WAB Age of Arthur Battle Report

The Saxons and their Romano British paymasters assemble

With Scrivs' Age of Arthur event less than two weeks away my chum and I convened for a game of WAB by way of warm-up/attempt to remember the rules.
As we'd neither of us played WAB for around six months, nor AoA for even longer (or ever in my opponent's case) we went with a simple 1600pt pitched battle affair.

My army included a unit of Gedrith, two units of Duguth, a smaller unit of Geoguth and an allied unit of Milites, together with my not yet finished archers. I also took an assortment of characters, possibly slightly more than permitted.
On the Welsh side of the table stood a big unit of Teulu, another big warband unit, two units of cavalry and a smattering of skirmishers.

The Welsh form up

The battle took a while to get going, my advance was slowed by the screening archers (who, predictably, failed to shoot anything) whilst the Welsh were stymied by deploying their cavalry behind a unit of close order warband.
I think my opponent was also wrestling with the nuances (or lack of same) of early Dark Age warfare. More used to the subtle manouverings of the Andalusians he failed to simply point his big unit of double hard warriors at the middle of my line and deliver his general to where he could do most damage.

 As dawn breaks the Saxons advance. Quite slowly.

 Steady chaps. Let the hairy blokes do the fighting

 'ere we go, 'ere we go, 'ere we...

 Sneaky Welshies hiding in the woods

 Big, slow warband. Note cavalry trying to get past

Sneaky Welshies leaving the woods to chuck stones

Eventually however, the battle lines crashed together (my archers, inevitably, being swept aside) and the real work began. A challenge between our generals demonstrated once again that Welsh fury (and WS6, 3A) beats Saxon power as my general was brutally cut down before he'd unhitched his buckler. However Saxon steel (and a flank charge) ruled the combat (just) and we settled down to grind, despite the death of my general causing a smattering of flight.

 Let the taunting begin

 First battle for the archers - inevitable outcome

 Steady chaps, steady...

 Wallop!

The scrum begins

On my left flank the Duguth eventually charged the Welsh warband, but came off worst and were cut down down, whilst the Geoguth were humiliatingly run to ground by skirmishers.

 Saxon bucklers, not enough to make the difference.

 Round two hundred and fifty of this combat

 Some substitute Norman cavalry sneak around the back

The Welsh general begins to run out of bodies...

Fortunately, in the centre, numbers eventually told and despite a late charge by the Welsh cavalry (which actually gave me more combat resolution) my foes broke and fled as the game ended.

So what did we learn?
That Welsh generals are proper frisky.
Subtle manouvering is not the name of the game
Cavalry are a bit bobbins
WAB and this supplement gives a great game of soldiers.

So another evening well spent.
Just got to finish the archers off and tweak the armylist a little (I think the Geoguth may be better as two skirmishing units of nine models to go and monster opposing skirmishers than a ranked unit of sixteen).
Apart from that I'm raring to go for the event

Gripping Beast Plastic Arabs

Crikey, where did that come from!

I've been saying for quite some time that a set of plastic Arabs would be a great thing for wargamers, and whaddya know Gripping Beast are releasing some next month at Salute!

From the mail:

Plastic Arab Spearmen and Archers

New from GB Plastics and released at SALUTE is this versatile and yummy box containing 40 warriors. You can make up to 16 archers, 16 javelin men or 32 spearmen from the box. Usable for SAGA or for Arab and Moorish armies from the conquest period to the siege of Vienna (at a pinch).

I'm a bit excited by this.
Although my Almoravid army is quite sizeable, you can never have too many spearmen and bowmen..

Saxons in Swindon

Once more I find myself in a hotel room in Swindon.
And so I've bought some little metal fellas with me to help while away the time.
Twelve Musketeer Saxon archers for use in the Age of Arthur event in a couple of weeks time.
The lighting, even by hotel standards is feeble, so I've been painting in conditions that would have seen a cricket match abandoned hours ago.
This also makes for poor pictures. That and having to use a phone camera.
So here's the result of an hour or two of slapping on base coats while listening to 6 music

Battle of Keren - a Salute warm-up

On Thursday night, with the kids banished to the land of the Grandparents, I was at last able to return to the White Hart and have a game with James.
This was a warm-up of sorts for the game that James and Scrivs are staging at Salute and that somehow I have inveigled my way into joining.

