The Battle of Ascalon 1099 - Cotswold All Dayer - Part 2

Last Sunday saw the annual trip to Cirencester and the Cotswolds Wargames Day held this year at Big Battles. It's always an enjoyable affair with some great games on offer in a very relaxed atmosphere. Great to see some old friends and meet new gamers. The only downside you never get enough time to chat with fellow gamers.

Big Battles is a great venue Derek and Andy who run the venue have a real passion for the big game talk about a hobby that turns into a business definitely worth a trip back to perhaps one of the large games. You can find their details here. Home - Big Battles

After 8 weeks we had amassed quite a large collection of Arab forces they lined up outside the walls of Ascalon to turn back the Christian hordes. They did look great very clear lines against the fractured Christian commands.

We split each of the Christian Commands into 4 distinct commands each with. 2 Elite Knights, 2 Elite Foot, 2 Heavy Infantry and 2 Skirmish Missile units.

Honour Points were awarded for the following feats.

Slay Vizier Al Afdal                                    3 Points

Slay an Arab sub commander                     2 Points

'Burn their homes' destroy the main tent    2 Points

Destroy the Greek Fire                               1 Points

So what of the game, as the Arab player we threw our cavalry out on the flanks looking to strip away the skirmishers amongst the Christian ranks, however we did not factor in the fact that their Infantry would be quite so aggressive who waded into the heavy cavalry who whilst able to counter attack we too few in number to maintain a one for one exchange.

The light cavalry managed to slip past the Christian line but far from the general command their were unable to get under order enough to make an impact.

When the Christian knights made their way to the front who they drove back the remaining cavalry the path was clear into the soft underbelly of the infantry but despite wiping out many of the archers and light spearmen they were too few in number to strike the final blow.

A close run thing but a marginal Arab victory - one might argue :-)

A fantastic days gaming with everyone involved from start to finish just as a large game should be. Well worth the nightly efforts of getting the figures on the table.

I did not get to spend as much time as I would have liked around the other tables but there were some fantastic games on offer, you can see a number of them here on Paul's and Steve's blogs.

Cotswold Wargames Day 2024 | movealongnownothingtoseehere

Wargames With Toy Soldiers: 1685 - 1985: Cotswold Wargames Day 2024 (wargameswithtoysoldier1685-1985.blogspot.com)

Warfare Loot and a sound thrasing

Some what later than planned the customary pic of the Warfare loot...

Reading seemed quieter than usual on Sunday, speaking to many of the traders it sounds like most people had done their shopping on the Saturday.

It's been several months since my last show so had I had quite a list.

Some extra walls for from Tablescape to build out the Haitian village, together with some grape vines to fill out the village. A couple of packs from Perry's Cape Wars - They need seem tweaks and adaptions they will make some useful additional to the Haitian loyalists and freed slaves.

Meanwhile plenty of movement trays for Warlords of Erehwon.

Annie at Bad Squiddo Games had kept back good Queen Liz, a great addition to the Elizabethan collection. She is protected by our three valiant ladies who will protect the Queen from the evil hordes or Spanish.

Hopefully not a bad omen for the living but also some casualties from Colonel Bills, these will make some pin markers for Warlords of Erehwon.

The shopping was a success less so the Battle of Mohi.
The figures and terrain are from Paul at Kallistra's personnel collection. A truly epic encounter with hundreds of cavalry sweeping across the European plains.

Playing the Mongols we were soundly beaten by the Hungarian's and the Teutonic Knights who launched a lightening attack pinning the Mongol hordes against the river bank.

Unable to bring our horse archers to bear we lost around 80% of our forces in under 3 hours..... Nasty... History was definitely reversed......

A great days gaming and so great additions to the painting queue.

Tablescape Spanish Buildings.

With the first game under our belt in the campaign, I thought I would splash out on some buildings for the battles to come.

I do dislike painting buildings so these ready painted pieces from the guys at Tablescape are perfect.

They needed a little bit of work as they can appear a little on the bland side on mass, so spent the morning painting the doors and windows. These brings them to life and gives a little more variety to the town.

Longer term I plan on basing a number of them to give me some walled gardens, but these are ready for the tabletop.

Right back to the brushes....

Saturday Evening Round up.

Well so much for no new projects - Thanks Karl @Crooked Dice.

Being of a certain age, who could not be tempted by the latest release from Crooked Dice, I have no idea how these not "V" figures will fit in with any of the other projects, but that's half the fun.

Having raided the understair cupboard for the original mini series box set, I also picked up a bunch of novels for under £2.00 each. I minor distraction from the current projects honest :-)

I figured with so few colours if you on the average Shock Troopers I could get them finished over the weekend. The only challenge is to go for Red or Dark Orange as both seem to be in use in the TV show.

I got them undercoated and ready for painting tomorrow, it will be a welcome break from Haitian Infantry.

Meanwhile I finally got around to painting the doors and windows on the Spanish Church. It does look far better. I have an order coming from Tablescape in the days ahead to build my Haitian Village and the doors and windows will definately need an upgrade.

Meanwhile lead mountain got a little larger with the arrival of Antediluvian Miniatures Kickstarter, I am a big fan of their sculpts and they will fit in with some of the future Ghost Archipelago games.

Right back to the brushes....

Haitian Church and Prep for Hammerhead 2019

The Church at Croix-des-Bouquets is the back drop for next weeks outing at Hammerhead.

More on the game setting later next week, but with every Church must come a bunch of Nun's that will need protecting from the various factions.

It's been a while since these ladies have graced the table but will be perfect to add a little bit of flavour to next weeks game. As will the women and children who are looking to seek refuge from the fighting raging across Haiti.

The Church is ready painted and comes from the guys at Tablescape, time permitting I will probably touch up the doors and windows with a couple of washes, but it's a great fit for the on going project.

Meanwhile the French gain some very useful reinforcements in the shape of two sections of skirmish troops to bolster the republic.

With several pieces still needed for next Saturday it's looking like a busy couple of nights on the brushes. You can find us at GL09 in the Gamers Lounge be sure to come and find us.