Collaborative Campaign Year 16: Part 2

 Having got myself confused over which Campaign Year we are in (last Post now with a correction), we are back in business with the second of Mark Cordone's games in Year 16 (the Year of the Garrulous Ram. What makes the Ram particularly chatty is unknown).

Picenia, having, against the odds, defeated the Therissan Navy, now prepares to invade the Island state... 

Current Map of the Known World

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Following their victory at Sirens Tower the Picenians landed their army and marched on Potedia, Therissias second city.  The Therissians had placed great faith in their navy and found the idea it could be defeated incomprehensible.  As a result they were unprepared and the cities defences had been severely neglected.  Without a significant garrison no attempt was made to hold the town and the Picenians entered the city without a fight two days after landing.  They immediately began work on repairing and strengthening the defences.

Meanwhile, the Therissians assembled an army and marched north to engage the invaders.  The two armies met on the plain south of the city on the 12th day of the 4th month of the year of the Garrulous Ram. 

Gaius Epidius Marcellus commanded the Picenian army.  With the city in no condition to withstand a siege, and seeking the glory of a victory he decided to offer battle on the open plain to the south of the town.  In the left hand sector he placed the 2nd legion, in the center the 3rd and in reserve the 4th.  All were veteran, disciplined formations.  On the right he deployed the combined cohorts of archers from the legions and in reserve his small ( unreliable) cavalry contingent.  His army totaled 18,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry.

The Therissians had mustered every available man for their army and had three phalanx's totaling about 20,000 armored heavy infantry.  Two were posted opposite the legions and one was held in reserve.  In addition the Therissian strategos Echestratus had some 3000 cavalry in reserve.  He placed his ( unreliable) peltasts, some 2000 in number opposite the Picenian archers.

It was a warm and sunny morning as the battle opened, but dark clouds promising a storm were gathering on the horizon.

The battle began well for the Therissians as their central phalanx quickly routed the 3rd legion.  Marcellus cooly sent the 4th forward to fill the gap then rallied the men of the 3rd legion.  The 4th proceeded to take advantage of the disordered victorious phalanx in the center and routed them in turn.

Echestratus moved his reserve phalanx to the center then tried unsuccessfully to rally his fleeing hoplites. As this was happening the Picenian archers quickly dispersed the peltasts to their front and loosed a series of volleys into the phalanx moving forward to fill the gap in the center.  However, the hoplites shrugged off the hail of arrows and the archers had to turn to face the threat of the advancing Therissian cavalry.

A prolonged back and forth melee then developed in the center but the superior Picenian tactical flexibility eventually previaled and the Therissian phalanx broke. 

On the right several Therissian cavalry charges were turned back by disaplined and effective archery, and when the central phalanx broke the cavalry fled as well.  The left hand phalanx was then surrounded and forced to lay down their arms just as the threatened storm broke.

The Picenians had won a resounding victory!  Marcellus was awarded a Triumph, but the fate of Echestratus was unknown, he just seemed to have disappeared after the battle.

*****

Thanks to Mark for another cracking report, and leaving us with a bit of a mystery. 

Can anyone stop Picenia? 

Collaborative Campaign Year 16: Part 1

 I'm just back from a short holiday and have a great deal of blog reading to catch up with! But first, the next post in the Collaborative Campaign... Year 15 of the Campaign (the Year of the Ostrich) witnesses a good deal of action, so without further ado, here's a Naval battle from Mark Cordone (all text and photographs are Mark's intellectual property).

Post publication Editors Note: The following events actually took place in Year 16 (Year of the Garrulous Ram) of the Campaign and not Year 15 (Year of the Ostrich) which was a year of peace and quiet. Apologies for the confustion!

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Events in the north:

The early months of the year of the Dog (Campaign Yr 14 - Ed.) saw a two-year truce negotiated between Picenia and the Pentapolis as both sides had good reasons for wanting a pause in hostilities. The Picenians to refit and rebuild, and Anaxander of Sentis so he could consolidate power.  The city states of the Pentapolis were also hopeful the truce would lead to a more permanent peace.

Summer of the year of the Dog saw the deaths of both Senator Galenus and the hero Multiflavus.  A period of bloody political upheaval followed which saw senator Marcus Cassius Longinus emerge as the first man of the Republic.

Political reforms and the splitting of the conquered territory of Luss into two provinces (Lussatia minor in the north and Lussatia major in the south).

Military reforms and expansion were a!so pushed through.  The dishonored 8th legion was disbanded and the survivors used to form the nucleus of the new 13th, or penal legion.  Men with discipline problems were transferred to the legion, and petty criminals and debtors were allowed to pay off their debts to society by enlisting in that formation.  The legion eventually grew to double the strength of A normal legion and was assigned to guard the mountain frontier with the Wend.

