Hi HGA, they will definitely be published in some fashion, but not quite yet as I'm still tweaking.
I have another outing at Colours Newbury on Saturday/Sunday week, I don't suppose you live up that way? I'd like to get as many people to play it as I can, to solicit views...
Hoping to get the galley done by next weekend. The ship itself is now painted but its the rigging and oars I have to worry about this week. AT least I know how to do the oars now anyway and I have worked out most of the rigging too. The sail is still a problem though!
On Sunday I had a pre-dawn start up to Newark for Partizan. I had a nice clear drive up the A1 in my new-ish war wagon. As my games get bigger, I find that the task of loading and unloading everything is getting more taxing... and this year it was quite a job!
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I eventually got the boards set up, ate a bacon butty, and John arrived and helped me to set up the troops. The above view (all photos are clickable) is from the salt-lake side, across the isthmus, towards the sea at the rear. The more numerous Pompeians and their Numidian allies are on the left, and Caesar's legions on the right. There is a light scattering of scrub and olive trees, but no terrain that will impact the battle.
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Here's the view from the sea wing. I eventually decided to name the ship "Venus", after Caesar's patron goddess (and the scurrilous song!). Hilariously, Dug kept forgetting to move it, but brought its ballista into use by the end of the game.
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Above is Caesar, beautifully painted by Andres of Einar Olafson, and received just before the game. He's a conversion using Foundry, Aventine and Warlord parts, and I'm going to paint a standard bearer to accompany him.
Later Dug, Dr Phil and his son Tim arrived, and we were quorate to kick the game off. A brief run through the rules (the Lite version of my own "To the Strongest!" set), and we were off! The players looked a little slack-jawed when the first unit was destroyed, within 30 seconds of play commencing. Shortly after this, I demonstrated why it is important to remember to move one's elephants... in a blue-on-blue incident, mine rampaged back through two of my units and trampled my general to death. The 3 Aces are my failed saving cards.
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On the other wing, however, Tim's elephants performed prodigies and smashed deep into the enemy lines (below).
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This enabled us to turn the flank of Caesar's legions, but unfortunately they had done much the same to us on my other wing. Below, playing cards are used to activate units and resolve combat. The first time I've not needed to take dice along to a game!
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Below is a shot of the clash of legionaries in the centre. Several cohorts eventually managed to turn onto the flanks of other cohorts.
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I estimate that we managed to only get 2-3 hours or so of play in during the whole day, as we started late, chatted to lots of people, did some shopping, took pictures of other games and so forth, so we didn't quite finish the game. Caesar was ahead at the end, though, but not by as much as on the day in 46 BC, so, in that sense, it was a moral victory for Scipio. Below is a shot of the late-game carnage; I was running out of places to put my casualties!
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We had a great day, so thanks to Dug, John, Dr. Phil, Tim and Craig, who played, and a big hello to everyone who called by to have a look! Especial thanks to Dug for his photos, and John for helping me pack up at the end. Dr Phil and John had some useful suggestions for rules tweaks. Oh, and huge thanks to the Partizan crowd for being such great hosts!
26 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formGreat layout, Sir.
3 September 2013 at 20:00
Looks a fantastic game!
3 September 2013 at 20:25
I enjoyed looking at it on the day, and you were obviously having lots of fun. Great stuff.
3 September 2013 at 22:12
Stunning !!!
Lovely pictures of lovely minis!
Greate with the water and your boat !
Best regards Michael
3 September 2013 at 22:46
Thanks chaps! It was, indeed, a lot of fun.
3 September 2013 at 22:47
Once again something to aspire to; any chance your rules will ever be available for general release?
Regards HGA.
3 September 2013 at 22:57
Hi HGA, they will definitely be published in some fashion, but not quite yet as I'm still tweaking.
I have another outing at Colours Newbury on Saturday/Sunday week, I don't suppose you live up that way? I'd like to get as many people to play it as I can, to solicit views...
Cheers, Simon
3 September 2013 at 23:12
Another fantastic game. Wonderful.
4 September 2013 at 00:40
Looks really good, Simon. Great job!
4 September 2013 at 02:01
Inspirational stuff! Thanks for sharing
4 September 2013 at 03:22
Awesome stuff Simon. Glad to see you had a great time. I'm going to make sure I do one o both partisans next year.
4 September 2013 at 07:12
It was a fantastic layout and well done!
4 September 2013 at 08:54
Lovely looking game, Simon. Congrats on the article in WSS as well by the way!
4 September 2013 at 09:24
Thanks all!
Barry, Partizan is well worth a go, my favourite show on account of general friendliness and cathedral-like space.
I've just started planning my game for next September... :-)
4 September 2013 at 09:27
Amazing battlefield, a fantastic looking table and some beautiful armies!
4 September 2013 at 14:15
Absolutely awesome ! Great table !
4 September 2013 at 18:36
The look of a table, full of toy soldiers is great! I wish I could play a game with your rules, just to see how they play.
I'm working on my own armies again, after a long hiatus. In hope to once bring a game this size to the wargames table.
Thanks for inspiration!
4 September 2013 at 20:29
Great looking game. Glad you had fun at the show.
4 September 2013 at 21:17
What a great looking table!
4 September 2013 at 21:56
All those cohorts gleaming in crimson and gold (to paraphrase Byron) make for one hell of a spectacle; that must have been a great day out!
5 September 2013 at 12:53
That game looks great. I love that a unit was destroyed 30 seconds into the game; must be a good system.
5 September 2013 at 14:33
Thanks everyone!
A good system, or perhaps a bloody system, Mike...
5 September 2013 at 15:16
Thanks everyone!
A good system, or perhaps a bloody system, Mike...
5 September 2013 at 15:16
This looks fantastic!
Hoping to get the galley done by next weekend. The ship itself is now painted but its the rigging and oars I have to worry about this week. AT least I know how to do the oars now anyway and I have worked out most of the rigging too. The sail is still a problem though!
7 September 2013 at 17:09
Hi Stephen, I very much look forward to seeing it! I'm industriously painting Numidians.
Cheers, Simon
7 September 2013 at 23:47
Another fantastic looking game Simon!
9 September 2013 at 00:41