And Yet More El Cid

Rules question?  I also love the rubber duckies in the fountain.

Count Garcia closes in on Ibn 'Ammar's spearmen.  The model railway orange trees do look nice.  Note the booty (slaves, religious artifacts, livestock, dirty books etc) on the road.

Getting down to the crunch!

The Castillians hit the line on both ends with charging Hidlagos.  Unfortunately, in both cases the charges were repulsed and the Hildalgos eliminated a effective fighters.

I should point out that the mitre belongs to Sylvain - his wife picked it up at the local theatre's jumble sale.

Curt looks resigned to his fate as he prepares to roll the dice of fate.  But he rolled up and the Castillians rolled down.

Taken during set up - this shows off my new troop carrying boxes.  File boxes with inserts made from foam core board glued together with hot glue.  Amazing what happens when a cheap-ass war gamer and his ex-brownie troop leader wife get together.

Set up pictures again but from a bird's eye view.

Oh yes - the trays come with handles made from bias tape.  Check out Curt's really cool buildings in the rafters behind.

More El Cid Photos

Going with my strong suit here.  I've got lots of Sean's superb pics and he's making my figures look better than they have a right to.

A lot of action going on here looking from the Castillain side.  On the left, Count Sancho's Hidalgos are in melee with El Cid's.  This would lead to the Campeador and followers being swept fro the table to be followed up by Sancho.  Meanwhile the militia in the centre and Sean's right wing advance.  Note that Sylvain has position his Cavalry for a flank charge on the far right.

Curt and I deal with the Light Cavalry melee on the far left.  The Andalusians were victorious and followed up into the militia. .

The Bishop on top of the Church

Two units of Morrish LC crash into Jeremy's militia.  Blood stains mark the hits.  The peons did very well seeing off multiple attacks.

Add your own caption - what it Curt saying?

Andalusian HC charge Castillian militia MC, while Hildalgos come through the orange groves.

If you go down to the woods today...

Having seen off the militia MC, Sylvain's HC crash into mercenary HI.

Blood trails follow Sylvain, but look to your flanks boys!

Photos From the Recent El Cid Game

I had meant to post these a while ago, but I plead real life (it's down to the last 2 week of term and I had a ton of marking to get through).

The superb quality is once again down to having our artist gamer Sean take the photos.   Don't expect anything I take to be anything near as good as these!

Castillian right wing.  I should have deployed the Hidalgos in front of the militia cavalry (instead of behind), in all fairness to Sean.

Zaragozan defensive position

I am either sneezing or confused or possibly both!

Close up of the Castillian cavalry

Same spot, different focal point.

Andalusian infantry with Sylvain moving elusively behind.

Castillian right wing slingers with Cavalry and militia in the background.

Muslim light cavalry with Sylvain doing his Flash imitation beyond.  He's obviously bent on raiding the bottle of red wine on the counter.

An idyllic scene ti you notice the Castillian army in the distance.

Sylvain moves his Andalusian heavies through an orange grove.  

Oh my gosh Sylvain slowed down enough to be in focus!

The bishop Jeromino looking less saintly!

Charge!

Countercharge!

El Cid Alliance Game Objectives, Forces and Roles

Zaragozan Overview

Your force has just completed a successful raid of the Christian Kingdom of Castile.  The Castilians have raised the militia and have caught up with you as you escort your booty to the south.  You have taken up a defensive position on a low hill.

Your objective is to hold the hill line and prevent the Christians from moving south and recapturing the loot.  Your forces are organized as follows.

1.     Commander Rodrigo Diaz El Cid Set up on the middle 1/3 of the table

a.     One unit of Christian mercenary knights  (HC)

b.     One unit of armoured spearmen (HI)

c.      One small unit of mercenary armoured crossbows (LI)

d.     One small unit of mercenary archers (LI)

e.     One small unit of Naffatun (LI) with nasty sticky flaming goop (unfortunately these were left out of the box and didn't show up)

2.     Ibn ‘Ammar Set up on the left 1/3 of the table

a.     One unit of Andalusian Cavalry (HC)

b.     One unit of Andalusian spearmen (MI levy)

c.      One unit of Berber mercenary spearmen (HI)

d.     One small unit of Andalusian archers (LI)

3.     Yusuf the Moor Set up on the right 1/3 of the table

a.     3 small units of Andalusian light cavalry (Jinettes) (LC)

Rodrigo Diaz (Curt)

Since you went into exile you have done well serving the Taifa King of Zaragoza.  You have earned his trust (and his gold), and now command this raiding force.   Your personal objective is to serve you employer well and return south with your force intact and your booty in hand.  The bulk of the loot lies to your southwest beyond the woods and scrub.