The legions were also reformed by transferring most of the Limitari into a new 11th cohort of archers and a 12th cavalry cohort was also added to each legion raising their strength to 6,000 men.  In practice armies still tended to group the archers and cavalry into separate units.  In addition, four new legions were raised, with some of the manpower obtained by offering citizenship to Luss who enlisted.  The addition of the 14, 15, 16, and 17th legions raised the strength of the army to 100,000 men, who spent a solid year in extensive training and drill.  The fleet was expanded to 200 triremes, all trained in ramming tactics and numbering some 50,000 sailors, rowers and marines.

At the end of the two-year truce Picenia felt she was ready to resume the struggle and attempts to extend the treaty by the Pentapolis were rebuffed.

The Picenians planned a three-pronged offensive with an invasion of Therissa and two armies advancing on Sentis, one along the coast to pin the enemy in p!ace and hopefully defeat them in battle and the secret sweep around the northern flank to take the city by surprise and trap the Pentapolis army between two fires.

For their part, the leaders of the Pentapolis city states met in Kartos where it was decided the Picenians didn't pose a serious threat by sea and therefore would attack Sentis by land.  Learning of the Picenian troop concentrations along the border two armies were assembled to oppose them.  However, the war would begin at sea...

The battle of the Sirens Tower

At the end of the two year truce between Picenia and the Pentapolis that followed the battle of Cyllene hostiles resumed with the newly reformed and expanded Picenian fleet under Claudius Livius Salenator spearheading an invasion of the island of Therissa.  Their mission was to destroy the Therissian fleet thus allowing the landing of an army commanded by Gaius Epidius Matullus which would take the port city of Potedia on the northern coast of the island as a base for the conquest of the Therissians.

The Therissians did not take the naval threat posed by the Picenians seriously, especially after their crushing victory over them at the battle of Uliarus several years before.  Also, they were possessed of the finest, most skilled fleet to sail all of the middle sea.  Upon learning of the departure of the Picenian fleet at the end of the 3rd month of the year of the Garrulous Ram the Navarch Aristrates assembled his fleet at Potedia to await the invaders.  The battle was fought using the Dominion of the Ram rules which appeared in the Fourth Portable Wargames Compendium.

The two fleets meet on the 3rd day of the fourth month of the year of the Garrulous Ram off of the northern coast of Therissa by a massive rock formation known, because they were often sighted there, as Sirens Tower. The weather was breezy with a mix of sun and clouds as the fleets formed up for battle.

The Picenians had some 120 triremes grouped into 6 squadrons, half in the front line and half in the second.  All were classed as regular rams.  The Therissians had 80 triremes in four squadrons, three in the front line and one in reserve.  All were classed as elite rams.

he Therissians opened the battle with an attack in the right sector, closest to the shore, but to their shock, were bested by the Picenians opposite them.

Aristrates led his reserve squadron to replace them and destroyed the Picenian squadron.  The Picenians sent a reserve squadron forward on the right but they too were defeated.  Meanwhile battle had been joined on the left as well as the Therissians implemented their plan to crush both wings of the Picenian fleet. 

After a prolonged engagement the Therissians were victorious, but their exhausted crews then fell victim to a Picenian reserve squadron.  These ships then moved to take the Therissian center squadron in the flank and were eventually successful in destroying them.  The survivors, only about 20 ships in all, then managed to escape and made for Sentis, but the Navarch Aristrates was captured along with a dozen or so Therissian galleys.

For the loss of some 40 ships Cladius Livius Salenator had destroyed the vaunted Therissian fleet and earned his Triumph.

*****

Thanks very much (again!) to Mark for his contributions to this Campaign. A rather surprising result to this battle, given the usual Therissan dominance of the waves. We will see if Picenia is also successful on land... 

Collaborative Campaign Year 14

 In Game Year 14 of our collaborative campaign, the Year of the Dog (an auspicious year, uh, for dogs), the action once again moves South...

Martin Smith provides the text and photos (that are all his intellectual property) for the latest game.

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King of Kings Xeroz, almighty lord of Zigura was furious. The decadent, godless Pylonians had thwarted his moves time and again, the most recent seeing his faithful Master of Horse Mahariz slain and yet another army repulsed. But now he wanted closure on the business of control of the southern shores of the Great Sea, and the Priests of Taran proclaimed the hour to be right for revenge.

