Battle of Hastings (TtS!) 18mm WoFun

Good day folks!

My friend Phil and I broke out the 18mm WoFun Anglo-Saxons (Wessex) and Normans to refight the Battle of Hastings which occurred in the year 1066 AD.  As usual, click on photos to enlarge.

The initial setup from the Anglo-Saxon position.

This was my first attempt to refight this battle and wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but we had a nail-biting good game with lots of ups and downs. We haven't played To the Strongest (TtS!) in a while so I'm sure we made some minor mistakes. Well, we didn't do the ROUT TEST part of the rules so that would have changed things!

Here is the battle report along with some photos. Enjoy!

Battle of Hastings background if you are interested: Battle of Hastings - Wikipedia

Battle of Hastings Special Rules for TtS!

• All Shieldwall units are regular size units, not Deep. 2 Hits each.
• This allows up to two units per square, plus interpenetration of said units.
• Shieldwall still gives to the +1 save modifier to the unit from missile fire.
• Optional Rule: More fyrd militia arriving throughout the day? Draw a chit, on a 9 or 10 another Fyrd Militia unit arrives?  Starting on Turn X? Add to any command within command range of the closes commander. We didn't try this as it was our first playtest.
• Lance is a one-use weapon which enables a unit to play a bonus to-hit card in one melee of their choice. May not reload. Should these units have lances?
• Anglo-Saxon Army – 15 Units – 15 x 2 + 3 x 2 = 36/3 = 12 VP Medals 
• If optional Great Fyrd arrive, add 2 VP medals.
• Norman Army – 20 x 2 + 3 x 2 = 46 / 3 = 15 VP Medals
• All leaders are Heros (chit redraw) and Save on 3+

Battle of Hastings Order of Battle for TtS!

The labels really help and this eliminates the need for roster sheets as all the stats needed are on the label.

Anglo-Saxon Huscarls - per current histories I gave all the Anglo-Saxons "Javelins" or basic missile weapons that they could throw at the Normans as they charged up the hill. The two brown cubes are Javelin ammo. They couldn't replenish their ammo. 

Norman Milites had "lances" they could use for a second attack in an action, represented by these white cubes.

Battle of Hastings Map Setup for TtS!

Units align to the OOB above. I'm making a PowerPoint slide deck of all the battles from the Anglo-Saxon wars (including Vikings).

Battle of Hastings Refight

Phil was playing the Normans, while I was defending Harold's Kingdom! 

The Duke of Normandy's getting spiritual guidance from his half-brother Odo.

Meanwhile, King Harold yells encouragement to his soldiers! He is attached to his Household Bodyguard.

Phil's Norman army advanced while I stoically sat on the high ground waiting his assault. The Norman archers did little or no damage after firing all their arrows, so they withdrew and allowed the Norman spearmen to advance to engage the Anglo-Saxons.

The shield walls collide on the slope of Senlac Hill. The battle raged across the entire front with the Anglo-Saxons repulsing most of the Norman spearmen attacks! The Anglo-Saxon missile fire was fairly effective in blunting the Norman foot assault.

The Duke, frustrated by his infantry's lack of progress, launched his Milites into the fray! They caught several Anglo-Saxon units unprepared.  Orange cubes represent Disorder hits.

My Anglo-Saxon right wing commanded by Leofwine, managed to destroy most of the Breton command under Alan Fergant ("Alan the Red"). This was the left wing of the Norman army. They even killed Alan the Red and rampaged down the hill in triumph!! They Leofwine died in the ensuing scrum!! This part was too exciting and I forgot to take photos. Odo took over the Breton wing, but was also cut down!

Desperate for glory and victory, the Duke charged in the center with his rallied spearmen and milites! He drove towards his prize, King Harold!

The first spearmen hit the King's bodyguard and are repulsed. However, several of his Huscarls were sent packing by the Duke's cavalry!

The Norman cavalry charges the Harold's bodyguard!! A Fyrd unit on Harold's right retires in disorder. Harold crushes the cavalry charge, then charges into the spearmen, also routing them and winning the last of the Victory metals from the Normans!

History has changed! England was saved! Or was it???

Here is the last photo. Harold has just crushed the Normans to his front, but the Duke with a fresh unit Milites is on his flank!! So, had the battle continued for one more turn, the Duke may have wheeled, hit Harold in the flank and overrun him!!! It was a nail-biter!! 

To the Strongest delivered another strong game and this smaller battle really worked well for two players. The Normans had lost two leaders, and seven units (out of 20), while the Anglo-Saxons had lost only 3 and one leader, but many were damaged. Cheers!

Eric

Gallic Wars - Battle of Sabis River - 57 BC

Good afternoon,

I'm running this game at Historicon in July so I thought I would do a dry run in preperation for the game(s). 

