Ipsus at Partizan- the close-ups!

Chum Ian Notter shot some great images of our huge "To the Strongest!" Ipsus game at Partizan, which was a slightly extended version of the Saltue game. All the photos will enlarge if you click on them. Above the pike phalanxes clash; the Antigonids are in the foreground and to the right. One of my favourite image of the whole battle; almost abstract!

     

Above are some of the allied phalanxes. They are screened by Asiatic archers- I need a whole lot more of these. Below, Thracian light horse skirmishing. I need more of these, too. :-)

Above are some of Demetrius' cavalry squadrons. These performed well on the day, wiping out the opposing wing and turning onto the flank of the phalanx which was (fortunately) protected by elephants. Below is a shot of the remainder of the cavalry wing; you may be able to make out Demetrius in front, with his kontos.

Above is part of the Antigonid phalanx; most of these minis are new, this year. The argyraspides are on the left of the image. That's Antigonus and his litter beyond the phalanx. The elephant screens are deployed in the foreground- each side had one, 20' in all. Below is a better view of the "no man's land" between the two phalanxes. Most of the lights and elephants shown here were to perish during the course of the morning session.

Above, the phalanxes clash. To the rear can be seen part of the Allied elephant reserve and (below) in front of them some Thracians from Lysimachus'contingent.

 

Elephant screens were able to withdraw behind the phalanx (as above) by some mechanism that, alas, the ancient authors alas do not describe. Presumably intervals were left that were later closed up.

Below, hoplites advance to the fray, screened by lights. They did a pretty good gob of resisting the pike phalanxes- honours were broadly even.

Above, a late-in-game shot from behind Antigonid lines. The Antigonids did really well, wiping out both Allied wings and then breaking the centre of the Allied line, winning a convincing victory and reversing history!

Huge thanks to Ian for the photos, and for all his help with basing. I'd also like to thank all those who helped to run the game (particularly Andrew and Andy), played in it or helped with the set up and knock down, which were considerable exercises, as you can imagine! Partizan is a splendid event, very well organised and a whole lot of fun. the highlight of the gaming year, in fact.

In other news, I've put a number of products on sale for the next few days, including the To the Strongest! and For King and Parliament rules, the army lists (which I'm really proud of, there are hundreds and they represent great value), chits and lots of bases and basing products. Get them while they are hot!

Ipsus at Partizan

Hello all, I'll be at Partizan in Newark-on-Trent on Sunday- the award-winning To the Strongest! Salute game, as above, but slightly larger. If you wan to drop by for a chat, please do! Better still, if you'd like to play in the huge game- now with over 3K minis- please drop me an email and I'll book you in!

Preparing for Partizan

 

I'm busy getting stuff ready for a slightly extended version of the big Salute Ipsus game, next Sunday at Partizan. This means adding some more units and tweaking the scenario. Mostly I need extra cavalry cavalry units; I'm doing whatever I can finish in time- some Greeks (actually Thebans) above and some Scythians below. They are just off to Ian for flocking, need tufts, too. There are also numerous Persians and Thessalians at other stages in the process.

I'm gradually re-modelling all my cavalry into units of 18 heavy and 10 lights. Much more grouting and flocking to follow!

If you are coming to Partizan on Sunday and would like to play in the big game, please drop me a line.

Ipsus Postscript

Here are some more images of Saturday's Salute game, taken during the course of play by chum Ian. The above shot is my absolute favourite shot of the game; quite possibly my favourite ever shot of a game of To the Strongest! Massed pike and elephants make for an exceedingly dramatic image.

The Gripping Beast scythed chariots looked spiffing!

Ian picked his moments carefully, snapping away during lulls in the action, missing out hands and playing cards.

This last one shows why I've moved to the deeper units for show games, they give a real impression of mass.

There's also a video showing the entire game, which I shot just before the players arrived.

I'd like to thank everyone who helped, the painters (mostly Shaun McTague but also Craig Davey), Ian for flocking, grouting and photos, and everyone who helped to run the game or talk to punters whilst I was running around like a headless chicken. Also Ian and Iain for helping with the setup and also Shaun and Rich who helped with the knock down at the end. The Warlords did a fantastic job running the show, which was one of the best Salutes I can  recall. They also gave us this trophy, which took me quite aback!

It was also super to see some of the other games, including the huge London Bridge skirmish game run by Seven Dials chums, the Friends of General Haig TYW, the big Leuctra, the Gustavus Adolphus 1:1 game and the dinky little Imjin River. Unfortunately I missed seeing any of the games in action, and got no photos at all. There were quite a few other games that I'd have loved to have seen in the flesh.

