Seleucid V Carthaginian Bash Hail Caesar AAR

Only two days after the Hail Caesar game with Matt I was back over at Kev's for another HC game. The feel is quite different as the figure size is 1/72 and two very nice armies they are and Kev and Andy have converted HC to conform to hex movement which works quite well overall.

Being as nothing is scared the UgoIgo system has been replaced with a card activation system where each brigade has two activation cards plus a Joker that allows you to choose one brigade to move again. So one turn through the deck can allow you to try to activate one brigade three times and the rest two. This can lead to some tense moments as the run of the cards can add a fair bit of drama as when one division gets activated three times out of say five cards or all your cards come out early and then you have to hold on till the deck gets a shuffle. Last night they played out well creating many a worrying moment though the last two run through's Kev's cards came out in a bunch at the start much to his discomfort.

I forgot the at start pis and after failing to activate a couple of times my Carthaginian cavalry (Numidian light horse and Gaul medium cavalry) finally got going. I was facing superior cavalry so was not planning on leaving the hill with my mediums but threw my lights into javelin range to start peppering my opposing cavalry.

Glenn our commander and owner of our troops plan was to move as far forward and as quickly as possible our light troops and start to pepper the opposing skirmishing and open order troops. Meanwhile our main troops were to remain at the halt. 

I had the first success and this was to have a huge impact on my flank as Kev's Gaul cavalry was hit with two rounds of missile fire sending them shaken and retreated disordered. They went back through two other cavalry units disordering both of them. This was to slow Kev down and the Gaul's never got back in the game making the contest that bit more favourable. 

View down the table, it's still early with both sides still moving towards each other. Kev was mostly moving one sometimes two moves forward with his infantry which actually played into our plan of keeping our infantry from the pitched battle till as late in the game as possible.

Revenge for Kev, I should have evaded from the charge but not wanting to go off the table I stood. I rolled poor and Kev rolled well (one of the few good rolls for Kev who really did suffer from bad dice all game). The end result was one of my light units broken.

Our skirmishers make contact and start to win the skirmish battle. Aided by my ability to roll 6 on most save throws.

 Glenn broke one skirmish element and started to pick on the light infantry covering the pike facing our right hand division.

I kept moving my light cavalry back into javelin range, Kev would charge them and remove them from the front but I kept bringing them straight back and whilst Kev was rallying off some of the pips from his Kontos armed heavies I was always able to keep some hits on them. Whilst my cavalry remained on the hill they would be difficult to shift but Kev was not able to do enough damage on my lights and Gaul's to get a better chance of winning the melee. 

My biggest set back was one light infantry unit becoming shaken and disordered but overall our light infantry and skirmishes were getting the best of the early battle and driving the Seleucid skirmish line away from the troops allowing us to start working on the main battle line,

Glenn had a couple of great results and Kev had no luck that saw his pike blocks becoming disordered which set them in place for awhile and of course the casualties were starting to creep up. However our decision to remain near our starting locations meant that Kev would be able to get his house in order though by this point he only had his bow skirmishers left to mask his pike and they were unable to hold back our missile troops.

Kev's view was somewhat different to ours. The cavalry choke point does look tougher for him with a long trip behind the woods to get at our rear. Success would have meant I would be forced to move two to three units to block a route into my rear which may have weakened me enough for a drive on my infantry division. Failure would have really stretched his defence as I would have more space to exploit the victory.

In the centre evidence of the skirmish battle with most of his missile troops pushed back and disordered. The scythed chariot waiting for a chance to be unmasked and charge hard into my Gaul infantry but the battle lines were remaining tight.

Not many casualties but the disorder was stopping forward movement which in turn slowed down his advance in the centre. This of course gives us yet more time to keep up the missile fire.

I finally lose a second light cavalry unit which in turn allows Kev to start hammering my left hand medium cavalry unit though I was able to rally some off whilst keeping the Kontos armed cavalry under a similar number of casualties so that Kev was not confident of winning the combat.