The game is based on the Battle of Keren, in which British and Indian forces fought up some spectacularly gruelling mountains to dislodge the Italians and their Ethiopian allies. James has designed some jaw-droppingly good scenery which John Grant has helped him build and James and Scrivs have been churning out Perry 8th army men like they’re going out of fashion. So all is set for a splendid looking display at Salute. All that really remains is to drill the assorted helpers and hangers on such as myself in the intricacies of playing I Ain’t Been Shot Mum - the chosen rule set.

The following pictures show really only the detail of the battle – James wants to save the “big reveal” of the terrain for the event itself - and rightly so - so do try and get along, it does look amazing.
I took command of two squads of infantry with some support scaling the cliffs to assault Italians and their Askaris dug in in an old fort at the top of the hill. To my left Mark commanded a similar force whilst the fiendish axis powers were led by the two Jameses.

What ensued was a really good game, with lots of exciting incidents, dodgy Italian accents and moments of derring-do. Having not been enamoured of my previous experiences with TFL rules I have to say that I really liked how this set worked with this number of figures – the cards giving the right “fog of war” element and the results being (to my admittedly limited knowledge) pretty plausible for the events depicted.

Britsh and Indian support troops at the foot of the cliffs

The fortunes of the cards meant I was able to lay smoke to cover my advance, and so, although my progress was slower I was able to mount a more determined assault on the defending Italians. Mark’s squads made more rapid progress but were exposed and hurled back by the defenders.

 The British columns advance on the cliffs

Before commencing the gruelling climb

At the top Askaris and their Italian masters await them

 Mortar fire keeps the Askaris pinned down

 Fixing bayonets "Binky" orders his men to charge!

Cinema moments saw Sergeant Reg Cunk (a County cricketer in civilian life) attempt to hurl a grenade at a lurking Italian sniper who was holding up the attack, only to cop a bullet straight between the eyes, leaving the rest of his men to charge up the hill with cries of “Revenge for Reg!” on their lips. Meanwhile Lieutenant “Binky” Fortescue, abandoning his customary position at the rear, led the men in a final assault and fell to his doom down the mountain locked in a deadly embrace with the Italian commander Bruschetta.

Silhouetted against the smoke Luigi "Dead-eye" Rigatoni takes aim at the advancing British

The final moments of Sgt Cunk's unsuccessful bid for a VC

"Revenge for Reg!"

A great game with splendid chaps, good rules and stunning models and scenery – that’s the way to spend an evening!

Sigmar's Blood (12) - The Whirligig of Astrakosh battle report

Kurtis Spangel shook his head, trying to clear it; the hum of the magical winds that constantly buzzed in his ears was being whipped to a tornado. He glanced to his left to the ranks of proud Nordland swordsmen who stood beside him, but could barely move his tongue to speak.
Glancing ahead of him he could see the reason why – a powerful vortex of untamed magic span in the landscape, sparks of raw power flying out from the centre. Gripping his staff Spangel forced himself to concentrate. He knew he must enter the vortex and speak the words of power, channelling the magical discharge through himself. Above all he must prevent other, darker powers from accessing the mighty forces unleashed by the vortex.

Even as he though this his eyes caught sight of movement beyond the pillar of raw magic. Called by the siren cry of the Whirligig like carrion to a corpse, the shambling warriors of Sylvania were intent on harnessing the magic to their own ends.

Urgh!

As the dark shapes closed in on the magic source, Spangel and the witchhunter Ingwer marshalled the Imperial forces forward. The handgun armed men of Nordland swarmed into the tower to take up shooting positions whilst the rest of the army advanced. Trailing deadly sparks in its wake a rocket lit up the darkening skies and plummeted to earth amidst the foul winged monsters lurking on the flank of the Sylvanian army. With a horrified cry Ingwer drew the wizard’s attention to spectral horsemen that galloped in front of the magical vent. Summoning the winds of magic into himself the young light wizard cast forth a powerful net of magic to ensnare the deathly riders, but the presence of the nearby vortex overloaded him with magical energy and sent him reeling, his mind wiped blank of the knowledge of spellcasting.

 Forward my proud knights!

Ride them down!

