OHW Scenario 2 with 10mm Figures and D3 Rule Variant (Almost!)

Hi all - so far, I have managed to stick to my plan for solo Wargame Wednesdays - in other words, I got this game on the table last night! The "almost" in the title relates to a couple of things in the D3 rules I forgot about in the excitement getting the figures on the table again! The main thing I omitted was to test to pull back when units receive hits - I remembered about the halfway point but decided to carry on as I had been doing, because too much water was under the bridge by that point to suddenly start applying the morale tests!

This is scenario 2 in the One Hour Wargames book - one side starts at N and the other in the S and the aim is to control both the hill and the crossroads by the end of the game.

This was my version. As an aside, the OHW battle spaces are rather "sterile", so as I progress, I may add some extra terrain, a few trees etc - although the terrain is important to the scenario, so I can't change too much - unless, of course, I want to start designing my own scenarios! BTW, can anyone spot another mistake I made with the scenery?

I have basically taken a picture at the end of each turn - the Britons went first, Romans second. I rolled up the forces and got 4 infantry, 1 skirmisher and 1 chariot unit for the Britons and 2 Veteran Heavy Infantry, 1 standard infantry 2 archers and 1 cavalry unit for the Romans. Their initial placement was also randomly generated by dice rolls (see picture 1)

The Britons right flank occupied the hill while the three units on the left advanced as rapidly as possible towards the crossroads. The Roman advance was more measured.

The Roman general (me!) had a plan - mask the Britons on the hill, whilst concentrating force on the other flank to defeat the Britons in detail there, then move against the remaining British force with a numerical advantage.

Note the hill in the top left and compare it with the one below - it was at this point, I realized I had mistakenly put one of the unfinished, unpainted hills on the table - and changed it over!

The British chariots charged in - I gave them D3 +1 for the first round of combat, dropping back to D3 thereafter. They got a couple of hits on the Roman cavalry, who reciprocated in kind.

In the next turn, the cavalry/chariot melee continued, whilst one VHI and one AUX infantry charged the opposing Britons, scoring a few hits. 

A few close ups of the action

At the end of turn 7, the British skirmishers had advanced off the hill, and all the melees continued in full swing. It was about now I think I realized I should have been doing the morale tests, but decided just to carry on without them for this game

Sitting on 7 hits (of 9 allowed) the Roman cavalry pulled back - but the "green" archers had moved into a good supporting position to prevent the chariots following up. The Roman infantry was pulling ahead of the Britons in the hand to hand in the centre of the field. VHI get +1 on the casualties they inflict and -1 on any casualties inflicted upon them - plus, they never have to take a morale check. (even if the player remembers about them 😉)

In turn 8, the first British unit disintegrated, and the chariots saw discretion was the better part of valour and pulled back before the green archers charged them in the flank! The Roman left flank turned right to put pressure on the British centre.

Turn 9 saw the Roman cavalry in position to "hold" the crossroads whilst the British infantry and chariots had fallen back, albeit the former was pursued by both units of VHI. The "red" archers (left wing above) fell back after suffering several hits from the skirmishers.

I took a "before" (above) and "after" (below) image of turn 9 - as a second British infantry unit was destroyed by the Roman infantry.

Turn 10 - the Romans paused to consolidate, and the Britons scrambled to improvise a defence of the strategic hill.

Turn 11 and the Roman advance grinds forwards - the chariots continue to evade them, however.

At this stage, the only concern for the Romans was, the scenario is timed to run for 15 turns, and it looked like they would run out of time to deliver the killer blow.

In turn 15, the chariots charged the green archers, scoring 4 hits if I recall correctly, with the archers getting nothing in return (light infantry get D3 -1 in melee, so I assume if they roll 1 hit, the -1 results in no hit at all)

I decided to carry on until all 3 dice were on a 6 - expecting the Romans to be able to destroy the chariots, who were carrying 5 or 6 hits from their previous exertions. A unit of VHI charged into melee against the skirmishers at the foot of the hill.

In turn 16, the Roman infantry dispatched the skirmishers, but the chariots were proving very resilient, putting another 3 hits on the green archers, who again rolled only one hit so achieved diddly squat!

The penultimate turn - those bloody chariots destroyed the red archers, then, managed to survive a flank attack by a VHI unit!

The situation at the end of the last turn - technically not a Roman win, as the Britons still held the hill - but I will call it a winning draw - in my virtual campaign, the Britons are forced to withdraw, and the third round of the invasion will fall nicely on OHW scenario three, which has at least a passing resemblance to what historians believe occurred at the Battle of Medway (see below)

The Battle of Medway, AD43

Hopefully, I will get this game played next Wednesday - I might increase the size of the forces involved and see how that goes.

In the meantime, thanks as always for your visit and please let me know what you think of the AAR and game.