Finally the pike close on my 2nd division but Kev's own skirmishers left in forward positions were now in his way. More time, more missile fire and just past my division the fire from Glenn finally separated a medium infantry unit from it's supports.

Just to the right of the round commander base is the rear support of Glenn's first charge, the target has not a single support whilst Glenn got rear and one flank support but his other flank being disordered are unable to help. Not that he needed it as he smashed the unit again aided by our run of good dice whilst Kev remained staunch despite terrible dice, not managing to do more than dint the attacking unit slightly.

The Iberian Celt's remain fast on the hill but once they started to move they would surge over the empty space to confront the now thinning battle line.

Energised by his previous success Glenn threw in a heavy punch in the centre with both flanks and rear support against a unit that had taken just two pips of damage. This time he would have help, a unit of Celt's and two elephants. The bad news is that all three of these supports only give two dice each whilst Glenn not only had more dice in the attack but also was one pip better on his to hits and saves. To add insult to injury he threw his general in as well (my suggestion). The loss was bad, real bad with a difference of 6 casualties the only way the loser could save themselves from breaking was boxcars! The result of course WAS double six and their reward was to be pushed back disordered with his supports. Happy for us it was the expected result that of Kev being pushed back as failed to get even one hit!

Before Kev could do anything to try and rescue the situation, Glenn gets another activation and not even double six could save him as the unit was shattered and then all three supports failed their tests to leave a big hole and broken division. Worse still his follow up was to turn to his flank and smash into the nearest pike phalanx flank.

Whilst he was not able to get my light infantry in to support his charge he still had rear and one flank support. This was a repeat of what happened to me a couple of weeks before so I knew exactly what was to follow. The only consolation for Kev was that it was not supported by any other unit and sure enough it was broken leaving a second division close to being broken and facing attacks on both flanks.

Positions at the end of the game down the line. It looks like their is still two lines facing off against each other but just past the pikes in the centre is a gap in the Seleucid line filled by our troops ready to turn towards the flanks and drive along the lines as well as burst into the rear.

Hats off to Kev has he did take a pounding that was made possible by lousy missile shots on his part that when they did get through were past far more often than deserved and then the mother of bad rolls in close combat but took it on the chin and battled on.

Not that is was all down to Kev's dice, that just made it a sure thing. Glenn had a good opening plan and despite a slight wobble early when he wanted to move forward stuck to it. All that said it was Glenn's taking advantage of that isolated units position with a quick and nasty attack that then allowed the follow on attack and the sudden collapse.

New Toys for the Boys

Saturday saw the Postman bring me some new Rosemary & Co Series 33 brushes. Well me and the boy as he will be getting four from Santa (not the Secret one the real deal). I figure that if he is to keep up this painting business then he had better have his own brushes and why shirk on quality?

I needed to stock up and whilst I do like my Series 7 Winsor & Newton (still need to paint more with them!) I think the quality to price ratio Rosemary & Co win out. 

Sunday saw me down at The Works which had various boxes of Revell 1/72 (20mm) figures including these two boxes of Russian infantry. Just £1.99 a box so I grabbed the two boxes they had. The lads that play at Kev's expect you to contribute in some way, they have had a freebooter and tired of him. I know they have an opening for Russians in their OOB so these are a great start. I won't start painting them till I have cleared the Naps off but they are a near future project. I will need to supplement the boxes as I still need some heavy weapons as only two medium MMG's being pulled and no mortars or Anti-Tank Rifles etc. These may have to be metal, also will need a few tanks to cover the various periods that may be played. Also Lee was quite open to the idea of 20mm so these could see double duty.

Add to this that I have a load of 20mm SHQ American Paratroopers and I think we could get something going for sure. It's also something that my son could get into as well, especially as he has a box of British Paras as well already.

My local store (J28 of the M1) still has American Paratroopers, American infantry in Winter clothing and modern German Infantry. I think maybe I should have grabbed a couple of boxes of the Winter Yanks but that figure counter put me off LOL.

