The Siege of Thalasus - Hyboria Ladder Campaign

 In which King Conan arrives at his objective...

The Western Nemedian town of Thalasus

Arriving at Thalasus, Conan found the town, unsurprisingly, closed and well defended. The Aquilonians sent heralds to parley with those on the walls, offering to withdraw without fight if they send out the King's concubine. No such undertaking was to transpire. Grinding his teeth, Conan gave orders for the siege to begin.

The game was played once more with Dominion of the Spear; the defenders received the defensive position bonus. Readers are urged to suspend their disbelief and assume that the attackers have long ladders, grapnels and the like. As the defenders were in cover they had a slight numerical disadvantage. 

As the attackers advanced, a sortie by Nemedian knights sallied forth and fought the Aquilonian knights, quite successfully; however, they were soon overwhelmed.

The battle was inevitably one of attrition; waves of attackers stormed the walls and both sides suffered grievous losses.

By the latter part of the day, it became obvious that the Aquilonians would, once again, have the better of their foe.  

In a lull in the fighting, a postern gate opened and Governor Prudentius emerged to surrender the town to Conan.

Having secured Thalasus, Conan demanded the return of his concubine, only to discover that she had been spirited away by persons unknown during the previous night! "Smells like a plot twist to give the author an excuse for a second campaign", growled Conan. And so it was.

In his rage, the King ordered the citizenry leave the town. Thalasus was then torched (after the treasury had first been emptied of course).

The Aquilonian army marched home and Conan sent out his spies to attempt to discover where his favourite concubine had been taken.

It is three months later, and a heavily guarded caravan wends its way through Turan heading for the Sea of Vilayet...

The Battle at Castle Desespero - Hyborian Ladder Campaign

 The next "rung" of the ladder that confronted Conan, King of Aquilonia, was an attack on a defended place. The place in question was the ruins of Castle Desespero.

Conan's scouts reported that a force of Nemedian Knights, Regulars and some mercenaries had taken control of the ruined castle and now threatened the Aquilonians' flank or rear if they were not confronted. Taking personal command of part of the army, Conan marched swiftly to remove the threat.

In terms of the Dominion of the Spear rules, the ruins represent the Nemedian left flank and the occupiers gain a defence bonus.

Sir Malvolio (nearest camera on the left) led the Nemedian force,
 as far away from his opposing number as possible!
Conan led the attack on the ruins.

Castle Desespero saw the majority of the early fighting, as Conan and the Aquilonian infantry stormed the crumbling walls, quickly removing the defenders.

Attention then turned to the other wards. 

The Nemedian centre inflicted early casualties, however with Conan now able to out flank them, they were not going to last long. The Nemedian Knights gave a good account of themselves, but the writing was once again on the wall. General Malvolio and the remaining Knights made a tactical withdrawal, better to fight another day.

The Battle at the Crossroads - Hyborian Ladder Campaign

 The next rung on the ladder was to be a battle at either a Crossroads (1-3) or River crossing (4-6). A 1 was thrown. The game played using Portable Wargame Ancients.

Prudentius, Governor of Western Nemedia, had received reports of the approaching Aquilonian army and sought to cut off its advance. Not having a military background, the Governor was determined to keep out of the action.

Initial Positions - Aquilonia to the East

King Conan was determined to swiftly brush aside the Nemedian force and march on towards the town of Thalasus where, if his spies were correct, his favourite concubine was being held captive.

The Aquilonians advance

Knights' cross swords whilst arrows fly

Facing the ferocious Aquilonian onslaught, the Nemedians fell back and were becoming enveloped.

 

With Aquilonian arrows beginning to fall among his bodyguards, Prudentius mounted his horse and making his excuses to his Captains, insisting they hold the road as long as possible, he prepared to vacate the battlefield...

 The Nemedian army reached Exhaustion Point (set at 50% as is my preference for Fantasy games) and the Governor high-tailed it, bound for the fortified town of Thalasus.

Another victory for Conan. Can he be stopped? Seems unlikely.

