Scope Creep?

With the 18mm SYW project expanding to include armies present in the War of Austrian Succession, War of Polish Succession, and a British Army in the early stages of development, expanding the theatre to include the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion seems only natural, right?  Scope creep or simply a reasonable expansion?  Well, this expansion seemed a natural byproduct to me.  

Having said that, the first Jacobite units muster out from the painting desk.  First to muster out are Lord Ogilvy's Regiment (blue flag) and Gordon of Glennbuchat's Regiment (white flag).  Both of these 23-figure regiments represent Lowland regiments.  Highlanders are up next.  Figures are Old Glory foot led by a Eureka mounted colonel.  Yes, painting Highlanders in tartan is up next.  After the Jacobites receive a half-dozen units or so, it will be time to crank up the production line to push some Government troops through.

Lots of other projects are seeing activity at the workbench so British will be in waiting until I return to painting 15mm figures.  

Tuesday saw a recommencement of hostilities on the plain at Pharsalus.   After seeing my four-game Caesarian sweep of Pompey at Pharsalus two weeks ago, Kevin dropped in for a rematch and lunch.  This time, we swapped sides.  I commanded Pompey and Kevin guided Caesar.  As in the previous outing, games were fought using Commands & Colors with 6mm armies.  In yesterday's four-game series, Caesar came away 7-1, 7-3, 5-7, 7-3.   In Caesar's 5-7 loss, Caesar was killed in combat.  Over the eight-game series, Caesar came away 7 and 1.  Pharsalus seems a tough task for Pompey.

With the New Year barely out of the gates, games are already on the docket for Saturday, Monday and Wednesday.  Starting the gaming year off with a bang!  Monday's game will feature a return to the WotR as a refight of Wakefield is in the offing.  Plenty of work to do to design and develop a scenario before then.  Which theory of the battle will be presented?  Stay tuned.

Next time, perhaps my annual painting review.

A Mixed Bag

Today's offering is a bit of a mixed bag.

To start off, Matt (Wargames in the Dungeon) joined me in a remote game on Friday.  We fought the Battle of Zallaqah with Matt taking command of the Muslim army.  For those taking count, this is Game #4 in the Zallaqah refights.  Not unlike Alfonso VI, I learned an important lesson in this battle.  Hope I can commit this lesson to memory for next time!  Details for another day.

Spanish cavalry's inglorious retreat!

On the painting front, December painting productivity has really picked up.  Not unexpected given my seasonal painting tendencies over the years.  Completed units are stacking up at the light box like cordwood before winter.  Some units from projects not seen in a long, long time are moving out.  Well, a few, never!  I may be winding up the year on a high note on the painting front. 

First out from the workbench is a bit of a clean-up.  That is, a few miscellaneous figures were pulled out and sent into the painting queue for a quick win or three.  What emerges are three units from three different projects.  Mustering out are a three-figure command stand for the Reconquista (BTD and Crusader), a two-figure command stand for the SYW (Eureka), and a Norwegian two-figure machine gun stand (Peter Pig) for WWII.  Whew!  Glad to have these out of the way in order to tackle some bigger units.    

On Tuesday, I expect to see Pharsalus return to the kitchen table in 6mm using Commands & Colors for a series of games before Christmas.  Have not had Caesar v Pompey out in a long time.  Should be fun.

Pharsalus

On the big table, downstairs, Zallaqah will be cleared away and a new battle contemplated.  Current thoughts point to the anniversary of Wakefield on 30 December.  I need to design a scenario and get busy.  Wakefield poses some challenges for a scenario design and requires careful thought.  Wakefield may be the first game to see action in the New Year.  We will see.  My mind and motivations wander.

Next time, either more painted figures, the last Zallaqah battle report, or something completely different!

A Marathon Marathon!

Tuesday saw an interstate trip over to Scott's in Coeur d'Alene for some Commands & Colors: Ancients and lunch. Kevin and I joined Scott a session in refighting the Battle of Marathon.  Games were played using Scott's fine 28mm figures played on a five-inch hex grid.  Scott mentioned that he was glad he finally decided to build this Persian Army to add to his already large Ancients collections.  I am too!

Using CCA scenario as his guide,

CCA Marathon scenario deployment

Marathon greeted us on Scott's table when we arrived. 

Marathon in 28mm

After the customary pleasantries, Kevin and I dived into the first game.  Kevin took command of the Greeks while I commanded the Persians.  I did not fare well as the Persians in this game.  Kevin played two back-to back Double Time cards to bring the Greek heavy infantry on the left smashing into the Persian Right that was hemmed in between the woods and the river.  To add insult to injury, Kevin also slapped down a First Strike card on one of my attacks!  I lost that first game 6-2.  Ouch!  

After seeing the destruction wrought by the Greeks in Game #1, we wondered if the Persians would have a chance.  CCA website shows this scenario as favoring the Greeks 70%/30% across 205 games recoded.  I will add our games into the mix.