Triples Swag

Not so large stash.

Well I think I will start with what I did not get and end on a high. Camels, oh they do make me spit! Same with the Essex Persians. Someone was selling a mix of Essex but these they did not have. I really need Essex Persians as they are to go with the Essex I already have so I will mail order and as such will get Essex camels so no big deal. The Newline's Numidian Cavalry were not on display but the infantry were. They are so much more chunky than the 1/72 Plastics that they would not be a good fit so happy to stick with just the plastics (no issue regards the Newline, just would be obvious another supplier). The Pendraken question remains unanswered, they only bring army packs to the shows so unable to make up a unit to see what they look like. Lee needs a few WWII bits so he will order some at some point. Meanwhile he left mine with a few 15mm Matchlock to paint up, biggest problem will be ordering these figures if we go with it as you have to do it blind. No stand space for the range at any of the shows I have been to nor pics on line! No barbed wire either but will get from Maelstrom Games at some point.

Whilst I did not pick up the Donnington Galatians I did get the Museum ones as they also had command figures and I thought it might be nice to add a bit of a mix for a change. It's great that at the show you can buy single figures as it can round off units, especially if like me you are converting from one rule set to another as in several cases.

Came with a  free paper bag!

Obviously I managed to get the paints, plenty selling Vallejo at old prices and I got replacements for white and black at £1.75 a bottle so happy enough. I also picked up a couple of packs of dice, 20 in total so ready for FoG and Impetus.

Other than that I got nothing really.............

Oh OK I did get something else. Timecast the Holy Grail of wargaming were there but whilst I like them and will buy some for extra variation I have to say that I don't think they are as good as the rep. But I really do like Total Battle Miniatures resin buildings. The cast quality is as good as Timecast (I think slightly better) and have better prices for the same sized pieces. If you use their painting service the finished product looks better as well. They are local to me so it's nice to support them but make no mistake if they were not as good I would go elsewhere. The range is ever growing so adding to your buildings is no problem. They have a small range of 25-28mm a fair range of 15mm and for me a great sized 6mm. I wanted buildings that could be used for Belgium and Prussia/Austria whilst Lee bought Spanish. I can see me buying Russian if we get round to that campaign anytime.

Thatched Row House

This is a really nice piece (as they all are really). The detail is great and I think it will paint up fairly fast and I look forward to the thatching! it was also the most expensive of all the buildings I bought coming in at £6

Thatched Barn

Keeping with the thatched theme I give you the barn. I bought two of these, one to stand alone (I want a farm house for it) the other to go with a warehouse. The pic does not make it real clear but hay is coming out of the two bays to the right. The view of my thumb should give an indication of the size. Price wise it was the lowest price  at £3 each. The front has a large double door for waggon access.

Large Warehouse

I love this one, it's another £6 building and more great detail. The overhang for the waggons (I may add the pole for the hoist. Steps up to the main doors and the wonky roof. Round the back is a set of three low archers to strengthen the structure.

I also have a Church with a dome spire at £4 and a timber building which is larger than the barn but comes in at only £3. For some reason I did not photograph them so you will have to wait to see them painted. Their website shows all the buildings painted so you can use it as a guide. You do get some mold lines and a little flash, time will tell if that is much of an issue. Also I do have one bubble in the resin of one piece that I have seen but it's neither big or looks to spoil the model, again once they are being cleaned and primed I will have a better idea on just how good they are. The fortified town is fantastic as is the other tile pieces and as Lee pointed out you can use it with the town walls (seldom) but nothing stops you using the buildings from the town loose. All considered it's a great piece and one day I will have one.

So not a bad stash, I think given both the financial position but also the fact I have so much gear anyway future Con's won't see me spending like I used to, I simply need to fill gaps these days, but also consider what I had delivered two days before the con.

Numidian Reinforcements.

My order from Hayfield's arrived, I really need another box of the Zvezda Cavalry which I will pick up in a few weeks time and then I can get to painting the rest.

The Full Project.