Never short of volunteers to seek glory on his behalf, he summoned Hulipakar, nephew of General Amukar (disgraced in the Battle of the Wastelands). A student of all things military, Hulipakar was not a liked young man, but had a reputation for a ruthless streak which Xeroz saw as a blessing. The thought that when Raphan province was taken the harsh and brutal suppression of its populace would follow gave the King of Kings a warm feeling. And so he assigned the cruel young commander his duties and sent him off to Nyos to settle the Pylonian conundrum.

Battle of the Utbaru

Ever conscious of the Ziguran threat, Hepu, Pylonia’s Governor of Raphan, kept his guard well and truly up. Hearing from desert tribe traders of the buildup of Ziguran forces in Nyos he despatched Mercenary Captain-General Imbrios southwards with the bulk of his bronze-clad Cyraenians, the Maraway archer-tribes in his pay and the few Pylonians he could spare to watch for any enemy thrust.

Camped east of the Great Ypokos river, on the banks of its tributary the Utbaru, the Cyraenian veteran waited by the Nyos to Raphan highway, sending out patrols to probe any likely approach routes. Sure enough, early one morning a returning patrol sent word of a large dust cloud spotted to the south. Hurrying back to the main force, the patrol’s militia spearmen soon found a Ziguran army hard on its heels, with Hulipakar at its head.

The young Ziguran leader’s plan was to form up facing the Utbaru and then pelt the defenders with his massed archers, and he skillfully manoeuvred towards that end.

Seeing the oncoming host, and assessing the missile threat Captain-General Imbrios did not hesitate.

Attack, the wily mercenary commander deemed, was always the best form of defence.

Orders flew out and his Cyraenian phalanxes started forward, splashing gamely into the fast flowing Utbaru to reform on its southern bank. Simultaneously the Maraway tribesmen, bows held clear of the water, waded a ford and proceeded to array themselves before the rapidly approaching enemy.

To either side of the highway a shooting battle commenced between the Maraway and their lightly armed Ziguran opponents, but no side could gain the upper hand, though the Ziguran skirmishers were forced to slowly give ground.

Meantime, in the centre, Imbrios’ spear wielding phalanxes pushed forward in two formidable lines. Ziguran archery was intense, but, shields up, the Cyraenians struggled on, despite their formation being greatly disrupted. Soon the two lines met, bodies rapidly piling up as bronze met flesh, both sides suffering terribly. But the stubborn Ziguran foot soldiers held, while their cavalry began to lap around the exposed Cyraenian left flank.

Pylonia’s mercenaries were now facing Ziguran regulars from the Nyos garrison, who were proving to be tough and unyielding. Many Cyraenians fell in the carnage, but their resolve held, and while seemingly equal numbers of Zigurans added to the piles of dead it was a relatively minor scrap nearby which tipped the balance : Aiming to break a small and isolated body of the bronze warriors, Hulipakar led his personal bodyguard in a headlong assault. However, his opponents locked shields and dug their heels in, and were saved when a mass of Pylonian militia ploughed into the flank of the horse-riding nobles, causing instant chaos. In the confusion Hulipakar was pulled from his horse by a lowly peasant spearman and skewered…

Word of the unpopular commander’s death spread rapidly, and in an instant the Zigurans’ will to fight evaporated, with archers and spearmen dropping their weapons to flee. Lacking cavalry to press a pursuit, Imbrios sent light skirmishers to harass and chivvy the Zigurans back to Nyos, but there was no sign of them rallying, for which he thanked the gods.

Later, while overseeing the counting of severed hands in the established Pylonian way, Imbrios reckoned the Ziguran threat well and truly dealt with. One particular hand, brought him by a beaming peasant militia spearman, was seen to display a Ziguran ring of command, confirming the story that the lowest Pylonian had felled the highest Ziguran. The handless remainder of the downed general was lost among the great pile of his slaughtered countrymen.

Once again the Pylonians had defeated a Ziguran invasion force, but at the cost of great loss among their prized mercenaries from the Cyraenian Pentapolis. A weary Mercenary Captain-General Imbrios now began to wonder how he might beg God-King Hipohap for his release from service payment.

***

Many thanks to Martin for another splendid battle report - Looks like it's time for the King of Kings to concentrate on defending the land he's managed to grab to date....

Will the Pylonians attempt to recover the land they've lost? Only the dice can answer.

Plug for another Blog

 In case any reader of this blog has yet to read the latest post from Les Riflemen de Bourg en Bresse, I urge you do so and especially to watch the video at the end LINK which features AI animation as good as I've seen it so far using photos of miniatures - Bravo Phil! Very clever and beautiful presentation.

Collaborative Campaign Year 13: Part 2

The last post in this series saw Picenia attack and take control of the City State of Sentis, a member of the Cyraenian Pentapolis. In today's episode there is further action in this theatre.

