CHRISTMAS WARGAME - Struggle for Kerantrech (Part Two)

So the scene was set and after an initial briefing the game began. None of us had ever played the rules before but we had read through them. Jamie took on the role of the Romans, Kevin the Franks and Leo the local Magistrate, Syagrius.

A band of Franks enter the board and hasten to talk to Bishop Severinus on the road ahead

Bishop Severinus makes his way towards the Villa

Meanwhile on the other side of the board a carriage approaches bearing the the Sister in Law of the local Magistrate, Syagrius coming to visit her sister who is with child

Ellifer reaches the village and after plying the local Druid, Malgwyn, with large amounts of cider manages to persuade him to bless the apple orchard. 

Unfortunately for Ellifer, Syagrius and a group of Limitanei have left the villa to visit the village

But the arrival of the Bishop now accompanied by the Franks proves a welcome distraction

Before Syagrius can reach the village he is met by a messenger from the villa who informs him of the arrival of the Bishop and the Franks

The Romans are coming!

The large Frankish force approaches the villa

More troops arrive in the civitas

The Sister in Law nears the villa 

Two strange horsemen enter the table!

Ellifer manages to leave the village with the Druid and head for the Apple Orchard

As the Romans approach the villa

The Franks arrive to find the villa's owner absent and promptly occupy the buildings

Malgwyn begins to bless the Apple Orchard  

The two mysterious riders approach Ellifer, they seek the whereabouts of the Holy Grail

Ellifer decides that it would be safer for Malgwyn the Druid to head for the watchtower and not return to the village 

As the Romans arrive at the villa so does the Sister in Law

The Franks now hold the villa with a large force of men

A group of horsemen (Sarmatians I think) enter the table and they also begin to head towards the villa

The Romans horsemen head towards Ellifer

Ellifer and Malgwyn on the road to the Watchtower (with cider of course!)

Clodus speaks with Ellifer and informs him of events at the villa. Ellifer decides to return to protect the villagers

Malgwyn reaches the safety of the Watchtower

The Grail hunters head off towards the main road

Tensions are running high at the villa

The alarm horn is sounded from the Watchtower calling the Limitanei to arms

Ellifer deploys his forces across the village road

Bishop Severinus accompanied by a force of Franks and some Limitanei head for the village after reports of pagan rituals taking place

The Romans at the villa make an agreement with the Franks that they will not interfere in return for some items believed to be at the villa.

The Grail hunters meet with the Sarmatian Mercenaries

Events at the villa turn violent after a disturbance in the courtyard after a strongbox is discovered under the statue and both the Romans and the Franks suffer heavy casualties

Bishop Severinus finding no evidence of Pagan Rituals decides to visit the Hermit by the coast

  

A brief battle between the Romans and the Franks sees the Roman leader leave the field

 

The Bishop reaches the Hermit

At this point we decided to finish. Kevin in charge of the Franks had taken control of the Civitas from the Romans. The local magistrate, Syagrius, had played right into their hands by leaving the villa with most of the troops stationed there and therefore the Franks found the villa almost empty except for a pregnant woman and a couple of guards and servants. Jamie as the Roman commander had failed in his attempt to recover the strongbox which contained evidence of treachery in Rome. Leo playing Syagrius the local Magistrate found favour with the Franks who rewarded him with a small farmstead and loss of his position as Magistrate. As for Ellifer well his opposition to the new Frankish rulers saw him removed from his position as commander of the Limitanei. However he did manage to smuggle Malgwyn to safety by boat.

A great days gaming and I really enjoyed the Argad rules and reading some of the great AAR's on the Lead Adventure Forum they can produce some fantastic games.

Might have to keep my eyes peeled for some 28mm Dark Ages figures or maybe Hundred Years War as the rules can be used for many periods.

As always thanks for looking.

CHRISTMAS WARGAME - Struggle for Kerantrech (Part One)

Saturday 23rd December 2017 saw me travel over the Peak District, although with all the mist and fog I didn't see much of it, to the Oracle of Andrevia's house in the wonderful village of Storrs for another Christmas Wargame. This is the third year in a row I have managed to get over and it is a highlight of my wargaming year as the games are always interesting and usually something different to what we play the rest of the year. This year Mr C had excelled himself with an outing to 5th Century Armorica (modern day Brittany). The game featured the civitas of Kerantrech (a villa with an associated farming settlement) in eastern Armorica beset by multiple claimants to ownership, wandering mercenaries, druids, hermits and a fair amount of religious disputation.