We would soon find out if the Greeks were unstoppable.

In Game #2, Scott's Persians defeated Kevin's Greeks 6-4.  Then in Game #3 my Persians defeated Scott's Greeks 6-2.  In the final game of the session, my Greeks defeated Kevin's Persians 6-2.

Scott, the Happy Host..

at least until my Persians stormed across
 the table to destroy his Greeks! 

We managed these four games in about three-and-a half hours including a trip to a local Thai restaurant for lunch.  Greeks came away with two victories (6-2, 6-2) and the Persians came away with two victories (6-4, 6-2).  All four of the games played out differently with the last game of the day seeing the Persians driven back to the river.  From there, any momentum the Greeks maintained in the advance was lost once fighting occurred along the banks of the river.  Still, the Greeks managed to take out the Persians to see victory.  Hmm.  A handy tactic to keep in mind next time Marathon comes out on the table.

Now, there was discussion about the location of battle and the army alignments but we went with the published scenario. Surprisingly, Marathon turned out to be an interesting and even contest.

Good games, good company, and good food.  Who could ask for anything more?

Battles and Brats

Monday was a holiday.  Given an opening in schedules, Scott invited Kevin and I to Coeur d'Alene for a gaming session and BBQ lunch.  Kevin and I cheerfully accepted!

In the Cunaxa scenario, the first army to score six banners wins.  The table was laid out according to the GB14 scenario.  Cunaxa is the SoA's Battle Day for 2026.  We are getting an early start.

When we descended into Scott's game room, we were greeted by the sight of the Battle of Cunaxa in 28mm.  While I have seen some of Scott's Persians before, this was the first time to study his chariot-work firsthand.  Beautiful models as the lead photo illustrates.

Including a lunch break of grilled bratwursts and all of the trimmings, the three of us managed to complete five games in about four hours.

The results of the five-game series were:

Game #1: Cyrus (Jon) defeats Artaxerxes (Kevin) 6-4.

Game #2: Artaxerxes (Scott) defeats Cyrus (Kevin) 6-1.

Game #3: Artaxerxes (Jon) defeats Cyrus (Kevin) 6-4.

Game #4: Cyrus (Scott) defeats Artaxerxes (Jon) 6-4.

Game #5: Cyrus (Scott) defeats Artaxerxes (Kevin) 6-0.

Cyrus won three of the five battles.  Scott came away the big winner on the day (as usual!) going 3-0 while I managed a respectable 2-1.  Kevin, however, could not see his way to victory and fell 0-4! 

Persian chariots attacking the Greek line

Great day out!  Hopefully, we can return to the table and Cunaxa again soon.

The Last of the Po River Battles?

Wednesday saw a return to the Commands & Colors: Ancients' Po River scenario in C3i06 with Scott hosting another in our continuing F2F sessions with three players.  We played six games with each player playing four games with player rotation.  As in the session two weeks ago, Rome came away with victory in all six games!  Yes, all six games!  Another statistical oddity or we are learning how to deal with the Carthaginian Army.  Scott and I made it out of the session with three wins to one loss each.  Kevin came away 0-4. By the time Kevin makes the drive back to Spokane, I am sure history will be rewritten and he will claim victory in all four of his games!

While Scott and I each played the game from both sides of the table, Kevin insisted on sticking with the Carthaginians in all four of his games. That tactic did not work out so well for Kevin. Rome won 7-6, 7-2, 7-4, 7-4, 7-4, 7-6.

Scott (in his angry rooster shirt)
intently watching Kevin make his move.

With the Society of Ancients announcing that Cunaxa will be the 2026 Battle Day game, we plan to get an early start in next week's session.

As always, good fun and a new lunch place.

Thanks, guys!

Back to the Po River, 203BCE

While this week is quiet on the gaming front as I take it easy from a recent back injury, last Thursday saw four games of Commands & Colors Ancients.  In a return to the much fought over ground at the 203 BCE Battle of Po River, Kevin and I joined Scott on his home turf for a gaming session using his splendid 28mm Ancients.

Scott, our host for the day.

While the Carthaginians have been taking two out of three games against the Romans in the past dozen games, Thursday witnessed Rome turning the tables on Carthage.  Rome saw victory in three out of the four games played in Thursday's session.  Rome won 7-5, 7-5, 7-4 while losing 5-7.  I came away 2-0, winning with both Rome and Carthage.  In my 7-5 Roman win, I started off 0-4 down before roaring back to victory.  A rare and most welcome outcome for me!  Ah, it was a good day at the gaming table but the lunch tab was on me.

Next week, gaming sees a return to the table as WotR armies take to the field once again on Monday.  Monday's contest utilizes One Hour Wargames' Scenario #4: TAKE THE HIGH GROUND as a basis for the contest.  In this trial, the notion of Leader Priorities is added into the calculus.  Should be fun.