I had to scale back the forces as I only had 2 players, but the game at Historicon should handle 4 to 6 or 7 players.

As usual, click on the photos for a larger image.

Game Components

• WoFun 18mm Caesar's Legions figures
• Roman Marching Fort from Etsy Shop CenturianStudio. 
• To the Strongest (TtS) rules
• Homemade chits (rather than cards) for TtS.
• Homemade trees and one-inch thick foamboard insulation for the minor hills.
• Plains Mat from the Big Red Bat Shop (6' x 8') with 4" squares
• River from Etsy Shop that appears to be gone for the moment.
• Green Movement Trays off Thingaverse and 3D printed by my friend Steve.
• I designed the labels to go on them so there is no roster needed for the game.

View from the Belgae side looking towards the unfinished Roman fort

Note: Since it was just me and Rob, I scaled back the table to 6' x 5' and removed about 1/3 of the forces. I hope to run the entire game at Historicon.

Background for the Battle

Wikipedia Link about the battle

Caesar is trying to put down a Belgae revolt led by the Nervii tribe. The Nervii have massed their forces and gather the Atrebates and Veromandui Belgae tribes as allies to fall upon the Romans on the River Sabis in 57 BC.

Here is the graphic layout for the entire battle that I created. Click for larger view.

The Forces

Two Roman Legions with Caesar ins support hold the center

Nervii tribe in front of the Roman Lines. Historicon game will have double this amount.

Veromandui tribe advances in the center

Atrebates tribe on the far right facing the mighty X Legion

The Sabis River valley

View from the Roman marching fort which is not used in the battle, but was being contructed when the Belgae attacked.

X Legion prepared for the onslaught with Labienus (detached leader) commanding this wing.

Great view of the entire battlefield.

The Battle

Atrebates javelin skirmish strike first disordering a Cohort from the X Legion!

Veromandui trying to soften up the IX Legion with javelins

Rob's Romans quickly filled in the gaps in their lines while the Belgae were a little more unorganized

The Nervii, led by their warlord Boduognatus (round stand), charge towards the Romans

Nervii skirmishers filter back through their lines to let the warriors charge the rightmost Roman Legion

The Atrebates and Veromandui warriors collide with the IX Legion (blue shields)

Note: the single small bases are used to denote disorder on the units. Romans take two disorders and are eliminated. The Gallic Deep warbands take 3 disorders before they are routed.

The Atrebates warriors clash with the X Legion (red shields)

One warband attempting to move around the flank of the X Legion

In the center the Romans drive back the Veromandui warriors across the river with multiple disorders.

The X Legion breaks the center of the Atrebates line! This was the beginning of the end of the Belgae.

Nervii's turn to be routed, with the Legion filling the gap

At this point the flexible Roman legions begin to turn and flank the Belgae warriors. Much slaughter ensues.

Atrebates disordered and flanked!

The slaughter of the Veromandui continues across the river Sabis! (two disorders)

One Nervii warband (center) had been stuck out of command behind the main force and finally marched to save their brothers. Hits the Romans in the flank! Too little, too late.

Romans in the camp witness the battle in the river valley!

The End

With six warbands wiped out (18 victory metals) and every other one damaged, the Belgae are forced from the field. The IX Roman legion lost three out of four cohorts, which is only 6 Victory Metals.

Victorious Rob with a huge victory smile

Other Games

I've been playing a lot of different games over the last couple weeks with friends and family. Over 40 games in January and February combined. Here are some of the latest games.

Conquistadors by Compass Games

This is another great game marred by poorly edited rules and lack of counter component design. However, I love the game so much I have created a new Player Aid, painted all the counters (after this set of photos) to clear show the difference between the factions, and then added Conquistador expedition markers in the faction colors for easy identification on the gorgeous game board.

Played with Rob and Daryl, with Daryl claiming victory in the end.

What a GREAT looking game. Love the mechanics too.

Here you can see the player mat created by a BGG fan.

Using this Wofun mini (18mm) as the new Impulse Marker.

Game in action, however you can't tell which Conquistador is yours very easily.

Using my WoFun 18mm Cortez Conquistador mini as the First Player marker.

Darwin's Journey. This is our newest "go to" Euro with tons of dynamic ways to win. We are playing it two more times this coming weekend.

Arkham Horror the Card Game. Played with Rob, Steve, and myself. Definitely a fun game and a different type of "RPG". We won the game, but it felt like there was a doom clock ticking in our ears. Steve used his 3D printer to pimp out the game.

Great War Commander by Hexasim. Played this with Bill K. Truly enjoy playing this game. This was scenario 19, a German attack against the Highlanders.

Have a great day! Goodbye from Oak Island!