Q1 roundup: Games so far

I've been too busy to update the many games played this year, so I'm just going to link to Cpt Arjun's battle reports.

First game this year was a classic Romans versus Barbarians. Conquerors and Kings - Battle of Idistavisto. 

There are a few classic match-ups that define the Ancients era, and Romans vs Germans is one of them, playable from the Republican Era all the way through to Late Imperial Roman - on one side, ordered ranks with shields, on the other, massed war bands of colorful and fearsome warriors. The details vary - the shields change shape and size, the plum gives way to spears and arrows - but the dynamic is the same. Order and rigidity on one side, ferocity and chaos on the other.  

Next was The Siege of Delhi, played with The Men Who Would be Kings rules.

This was a fun asymmetric scenario, with a typical high-low split - the defenders are hopelessly outnumbered by the attackers, but the attackers have low morale, discipline, and firepower. But they have numbers on their side - our scenario had them regenerating endlessly, so the victory condition were about when, not if - how long could the defenders hold off.

Next was the Battle of Dorylaeum, played with Conquerors & Kings.

Having experienced this ruleset before, and how it privileges momentum and attack for cavalry, I launched a reckless head-on attack agains the Saracens and, with a good measure of luck, managed to carry the day. We all agreed that this was a scenario that was worth replaying to explore the different strategies, since both sides adopted fairly unorthodox (read: ahistorical) tactics this time round.

The most recent game was another round of  The Men Who Would be Kings, this time a scenario where the Ottomans have to keep the British from making off with some archaeological artifacts for the British Museum!

In the end, it was a photo-finish, with the British loading up their vessels in the nick of time with the Ottomans hot on their heels.

Last but not least, a game of Battletech Alpha Strike, which saw 3 lances on each side. My opinion is if you're going to play with simplified rules (as Alpha Strike is), you might as well play with more figures than you could normally field in a classic Battletech game. What you lose in the experience of granularity of control you trade for the experience of larger battles and tactics at a broader level.

I fielded both Lances I'd painted up (17th Avalon Hussars and 10th Lyran Guards), for a joint Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth operation (with one more lance of mercenaries for support) versus a Kurita themed force.