King David 300pts

 Hi

I had another go at the old King David rules yesterday, but playing solo. Both games were 300pts, getting close to the upper limits of what the system can comfortably handle, with the suggested size being 200-250pts, but as I had the day to myself, I wanted to try a bigger army. First game was New Kingdom Egyptians VS Sea Peoples, and the second Hittite vs Assyrian. Both games were from ( very ) approx 1200bc. 

I didn't bother with the Divine Favour rules as , given that I was playing solo, forcing myself to reroll and trying to counteract that would get very confusing very quickly, as I would forget who I was supposed to be rolling for ( or against).. 

I found the Hero mechanism of the game fun, with most of the effects having a penalty as well as a bonus. I gave Rameses II the Gazelle hero type, as a bonus to movement seemed appropriate. He hurtled off at high speed and met his ancestors shortly thereafter. The initiative penalty this forced on the Egyptians proved disastrous , and ended in ignominious defeat, with  the loss that broke the army being a light chariot without the Action points to turn going full speed straight ahead into impassible ground ( an oasis) and dying.

The second game was more balanced, with the chariots proving their worth ( and high points cost) on both sides and the Infantry archers achieving little of value. The Hittites had the better of the clash and came back from an early set back to win the game. Rolling very well for trophies ( a D6 roll of a 6 after destroying an enemy in melee gives an extra victory point along with the value of the unit ) meant that they broke the Assyrians before their counterattack could gain ground. 

Overall, I really enjoy this quirky rule set. The back & forth  initiative system could have been messy, but marking each activated unit with a little D6 kept it clear enough and lead to a chaotic battlefield rather than the standard activation systems we are more familiar with. The chariots are very difficult to control once they inevitably speed out of command distance and careen around the battle field doing drive bys and crashing into each other. 

15mm Celtic Village

Hi Guys

A few pictures of a 15mm celtic village/homestead I got a while ago. It is from Hovels, they do the whole village for about £22. Also in the pictures is the pig sty with fencing. I couldn't resist it. I had intended it as scenery for ancients battles, most Romans v Gaul, but would also do for a British village or Celtiberians in northern Spain, so could see action for the Punic wars. We have a Punic campaign planned, so it might get an outing for that. It turned out a little big for mere tabletop eye candy, so we might treat it as a terrain feature, impassible to all but skirmishers or something on those lines, or it would make a nice objective in a scenario game.

The models are very clean, needing little or no clean up after a quick wash. The detailing was excellent, there are a few places where the daub is missing, showing the wattle underneath. There is  a great house, 2 smaller houses and a variety of storehouses in the pack, plus enough fencing to inclose all the buildings.

The figures are from the Corvus Belli range, Celtic peasants, they are nice with plenty of character if a little bland, and you don't get many figures for the same price as a normal pack. I would like to add a few more animals loose around the place, geese, chickens, goats, maybe a cat or two etc. but haven't seen anything appropiate yet from anyone I was ordering from.

http://www.hovelsltd.co.uk/ancient15mm.htm

 

Next up, a finished 15mm Ancient Spanish army for Basic Impetus

 

Phil

 

 



Break on through...

Hi Guys

A while back, Ed & I played another 15mm World War II game based on the warpath rules , this time it was a break-through scenario, with the British blocking the road and the Germans needing to get through. Here are a few pictures of what happened :

The German deployment area

The British deploy across the road

The view from the British end

German (very) light tanks and a truck carried 8cm mortar.

Cards marking possible positions of the British ATG, only 1 is real. 

The Germans sluggish advance, more molasses in winter than lightning

The British move to block the road

Germans in a bottleneck

The British lay smoke

Germans still in a bottleneck

British hold a hill, just before the German 8cm mortar finds them...

The British advance to confine the Germans

The tanks finally break through.

German tank clears the smoke, and approaches a concealed anti tank gun.

The British on the left getting machine gun loving from the tanks

Infantry taking heavy fire

All the forward British units are in a very fragile state.

We had a great game and lots of fun. We declared the game a draw, the Germans probably would have broken through eventually but not quickly or cheaply. They failed too many command rolls earlier on, so moved to slowly and were worn down by British fire. We have considered giving the Germans rerolls on failed activation tests, so it would be more in keeping with their early war performance. This would balance their less than stellar equipment during the early war. The thought is that the British would be the baseline, the Germans a little better, the Russians a little worse etc to reflect C&C during the early war.

Next planned project in a simple campaign covering Pyrrhus in Italy, using the Basic Impetus rules , and a campaign outline supplied by Andy Badger.

Phil