Stiffening his resolve Ingwer urged the men forward – if the incantation could not be cast he must ensure that the followers of darkness did not access the power for themselves. The field began to echo with the sound of black powder weapons discharging as the handgunners poured shot into the advancing dire wolves and the rockets blazed against the undead hordes. The militiamen from Middenheim formed up to block the advancing vampiric horrors whilst the Empire knights prepared to ride down the skeletons. Alas at the last their courage failed them and they flailed uselessly against their bony foes before fleeing, to their eternal shame!
However all was not well for the Sylvanians as with a crackling of energy the misshapen form of the Necromancer was flung from the whirligig amidst a storm of magical feedback.

Lalalalalalala!

Despite the damage wreaked upon them by its nightmarish rockets the howling forms of loathsome ghouls fell upon the ill-prepared crew of the Hellstorm and ripped them to bloody tatters. Whilst the shrieking form of an undead maiden struck knights from the saddle with her unearthly cries. Ingwer unleashed his pistols at the cowering Sylvanian magic user but to no avail as the vargheists tore through the men of Middenheim before hurling themselves on the handgunners in the tower and forcing them from the safety of its thick walls.

 Squawk,crash, thump,munch!

Try again.

Ingwer cursed as the forces of darkness began to close in. The incorporeal knights flew again and again through his men, leaving lifeless corpses in their wake. The knights of Sigmar’s Blood ran regained their valour and ran down the remaining skeletons but it was all too little to stem the tide. Clutching his hammer amulet and brandishing his pistols the witchhunter looked to sell his life dearly as the Sylvanian’s closed the circle about him….

This was a good fun game that allowed us to get a bit more to grips with the forces.
The early miscast by the light wizard did rather put paid to any chance of holding back the ethereal troops and the Vargheists proved tricky to stop, so it turned into something of a slaughter for the stout men of the Empire (no prizes for guessing which side I was in charge of).

Search term surprise

I was checking my stats today and was amused to discover the second search on my keywords list

I do hope he wasn't too disappointed!

(Readers of a sheltered disposition are advised not to Google fleshlight toys)

Sigmar's Blood (11) - another warm-up game

With the forces fast coming to completion we decided another warm-up game was in order to familiarise ourselves some more with the armies and keep up enthusiasm.
So I came up with the following scenario.

The Whirligig of Astrakosh
A mighty upheaval of the earth caused by a passing warpstone comet has revealed the Whirligig of Astrakosh, a mystic wizardry thingy.
Von Carstein has dispatched his loyal necromancer to speak the black words of power that will unleash the power of the Whirligig. The light wizards of nearby Grunhafen have become aware of the presence of the Whirligig and, after much pleading with the local count have secured a small force to investigate.

The Empire
Kurtis Spangel lvl 2 Wizard of light
Stephan Ingwer witchhunter
The Knights of Sigmar's Blood, 8 reiksguard knights full command
The Drunken Wolves 20 militia full command
The Spears of Nordland, 20 empire spearmen with shields
Nordland Shootists 10 handgunners
Hellstorm Rocket

Vampire Counts
Nimitz Vulkmist lvl2 necromancer
Banshee
10 Dire wolves
20 Ghouls
20 skeletons with spears
5 hexwraiths
3 vargheists

Set up
Use a 4x4 table
Place the Whirligig in the centre if the board.
Add a further d3+3 pieces of scenery to the board
Roll a dice, the highest scorer must pick a corner of the board and place a unit within 12" of the corner.
Units are then deployed alternatingly, all within 12" of the corner
Then roll a dice, the highest scorer takes the first turn.

Special rules
Only a wizard may enter the Whirligig . If the Whirligig is unoccupied the wizard must enter by making a normal move or marching into the Whirligig
If the Whirligig is occupied another wizard may assault the tower and if he wins he replaces the existing wizard in the tower.
The losing wizard may be placed anywhere within 2" of the Whirligig.
No other characters or units can penetrate the mystic sigils that protect the Whirligig and so may not attempt to assault it.
War machines have no effect on the Whirligig or models inside it.

The Spell
Incantation is a power 16 spell.
If successfully cast the wizard gains +2 on all future spell casting attempts he makes for the rest of the game whilst in the tower in addition the wizards side will gain 200vp
If the wizard miscasts while casting the incantation, resolve the miscast then place the wizard 2d6" away from the Whirligig in a random direction. The incantation is not successful and the wizard does not gain any VP
If any other spell is miscast while the wizard is on the Whirligig the spell is cast and the miscast resolved as normal, then move the wizard 2d6" from the Whirligig in a random direction.
If both sides cast the invocation then each gains 200vp

Tune in tomorrow to see how it played out...