Achilles Rampant! Farewell to the Lad

Reilly is leaving home very shortly and moving to the Australian State of Queensland (thats 2000kms away) so the club fellahs got together for a big bash game last weekend.  In keeping with his favourite genre it was Trojan War, and 10 mates fought it out before the gates of Troy.  

The 15 foot table was graced with some 30 chariots, 27 horse and 540 foot troops, all in 28mm - looked very impressive

My Trojan line, led by Hector, gets ready to defend their beloved Polis

Oh mighty Apollo- give us your blessings this day!

The game was setup with a large swirling chariot and cavalry action on one flank, a broadly open plain for an infantry battle in the centre, and a broken area on the other flank on the banks of the Scamander River.  Here are a selection of pics from the phrenetic, loud and exceptional fun that followed!

The Lad in the centre -playing Achilles naturally! (Yes, I had Hector!)

Crafty Odysseus and his men capture the golden fleece!

Achilles and the Myrmidon seek Hector at the Temple of Apollo

Patroclus advances, seeking his Glory

Paris is Slain by the Greeks, who defile the body 

Achilles flanks the main Trojan line

Hector find Patroclus in the centre of the battlefield and challenges him to a duel

...and takes him down!

...followed by an enraged Achilles challenging Hector

Here is the live action of the Duel (5&6s hit- highest wins)

Achilles defeats Hector - Historical Outcome!

What is it with all this defilement by Chariot today!

So with Hector fallen, the Greeks won the day in the end - thanks very much indeed to the guys for coming along to farewell Reilly. He had a blast and we went home to watch the movie Troy (over a few beers of course)!

The Lads (on the Greek side) having fun!

Rules notes

We used Lion Rampant rules with a few significant modifications, to make the game flow better with so many platers and 60 odd units (!) on the table;.

- Everyone had 6 units, and while they were slightly different to one another, the 5 pairs of players facing one another had identical forces

- Units activation was by "Chit pull" with the Umpire (aka Gav aka Zeus) randomly pulling from 6 Trojan and 6 Greek tokens from a bag Bolt Action style, with everyone on the side indicated attempting to activate a unit of their choice, keeping everyone involved in the action.

- Each Player had a major Hero from the Odyssey: Menolaus faced Paris, Ajax faced Sarpedon, Odysseus faced Aeneas... and Reilly played Achilles facing off against me with Hector, naturally. Each character led a 12 man Foot Companion unit and added their Hero dice to the attack score of their units (eg Odysseus 3 dice, Hector 5 etc)

    For extra authenticity, Achilles was a Level 4 hero, unless Patroclus had been slain - at which time he became a 6!

- VP wise each pair of players had a terrain objective to control at game end worth 3 VPs, and each major unit (not skirmishers) was worth 1 unit if destroyed. Heroes were worth another 1-2 VPs.

- To reflect the fickle influence of the Gods, each player had rerolls equal to d6: 1=zero, 2-5= 1, 6 = 2... +1. So everyone had between 1 and 3 rerolls, to be used anytime during the game.

Rampant Return for War of the Roses

First test of the magnetic basing - nil casualties in transportation!

This weekend saw a double christening as Dux Homunculorum kindly hosted me to threw down with some War of the Roses action: our first time using the new Lion Rampant 2.0 rules set, and the first outing for my Lancastrians.

We like matching up asymmetrical forces - similar but not mirrors of one another to make things more interesting.  I went for weight of arrows, while Alan went more diverse.

Commanded by Lord Percy I fielded 2 units of Foot Knights (elite foot), 2 units of Billmen (Heavy Foot) and 3 Archers to defend the honour of the true and rightful king.  

Opposing my loyal men was Yorkist sympathiser Lord Scrope, with 2 units of Foot Knights (elite foot), 2 units of Billmen (Heavy Foot), 2 Archers, 1 Heavy Horse and 1 of Biddowers (skirmishers). 

Noble Lord Percy takes the field

Longbowmen on the field, ready to deliver an arrow storm

In the name of King Henry - Advance!

