Merry Christmas!

I would like to thank all the visitors to my blog over the year and also for the many who have left comments they are much appreciated and are a great motivation to keep the blog going. I wish everyone

Merry Christmas

Joyeux Noël

Fröhliche Weihnachten

Buon Natale

Feliz Navidad

счастливого Рождества

God Jul

 Vrolijk Kerstfeest

eat, drink (responsibly) and be merry.

TTFN, until 2020, trust I will see you all back then.

To The Strongest At Strontium

Monday arrived, Dave aka Bikkagern arrived, the table was set, the forces assembled, let battle commence, victory To The Strongest!
Our first game using Simon Millar's "To The Strongest" rules, well my second but that was a long time ago, details here (clicky).
As with all first outings with a new rule set, things were overlooked, misconstrued (not I might add a fault of how the rules are written, just me) neither of which influenced the final result.
A photo montage with comments below

Both Sides Advance

First Contact On The Roman Right

The Centre Becomes Engaged

Boric Is Taken Prisoner, The Same Was To Happen To Corbinus, Not A Fine Debut For Either

Turn Four, Things Were Looking Bad For The Goths, Their Camp Was Taken By Roman Moorish Cavalry, Another Three Victory Medals Down. But Wait! Turn Five Saw Two Unexpected Gaps In The Roman Line

Despite Bringing In Reinforcements From The Left The Romans Are Surrounded And Defeated

Meanwhile Baldinus, Bikkagern And Their Commands Continue To Fight It Out

A splendid hard fought game with some memorable moments, Dave, "I will not try to activate them again needing a ten, I will go on to the next unit" chit draw? Yes you guessed a ten!

Me, "you will like TtS the fighting is quick and decisive" the above starting in turn four and still going on at the end of play.

We will certainly be using TtS again, in fact Dave has asked me to take the gridded mat over in the New Year to have a bash using his Saxons and Normans.

One more game in 2019, over at Dave's on the 30th for a Very British Civil War bash.

TTFN 

Boric And Corbinus

Ahead of the next encounter in the current Goth invasion of the Strontium province which will be decided using To The Strongest rules, both sides needed mounted generals .
I introduce Boric and Corbinus, Boric is a Footsore Miniatures figure, while Corbinus is an A & A Miniatures figure.
Will the next encounter be a clear victory for either or a stalemate like the last one?
We will see.

TTFN

Stand Off At Strontium

Bikkagernand Baldinus again locked horns, a small probe by Bikkagern was met by a similar force if Romans.
Neither side was eager to make the first move, the Romans were first to break the deadlock, the Equiete charging the Goth cavalry on the Roman right. Over on the Roman left the Moors goaded the Goth noble cavalry with javelin showers while themselves coming under fire from Goth foot archers. The Goth nobles were content to weather the storm while the casualties mounted on the Moors.
Meanwhile the Goth cavalry finally got the better of their Roman adversaries, themselves being severely reduced retired and let fresh troops take their place in the line.They in turn were charged by the other Roman cavalry again the same result occurred while over on the left the Moors finally broke.
The Roman infantry were now left with no cavalry support but their flanks were protect by the rough terrain either side, they could not risk an advance and leave their flanks in the air, even though the Goth cavalry had been severely mauled.
The Goths were not keen to attack the Romans frontally so a Mexican stand off ensued, the Romans would attempt to melt away at night fall it was decided.
Some pictures of the action/inaction follow.

The Goth incursion will continue next month with the last game of 2019 here at OHQ, when we will be using To The Strongest rules to decide the outcome.

TTFN

Back To The Future

Back to my post Roman Britain unit upgrade which proceeds at the rate of a speeding slug. Below is the seventh Saxon unit to be made up to four bases, another twelve figures will get them up to the eight unit target while their opponents require me to paint a further twelve infantry and eight cavalry. However I do have a bolt thrower that can be used to make eight units when the infantry are done.

Gripping Beast figures, LBMS shield transfers, Warbases bases.

The future? Well the rather funky new early Byzantines from Aventine Miniatures are just to good to resist,a new project for 2020, with the added bonus that I can use my Goths to oppose them, although do I hear Sassanian war drums beating?

TTFN

Anarchist Attack

This one's for you Nigel, you beat the bastard once, you can do it again, no passaran!

