Thursday 23 July 2015

To The Strongest - Sassanids meet Romans in a classic ancients tussle

The set-up with small black and white buttons denoting the grids.

Peter "Guido" and I were keen to give the much talked about "To The Strongest" Ancient rules by Simon Miller (lovely chap by the way!) a run at the NWS on Wednesday night.

For those not familiar with the rules concepts, there are no dice and tape measures making for a much quicker game...though we did our best to disprove that let me assure you!

The units are based, Impetus style, with several figures on a larger, in my case 120mm wide, base to help enhance the overall depiction of troops. 

Initial set-up from behind the Roman lines of Peter.

Clear view of the grids on a 6 x 4 table

The command of the famous Persian Noble Carloz Pyjamaz

A unit of Persian bow armed cavalry with ammunition markers in the centre

Raw foot defend the...ahem... makeshift camp.  Need to work on that one...


The Persian right flank makes it move with Elephants in support

On the Persian left the huigh ground is taken and we prepare to shoot those pesky Roamns from afar

The actual shooting and melee system is based on the turn of two combined decks of playing cards with no court or jokers in them.  This allows for surprisingly quick results.  Movement is also determined the same way.  What we did was a combination of the cards method and the chits supplied online from Big Red Batcave drawn from a bag. 

It worked very well.

A view across the Roman lines - Peter seemed to know what he was doing far more than his Persian enemy.

The advance continues across the front

Persian reserves prepare to be moved, however not necessarily where I thought I could use them!

The Persian left is about to go astray as those damned skirmishing Roman cavalry get lucky!

Sorry about the lack of focus, not only in the picture by the way, as the Persian heavies take the hill

"Who can stand this mighty host?"

Surely these Legios feel slightly intimidated?

The Roman centre advances whilst the Persians look to hold them up anyway they can muster

Cataphracts prepare to take on Roman Equites

The blue counter represented that the unit had received a wound and was disordered.  Certain units have differing
amounts of damage they can take from shooting and melee.

The mighty man himself

"Running out of ammo lads!"

This particular melee became a tough, tough struggle.

View from the Roman perspective



Those elephants just could not break through
 
When we called time at 10.15 pm the game was slightly in the Romans favour though the Persian cavalry reserves were starting to offer new resistance in the centre of the field.

This was a very enjoyable game and I am sure after a few more tussles we would get through the game in half the time with minimal reference to the main body of the rules.

Well done Simon on an innovative and fun set of Ancients rules which we continue to play.

If you would like to find out more about the rules, see other games in action or just ogle some of the most magnificent ancients on the web, visit Simon's famous blog here:

http://bigredbat.blogspot.com

Great time had by all.

Until next time.

Carlo

9 comments:

  1. Fantastic looking game! Can you provide details on the game mechanisms, themselves? How is movement, shooting, and melee resolved?
    Looks very interesting.

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  2. Hi Jonathon. I have updated the post with a direct link to Simon's excelelnt blog. He has much more accurate and in depth information in terms of how the game works. Suffice to say that if two dullards like Peter and I can get through then anyone can.

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  3. Thanks for a great report on a good set of rules.

    Cheers,
    Aaron

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    1. Thanks Aaron - they really are innovative. Very enjoyable.

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  4. Fantastic armies! I'm glad you had fun. I'd love a Sassanid army myself, an effective weapon in TtS with the cats and shoots bits. Best, Simon

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    1. Cheers Simon. You really have done a great job on the rules mate. Guido and I had a fantastic game with Paul helping umpire on the sidelines.

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  5. Thanks for the report, Carlo. I had already decided that these rules were getting a try, and it certainly did nothing to change my mind in that regard! :-)

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    1. You will definitely enjoy them Peter, they play well and I very much like the style of basing that these and Impetus allow.

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