Not shown are the Numidian light Cavalry already painted and the Roman Deserters, again already painted. I also fancy another box of the HaT Numidian Lights or possibly two as I can have so many units of Light Cavalry and you get three units out of a single box. I have yet to get the figures out together and assign to units but after that I should be able to decide what more I need to give me a few options around the basic unit. I saw the rules at the con but at £25 I just don't think they are value for money. I will continue to search out a second hand copy.

AAR German V's Sarmatian's Impetus Rides Again

As promised a AAR or Battle Report for the latest playing of Impetus. Like Basic Impetus the honeymoon is over. After a couple of games where all seems right with the world you notice the odd rankle and detail that does not seem quite right. Some of it will possibly be misreading a rule or missing it completely others will need that little thing called a house rule. That's not to say I don't like the rules, I do, do I like them more than FoG? Not a chance, but they are different and different is good. Impetus are the new DBM, I don't think they are worth the asking price and I dislike intensely the way they put army lists together. Seems they have taken a leaf out of GW's book and mixed in a Collectible Card game mentality. Mixed period lists are about as crap an idea as you can come up with. What next sell separate lists in foil packet with so many Common Lists and trading for that rare list you want? Not impressed at all.

But that's not what we are here for, we want blood and action I guess. Well the biggest plus for Impetus fans (and probably the biggest turn off for detractors) is you get plenty with these rules. Barry had picked the armies and this time we did not play with the Romans which was the right choice as they have made it out four times in a row and seem to be rather powerful. This time we had the almost all foot First German Army 1st to 3rd Century which I tool. These were 6 units of spear and sword armed infantry with 2 units of bow (big mistake, not worth having) and two units of medium cavalry. I expected more from these guys being known nutters and mostly Impetuous foot. I doubled two units so as to take punishment. Now I have a VBU of 4 and a Impetus bonus of 4 that is not any use against mounted units (why can't it count against flank and rear attacks of Cavalry?) so facing a Sarmatian Army I have issues. Barry has the Sarmatian army and has 4 units of heavy cavalry that are doubled up so only act as two units. One unit of light cavalry, Four units of so called crap infantry (they move slow but fight fine) and finally another unit of bow armed infantry that were strangely better than mine. Given that we have next to no terrain and whilst getting to grips with the rules we went for just a few hills which was good for helping us along but not so good for nice pics or a foot based army facing tanks, er I mean Sarmatian heavy cavalry. So here we are with the starting positions.

I am on the left of the picture. Both my Cavalry units are on the right facing Barrie's lights and one double heavy. I hope to distract the heavy with one of my double foot and then swing the flank round to take them whilst I keep the lights out of it with my cavalry. My far left flank is just to hold out as long as possible whilst I try to win in the centre.

It became obvious Barry had a plan of just crushing me at all points of contact as he steamed forward. The first contact was on the left, a clash of double units, Barry with horseflesh me with plebs on foot. I had a poor 6 dice (good job it was a double unit) whilst Barry weighed in with 12, 6 for it's VBU, 3 for the rear rank and 3 for it's Impetus bonus! I should have been in big big trouble but for Barry rolling fairly badly. Though this would not matter too much given he has VBU of 6 x 2 facing 4 x 2 long term it is obvious that his troops will pass more tests and will loose troops at a slower rate and so I need to send in help quickly to stand a chance. The next attack by Barry (he seemed to keep getting the drop on me early for Initiative) was a badly conceived attack by his light cavalry on my mediums, especially as he came down off the hill to do it. I rolled well and Barry did not, he then rolled REALLY badly for casualties losing the whole unit. Time to use one of his re-rolls? same roll down one unit and down half of his re-rolls! Not wanting to get the 12 V 6 dice next turn I charged his other heavy cavalry with my other double foot, he was still on 9 dice V my 6 but it was the best I could hope for.

I hold the hill the lights were dying to leave

Barry was looking shaky on the left, his Heavy Cavalry had picked up a disorder before I charged and failed to counter charge, the net result was a push back for me but I was still in the game and Barry was needing to send troops to this flank. The centre was as yet to engage whilst on my left flank he was making slow progress as we both were not doing much in the way of damage.

