The Far Pavilion

 Last Sunday, Rafael unveiled his new Wargames Room in the garden - the "Far Pavilion" as it has been christened by his wife.

To mark the occasion, Rafael had set up the Battle of Soor 1745, between Frederick the Great of Prussia and Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine with a Austro-Saxon army.

Here's Mike, Steve and I posing in front of the new room

and Rafael has joined Mike and Steve in this one.

Light and spacious, it easily contains Rafael's new custom built 10' x 8' table

We settle down to read the scenario notes

Powerful Prussian cavalry mass on the right flank ready to attack

Opposite, Austrian cavalry await them

The Prussian lines before the attack commences

The Austrian and Saxon infantry wait on the high ground to their fore

Here's a view along the battlefield from behind the Austrian lines

The Prussian cavalry begins the assault

Their quality tells and they sweep away the enemy cavalry and carry on the attack to the Austrian infantry 

A lucky shot has hit the Prussian cavalry commander and he is dead !

But he is replaced and the new commander renews the attack against the remaining Austrian cavalry

The Prussians have gained the high ground so the Austrians have lost any perceived advantage

An Austrian infantry unit has been destroyed and the Prussian cavalry now continue to pummel the Austrian left flank

A glimmer of hope for the Austrians - some Prussian cavalry have retreated

The Austrian right flank - cavalry fixed to the spot and gunners taking counter battery fire

The Prussian infantry march forwards

The sun has ruined this shot ! But its more Prussian cavalry attacks

The Austrian infantry get more attention 

This brigade is on the verge of breaking

The Austrian cavalry has been defeated in detail

The Austrians are unable to hold their flank and they are getting rolled up battalion after battalion

Believe it or not, a second Prussian cavalry commander has been shot dead but it will not change the outcome

One last Austrian mounted grenadier regiment fights on against four enemy regiments

Here's the turning of the flank

and the Austrian infantry are being attacked both front and flank

the Austrian centre is now under threat

Too late, the Austrian cavalry on the right flank move forward

The Prussian grenadiers have reached the Austrian gun line and exchange fire

The Prussian infantry have advanced all along the front

There is no respite and Saxon infantry have fled the field

With the complete collapse of the Austrian left flank, the game is up

And this game followed the pattern of the real battle - an emphatic win for Frederick.

Great set up, Rafael and wonderful hospitality too. May your new Far Pavilion go from strength to strength !

Snakes & Ladders

After an emphatic victory last time, our Roman Centurion set out confidently into enemy territory again intent on stamping his authority over these Barbarian German tribes.

German slingers appear beyond a marsh

Roman Alea cavalry dash forward to capture an enemy deployment point

Enemy archers appear at the edge of some woods and fire to stop the cavalry

A group of Roman Auxiliaries are ordered forward to deal with the archers - they evade back through the woods

Roman archers now arrive and lay fire down on the enemy slingers who lose a man and take shock

The German Warlord now leads three groups past the archers to get to grips withe the enemy Auxiliaries 

The first of the Roman cavalry have taken the enemy deployment point

The Auxiliaries have evaded the enemy war band as they were in skirmish order

But an enemy war band ambushes from the woods and their javelin throwing was devastating - half a unit has been killed !

The Auxiliaries have managed to launch a flank attack on the enemy war band emerging from the woods

But not only did they lose three men and took six shock, the enemy turned and counter charged

The Legionaries move up in column of march to join the action

The Auxiliaries are routed

The second unit of Roman cavalry decides to charge the enemy war band, supported by the weakened unit, that suffered from the enemy javelins

but they lose the melee and retreat

Admittedly, the Germans took casualties of their own but their numbers means they can take them

German Warriors now advance towards the Roman infantry

The Legion prepares to fight - worryingly, one group of enemy warriors uses the woods to work around their flank

The Germans have launched a group of fanatics backed up by a warrior group

Meantime, the outflanking warriors have emerged from the woods

The Romans have beaten off the Fanatics and caused some damage to their supporting warriors

but more and more Barbarian groups charge - here, the depleted cavalry try and stem the tide

The Romans have had to turn to their rear to deal with the Barbarians from the woods

These are dealt with but they now have a hanging flank & rear

which the Barbarians take advantage of

half the dice are lost when hit in the rear

Roman morale has been steadily falling

and this was the last straw - it hit zero and the Romans were beaten

After the battle we checked the campaign rules and naturally the new Barbarian commander increases his level. The Roman commander was lucky to hang onto his and he is now "wise".

Didn't seem it on the day !