Two game reports for the price of one today - although I don't intend to spend too much time on the first one. I took LOTS of notes on the trial run of our home brew ASN rules amended for ancient warfare, but it's over a week ago now and I really can't be bothered going through the whole game blow by blow - so here are the pics I took, plus a brief description
The first three initiatives fell Britons, Romans, Romans - the first image is after the third move
And after the fifth move
The Roman cavalry on the right flank charged the British chariots - several rounds of inconclusive melee followed (I amended the rules so that there had to be a decision) - then the Britons finally prevailed, and the cavalry had to pull back 10cm
The cavalry managed to rally their hit off in the following initiative, after having retired behind the infantry
Then, the chariots charged the Roman line!
The first round of combat was a draw with one hit each, then the Chariots were bounced back
The chariots fell back behind their skirmishers, while on the other flank, the British cavalry charged the auxiliary infantry. After drawing the first round, the cavalry won the second, and the infantry were pushed back
The Roman cavalry charged through their infantry and attacked the British skirmishers. The skirmishers went to 4 hits and compulsorily retired. The cavalry then forced the chariots back too.
The British cavalry charged the auxiliary infantry again and pushed them back once more. In the centre, the opposing infantry units were almost within range for close combat.
The Romans seem to be getting the better of things, with the exception of the auxiliary infantry on their left, who have been roughly handled by the British cavalry
The Roman cavalry attempted to charge the skirmishers but failed to reach; fortuitously, however, they are in position to act as support for a Roman infantry unit.
Melees continue all along the line, with little to choose between who has the advantage
Its turn 21 by this stage and the auxiliary infantry have failed to rally and have left the field of Mars. The archers fire but miss and the Roman infantry flank attack fails to reach the target unit
After turn 25, I decided to call it a day - the game had lasted twice as long as the previous one, and there was still no result - but it was long enough for a trial of the rules!
Andrews rules are designed to keep the game going and not have multiple units suddenly "pop", so in this, they generally succeeded. To be honest, at the time, I preferred the quick result of the OHW rules, but I will try the scenario again with Peter of "Grid Base Wargaming - But Not Always" OHW 3+ amended rules and see how that goes.
Now, we move on to the first game of 2025 - fought today Sun 5 Jan at Andrews place and using his rules once again! This was late war WW2 in 15mm, with the Russians attacking towards Berlin. Andrew sportingly gave me a 3:1 advantage in tanks (6-2) and a 3:2 advantage in infantry - although all his infantry was Elite so had a plus one, and they all had support weapons, whereas only 2 of my 6 infantry units had extra support - 1 with an HMG and the other with a mortar,
I start with a few "eye candy" images - Soviet CinC diorama above and below
One of the two infantry "brigades"
Left flank Soviet armour
Right flank armour.
A couple of views of the table - Germans on the far side/left, defending built up areas that are worth 2 VP each for whoever holds them at the end of the game.
A few pics of the FSJ defending Berlin from the Slavic hordes!
All the vehicles, including German armour, are from my aged FoW collection (they are the original resin and metal models)
The Soviet infantry champing at the bit!
Off to a great start - I knocked out one Tiger, then Andrew pulled out a black Jack, which was his potential reinforcements - two Panthers joined the German defence, and immediately, I brewed one of them up, too!
The Soviet infantry moved up en masse in the centre, while the right flank armour carefully moved into position in the dead ground, ready to confront the other Tiger.
On the Soviet left, the other reinforcing Panther was also knocked out by my armour.
The Soviets advance on all fronts (with acknowledgement to Spike Milligan!)
In the exchange of fire, the Tiger put a hit on one of my tanks, and then I.... rolled this......12 = 2 hits = destroyed!
One of my infantry units had accumulated 4 hits and was forced to fall back.
On the left flank, the German position in the BUA was rapidly becoming untenable.
Overall view of the battlefield
Having secured the left flank and pushed back the right-wing infantry, the Soviet forces converged on the centre of the German position.
Infantry and armour combine on the right wing.
In a bold move, the FSJ charge forward to assault a Soviet tank!
Whilst on the right, a similar attack is put in.
As I had knocked out 4 German tanks with no loss and caused 1 of the 3 FSJ units to withdraw off the table, I let Andrew add the black Jack back into the pack again, and it came up now, with another two Panthers arriving! The result is a brewed up Russian tank, bah, humbug.
Above and below, the FSJ on the German left put in an assault, supported by a Panther, but the staunch Soviet infantry prevailed, and pushed them back!
Significant Soviet forces were now concentrating on taking out the defenders of the central BUA
To the Soviet right, the infantry were now assaulted by both Panthers! They were forced out of the BUA again......
But the pressure in the centre was finally telling and the FSJ unit was pushed out
However, once again, both infantry units recovered their nerve; the FSJ reentered the central BUA, whilst the Soviet infantry did likewise to the right!
But Nazi resistance was finally crumbling, despite the Fuehrers "no retreat" orders!
The game ended here after about 4 hours play - the Germans were reduced to the two Panthers that arrived as the final reinforcement - the Soviets had total control of two of the BUA and the Soviet infantry present in the third denied that BUA to the Germans - so a 4-0 win to the forces of proletarian liberation!
Finally, having admired the hills on Andrews table, my host kindly donated me a few off cuts of the architectural modelling board he used, so I can make up a few hills for my own table.
Hope you enjoyed the two reports - I certainly enjoyed the games - and am looking forward to getting a few more on the table in 2025 than in 2024!