The Villagers working the fields

The Apple Orchard

The Hermit

The Watchtower

The Village

The Villa

The Ruined Temple

A Mysterious Visitor

Malgwyn the Druid

Bishop Severinus

The Table in all it's glory!

The rules to be used were 'Argad' a French set of Skirmish rules that also encourage a touch of roleplaying between the players. These are available free from http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html along with a load of reference sheets and links to AAR's.

My briefing for the game......

Ellifer the Centurion – Richard P

Ellifer and some of the Limitanei

Kerantrech is a civitas (district) in the lands of the Gaullish tribe known as the Coriosolitae.  Lying on the coast of the British Sea, Keratrech is in the northeastern corner of Armorica. 

For ten years, since the Armorican bacaudae rose up and threw off rule from Rome, the province of Armorica has retained a shaky independence though Romans, Irish, Franks, Saxons and other foreigners are a constant threat in these uncertain days.

You are playing Ellifer the Centurion – leader of the Limitanei, the part-time citizen-soldiers of the civitas. 

Ellifer is the military leader of the Limitanei, the part-time citizen soldiers of the civitas. In most matters, though, he defers to the magistrate Syagrius. 

At any one time a group of the men will be stationed in the watchtower overlooking the sea (on the lookout for Irish or Saxon raiders).  The remainder of the men can be called by sounding the horn kept in the tower for the purpose (though doing this when there isn’t an established threat would lose Ellifer considerable status as no-one wants to be dragged from his personal business for no good reason).

Ellifer nominally follows the Christian faith but has a strong respect for the pagan traditions of the Coriosolitae.

At the start of the game Ellifer has been notified that Bishop Severinus is arriving in the civitas.  The druid Malgwyn is already here and Ellifer wants to him bless the apple orchards but can’t afford to offend Severinus. It’s Important to keep the two of them from bumping into each other.  

Stay tuned for Part Two .....

CRISIS POINT VI - Andreivia (Dawn of Freedom)

Just been going through some photos and realised I hadn't posted anything about Sunday's game at Crisis Point VI. So I thought I better remedy that situation.

So here goes, better late than never!

The British Forces in Tcherbevan occupy the Old Fort on the outskirts of the city

The British deploy forward elements to cover the approaches to the Old Fort. Bolsheviks advance past the Grain Warehouse in the distance and take heavy casualties from the British MG's.

Andreivian Police occupy the Ministry building on the main square

Random event card results in a roll of 38 (Faltering Morale). A member of the British MG Team fails his morale test and is immediately panicked. A disastrous roll on the Panic Table results in the figures exiting the board. 

British forces keep watch from the Old Fort after hearing rumours of Arabs in the fields around the city

It wasn't long before the rumours came true!

A surprise attack from outside the city resulted in one rifleman lost before they could return fire and stop the incursion

British advance to halt the Arabs

Meanwhile after the initial losses the Bolsheviks continue their advance towards the Main Square supported by a Armoured Car.

The Andreivian Police attack the building held by the Bolsheviks with supporting fire from the roof of the Ministry building

After brutal close combat the Andreivian Police were forced to withdraw but not before inflicting heavy casualties

The forward elements of the British come under mortar fire from the English Church

The Armoured Car is hit several times and is destroyed. One crewman manages to escape the burning wreckage

British forces advance to take the English Church and force the Bolshevik Mortar Team to retreat.

Another random event resulted in a roll of 70 (Suicidal Rifleman) which saw one British Rifleman move three actions towards the nearest known enemy and engage them in close combat. As you can see he lived to tell the tale.

Unfortunately at this point the camera on my phone decided to crash so I was unable to take any more photos!!!!

The game continued with the Bolsheviks assaulting the Ministry buildings and successfully driving the Andreivian Police out but they took heavy casualties leaving only 4 Bolshevik infantrymen on the table with a large British force heading to retake the Ministry. By the end of Sunday Tcherbevan was safely back in British hands, but for how long?

A thoroughly enjoyable days gaming with a great opponent, Ron controlling the Bolsheviks. Thanks Oh Mighty Oracle of Andreivia (AKA Richard C) for organising another great Crisis Point event and it will always be one of the highlights of my gaming year.