• You have a good working relationship with Ibn ‘Ammar, although you consider him a bit of an old woman as he tends to be cautious.  Ibn ‘Ammar commands the Taifa King’s personal troops and holds the left of your position.  In last night’s council of war he seemed very concerned about the security of the loot.  You are not sure if he is interested in the gold, the goats or certain books containing graphic illustrations of an explicit nature…
• You speak Arabic quite well and can communicate with most of your commanders and units quite easily.
• Yusuf the Moor is relatively unknown and works hard to make sure it stays that way.  He speaks Arabic with a rough Berber accent and does not always seem to understand what you (or the Zaragozans) say to him.  Nonetheless his is a tough fighter who knows his trade.  He wants to stay on the plains where his light cavalry feel safe and is leery about moving into mountain terrain.  He seems less concerned with the security of the loot, presumably his saddlebags are stuffed as full as they can get.
• As a prominent Castilian exile in the service of an Andalusian state, you may find yourself a marked man among the more hot-blooded Hidalgos in the Castilian army.

Ibn ‘Ammar (Sylvain)

You command the Taifa King’s personal troops and hold the left of your position.  The bulk of the loot lies to your southwest beyond the woods and scrub.  Your personal objective is to protect the security of the loot, by holding the road exit to your southwest.

• You have a good working relationship with Diaz, although you consider he a bit of a hot head.  He does speak Arabic well for a Northerner.
• Yusuf the Moor is relatively unknown and works hard to make sure it stays that way.  He speaks Arabic with a rough Berber accent and does not always seem to understand what you (or Diaz) say to him.  Nonetheless his is a tough fighter who knows his trade.  He wants to stay on the plains where his light cavalry feel safe and is leery about moving into mountain terrain.  He seems less concerned with the security of the loot, presumably his saddlebags are stuffed as full as they can get.
• As a prominent Castilian exile in the service of an Andalusian state, Diaz may find himself a marked man among the more hot-blooded Hidalgos in the Castilian army.

Yusuf the Moor (NPC)

You do not understand these Iberians- either the Northern Infidels or the so-called Moslems of the pleasure-loving south.  However, the gold is good and the opportunities for you are many.  Your personal objective is to keep you light cavalry intact and protect their exit to the southeast where the ground suits your forces.  You really do not care about the loot, but it lies to the southwest beyond the woods and scrub.  Your saddlebags are full and Zaragozan goats seem as tasty as Castilian goats.

•        The commander Diaz knows his trade and is an able leader.  He seems to let his blood get hot at times and is too involved with petty politics for your taste.
•      Ibn ‘Ammar is a pleasure loving deviant who has fallen from Islam’s true path.  He is far too concerned about his own wealth and prestige. 

Castilian Overview

A Zaragozan raiding force led by the notorious Castilian exile has caught you by surprise and has captured much booty including sacred relics from a local monastery.  You have raised the militias and caught the raiders red handed as they try to escape.  Your objective is to break through to the south to recapture the relics of Santiago Matamoros (Saint James the Moor-slayer).

Your forces are as follows.

1)   Count Garcia (CinC) Set up on the right 1/3 of the table

a)    One unit of Hidalgos Caballeros (HC Knight)

b)   One unit of Militia Cavalry (MC)

c)    One unit of mercenary spearmen (HI)

d)   One unit of mercenary crossbows (LI small)

2)   Bishop Jeromino Set up on the middle 1/3 of the table

a)    Three units of militia spearmen (MI)

b)   One unit of militia crossbows (LI small)

c)    Two units of slingers (skirmishers)

3)   Count Sancho Set up on the left 1/3 of the table

a)    One unit of Hidalgos Caballeros (HC Knight)

b)   One unit of archers (LI Small)

c)    Two units of Spanish Jinettes (LC small)

d)   One unit of javeliners (skirmishers)

Count Garcia (Sean)

Your personal objective is to deliver justice to the traitor and exile Diaz. 