So what's next? I plan to run the same battle at the excellent Partizan show in Newark on Sunday May 21st. If you are coming and would like to play for a couple of hours, please email or message me and I'll book you in. We will run it in the AM, and again in the PM if there are enough interested players. It will be a little larger than the Salute version, since I intend to get a few more units finished.  :-)

In other news... there is a new version of the To the Strongest! Quick Reference Sheet available. There are some significant changes to Save Modifiers, and a few other useful tweaks. Also pick up the latest Even Stronger Supplement that came out last month, if you haven't already.

Ipsus at Salute!

Today chums Ian and Iain helped me set up the big Ipsus game at Salute, ready for the big day  tomorrow. 

Above are four of the eight new scythed chariots fielded, which will likely perform terribly on their first outing, in the manner of all new lead.

There are lots of lancers on the Antigonid side, eight squadrons led by Demetrius Poliorcetes.

The new phalanx- looking suitably pointy! Also some of the game's 33 elephants, above lovely ride-ons from Aventine, and below some venerable Vendels depicting Seleucus' massive herd.

Most of the lovely photos above were taken by chum Ian.

Ipsus can be found at GG04, near the centre of the hall, between the Warlord merchandising/painting competition area and the N7 exit. We'll hopefully play it twice, using my To the Strongest! rules, and we have spaces for players. Please do come by and say hello tomorrow! 

Mustering for Ipsus

Today I've started the laborious process of mustering the troops for Ipsus at Salute. They are currently scattered in storage boxes throughout the house and cellar. I need to find all the minis, count them, and revise the OOB and battle plan accordingly (and urgently!). These are just over half the required boxes.

If you play To the Strongest!, I've just uploaded a new version of the Quick Reference Sheet, version 1.1F. You'll want it there are several important changes in the save modifier table. Download it now, don't let your oppo steal a march on you! It's here.

Litter Lout

 

Here is a quick Work In Progress shot of the command stand for King Antigonus the One-Eyed, for the big Ipsus 301 BCE game at Salute next week. Antigonus was 81 years old at Ipsus, and had suffered a fall earlier in the campaign, so I've depicted him surrounded by his bodyguard, near a litter. The lion banner was suggested by Jeff Jonas, as Antigonus had earlier been Satrap of Lycia, which province was associated with lion symbology. I've depicted him "at bay", just before his dream of reviving Alexander's Empire was finally ended by an enemy javelin.

I started work on this stand as long as three years ago, so it has been an exceedingly slow burner. Minis were painted by various people including Shaun Watson and Shaun McTague. I still need to paint his litter and finish the base, flock etc. Below are the components yesterday morning, prior to basing.

If you are at Salute next week, please drop by to see Antigonus and his unfeasibly large phalanx! To the Strongest! will be at GG04, near the centre of the hall, between the Warlord merchandising/painting competition area and the N7 exit.

Ipsus Elephant Screen

As well as yesterday's post I have also been working on the huge Ipsus game for the London GT. Most of the work has gone into this new elephant screen, which will cover the 20' plus frontage of both phalanxes. 

14 of the elephants are finished, and Shaun McT returned four more to me yesterday. I have "pre-based" these latter (they fit on the four elephant-less bases) so it shouldn't take long to detail (dry-brushing and adding skin-pigment issues) to complete them. All of the elephants are Aventines, although the most recent four have Relic heads to introduce a little more variety. When deployed, these will be accompanied by roughly 240 light infantry which are 90% finished and which I'll show later on.

There will also be another 15 elephants on the table, representing Seleucus' herd.

The first outing of the huge Ipsus game will be on 25th September at the London GT in Edmonton. If you fancy taking a turn as Antigonus, Demetrius or Seleucus you can book a ticket here! You'll also get to play chum Tim's Trebia scenario.

Ipsus Nellies WIP

I'm getting not one, but two new herds of elephants ready for the huge Ipsus game at the London GT in September. On the left are fifteen "Indian" Indian elephants, and on the right fourteen "Macedonian" Indian ride-on elephants. 

The reason I need 29 more elephants is that we don't believe the howdah was in use at the time of Ipsus, and most of my previous elephants have these, so it's a perfect opportunity to collect more models. When these are finished and "in the field" I'll have six different elephant herds. As well as the two above, I'll have Successor Indian elephants with towers, Successor African elephants, Seleucid armoured elephants and Carthaginian African elephants.

The "Indian" Indian elephants are a real mixture. At the front are seven of the relatively new resin Aventines, lovely light models. Further back are some veteran Vendel and Essex elephants, and other pachyderms whose origins are lost in the mists of time. I still need to add crews and finish the basing. After Ipsus, these will, later, form the core of Porus' herd when I do the Hydaspes next year, or the year after. These were mostly painted by Dan Toone.

Here are the the "Macedonian" Indian elephants. They will be crewed by a mahout and a single pikeman and escorted by Greek-style archers. They will form an elephant screen across the front of the two Ipsus armies. These still need some detailing, weapons adding and basing. These were painted by Shaun McTague and Dan Toone. They are such lovely models that I'm tempted to add a few more, before the game, if time permits.

