Greetings…
Well here it is… The annual humiliation that is known as ‘The Boxing Day Game’.
Mharaid and I played this as a face to face game this year…Hurrah!… And I have to admit that it was the best Christmas present I could have had.
We played with toys soldiers, Ate food, drank Mead and binge watched Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.
And of course keeping up another seasonal tradition… I lost… Big time 😂.
For this years game we decided to play a 3rd Century Rome v’s Sassanid Persian Lion Rampant Game…
I used unit profiles that can be found on the I Live With Cats Blog…
http://ilivewithcats.blogspot.com/search/label/romans
We played a straight forward encounter type game with all the toys on the table and fairly basic stats for the units… We actually forgot to mark troops as battered unit after failing morale throws… Which probably saved me from an even bigger drubbing…😁.
So… On to the game.
I took the part of Ignominious Infortunatus the glorious leader of the Roman force.
Mharaid took the part of Rustdashir the Great the cunning leader of the Sassanid force.
Initial deployment and start of first moves…
As Infortunatus is a high ranking official in Rome a delegation have been sent out to observe how easy it is to defeat the Sassanid rabble.
“I shall do something glorious and spectacular, then the path will be open for fame, wealth and power”
That’s me… Giving encouragement from the rear.
Persians and Romans move steadily towards each other…
The end of move two… Brace yourselves.
Charge!… For Rome, Glory and Upward Mobility…
“Testiculorum”
The very first act of move three…A slightly large bump in the road to fame and fortune.
I think Rustdashir the Great nearly laughed up a lung…😂😂😂
Of course my brave men continued and slaughtered the enemy… Their loyalty allowing me to be raised to a state of near godhood in the land of my birth….
Ah!…
“Duplex Testiculis”
So!… Cervasiam O’ Horologium…
Yup!…
Fortunately my men decided to fight on… A decision many of them would regret.
And here we see the early results of yet another school boy error…
As these Sassanid Levy had armour I decided to class them the same as Roman Auxilia.
It turns out that they didn’t need any extra help… sigh!
As the Sassanids laugh their way forwards…
My Hand picked Equites rush on to the fleshpots of…Anywhere but here… Sigh!
The Light Horse try to outflank some Sassanid Archers…
No they don’t…
Yeah!…
Like I care… I’m just floating above the battlefield wondering why I’ve not been whisked to the Elysian Fields… Sigh!
With my now sort of semi divine guidance the Legionarii, Auxilia and Lanciarii gang up against these pesky Sassanid Spearmen…
With yet another spectacular roll of the dice…
The Lanciarii get bounced… Well I suppose they didn’t run away…
Unlike the Auxilia at the other end of the battlefield… Sigh!
Hey look… A lot of the other guys are going the same way as us.
Scenting Blood the Sassanids start to bear down on the now somewhat depleted Roman force…
The Legionarii throw themselves at the upstart Levy…
And chase them from the field of battle…
Yes!… Start building that triumphal Arch.
Full of enthusiasm the Lanciarii attack Nellie the Elephant…
And… Then bugger off… Sigh!
As do these Legionarii after they try and take on some Cataphracts on the other side of the battlefield…
Sigh!
As what’s left of my men throw yet another appalling activation roll…
Rustdashir the Great eyes up some more fresh meat…
At this point I graciously conceded defeat…..
I lost five of my units and Mharaid lost only one… I was thrashed 😂.
Terrific fun…
What the pictures don’t show is the constant attrition that Mharaid’s bow armed troops were causing…
I shall need to do as Rome did and invest in light cavalry and missile troops, also upgrading the Legionarii to have mixed weapons will help… of course new dice and more luck would also be a good thing.
Here’s to the next time…
All the best. Aly
Excellent report and lovely figures.
ReplyDeleteTake consolation...you achieved a result....unfortunately just a historical one!😉
Thank you Stuart…
DeleteYou are of course correct… I didn’t get thrashed… I was simply trying to recreate the situation that Rome was in in the 3rd century… for educational purposes…
Honest….😬😂
All the best. Aly
Good to see you upheld the Boxing Day tradition of a wonderful report with accompanying photos and of course the obligatory sound drubbing.
ReplyDeleteThank you Phil…
DeleteOne does one’s best…😁
All the best. Aly
A lovely looking battle if not the result Infortunatus was hoping to provide the observing Senate Delegation. I guess the good news is, they can report back to the Senate Armed Forces Committee that missile troops need to be recruited, so their fact finding mission wasn't a complete wipe out! (Assuming they managed to remove themselves from harms way in time....). I was going to make a quip about upholding Chritmas traditions but PHIL beat me to it 😂 Some of the dice rolling was spectacular, I must say!
ReplyDeleteThank you Keith…
DeleteIt’s obvious (to me) that Infortunatus gave his life to expose the shortcomings of Rome’s defensive strategies…
The delegation wasted no time in getting away… or getting to the beer.
Unfortunately rolling bad dice seems to be one of my strong points 😂.
All the best. Aly
Wonderful looking troops and a fun game by the sounds of it.