Hyborian Mini Campaign - the Battle at Pevia

 In a previous post, King Conan defeated an Army of Nemedia, slaying its Commander, Baron Panatone. In today's installment we find the Aquilonian Army marching deeper into enemy territory, until their advance is blocked by another Nemedian force at the village of Pevia.

Conan and the advance guard of the Army of Aquilonia

The Nemedians were led by a Brythunian mercenary, General Dubalclix.

The Nemedian defenders

The battlefield contained the village of Pevia, and its open fields, and the surrounding pasture (the Waste). The locals, having sent their women and children into hiding in the nearby hill country, took up position defending the village itself, in the main with improvised weapons and rudimentary defences. 

Assuming the villagers resolve would be weak, Conan used Archers, after a mass volley, to storm the barricades at Pevia, concentrating his Knights and foot on the Nemedian regulars.

The ensuing melee was brutal, and there soon were casualties on both sides.

The peasant defenders proved to be tougher than had been imagined and held on while the main armies clashed, fell and were scattered.

The Aquilonian ranks began to thin and Conan found himself leading a company of Archers against some stout Nemedian pikemen Captained by Dubalclix himself.

Units on both sides broke but the defenders appeared to be getting the upper hand.

The King suddenly found himself in combat with the Mercenary General. With a single mighty sweep of his sword, Conan slew the Brythurian and his mount.

The Nemedians, seeing Conan and his remaining Knights advancing in wrath, fled the field leaving the well-stocked village to the Aquilonians. 

A further tarriance in Hyboria

 The following game represents the opening move of a new campaign set in Robert Howard's Hyboria. The Campaign mechanism and rules will be set out in the next post. As far as the setting is concerned, the situation is as follows; A coup in the Court of Nemedia has replaced the King. The new ruler, Count Ortagines has a deep aversion to Conan, now King of Aquilonia, and sends agents to capture the King's favourite concubine (whose name, typically, is not recorded). Conan, in a blood thirsty rage, leads an army to the Nemedian border...

Map found somewhere on the WWW

The first game is a simple pitch battle, the result of which will lead on to the next. Apologies for the rather dark pictures; it's rather dark this morning!

For the Aquilonian Army I am using a 10mm force that was painted for a different Campaign completely but will suit. The figures are mostly Irregular Minis. Conan is a Mark Copplestone figure.

For Nemedia, I went prospecting in the foothills of the Lead/Plastic Mountain Range and unearthed a few figures and quickly slapped some paint on them; the Nemedians are supported by some Mercenaries. 

The game:

The opposing armies glower at each other and trade insults

The Aquilonian Knights punch a hole in the Nemedian line
Conan faces the Nemedian General, Baron Panatone

The Nemedians suffer further casualties. Conan and the
Baron are in single combat - this can only go one way...

The Baron falls and the day is won

So, Aquilonia wins the first battle and Conan is now on the way to vengeance.

A piece of good news, for me anyway, is that Irregular Miniatures 10mm ranges are being produced again; currently the Fantasy and Medieval ones are available, but I am assured that all the 10mms will be out next year. I hope to make a few Very Small Armies for further Hyborian Escapades in the near future. See HERE for the resurected Irregular Minis.

Sunday Frippery - making stuff

 Very short post to showcase a little Fantasy Fortified Town scenery object. It's somewhere between 3D and 2D (2.5D??) as there's room for figures inside the walls, but the flat town means it doesn't take up too much room. The flat town idea was based on a far better executed version by Peter that features in this post. Mine's a 3 inch square mdf base from Warbases with the "structures" made from 3mm foam board. As a proof of concept, I think it works ok. Hopefully it will be used in planned Hyboria games. That's it; enjoy the sunshine (or whatever the weather's doing where you are.