Above is an earlier version of the Ipsus game that I'll be running at the London GT in September. The new version will be 50% larger than this, with around 3000 minis on a table almost 6m wide, quite possibly the largest ancient battle run at a show- certainly the largest I've ever run by some margin. The pike phalanx alone will include some 1500 minis. 

Both this and chum Tim's Rome vs. Hannibal Battle of the Trebbia will be ten player games. They will be played at the London GT at the Lee Valley Athletics Center, on Saturday 25th September. You can book tickets for it below- there are only 20 tickets in total, and some have already sold, so don't leave it too late! If you come, you'll get to play both games and see all the other things going on at the event. 

Ipsus AM then Trebia PM

Trebia AM then Ipsus PM 

There's a big TtS! tournament on the day after, Sunday 26th, too, the details of that are below. Why not make a weekend of it? I certainly plan to. :-) I'm prepping minis for a secret army.

TtS! London GT Tournament Ticket

It's been far too long since we have gamed properly! I hope to greet the post-apocalypse in some style- and I hope that some of you will be able to join me!

Overkill!

I'm plugging my way through assembly and basing for Salute. Above are four Polemarch chariots that I've owned for a decade, and which have only just made it to the painting table, and below are four vintage Vendel chariots that I am in the process of refitting. All of the chariots were assembled by me and painted by Shaun McTague, who did a splendid job on them.

  

Above is a closeup of a Polemarch. These models are festooned with lethal spikes and scythes- they look really deadly, and the detailing of the cabs is excellent. Below, the vintage Vendels have far fewer sharp edges but retain a certain charm. I had to give one some Footsore horses. I still need to add scythes to two of the Vendels and whips to all eight crewmen.

So, I hear you say, why so many chariots, when they have a shorter lifespan than the mayfly? Well, there were 120 at Ipsus, so eight models doesn't seem excessive. Moreover, I already had them in the Lead Mountain. These are, of course, for my Salute Ipsus game, on which front I am making steady modelling progress.

Fun at the Wargames Holiday Centre

The Metuarus

Last weekend I decamped to the WHC "Annex" with a fair proportion of my collection, for a jolly weekend's gaming. I call it the "Annex" because there were too many games to fit in the WHC proper, so Mark and I hired a suite in the hotel where the gamers stayed. This proved very comfortable and convenient, and maximised both gaming and drinking time! Some of the gamers took full opportunity of this and looked a little ragged on day two, mentioning no names, Andrew.  ;-)

Above is the pre-game packing, and below the fully-loaded BigRedBatmobile. Minis and terrain for four games (AndrewBrentnall brought the fifth).

Here are photos of the games, in no particular order.

The largest battle was Ipsus 301 BCE (above and below).  This had over 2000 miniatures and was 18' long, played on a special mat which Deep-Cut tell me is their largest they have ever made. I've just sold another one, so there are two of them, now! Below is a new elephant in his first battle.

Above is a view of the central sector of the Ipsus battlefield.

Chum Andrew Brentnall ran a splendid Edgehill battle in 12mm, above and below. This was very popular- we will be running it at Partizan in May, and for the Uxbridge boys (who missed out on the chance to play) if I can think of a way. The new ECW rules worked seamlessly.

Flanked!

More shots of Ipsus, above and below.

Above, scythed chariots inflicted terrible blue-on-blue casualties in several of the Ipsus games. Ipsus is so large it can take up to a dozen players at a time- most of the other games took six.

Above my new Persians, painted by The Shauns (Watson at back, McTague at front).



This battle above and below is Ruspina, 46 BCE. It's a an interesting, asymmetrical game with hordes of Numidians surrounding Caesar's recruits. It was very popular- fought four times I believe, with victories to both sides.

Above- Romans attack at Ruspina- you can see the playing cards that most people use with To the Strongest!

Ruspina- the Romans glimpse the cornfields beyond the ridge-line, and a mass of Numidian reinforcements (including elephants, below)!

Ruspina again- Roman baggage can be seen, below. I have lots of pack mules now.

Above and below- the Metaurus. Velites above race Gauls (below) for the ridgeline- the velites take it! I am very proud of my heather.

And last but not least is the Frigidus, the Eastern and Western Empires slog it out to see whether the Christian East or resurgent pagan West would triumph.

Above, the Leones Iuniores defend the valley for the West. Below, there were lots of Goths in this battle.

...and lots of cavalry!  The unit in the left foreground, below, is on my 20cm grid deep base- the back strip has been placed at an angle, to show that it is disordered.

So these are the only photos I managed to take, I hope you enjoyed them! I now have a relative lull until the next WHC event*, which will probably be in October. I'm thinking about games for this- one will be definitely be Leuctra with a super-deep Theban phalanx.. If you fancy coming along drop me or Mark Freeth a line and we'll let you know dates.

*(Aside from finishing the ECW rules and basing my ECW army).