Copyright © 2024, Philip Robinson. All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced, in whole or in part without prior permission of the creator

Friday 5 March 2021

Roma Victrix

 Having recently made my Goth warband bases larger rather than adding an additional base at the back I thought I would give them a run out, again using the deep warband amendment to Neil Thomas Ancient and Medieval rules. In the first outing their use was less than auspicious but then again so was Dave's dice rolling, we would see how they fared with all four warbands upgraded.

As this was a solo affair I decided to use my To the Strongest chits to activate the units, if a one was pulled that sides turn would end, having a general attached to the unit attempting to activate would allow a redraw.





 The Battle Lines Are Drawn

The first turn saw a general advance of the Gothic line, in their turn with their left flank anchored on the forest and no cavalry support the Roman auxillia advanced against the lead Goth cavalry to protect the lanciari on their right, the Goth noble cavalry had failed their activation and remained in the rear.


In their turn the Goth archers let loose on the Roman light infantry.



Meanwhile a Goth warband charges the Thunderbolts and pushes them back!

Emboldened by their neighbours success the adjacent warband charges the Jovani, who are made of sterner stuff and hold their ground.



The Goth archers on the left are left on their own when the Roman cavalry charge their supporting cavalry leaving them easy prey for the Roman auxiliaries who do seven casualties.



The cavalry fight it out.


In the centre the Legions and Goth warbands slug it out.

Over on the Roman left the lanciarii who are engaged in combat with the Goth archers are charged in the flank by the Goth noble cavalry, luckily they had been joined by the general and were able to do a redraw when they initially drew a one. This was to be the only unit that the Romans lost.



However with the warbands in the centre and the cavalry on the Goth left in flight the game was up for the Goth forces.

A most enjoyable game, I may use the chit draw in future it certainly gives a command decision challenge, do I activate A first and risk drawing a one or do I activate C first and risk the same, which would be the best benefit for success and at the beginning of the turn which unit should the general join to ensure a successful activation?

Until next time.

TTFN and KBO



26 comments:

  1. You have a beautiful collection, Phil. How do you compare Thomas to TtS!?

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  2. Thank you Jonathan. TtS being designed for Simon's epic games tends to be a tad too brutal for smaller games and is ideal for games games on a 6x4 if you have time limit. NT's rules the combat can drag on a while, although I decided on a Roman win as they were only one unit away from the six destroyed for a win the game could have gone on after two hours. However both reflect my view of ancient battles, I will give the same forces an outing with TtS at some point to compare.

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    1. Thanks for the explanation. I look forward to a Compare and Contrast from you!

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  3. Lovely armies, the warband looks great. I had the Thomas book out yesterday for a browse and there is much to like in that volume.

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    1. Thank you Norm. The NT rules are great, nice and straight forward and yet quite subtle and stand a fair bit of tweaking without losing the charm.

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  4. Great looking game with some lovely figures.

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  5. Thank you Keith, it was most enjoyable not as good as a F to F game but entertaining nonetheless.

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  6. Always a joy to see this collection in action! On the point of YOUR poor dice rolling in a solo game I take umbrage at getting the blame!

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    1. Thank you Mr. B. With regard to dice rolling that referred to your actual dice rolling when we last played a Goth v Roman game, I will forgive you for forgetting it was a long, long, long, long, long, long, long time a go and seems like a galaxy far away too.

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    2. We played a game, how long ago? My God, but your memory is sharper than mine...

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  7. Lovely looking game,your casualties markers are particularly good!
    Best Iain

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  8. A lovely looking game Phil...
    It’s always nice to see your Roman collection on the table...

    All the best. Aly

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  9. Great game play and report! Painted armies are particularly admired

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  10. Really lovely to see these guys fight it out...splendid 😀

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  11. Very nice Phil and a Roman victory, the Gods are pleased. Beautiful armies.

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    1. Thank you George, they got a tad worried when the Thunderbolts got pushed back but Roman grit and training won the day.

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