Archers Ready!

The Scrope horse waiting in reserve

The traitorous Lord Scrope of Bolton takes the field

Nock - Draw - Loose!

The enemy advance into Range

Long range fire plucked a few enemy from their feet, but not to any real effect. Perhaps next time I would be better taking less but Veteran Bowmen so more shafts find their place. Unfortunately for these lads, they failed to receive the orders to retire (having failed the movement order test AND the reroll from the nearby Commander) and were thus charged by the advancing Billmen

Most impressively, they stood their ground with grim resolve, throwing back the Billmen with 3 casualties while only taking 2 themselves! Impressive, but as they clapped eachother on the back, the thunder of hooves resounded across the filled and the enemy heavy horse galloped into the attack

Unbelievably, the archers slew half (3) of the mounted knights but were inevitably scattered before them having taken more and failed their Courage check. Well done though lads, you have earned yourself a banner when i get back to the Hobby desk (my dice were hot!)

Incensed at the demise of the brave archers, my Foot knights dove down off the hilltop and into the Cavalry, drawing blood and sending the rest fleeing from the field.

At this point I was running low on remaining playing time and thought it timely for Lord Percy to advance upon Lord Scrope and proffer a duel. 

Fight me you Cad!

Alan was not inclined to accept the glove, but obliged me and did not regret the decision...

Seems to be something wrong with my bloody sword today...

...while the view from other side of the field was far more cheery

And with the Yorkist momentum blunted on the left wing, the battle petered out. I had inflicted far more casualties but my rash duel had cost me my Leader. Swearing oaths of vengeance both forces retired, swearing and the battle was concluded.

Good fun in Alan's great game room

Awesome to get my Lancastrians out for the first time - got some ideas on how the flesh the force out a little more. As ever, Alan is a fun, crafty and sporting opponent and it was great to catch up with him.  We found LR2.0 very easy to pickup - a few things we had to recheck but other wise flowed well and anything we needed was quickly found.  We played the variant where failing a unit activation does not mean the end of the turn, which works well at injecting friction without complete chaos.

Expect to see more WotR models joining my collection during the upcoming Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge season 13, which I have signed up for and looking forward to!

You can see more of Alan's Yorkists on his blog here: https://dux-homunculorum.blogspot.com/2016/06/wars-of-roses-for-lion-rampant.html

Battle of Troy

Battle before the Walls of Troy - Greeks attacking on the left, Trojans sally forth on the right

Awesome day at club mate Gav's this weekend (the day of Salute in fact) with a big 3 v 3 game on the plains before the gates of Troy.  We used his fantastic array of Bronze Age minis with some a home made adjustments to Lion Rampant, and much thematic mayhem was added through Homeric heroes, each with their own Missions - Achilles was after Hector, Menelaus was after Paris etc. 

Whom do you favour this day oh Mighty Apollo? (model by 1st Corps)

My forces arrayed on the Trojan left flank

Each player had about a 50 point warband so that was a lot of figures on the table - an impressive array of Redoubt, Foundry, Black Tree Design and Eureka Miniatures.

Mayhem and Glory in the centre around the Temple of Apollo and the sacred grove

And the game was played under the imposing wall of Troy itself (all resin), with the strange, large wooden Horse making an appearance also...

Gorgeously painted Myrmidons move up to attack the Temple of Apollo

King Menelaus of Sparta vanquishes Prince Paris

In the end the Greeks carried the day overall, with Menaleus punishing Paris for stealing his wife, and Achilles vanishing Hector for slaying Patroclus, and thus the Trojans retired to their city defences. But what was that large wooden Horse left upon the field???...

In the centre of the field Achilles slays Hector, after which the fight went out of the Trojan Army.

A fantastic game - lots of fun and cheering throughout (especially during the Achilles-Hector duelling). Thanks for the great camaraderie and hospitality chaps! It also got my juices flowing for my upcoming Mortal Gods project...