Collaborative Campaign Year 19: Part 3

 Autumn in the Year of the Hyena witnessed a large horde of mounted raiders moving from the steppe lands of the territory known in the "civilised" world as Inconnu. Their purpose unknown, the horde arrived in the small Northern province of Qushia. The local Satrap, Rostam Anoraq, had had a peaceful life up to this point, paying the minimum amount of tax he felt he could get away with, and avoiding being dragged into State politics, wars etc. Having prudently eschewed the demands of the real world for many years, suddenly the real world had turned up on his doorstep in the form of a few thousand, hairy, smelly barbarians on horseback.

Progress of the not so golden horde

The following battles were fought using Dominion of the Spear with a 2 Hit variation for some units, an idea that was kindly sent to me by Mark Cordone (published originally on Facebook?). All of the units of the Horde are mounted, but two have the "ferocious" bonus; this gives them +1 in combat. If these units are hit, they remain in combat but lose their bonus (they are shaken) for the rest of the battle. If hit again they are eliminated in the usual way. I like this variant as it makes special units a little less vulnerable as benefits their status as exceptionable warriors.

Battle 1 - The Oasis of Shapoor

The Horde has arrived at a watering hole and settled down for a week or so, plundering the local flocks and farmsteads for victuals and scaring away the caravan traffic that uses the oasis. The Satrap, fearing a loss of revenue from the caravans not to mention the tedious complaints from his people, orders the Headman at the nearby town of Baqusra to send the town garrison to chase off the invaders.

The Zigurans put up a good fight but are bested and driven off.

Battle 2 - The Battle of Baqusra

Having consumed all the local flocks, the Horde rolls on to the little town of Baqusra. The remaining town garrison, bolstered by some Provincial troops, has had a little time to set up temporary defences (strangely the tax money that has been put aside for the construction of town walls has disappeared).

The Horde's luck runs out at Baqusra, and those lucky enough to avoid the arrows judiciously turn tail and head back to the steppes. On hearing the reports, Satrap Anoraq breathes a sigh of relief and puts his curly toed slippers back up on a nice comfy cushion. 

Across the Black River - A Mini Campaign set in Hyboria

Having an hour to spare, I devised a brief Mini-Campaign set in Robet E Howard's Hyboria, with the battles to be decided using the Dominion of the Spear rules. This is based on the situation in Howard's Conan story, Beyond the Black River.

Settlers from Aquilonia have for some years been transforming the land between the Thunder River and Black River, formerly Pictish tribal territory. The Picts fear that more colonists will soon be pushing West due to the establishment of Fort Tuscalan with its permanent garrison that guards the interests of the Aquilonians.

A brief word on Picts: Long before I read any of Howard's works, my grandfather explained to me that in Britain, the enemy of the Romans was some people who lived North of the Wall and were called Picts. In my mind that meant they must look like Airfix Ancient Britons. This has always stuck and is why in the following the Picts are played by 10mm Gauls.

The Campaign Flow Chart

The Campaign begins with the Picts, under War Chief Garm the Hapless, attacking Fort Tuscalan...

The Attack on the Fort

 The Pictish attackers arrived with 4 Infantry units (2 of which were classed as ferocious) and a unit of archers. The defending Aquilonians had a unit of elite knights, a unit of Bossonian archers in the fort, 2 infantry units and a unit of settlers. 

Despite having the advantage of a defensive position, the Aquilonians were overwhelmed by the ferocity of the Picts (coupled with the ridiculous number of 6s they rolled).

 Battle Two

The Picts, having sacked the Fort, pushed on to the nearest settlement. Here the situation looked even more precarious, with a force being made up of mainly settlers utilizing a defencive hedge.

As it turned out, the Aquilonians, who were fighting for their homes, put up a good fight.

Despite suffering heavy losses, the Colonists prevailed and the Picts were routed.

Battle Three

Hotly pursued by an Aquilonian Army, the Picts fled deeper into their own land. Finally Chief Garm turned and gave battle

The Aquilonian centre had the advantage of a steep sided rocky outcrop on which to perch and worry the Picts with long spears. Although the defenders gave a good account of themselves, the Aquilonian knights were avenged on the foe for the destruction of Fort Tuscalan. Chief Garm fell to a lucky lance thrust (4 + 1 for elite) and was hapless indeed.