Mark once again takes up the tale... (Text and pictures are © Mark Cordone).

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The Battle of Cyllene

After the battle of Aphidna, Demetrius, and the Picenians began to consolidate their control of the city state of Sentis.  While this was happening, the rest of the Pentapolis city states met to decide what to do.  With the Therissian's abstaining, the other three cities voted to back the claim of Anaxander, Antonatus's brother, to the throne.  An army under the Kartosian king Doryssus was raised to invade Sentis.  It consisted of some 3000 elite, disciplined Kartosian hoplites, around 100 Herelion armored elphas supported by about 4000 peltasts and archers, and a Cyraenian phalanx of 4000 with 2000 additional cavalry.

Governor Auteus Callosus the Picenian province of Luss had the 5000 disciplined men of the 8th Legion and 2000 Kigali cataphracts.  In addition Demetrius fielded a 4000 man phalanx, 3000 archers and about 2000 unreliable peltasts from Sentis.

On the 4th day of the 11th month of the year of the Hippopotamus the armies met along the coast near the sleepy fishing village of Cyllene.  It was warm and sunny with only a few clouds in the sky as the armies deployed for battle. Auteus deployed his phalanx in the left sector with their flank resting on the beach.  In the center he placed the 8th Legion and on a hill to the right he deployed his archers.  In reserve he had the cataphracts and the unreliable peltasts.

King Doryssus was with his vaunted elite, disaplined hoplites on the left, the elphas were in the center and in the rough ground in front of the hill he had his archers and peltasts.  In reserve were the Cyraenian phalanx and cavalry.  Anaxander was with the horsemen.

The battle began with an archery duel on the right which saw the Herelion's emerge victorious and take possession of the high ground.  They then began to shoot into the flank of the 8th Legion as the elphas advanced.  This was too much for the legionaries, who broke and fled. 

As Auteus tried unsuccessfully to rally them his peltasts briefly retook the hill as the cataphracts charged but were scattered by the elphas.

As this was going on the vaunted Kartos hoplites advanced along the beach only to be routed when their king was killed in the melee.  They could not be rallied but Anaxander took command of the army.  As he did so some very effective shooting from the Sentis peltasts panicked the elphas who stampeded to the rear.  

Keeping his cool, Anaxander sent his reserve phalanx forward on the left.  In the subsequent melee both sides were exhausted but charging with his cavalry up the now wide open center of the field Anaxander broke the enemy who fled pell mell to be mostly slaughtered during the pursuit.

Sentis was retaken, and governor Auteus Callosus was killed trying to rally his shattered army.  Demetrius was captured and quickly tried and executed as Anaxander established himself as tyrant of Sentis.  Thus the Picenian attempt to gain control of Sentis came to an end.

***

Thanks to Mark for another excellent, and beautifully illustrated, battle report, including a Leviathan! Picenia has been thwarted for now.....

Do It YourShelf Toy Railway Layout: update 1

 Since discovering, via Bob Cordery's blogpost, the Budget Model Railways YouTube channel, I have been tinkering with ideas for my modest collection of OO Gauge track and rolling stock. Ideally, I would like a small oval with sidings, but as OO takes up quite a lot of space, I've started with a simple shunting layout and terminus station, to see if I have the aptitude for the job (my model making skills are not great!)

The shelf that's acting as baseboard was from B&Q (about 15Euro) and is approximately 1 metre by 30cm.

The shelf

To cut down the rumble I covered the shelf with some foam board sheets and painted it a pale grey.

Having decided on a track plan (after watching MANY Budget Model Railways (BMR) videos), I soon realised that I needed to widen the shelf a bit! In true BMR style I screwed some batton on to one edge before laying the track.

Batton attached to the top edge, pre-painting

The largest structure that I intend to build is the Station, so I started with that. 

Early work on platform design

The Platform was constructed from corrugated cardboard and foam board.

 The corrugated cardboard came with flatpack furniture from a popular Swedish outlet.

The Station building was designed as a walk-through affair with access to the Ticket Office being inside the tunnel. As I have mentioned before, I really like the design of the Hornby Dublo trackside buildings of the late 1950s, so my designs are a nod to them.

Station building during construction

View into the tunnel with Ticket Window visible.
On the opposite wall is a door into the Station Master's office.

The imposing clock is a printed shape stuck onto a 1" square mdf base. The windows and doors on this building were from a set made by Wills Kits. 

I've just started making a kiosk to go on the Platform; it's from the old Airfix trackside set, still being produced by Dapol.

Station building and platform on the layout.

The 20mm passenger is from the Airfix Station Accessories set (still produced by Dapol), now almost 70 years old!!

I intend to post more updates as parts of the layout (slowly) get completed.