•        Count Sancho is a young hotshot who needs to be kept in check.  He is likely more interested in glory and in tactics
•        The Bishop is a venerated figure, but bluntly an idiot.  He is however, a well-connected idiot and needs to be treated with respect.  He is very concerned about recovering the relics (and also apparently certain books containing illustrations of a less religious nature).

Count Sancho (NPC)

Your personal objective is to achieve glory so that the troubadours will sing of your exploits for generations to follow (and to get girls). 

• Count Garcia is an old ninny who thinks you were born yesterday.
• The Bishop is a venerated figure, but bluntly an idiot.  He is however, a well-connected idiot and needs to be treated with respect.  He is very concerned about recovering the relics (and also apparently certain books of a less religious nature). 

Bishop Jeromino

Your personal objective is to recovery the relics of Santiago.  It also appears that certain other materials were captured that you were prefer not be made public (the illustrations in these books may not reflect well on your Saintly image. 

•        Count Sancho is a young hotshot who needs to be kept in check.  He is likely more interested in glory and in tactics
•        Count Garcia interests lie in more secular pursuits.  You need to remind him of his duty to serve the church’s interests (or at least your interests) as well as the King’s.

El Cid Alliance Game November 2014

Bishop Jeromino in both 1:1 and 28mm scales.  The mini is by Reaper

After several aborted attempts called off do to lack of participants, we finally got to do a large Hail Caesar game featuring my El Cid era figures.  I basically put my entire collection on the table and it came to 5 Heavy and Medium Cavalry units, 5 LC units, 6 Heavy and Medium Units plus archers, crossbows and skirmishers.  The scenario was the "Alliance" from CS Grant's Programmed Wargame Scenarios with the (Muslim) Zaragosans defending and the (Christian) Castillians attacking.  There were 3 commands a side, 2 player plus 1 NPC, and each command was given a personal objective plus a team objective.  Curt and Sylvain took the Zaragosans while Jeremy and Sean took Castillian roles.  I acted as umpire and NPC interpreter.

After a long, hard fight game it was a Zaragosan victory.  'Ibn Ammar (Sylvain) and Count Garcia (NPC) both met their personal objective and El Cid may be looking for other employment….

Sean took a series of photos, including the following ones which he took at timed intervals and linked together as a GIF.  It the photos, the Zaragosans are closest with the Castillians facing.  That's Jeremy in the Mitre (yes he wore it for the entire game), Sean in the glasses with Blue sweater and Sylvain in the red.  Curt and I are hiding off camera to the right.

This nicely encapsulates the action.  The Christian left flank advances and charges the Muslim right, followed by a counter charge and stalemate.  On our left, Sylvain moves his Cavalry through an orange grove before leading a successful charge, while Sean files his knights through the woods to attack the line on the hill.  The terrain is Curt's except for the orange trees and building which are mine.  The grey tower in the background is a resin model from some forgotten fantasy range while the church is a home built foam core and cardboard jobby.

Hail Caesar Thoughts

OK so we've played several games of HC so far, and so it giving fun games and the basic system works well.  We've used it for encounter games using cavalry heavy armies (El Cid era) and a slug fest using infantry heavy armies (ancient Greeks).

Probably the most controversial aspect of these rules (and their sister set Black Powder) is the "all or nothing" movement which randomly leads to some troops moving lots and others staying put.  Having played through a few games I've decided that overall I like the movement/command roles much as I find them frustrating at times.  Of course I've been GMing rather than playing and I might find it more frustrating as a player.

Some thoughts on making the system work.

