Romans v Gauls : Hail Caesar game

Essex Warriors club day today.

Mike and I brought along our Romans and Allan his Gauls with Steve C lending Allan a helping hand.

Our Romans are defending a hill line

with cavalry on the flanks

skirmishers out front

ready for anything to be flung at them !

like these Gaul war bands 

quite a lot of them in fact

and they are definitely heading our way !

Roman artillery prepares to give them something to think about

Without delay, Allan has charged his cavalry straight at mine

and Steve's are not far behind in going for Mike's

I've pushed them back but at the cost of one unit

and here they come again !

our infantry have forced one enemy cavalry unit to retire to the edge of the trees

but our right wing cavalry have been beaten and now there is an enemy cavalry unit threatening our right flank

Quick readjustment needed to the lines !

In the centre, big war bands make their way towards us

a steady line presents itself

Now Allan has pushed swarms of skirmishers ahead of his war bands and my archers engage them

Mike's artillery is causing some disorder in the enemy ranks

and his left flank looks nice and secure

The first war band assault against our hill position

How are we going to stop this lot !

Mike's cavalry file through a gap in the infantry lines

Now Allan flings a war band against my infantry plugging the gap where the cavalry had been

 We succeed in throwing them back

Mike counter attacks in the centre

The enemy are making no head way against Mike's left wing

so their cavalry are hurled at the Roman cavalry to try and break through

all along the lines there are hand to hand fights now

a right royal punch up !

Mike manages to mount a flank attack

Disordered war bands are flung back from the hill line

and the Gaul cavalry attack has faltered

more Roman legionaries move in from the flank

The Gauls are in some confusion

as the Roman flank attack becomes more serious

Even though Allan sees more war bands arrive on the base line, the reality is that the Romans have handled everything that has been thrown at them and are now counter attacking.

The Gauls decide they have had enough of it and pull out.

Roman victory !

Its been a while since we have played Hail Caesar or indeed any Ancients so a refreshing change.

Spanish Civil War : Chain of Command

Today, Ian brought along his amazing Spanish Civil War collection to the club for a game of CoC in Spain.  Allan and Steve C had the Militia and Guardia Civil, Mike and I the Nationalists.

Here's the view from Allan & Steve's end

This the view from Mike and my end.

After the patrol phase was ended, each side had placed three Jump off Points - here you can see two of ours, behind the walls (one mostly concealed by the trees)

Here's a couple of Allan & Steve's JoPs.

Our Nationalists were very colourful in red berets - complete with priest !

Allan was the first to deploy - a unit of blue coated troops deployed from a JoP in the vineyards.

The main fight was doubtless going to be in and around the village which has obviously suffered before during the war !

 I managed to deploy straight into a small farm on the edge of the village

Mike got his troops into position behind a wall with a view of the village and the vineyards.

Like this - he has a light MG on his right flank.

Guardia Civil have just been "dropped" by a God-like hand into a walled enclosure by the village.

My aggressive Nationalists send a group out of the farm to capture an enemy JoP - but they have to hold this until the end of the turn for this to become a problem for the enemy.

Two more groups are still holed up in the farm.

Enemy troops are now seen entering the village.

They seem unaware of our troops further down the road behind the walls.

Mike's men open fire on the Guardia Civil causing some shock.

Now my troops have charged across to take on enemy Militia 

The ensuing combat breaks their unit but ours have taken quite a bit of punishment too - the red markers indicate how much shock there is after the casualties have been removed too.

The enemy that had been on the road wisely take cover in a house after Mike's men fired down the road at them.

Although we are in possession of that enemy JoP, our position is quite precarious, receiving fire from the house.

Now another group of enemy Militia charge our troops

We come off the worse this time - a lone group remains by the wall.

To add to our woes, an enemy armoured car appears with infantry support.

Our officer orders all the men back into the farmyard for cover.

At last ! We get a French built tankette on as support.

The enemy armoured car and infantry are closing in on our men in the farmyard.

So we are getting peppered from several directions at once.

Thankfully, our tankette engages the enemy armoured car and "takes it out" spectacularly.

The exploding vehicle even causes casualties amongst its accompanying infantry.

Who decide to duck into another building.

At this point, our Senior Leader elects to lead his men into a charge against the enemy Militia across the road

with disastrous consequences - he gets killed and our remaining men are thrown back in confusion.

 Mike's men are pinned in position outside the village too and with all our casualties mounting up our morale has crumbled and we "throw the towel in".

The Nationalists are beaten ! 

Our first venture into Spanish Civil War Chain of Command.

Many thanks to Ian for providing the scenario and the troops and scenery.