Wednesday 31 July 2019

To the Strongest - Byzantines destroy Sassanids


The highlight of the Sassanian battle plan- initial deployment!


Well folks it was always going to be one of those nights!

Steve had recently acquired Martins beautiful Gripping Beast Early Byzantine army as the latter continues to show discipline and rationalize his collections.  "Common sense has no place here Marty" we consistently warn him however he continues to defy us and show intelligence and logic.  The bastard!

Anyway...

The Sassanians, or Sassanid Persians as I prefer to call them, were dusted off and readied to take on the might of the Eastern Empire.

Lights in abundance - all Gripping Beast figures

General and standard bearer are delightful A&A Miniatures

Daylami to the fore and bowmen in the field to the right

I went levy foot in abundance.  What a mistake to make.

Steve's excellent home-made resin bases negating the need to re-base his individual figures

Lovely Byzantine spear and "Kavallarioi"

Commander in Chief and even more bow and lance armed horse better known as Boukellrioi"

On the extreme Sassanid right this blokes did sweet bugger all!


Something about deep foot units of swill which give a false sense of security.

To be fair Raw Deep foot in TtS are actually very good value troops

Enjoy those gold coins whilst you can lads as they are soon to leave.  A fool and their money are soon parted springs to mind.

Great sculpts for the great King Carlo...this is obviously a dream sequence as the Byzantine general is on his knee to him.

Large Byzantine force on their right flank

Sassanid Zahdeyan Cataphracts

Hand painted banner that has seen many years of wargaming action with these lads

The advance of the raw Paighan foot commences ...much to the shock of the raw Paighan foot!

On the Sassanid left the light cavalry advance through a gap, the heavier Saravan cavalry engage and we prepare to envelop the Byzantine right.  What could possibly go wrong?

A rushed war photographers angle on the grand plan.

In the centre the Sassanids advance as they always have against these foes

Light cavalry have turned on the flank, drawing a "2" on the chits.  Victory will be mine as I draw...another "2"...

...followed by a "1" next turn...oh dear.

Still stuck there...surely they will be safe until things start rolling though.

Keep up the heat lads

Looking solid and strong at present boys...keep the faith

Out of command radius and somewhat disinterested, the reserves watch on.  Did someone say chocolates?

Byzantine cavalry break on some Sassanid skirmishers

The Byzantines withdraw whilst the Sassanids allow themselves to be drawn into the maelstrom

The inevitable occurs as Steve launches his flank attack upon the lumbering foot

The Veteran Zhadeyan have been destroyed (save on 5+ and then draw a 3 and a 4).

The Sassanid light cavalry that for much of the battle have been frozen awaiting to attack the flank have now been destroyed and the Sassanid left is a mess of confusion, death and disaster.

Looking a bit different now as a rare Sassanid victory in melee is cheerfully rejoiced

The Paighan unit in reserve turns to bear with the speed of the USS Constellation however it is all too late
With 9.30pm rolling on the battle was over.  Steve had decidely defeated by Persians and blooded his freshly acquired troops in the glory of victory.

Despite my ineptness it was another sensational game full of fun and merriment.  Great game.


16 comments:

  1. Fabulous Carlo!

    Great looking game mate, the Aventine Persian king is very nice. Love my Sassanid Persians, possibly my favourite army, although not terribly successful on the battlefield!

    Cheers
    Matt
    French Wargame Holidays
    Mayenne, Pays de la Loire
    France
    "Walk the battlefield in the morning. Wargame it in the afternoon"©

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    1. Thanks Matty. I do love these rules and the fact it has reinvigorated my passion for Ancients wargaming. Loads of fun.

      Like the fact you're doing a bit of a redesign on the Chateau Webpage/FB profile mate. Looking forward to getting over sometime in the future.

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  2. Fantastic photos Carlo....hard to turn away from playing Ancients. Keep them coming

    Regards

    Nathan

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    1. Thanks Nathan. The Ancients is certainly enticing and these rules are a cracking set.

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  3. Great looking Sassanid and Byzantine armies,did someone say logic and discipline? Surely not! I think my last TtS game went much the same way and my troops were better quality! Still a fun game whatever the outcome!
    Best Iain

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    1. I know Iain, I know...what was I thinking. Thanks again.

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  4. I have to use logic and reason in my working life, so I give it a break during hobby hours.

    Nice pics. Glad you’re having loads of fun. 😀

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    1. Stew obviously we are cut from the same cloth! Heaps of fun indeed.

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  5. Superb looking game, Carlo! Both armies look splendid.

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  6. Excellent looking game Carlo fought with great looking units. Always been interested in both armies but I am bereft of any lead for them ...which is probably a good thing.

    Richard

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    1. Cheers Richard. I think I have always been fascinated by these armies, and especially the Sassanids, from the early Miniature Wargames covers with so many colourful troops from the collection of Phil Robinson if memory serves correctly.

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  7. Excellent, Carlo! Very beautiful miniatures and battle!

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    1. Thank you very much Sergey. These rules make it easy for the games to look so good especially with the larger single base so you can very much make a mini-diorama up of the figures.

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  8. Beautiful game, and I agree, logic has no place in organizing collections ;)

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    1. Thanks so much FMB - glad to see the wargaming world still is rules by the "No-logic" brigade. More power to us I say!

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