To the Strongest: Roman Revenge

Morgah-Khan and his Orcish horde emerged through the strange mist into an even stranger world. It was too bright and too hot. But the land was ripe for pillage. For 2 weeks they lay waste to the land, until on the 15th day, they came upon another human army. It seemed much like the first they had crushed, so Morgah-Khan had no cares.

This was an 8 person rematch of last week's mauling of the Romans. The Romans got 2 more units of Legionairie, but they didn't need it.
It was an interesting game. Each general seemed so concentrated on his command they didn't notice the battle around them. I for one looked at a one point to realize I was about to be flanked. And when the last victory medals were handed over by the Orcs, four of our commanders said " It's over?"

Everyone seems to be getting the use of their troops. I think some of the Orc cav might get upgraded to Medium, but other than that, I tight game.

Squeezing in a weekend game

My oldest wargaming buddy, Lead Addict and I have similar limited schedules with teenagers and jobs and families. It's rare we both have time to play together. He's been itching to play two games I've really had a good time with, DUST and Lion Rampant.
Not many pics, but lots of rum.

The Axis secret weapon...

For DUST (the one off the grid, is that Tactics or Warfare?) we had 200 points a piece. 100 points of armor and 100 of infantry. No special Command Troops or extra rules, just the basics.
Lead Addict quickly grasped the fire and suppression rules and had some of my best troops pinned for a good part of the game. I retaliated by pounding his armor to, well, dust.
These rules are simple and elegant with a lot of grit that isn't always noticed at first. I wish the models were more available. I substituted their special dice with my own 3 sided I had.

Next was a rematch Lion Rampant style, between the Normans and the Vikings. The vikings took a defensive position from the start only my crossbows were able to crack. It was short and sweet, but again a rule set with a lot more depth than seen at first sight. Guy de Fountainbleu left the peasants to their fates.

To the Strongest ( or is it Strangest?)

The Legion became lost in the Alpine passes. A strange purple mist filled the air. When the mist finally abated, the Legion was in a strange new land. No sooner had they taken in their new surroundings, when they found themselves facing a great horde of green skinned barbarians....
John, over at Curio Clashes, has been steadily building an EI Roman army. With no "proper" foes, Lead Addict graciously supplied his Demonworld Orcs.

Temporary labels to help the players

We had around 200 points each side split under 4 commands. Making the fantasy stats was easy. Giants were treated as escorted elephants (hurling rocks and rampaging around when defeated), Trolls and minotaurs became Warriors with their thick hides providing 3 hits, and goblin wolf riders were an easy Light Cavalry call.

The Romans started with horrible Activations. Again, I used d10s instead of playing cards. The dies sit behind the troops and take up less space than cards in my 6" squares. Orc catapults caused the first casualties. Roman flanks were able to drive back, but not destroy the pesky wolf riders. When the center connected, the Legions pilums had little effect. The orcs clearly had their blood up. The Legion didn't stand a chance.

 Gotta find a better way to mark ammo. The markers were too intrusive for me.

It was a lopsided orcish victory, mostly due to our poor generalship and die rolls, not the rules. With cries of "tonight we feast on man flesh!", the orcs wandered towards an strange, purple mist....

Wooden Soldiers

Just a shot of how the King's Life Guards are coming along.

The Legion in Mexico: Special Deliveries

With Cinco de Mayo around the corner, I thought it appropriate to dig out my much beleaguered French Foreign Legion for a game of Fistful of Lead. The Legion had to deliver a priest, carrying vital intelligence across the board, while a Imperial Mexican squad was simultaneously bringing the overdo payroll from the opposite side. Trying to stop both were Insurectos and Republican Mexican forces.

Rules were standard FfoL but with only one shot per Activation due to the single shot nature of the firearms. This made the 2 Card now "+1 to Hit and +1 to Wounds", as it is assumed the model has been sitting the whole turn taking careful aim.

The first part of the game, the rebellious Republicans were dropping left and right under disciplined Legion fire.
The second half, the tides turned and the Legionnaires looked like they may get trapped in the town's center.

But, like any good story, it was a nail biter to the end. The third act saw the Legion struggling the last 10" of board to clear off a heroic stand by sword armed Republican officer. In the end, the Legion pulled it off for once. A great game with twists and turns, and of course, a "Blood Alley" that seemed to deal death to all who dared enter.
Plus, there was beer.