled "The Carpi Campaign".
In 272 the Roman emperor Aurelian launched a campaign against the Carpi, a Dacian tribe that survived the Dacian Wars and existed on the eastern edge of the Empire, where they remained a thorn in the side of Rome for the past 200 years. In his efforts to secure the borders of the Empire, Aurelian moved to conquer and subjugate the Carpi and relocate them to the recently conquered and depopulated province of Pannonia on the Danube. The proud Carpi and their powerful Gothic and Sarmatian allies had other plans…
The Dacian's had to await the warning bon-fire before they could react. This has occurred, as can be seen on the hill to the left. The Romans are entering the far end.
I played the Sarmatian Allies.
Below the mounted forces are preparing to engage one another. Those darn cattle just kept getting in the way. As each represented several, they would randomly wander & if managed to touch a base, would prevent you from doing more than one action that turn.
The cattle became quite a boon for the Dacian's as they slowed the Roman foot troops quite a bit. The engagement for the Cavalry was less than stellar for the Sarmatian's as both broke on their break tests, heading back to their own lands.. let the Dacian's handle it!
Meanwhile the Dacian's also had some nasty surprises awaiting the Romans which could be placed in any wooded area at any time. Thus we further delayed the Roman foot troops and they were on a tight schedule.
Everything was coming to a head by around turn 6. It was an 8 turn game. Below we see the hand of god pointing at the soon to be deceased Roman troops.
The Dacian's held on & it came down to the last turn, where a win for the Romans was just 2 units away. They pretty much had the unit engaged with the Cavalry, but just needed that 1 last unit...
The tenacious Dacian's managed to prevent this, however it was still decided to be a Marginal Roman Victory. Below is the end game shot.
Onto the afternoon game, where we finally got to blood Scott's 54mm miniatures in the War of 1812 - Second Battle of Sackett's Harbour. The game rules used were All the King's Men.
On May 29, 1813, in an effort to seize the upper hand and overall control of Lake Ontario and to strike a blow at the heart of American defenses on the lake, a British force under the command of Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost launched an assault on the American base at Sackett’s Harbour.
Below is the starting setup.
The British Regulars
Their Native Allies.
The Canadian Militia.
I ended up on the American side with 2 units of Militia, the Cavalry and 1 unit of skirmishers.
Jonathan commanded the British troops are the far end of the table.
Things did not go well for the Americans. I think I failed to take any more photo's as we were being chased off the board for the most part. The range of the skirmish troops told the tale on my end of the table, where I was unable to do much except take their fire. I did send the Cavalry out, but they were decimated after being prevented from doing any further actions that turn. (One of the abilities of the cards played).
The final game of the day I played in Bleid 1914.Using the Too Fat Lardie's Through the Mud & the Blood.
On the 22nd of August 1914 twenty-two year old Leutnant Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel was advancing at the head of his platoon, part of the 124th Infantry Regiment of the Imperial German Army. As his Regiment advanced towards the village of Bleid in Belgium’s southern Luxembourg province the young Leutnant was sent forward with his platoon to reconnoitre the area.
In the early morning fog Rommel left his platoon and, with Sergeant Ostertag and two other men, he advanced forwards into some farm buildings that over looked the main road. There below him were around fifteen Frenchmen with rifles stacked, drinking coffee on the edge of the village. It was here that Erwin Rommel’s military career truly began.
A couple of French squads begins the game in front of a café.
Rommel gets spotted early & is forced onto the board.
The French are quick to react, sending both the squads towards the buildings. Meanwhile the French Sergeant rushed behind the café to alert the others there that the Boche had been spotted.
Certainly outnumbered, Rommel's Recce team withdrew to await more troops.
Which soon arrived.
Unfortunately the French had occupied the buildings, had barred the doors & were in the process of creating loop-holes to fire thru. The Germans remained in place, exchanging fire with the French.
More German troops managed to sweep down from the hedged & treed fields at the far end of the board and began moving along the wall towards the café.
The Germans managed to nullify the French squad in the red building & then began sweeping down toward the café. I think there was 1 rifleman & the Cpl left in the red building & their shock prevented them from doing anything further except hunkering down.
The Germans made it to the Café, however they were caught in a crossfire from both the café & the white building back up on the hill behind them.
Soldier after soldier fell, until finally they were forced to withdraw in shock.
Certainly not the historical outcome & the French players were quite aggressive at rushing the building on the hill to secure them. As well the early (very lucky) spotting of Rommel allowed the French to take the initiative.
Thus ended another Mayday. Several of us headed to Boston Pizza to close the night over a beer & some food.
Sounds like a perfect day to me, especially the beer and pizza!
ReplyDeleteIt was a long day, so the aftergaming chatter with beer was certainly welcome.
DeleteGreat looking games. Thanks to Jonathan for organizing this once again!
ReplyDeleteYes they were Bob, shame you couldn't have stayed to partake of them. Looking forward to next year's with the goal if getting more folks to the tables.
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