ReplyDeleteThank you Peter…
DeleteIt certainly was a lot of fun.
All the best. Aly
What a wonderful looking game! There’s something special to 3rd Century Romans the other periods somehow lack. Quite surprising though that there seems to be little interest for them though and A&A are the only ones to produce miniatures
ReplyDeleteThank you Nick…
DeleteI think that ‘The Crisis of the 3rd Century’ says it all… Rome was beset with troubles from outside and inside the Empire… lots of interesting battles and enemies… and cool looking kit…
I of course blame my good chums and fellow bloggers Phil Robinson and David Imrie… if they hadn’t posted such wonderful images of what they were doing my butterfly wouldn’t have dragged me in that direction… well I say dragged… it was more of a gentle nudge 😁
Aventine also do some figures that can be used for the 3rd Century .
All the best. Aly
I did laugh, but not too much as I can't spare a lung.
ReplyDeleteTwelve dice and nothing above a four, there's no way you'll be getting into Elysium.
That picture was a good reflection of my average score throughout the game 😂
DeleteAll the best. Aly
That set of dice results look quite good compared to some I've had in GHQ of late. The toys look marvellous I have to say
ReplyDeleteThank you David…
DeleteI was actually trying to roll a five or a six 😂
All the best. Aly
Splendid Aly the forces look tremendous when pulled together on the battlefield and the round bases are working a treat. Perhaps we all just need more gaming 👍
ReplyDeleteThank you Matt…
DeleteYes painting and playing with toy soldiers is good medicine…
All the best. Aly
Lost my game against Steven as well:(
ReplyDeleteLike mead. Personally think Polish mead is best but Moniack is nice as well. Of course, Lindisfarne mead completely acceptable...
The young seem to have all the (dice) luck…
DeleteWe were drinking Robin Hood Mead… it’s made locally I believe and it has a nice light flavour.
All the best. Aly
Aly, I always look forward to your Boxing Day gaming exploits, and the 2021 edition did not disappoint. Like an old clock, you take a beating but keep on ticking.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you enjoyed it Jonathan…
DeleteI am more than happy to ‘take one for the team’ if it brings a smile to your face 😁
All the best. Aly
Splendid looking game and keep giving the games away to keep her interested, I'm onto your ploy and you're doing a grand job of that!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thank you Iain…
DeleteI have never given away a game to Mharaid… if only things were that easy 😁
She is a shrewd tactician who has the gods of dice on her side…
I love it…
All the best. Aly
Excellent looking game, and good fun, too, based on the report. Bonus points for binging Strange and Morrel--a fine day out (in?).
ReplyDeleteThank you Ed…
DeleteIt was a joy…
I have converted Mharaid to the pleasures Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell..
It’s one of my favourite books/TV series…
All the best. Aly
"Very pretty but kin they fight?"
ReplyDeleteOh Dear, So much for the omens for 2022 but at least the crowd was pleased! Surely such a sacrifice is worth the reward of a good year?
As a start to the new year it was the best ever…
DeleteI am more than happy to receive many a pasting if it was as much fun as this…
All the best. Aly
Playing with the kids is always a win win situation, so whatever the result was you actually won Aly! I say that as I lost when playing few board games with my kids over the Christmas period ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe toys and table look splendid by the way. Who is the manufacturer of the table mat?
Best wishes,
Jan
Very true Jan…
DeleteThe game, the company and the fun is way more important than a victory… Although a victory against Mharaid is a rare thing 😁.
The mat is from Geek Villain…
https://geekvillain.co.uk/collections/gaming-mats
They are very nice…
All the best. Aly
Looks fantastic. Some days you are destined to never have the good rolls, I'm on a streak of that myself at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThank you Paul…
DeleteI have vague memories of ‘good rolls’… it’s when the mystic number six appears.
All the best. Aly
Wonderful armies and very funny reports: even if only at the end, it was good to see Nellie in action ... less good for Infortunatus...but Vae victis! Defeated the Romans, next Boxing Day will we see Sassanids against snowmen?
ReplyDeleteThank you…
DeleteIt was good to get Nellie onto the table… even if she stomped all over my men.
Sassanids v’s Snowmen… That sounds like an episode of Dr Who or a Pulp Fiction paperback from the 1950’s/60’s…😁
All the best. Aly
Keep the butterfly inspiration coming, Aly. Happy New Year! Hope it's a good one...
ReplyDeleteBest regards
Phil
Thank you Phil…
DeleteHappy New Year to you and yours…
All the best. Aly
Looks terrific. Figures are really nice and set off the table wonderfully. And you had fun - what more do you need from a game?
ReplyDeleteThank you Paul…
DeleteWin or lose it was a great day…
All the best. Aly
A hugely entertaining report of what was clearly a lot of fun (and a top looking game)—even if it was one of them days when the dice had flat batteries!
ReplyDeleteAt least the mead, food and video all worked, hey?!
Regards, James
Regards, James
Thank you James…
DeleteIt was indeed a splendid day… hopefully we will have another game soon.
All the best. Aly