Camp Curry - ADLG AAR

Chris, Carl, Bob and I decided to play a 300 point game of ADLG this past Sunday. Bob and Carl were commanding a Tamil Indian army, while Chris and I led a Brutus-Cassius Alliance Roman force. 

The field of battle consists of a coastline blocking one flank, a gentle hill on the Roman right flank, and three fields on the Indian side.

The attacking Indians had three commands of Elephants and their accompanying light infantry screen, and a massive command of bowmen, elite impetuous medium swordsmen, and a pair of light chariots.

The defending Romans had three commands of elite Legionaries with light infantry, and a command of light horses with some medium cavalry backing them up.

The first turn saw both armies moving forward.

A pair of Roman-allied light horse were chased off by the mass of Indian bowmen, while the light forces on both sides exchanged fire with arrows, slings and javelins.

The two armies closed. The light horse and medium cavalry continued to harass the Indian flank. A light chariot was forced into combat, unable to retreat due to the coastline, but managed to beat the legionaries in combat. In the center, a charge from the Elephants came just sort of the Roman infantry, who charged in against the massive beasts.

Progress on the flanks grounded to a halt, with the cavalry unwilling to commit to combat and the mass of bowmen slowly advancing. In the center, however, the Elephants had apparently walked into a mass of man-sized blenders, as three of the elephants fell in combat.

The Roman cavalry was forced to commit, as continuing to evade would leave the Roman camp open to attack. The center was clear of most Indian units, but the Roman lines were in disarray. Incredibly, the Light Chariot was still holding up the Romans by the coast.

Indian swordsmen charged through the bowmen as the Romans attempted to reform their lines. A lone Roman-allied light horse fled a charging elephant. The horsemen realized, then, that the Indian camp was completely undefended.

The light chariot gone, the Romans on the left finally prepared to get stuck in - only for the Indian bowmen to rout a Legionary unit and bring another close to breaking. On the right, the Roman cavalry began to waver, hoping for reinforcements to arrive soon.

The lines of battle continued to adjust as the Romans attempted to shift their forces to the mass of Indian infantry.

The Roman-allied light horse finally managed to contact the camp, causing a massive morale loss. That, plus other routed units, pushed the Indians past their break point. It was a close match, however - had the dice not so heavily favored the Romans in the center at the beginning of the game, then the outcome would have been much different.

2017 6x6 Challenge - June

Games Played in June

One on One - SAGA AAR

Pining for the Fords - SAGA AAR

The Final Campaign - SAGA AAR

The Final Campaign - SAGA AAR

Unable to stop the Vikings at the river crossing, Louis was forced to take up a defensive position at a nearby town. The ramshackle wall provided some defense, and its gate was reinforced by the defenders. A single unit of knights was tasked with outflanking the Vikings, hoping to strike at some point during the northmen's assault. 

As the crossbowmen waited in cover, the Vikings approached the wall, eager to get the battle over with and return home before the winter became too unbearable.

The Viking hearthguard advanced. The crossbowmen fired volley after volley, hoping to take down some of the enemy before they could reach the gate. Floki, seeing some of the Norman knights had gone missing, held his warriors back.

The Vikings continued to advance on the gate.

One unit of Viking hearthguard fell, as the other began hacking and beating at the gate.

Louis held his men back, hoping his reinforcements would arrive before the gate fell.

The sound of thundering hooves announced the arrival of the knights, who ran down the surprised and unguarded Floki.

But even as the Viking Warlord was run down, the gate fell. The Vikings' roars of victory quickly turned to cries of surprise as the other Norman knights charged, forcing the northmen back. A unit of Viking warriors was also felled by the Norman reinforcements.

Incensed by the attack, the Viking Hearthguard leaped back into the fray, trading blows before being routed. With only a single unit of Viking warriors remaining, the northerners decided to retreat. Floki was found and dragged away from the burh.

Despite this final win, the Vikings won the campaign with a massive score of 12 victory points to the Norman's 4. Floki would return home to fame and fortune, while Louis was forced to slink back to his lands to deal with the ongoing revolt.

Pining for the Fords - SAGA AAR

With their Warlord injured and winter settling over the lands, the Normans were forced to retreat from the Viking's onslaught. But Floki wasn't about to let his opponent slip away.

The two forces met at an abandoned village, with its fields untended and covered by snow. A river, flowing fast enough to keep from freezing but still deadly cold, meant that both warbands would need to cross by the flat bridges.

Thank's to Floki's Penny ability, the Normans were forced to sit back and watch as the Viking shield wall advanced.

The Vikings set foot on the bridges, axes and swords thumping against their shields.

Mutual destruction followed a clash between Norman and Viking hearthguards on the right.

The Vikings continued to move across the bridges. As Louis led a hearthguard unit forward, another unit of knights charged into a group of Viking warriors. Both sides were bloodied by the combat.

Bodies of men and horses continued to pile up around the bridges. Both sides had lost most of their hearthguard, with only the Warlord and a few warriors remaining.

Louis was left alone on the right side of the village while Floki faced down a unit of crossbowmen with a lone remaining warrior.

As the Viking Warrior ducked behind a house and Floki savaged the crossbowmen, the game ended with the Vikings winning, 4 victory points to 3.

With another loss, the peasants in the area revolted. The resulting loss in men and reputation, along with casualties suffered, dealt a major blow to Louis' power in the region. Floki, on the other hand, continued to bask in his repeated victories.

Endgame - Shadow War: Armageddon AAR

For the final week, the various gangs fighting in Armageddon came together for one final battle. 

This seven player game saw Orks, Chaos, Grey Knights, Skitarii, Inquisition, Tau, and a Vindicare Assassin, with alliances and betrayals constantly shifting as player's fortunes rose and fell with the dice. The last remaining kill team on the table (apart from the Vindicare) would be the campaign's overall winner

The early part of the game saw most of the combat focus on John's Chaos, easily the scariest of the factions on the table thanks to its equipment and skill. Meanwhile, the Skitarii and Inquisition warbands skirmished with the Tau. The Chaos kill team was the first to bottle due to casualties.

As the game progressed, the focus shifted to the Orks, who had managed to escape attention up until that point. Once the guns were turned on the greenskins, however, their numbers quickly began to dwindle.

The Tau bottled next, and the remaining Grey Knights were killed off and removed from the table. Once their Nob fell, the Orks also retreated, leaving only the Skitarii with a single model, and the Inquisition with two. The Vindicare ended up taking a shot at the lone Mechanicum soldier, taking him out with a Hellfire round and ending the game with the Inquisition winning the campaign.

It was a fun game and campaign, and it has energized the group for the arrival of 8th Edition (which I will not be taking part of, but I wish them the best).