Po River 203 BCE in 28mm

After having no games on the table last week, this week sees two gaming sessions.  The first game of the week took place on Monday in a one-on-one contest to give my current work-in-progress WotR rules their first trial by fire.  The rules and I both survived first contact.  The game went well with a close-run decision but that account is for another time.

Wednesday saw Kevin and I make the 35-mile drive to Scott's in Coeur d'Alene for a session of Commands and Colors: Ancients (CCA).  The battle presented to us upon arrival is a battle Kevin and I have fought nine times now in 6mm.  For Wednesday's game, Scott increases both table and figure size to accommodate his beautiful 28mm Ancients collections.  All photos are of Scott's collection.

Besides the preliminaries of catching up and sharing latest figures painted and painting commissions to be worked, we adjourned to the game room.  Once play began, the action was fast and furious as we are all well-versed in the mechanisms of CCA.  As I played in the first two games and with the frenetic pace of play, there was little time to reflect on the battle action and sequencing for later chronicling.  

When we broke for lunch, Carthage had won both games.  Kevin fell to my Carthaginians in Game #1, 7-4, while I fell to Scott's Carthaginians in Game #2, 7-5.  Rome fell in both battles.  Two very exciting and action-packed games.  When we returned from a leisurely lunch, no time remained to get in one more game.  We called it a day with two games played but with talk of keeping the armies on the table to reconvene in a week or two.

As always, great fun and great lunch.  Scott, thanks for the games!  Kevin, thanks for picking up the lunch tab!   

Until next time.

The Week That Was...

While not as vigorous as six games in seven days as seen a few weeks ago, I did manage four games over the past seven days.

Three of the games saw a return to the 203 BCE Battle of Po River using CCA and my 6mm armies.  Like the other two sessions (we fought the battle a total of nine times), Carthage came out the victor in two of the three battles.  Great fun although time to find another, equally entertaining scenario. Po River may be my favorite battle played.  Even though the Carthaginians wound up winning six games to three, the Romans seemed in the fight until the last banner fell.  Very well balanced and a fun challenge for both armies.

The fourth game of the week was a remote game with Matt (wargames in the dungeon) where we fought the opening moves of the AWI Battle of Brandywine Creek.  This session saw the British and Hessian attacks at Chadd and Brinton's Fords.  I only have screenshots but Matt will likely have a detailed expose of the battle soon.

I leave the battle account for Matt to spin!  This week, only one game on the docket for Wednesday.  Of course, that may change.

On the painting front, the brushes have been moderately busy with February seeing 70 figures cross the painting desk.  Weather has improved enough to prime figures too.  Painted units are stacking up at the light box so I need to get a move on.

First up are two British regiments for the SYW/WAS project.  These are the first of hopefully many British units to march out from the painting desk in 2025.

The two regiments muster out as the 1st and 2nd Foot Guards.  Each regiment has 22 Blue Moon foot figures led by a Eureka mounted colonel.  Only two regiments but it is a start.

Finally, weather improved enough to get out for a pleasant afternoon bike ride.  Oh, it is good to be back outside.  Very nice change of pace from a winter spent indoors on the trainer.  I am feeling the difference between trainer and actually cycling outside in the body today.  Still much grit and too many potholes to contend with on the road but things are looking up.

Gaugamela with CCA

Scott's 28mm figures

Tuesday saw Kevin and I make our way on an interstate journey to Scott's for a half day of gaming. The game invitation stated that we would be taking to the field for several Commands & Colors:Ancients battles.  The specific battle on deck was not mentioned.  When we adjourned from brief hellos in Scott's living room to the detached game room, the Gaugamela battlefield in all of its 28mm glory lay before us.  A session of round robin games awaited.

Initial army deployments

While the Persian army overlaps both flanks of Alexander's Macedonian Army, the composition of the Greek Army looked formidable.  No chariots or elephants but those heavy phalanxes looked dangerous.  Would the latter-day Darius' find this battle as hard to fight as their historical counterpart?  Well, the answer was not long in wanting.

In Game #1, I took command of the Greeks while Kevin took the helm of the Persians.  With seven banners needed for victory, Alexander walked away with a 7-4 banner count in the opening game by crushing the Persian center and driving survivors back to their baseline.  I was off to a good start!

Swapping sides, I took Persians in Game #2 against Scott's Greeks.  Scott trounced my Persians 7-2.  Ouch!  Game #3 saw Scott's Persians beat Kevin's Greeks 7-5 in a hotly contested match.  In a not so hotly contested match, Game #4 saw Kevin's Greeks embarrass my Persians 7-1.  To end the session, my Greeks bettered Scott's Persians 7-4.

In the final accounting, we managed to play five games in a little less than three hours and then broke for lunch to end the day.  While we did not get to play both sides against all opponents, we came close.

The Greeks won four of the battles to the Persians' single victory.  Gaugamela proved a tough fight for Darius as it did historically.

A great day out for F2F gaming in a change from my more standard remote play.

Next time, a few newly painted figures to parade.