1. Use a big table, specifically one with depth (or cut the movements rates to match your table depth).  That way troops have to make a few movements before coming in contact.  That gives the attackers a couple movement rolls which tends to average out the "all or nothing" rolls.  And if one division moves in contact faster than the rest of the team, well there's plenty of historical precedent for that stuff.
2. Give each player a couple of divisions to run.  That way it's likely that every one gets to do something each turn - and if they roll really badly send them on a beer run while every one else moves.
3. Make sure to remember the General re-roll rule (one that we tend to forget in the heat of dice rolling) or mulligan.  Once per turn the CinC can reroll a failed movement roll.
4. Encourage the players to make division moves at least in the early stages.  It doesn't reduce the probability of a no move turn, but it does increase the expected number of units that get to move (Ok that's the actuary talking).  Plus it prevents the division getting disjointed, like the last game when one of Sylvain's pike blocks blundered through another pike unit.  Also that's how armies move - in big blocks - and the rules are flexible to allow let units reposition themselves along the way.
5. Use the "special rules" to your benefit.  Troops in column get a free move on a failure.  Drilled and eager troops get free moves too.  Upgrading a General from an 8 to a 9 increases your movement rates and likelihoods.  Similarly remember to use the penalties for the inferior troops (militia and levy rules).   And recall that once you get within 12", you can move once on initiative.
6. Sometimes the dice know better that you do!  It sucks but sometimes sitting tight where you are or a sudden blunder move to one flank is exactly what the doctor ordered (see the example below).
7. Read your history - especially the primary sources- before you vent off about how "that would never happen in reality".  Two things become abundantly clear about ancient and medieval battles.   The first is that no one really knows what happened as the source descriptions are brief, often incomplete (dang those Christians who burnt the library in Alexandria), full of propaganda and focus on individual heroics rather than command control.  And really it is an educated guess as to how the battles unfolded.  You can find some very scholarly debates about the better known and documented battles (Marathon, Gaugamela, Hastings).  In a lot of cases we still can't be sure where they happened let alone how they played out.
8. The second thing that is clear from the sources is that command control sucked back then.  Units show up (or not) in the wrong place and at the wrong time with great frequency, and yes stand about examining their own navels at the most annoying times.  So accept your bad rolls as fate, karma or the will or the gods.  Be philosophical, enjoy your beer and deal with it!

As noted above the ancient sources are notoriously scanty on details.  But later on, we get much better documentation of what happened at the command level.  Plus we get armies with better command control and better time pieces (this actually is important in figuring out what happened, and when and where it did).  And guess what we still get lots of examples of "failed command rolls".  Here's the classic case - so classic that it appears in one of the great novels.  So taken from Mr. Tolstoy we have what Christopher Duffy calls one of the most famous exchanges in military history (from the morning of Austerlitz).


"Why aren't you beginning, Michael Ilarionovich?" said the Emperor Alexander hurriedly to Kutuzov, glancing courteously at the same time at the Emperor Francis.

"I am waiting, Your Majesty," answered Kutuzov, bending forward respectfully. "Not all the columns have formed up yet, Your Majesty."

"You know, Michael Ilarionovich, we are not are not on the Empress' Field where a parade does not begin till all the troops are assembled," said the Tsar 

"That is just why I do not begin, sire," said Kutuzov in a resounding voice, apparently to preclude the possibility of not being heard, and again something in his face twitched- "That is just why I do not begin, sire, because we are not on parade and not on the Empress' Field." 

Remember this conversation the next time that you fail a command roll.  And while you are at it, recall that although the Allied plans (and Napoleon's plans to boot) Kutusov's column was to have cleared the Pratzen heights and join the attack on Napoleon's right flank.  Instead they ended up sitting tight in exactly the right place and time to meet Soult's assault.  If more columns had failed their command rolls the battle might have gone very differently!  In fact I'd suggest a read (or reread) of Duffy's Austerlitz book for any war gamer who entertains any idea of command control.  If Napoleonic armies blunder about like that, how can we possibly expect ancient and medieval armies to run by clockwork?

Old School Figures

Well when I hauled the ancient Hellenes out of their box, it was a real walk down memory lane.  The figures (and paint jobs) are mostly 25-30 years old but mostly stood up well.  Here are a few thoughts about the old school figures - which almost all true 25mm as opposed to the 28mm guys who had taken over since that time.

