Post by diades on Apr 29, 2018 11:46:00 GMT
Obviously from my perspective, a great day's gaming! I love the Northern event, Paul, Tony and the gang put a great deal of thought and effort into it. The boards and armies are all of excellent standard and a privilege to play with. The pairings and terrain are where things shine: an assessment of the elements and the quantities of terrain do not give an accurate reflection of the relative strengths and weaknesses, it is the size and placement of the terrain that makes things usually very interesting and their extensive play testing ensures this.
Thanks to all opponents and competitors: trying to keep my head around the rules was as challenging as ever. I have also used up several years' luck in one go!
Thanks also to the new sponsors at West Wind and SOA. Hammerhead at Newark gets my vote over Sheffield, warmth and comfort in comparison to Triples days!
As for games, I attacked the Gauls with Later Carthaginians. Terrain hampered deployment on both sides. Tamara packed the Gauls on her left, whilst I spread my army around. 5 PIPs in my first four bounds meant that the warband were upon me before I could move much. Victory came from my centrally placed warband and auxilia hitting the right Gallic flank...elephants played no part.
Second up my Polybians invaded Baldie's Syracusans...good to meet you! Lots of heavy infantry action in the centre, whilst my early Psiloi advance on the left towards the city diverted much of Syracuse's force and made command difficult for their left wing, where my Auxilia cleared the hill, contributing largely to the victory.
Finally before lunch, my Lombards defended against Scott's Carolingians, two very similar armies. Victory came from taking the initiative and advancing a spear-knight combo against the Frankish knights. Good fortune including the early removal of the Carolingian General, with victory following with the consequent movement restrictions.
After lunch, a lengthy chin wag with the Lincolnshire club and a good fortune spent on the stands, my Early Achaemenid bowmen faced Phil Johnson's Early Spartan hoplites across a huge central marsh. Early lucky missile fire gained an early kill and more mobile foot saw off a couple of Spears risking a sortie into a wood. Brief opportunities with a closed gate on that flank, but factors down might have secured victory, but it was not to be. The Spartans spent the rest of the game backing off and no amount of shooting could secure a victory, a 3-0 Draw.
The next game saw me switching sides to fend off a Later Achaemenid Persian invasion with Later Spartans. Paul had very few early PIPs, so the Spartan phalanx was able to cross the board before the Persians could Sally far from the terrain hampered deployment. A hole punched in a fortunate part of the Persian line permitted the rampant Spartans to close gates all over and secure victory.
Finally I invaded title holder Mark Johnson's Thematic Byzantium with Early Bulgars. The terrain made things interesting as ever. I was hard pushed to keep the Byzantine right from bursting through woods, meanwhile my general flanked by knights managed to square up with the Byzantine cavalry general flanked by two 6Cv. First combat pushed a 6Cv back, followed by my General cutting down his counterpart. In the next bound, one of the 6Cv succumbed to the Knights. Two elements and game over, one general the other 'double'.
Looking forward to next year already.
Thanks to all opponents and competitors: trying to keep my head around the rules was as challenging as ever. I have also used up several years' luck in one go!
Thanks also to the new sponsors at West Wind and SOA. Hammerhead at Newark gets my vote over Sheffield, warmth and comfort in comparison to Triples days!
As for games, I attacked the Gauls with Later Carthaginians. Terrain hampered deployment on both sides. Tamara packed the Gauls on her left, whilst I spread my army around. 5 PIPs in my first four bounds meant that the warband were upon me before I could move much. Victory came from my centrally placed warband and auxilia hitting the right Gallic flank...elephants played no part.
Second up my Polybians invaded Baldie's Syracusans...good to meet you! Lots of heavy infantry action in the centre, whilst my early Psiloi advance on the left towards the city diverted much of Syracuse's force and made command difficult for their left wing, where my Auxilia cleared the hill, contributing largely to the victory.
Finally before lunch, my Lombards defended against Scott's Carolingians, two very similar armies. Victory came from taking the initiative and advancing a spear-knight combo against the Frankish knights. Good fortune including the early removal of the Carolingian General, with victory following with the consequent movement restrictions.
After lunch, a lengthy chin wag with the Lincolnshire club and a good fortune spent on the stands, my Early Achaemenid bowmen faced Phil Johnson's Early Spartan hoplites across a huge central marsh. Early lucky missile fire gained an early kill and more mobile foot saw off a couple of Spears risking a sortie into a wood. Brief opportunities with a closed gate on that flank, but factors down might have secured victory, but it was not to be. The Spartans spent the rest of the game backing off and no amount of shooting could secure a victory, a 3-0 Draw.
The next game saw me switching sides to fend off a Later Achaemenid Persian invasion with Later Spartans. Paul had very few early PIPs, so the Spartan phalanx was able to cross the board before the Persians could Sally far from the terrain hampered deployment. A hole punched in a fortunate part of the Persian line permitted the rampant Spartans to close gates all over and secure victory.
Finally I invaded title holder Mark Johnson's Thematic Byzantium with Early Bulgars. The terrain made things interesting as ever. I was hard pushed to keep the Byzantine right from bursting through woods, meanwhile my general flanked by knights managed to square up with the Byzantine cavalry general flanked by two 6Cv. First combat pushed a 6Cv back, followed by my General cutting down his counterpart. In the next bound, one of the 6Cv succumbed to the Knights. Two elements and game over, one general the other 'double'.
Looking forward to next year already.