A few rule issues that had cropped up at this point. I say rule issues but unless we missed something it's more questionable rules. Barry before charging his light horse fired them into his target unit, whilst I would not have issue with this normally under these rules (Impulse instead of you go I go) it's possible for Barry to have fired that unit as the last action of the previous turn after coming into bow range then activate it as the first unit of the next turn. No issues with that other than he could then have fired twice at my now to be charged unit but that unit would not have been able to fire at any point at the attacker. My point is, if the attacker can fire before charging you should be able to fire back at him. Next up, counter charging is a mugs game. Fail and you disorder, OK seems reasonable but C class (the worst) fail 66% of the time. Average fail 50% and the very cream of your army bottles it 33% of the time! Seems beyond harsh and shows up the biggest failings of a system that uses a single D6 for important rolls. As already touched on, whilst foot don't get a Impetus bonus for attacking mounted frontally they I feel should get one for charging the flank or rear. Yes they get two extra dice but given the charged unit gets to fight with full strength that really is not a great bonus when attacking units with a high VBU.

The next couple of turns were brutal. I started to drop down my VBU's of both double units, even though I reinforced the melee's the heavy cavalry were just too powerful and linked to poor rolling I was in trouble. I needed to clear a flank supporting infantry unit out of the way on my right but failed to cause a single casualty. In the centre I was charged by the Sarmatian infantry, a single unit supported by the double unit. As I was on the hill I expected a fair chance but these poor infantry were again rolling more dice than me due to Impetus bonus and support. I was pushed back and things were sliding well. Soon I lost the left hand double unit to spectacular loss rolling and I was forced to throw the pathetic bow armed troops into the flank, that only lead to more trouble!

I then lost the other double unit and was one unit off auto break. I had managed to remove three units from Barry but was no were near on any other unit. So Barry charged my last bow armed unit. I had a VBU of 2 so it did not look like they would win but could they at least not die? I think it was three hits, I needed a one to pass, a 2 or more would kill them, yep they died and a win for Barry.

Again it was lots of fun and fairly quick. Two players with a good knowledge of the rules and focused fully on the game must be able to play this out in just a hour to two hours, we took longer but had lunch and a few diversions and rule hold ups.

Another Impetus rule I dislike is the "If your disordered you can't really do anything but move forwards" and whilst a Heavy Cavalry unit or Pike Block would require a good bit of re-ordering before wheeling or even forming into a new formation I really struggle with the idea that something like a war band could not about face and move back a half move and turn to face again. Sure they would be still disordered but why can't they do that? The same goes for turning to face and expand on the spot. The idea that they would not do this to face a new threat because they were disordered is strange. Sure they would and again they would remain disordered. It would be better to say, can try and re-order and if successful can then turn to face and expand but if fail the re-order check can not turn to face etc. OR you get to turn to face without being allowed to come out of disorder that turn (i.e. the time spent trying to form up would not allow the position change) or you get to try to re-order in the new position but have a -2 to the roll which would men Class C would not be able to re-order. This was a issue for Barry who was winning all around a unit that was disordered but it could not well, turn or do anything inspite of seeing all run before it.  This is made worse really by the big base of a Impetus unit. Other rules have the units split into smaller bases that allow for staged changes so it is a double whammy.

The game did play out as you would expect a powerful horse based army catching a foot based one in the open would do which obviously is a god sign. But like all dice based games a run of great dice can overturn any what should happen scenario. The dice in this game were not when taken over the whole game for either of us. Both of us had moments were good dice could have given us that all important break. If I was to use that army again I would play a little different and would expect more terrain to give them some place to hide. Next game will probably be 6mm Napoleonic using the rules we have been trying to cobble together.

Barry may well give us the lowdown on the Sarmatian army in the comments section and possibly his view of the battle and rule points, the other side of the hill as it were.