Ral Partha
At one time these were the bulk of my figures.   You can still find their historicals on ebay etc, but they don't seem to be made anymore (unlike the fantasy ranges).  This is probably just as well!  There are some very good figures in the range, but there are a lot of oddities in gear, clothing, anatomy and clothing.  However, picking through the better figures they certainly fill out the numbers well.  I have strong attachments to my Rhodians (the RP Balearic slingers) which are nice figures and the first ever 25mm ancient unit I ever painted.

Rafm Multiparts
Still available (here) and many of them standing up well.  These came with separate weapons, shields and heads which mean that you can combine packs (and get separate packs of heads) to get a variety of equipment.  For a phalanx that means getting a range of helmets. The phalanx and skirmishers work really well, although for hoplites the lack of a Corinthian helmet sucks.  The cavalry figures are wimpy and static so not really worth the bother, but the heffalumps are wonderful!  These guys need some TLC as they lose not only spears and shields but also heads!

Minfigs
Ok can we get any more old school than Minifigs?  Still to be found here.  These are like Marmite (google it you non-Brits) but I like 'em.  The castings are old, lacking the details and posing found today.   But they have a real toy soldier feel and with the right paint job they look wonderful - especially in phalanxes.

Corvus
Likely the least well known figures in my collection, but I like them.  I had to google them, but found that they are still available as the Skyraider range.  These are nice figures with some useful poses and a decent range and the best cavalry figures in my army.  The major issue is that the original Corvus range featured soft metal weapons, OK for a xyston or javelin but an epic fail for a sarrissa.  The actual pikes were wonderfully cast with accurate head, butt spikes and central join but soft metal doesn't cut it.  Stacy dubbed these the wet noodle brigade and that about says it.  So I'll be at them with the brass rod!

Essex
Take your opinion of Minifigs and go to its polar opposite and that's likely how you feel about this well known range.  These were among the first of the Cro-Magnon 28mm that muscled the Neanderthal 25mm off the evolutionary path.   I have some, I still field them but wouldn't want any more.  They dwarf my other figures and I don't really like the sculpting and poses.  Plus the equipment is more Hellenistic and Greek and Persian wars era.

Kicking Old School Style With the Ancient Greeks

So last night my vintage 1980s Greek and Pyrrhic armies hit the field of battle for a game of Hail Caesar.

The scenario was the Broken Ground (Scenario 2) from CS Grant's "Programmed Wargames Scenarios".  The Spartans had 3 units of Spartan Hoplites, 3 of Allied Hoplites plus 3 units peltasts and one unit each of javelins, cavalry and Rhodians.  They were split into Spartan and allied divisions and were defending a set of hills controlling two exits off of the southern board edge.

Pyrrhus had  a phalanx including 5 units of phalangites and 1 of levy hoplites.  Support troops included 2 units each of peltasts,elephants, skirmisher units (Cretans and javelins), light cavalry and heavy cavalry.  The cavalry were all in one division led by the man himself and the others divided evenly into two phalanx divisions.  Pyrrhus needed to capture the hills controlling the exits.

One of my go to sources for wargames ideas.  Do you self a favour and pick yourself a copy.

Photos are from my iPhone hence the quality.  These were taken late in the day.

On the right, Pyrrhus (Stacy) is attacking Curt's Spartan line while in the centre my allied hoplites are giving Sylvain's phalanx a rough ride, while my figure rounds up a sheep!

Close up of the allied hoplites vs Sylvain's infantry.

What a scrum!  Hoplites, phalangites, light cavalry, peltasts and elephants all in contact.  My allied cavalry looks on.

Curt's Peltasts take on Stacy's heffalump!

The Crossing Point - Conclusion?

Here are the remaining photos from our recent (or not recent enough to remember completely) El Cid game.   The chronicles are hazy on the end result, but the pictorial evidence seems to indicate an Aragonese victory.

The Aragonese column approaches the bridge.  The Caballeros Villanos are clearly showing the scars from their combat on the bridge.  But there are two units of Hidalgos waiting to take up the struggle.  Stacy had a lot of problems with poor activation rolls here trying to get the proud nobles in take orders!

This time the Hidalgos come over the bridge with more in support.  The Zaragosans are also hurting after their clash with the Villanos.

As the sign says....

Here the charge swept away the Zaragosan horse and has closed with Frankish mercenary foot.