OHQ's turn to host this week, Dave came over for a Spanish Civil war game, we used Rapid Fire rules with some of the modifications suggested by Mark Hannam and a fire chart to replace the unwieldy one in the current version, gleaned from the Rapid Fire Facebook page.

The Republican aim was to neutralise a Nationalist bunker which dominated a strategic railway line, various air attacks had failed in this task.
The attack would be carried out by an Anarchist militia platoon, with support from an army 75mm field gun, an armoured truck and a BA10 armoured car. The bunker would be assaulted by a shock squad armed with dynamite and a captured flamethrower.
Facing this was a platoon of Spanish Foreign Legion, supported by a Pak36 anti-tank gun with a HMG emplaced in the bunker.

The defenders learn of an early dawn attack and stand too

The Anarchist attack begins

The Nationalists move troops forward, too little and too late

The Anarchists surge forward to steal the prize

An overwhelming victory for the Republic, as is my want when defending I waited far to long to deploy additional troops letting my forward squads together with the Pak36, which in its turn deployed far later than it should have, get decimated by concentrated vehicle and infantry fire. No blame on the dice gods this time I hasten to say.

TTFN 

20mm Terrain

I have recently added some terrain items for my 20mm World War Two games.

 Water tower from Anyscale Models, the ladder is an addition by me.

 Some Eastern Front items, A frame and well are from Ironclad Miniatures. The privy is from Charlie Foxtrot Models.

Oil storage tank again from Anyscale Models

TTFN

Die Brücke

Rahnstadt Campaign, game five, rules, Battlegroup

Having already secured one bridge the Soviet forces are heading to the outskirts of Bikkelheim to secure a further one.
The bridge is currently being held by a local Volksturm squad supported by a Volksgrenadier MMG in a concrete bunker and a dug in Pak40. Help is on the way to help them hold the bridge until the engineers can get there to set charges and blow it, this consists of a Volksgrenadier platoon supported by a Stug III and an Ostwind.
Bearing in on them is a platoon of T34/85's, supporting a motorised infantry platoon, together with a T70 scout tank and a 82mm mortar battery. Off table 152mm howitzers are available together with a timed Katyushka strike.

Die Brücke

The Russians Mass For The Attack

The Stug Arrives To Offer Support

The T70 Does A Fine Job Pinning The German LMG Team

The Russian FHQ Calls Down Fire

 A Direct Hit Causes The Crew To Abandon The Stug While The Surrounding Infantry Are Pinned

The Russian Infantry Advance Capitalising On This

The Volksturm And Supporting Volksgrenadiers Are Swept From The Bridge

T34s Move Up In Support

The Germans Are Only One Battle Rating Away From Defeat So We Call It A Day

All Quiet On The Western Front?

Goodbyee

Going Dark

Some more additions to the Dark Age project.

Another warband now has four bases, Gripping Beast figures with LBMS transfers and banner.

Another one underway.

Fear not men of Britannia, the cavalry are coming

Footnote Miniatures with LBMS shield transfers.

Onward, ever onward!

TTFN

Bikkagern Follows Through

Following their recent victory Bikkagern and his Goth horde continue their advance into the Roman provinces. Baldinus has rallied his legions and as deployed to halt the Goth advance...…….

A View Down The Lines

The Vintage Shot

The Birds Are Circling, A Feast In The Offing Later

Bikkagern Leads His Nobles, Thundering Into The Legion

Meanwhile His Foot Warriors Do Likewise

His Subordinate, Clewless Leads Another Warband Into The Roman Auxillia

The Legion And Equites Are Getting The Worst Of It

Having Routed The Roman Light Cavalry The Goths Thunder Into The Roman Flank

The Right Flank Auxillia And Lanciarii Are Heavily Engaged Too

The Legion Is Valiantly Holding The Goth Nobles At Bay But Are Suddenly Hit In The Flank

With The Only Remaining Roman Cavalry Assailed To The Flank And Rear The Game Is up For The Romans 

With the Goth cavalry having free reign and all but two of the remaining Roman foot units engaged a Roman defeat was inevitable and we called a halt to proceedings.

The Goth advance continues and Baldinus's hold on the throne is shaky at best.

As ever we used Neil Thomas's Ancient And Medieval Rules with an addition to give generals a role and an additional morale roll if a unit was down to one base in melee.

TTFN