The Battle of Pendalorum

For our regular Tuesday game, on a Monday this week, Phil brought over his Goths and Late Romans for a run out against an army sorted out from my Late Roman collection! Make what sense of that you can is my advice! As ever an annotated photomontage to hopefully give any passing reader a sense of the unfolding action ~

The enemy's Goths on their left flank swept around the outskirts of the village effectively blocking my cavalry wing from getting behind their army's flank!

The Goth archers hurry into the village intent on occupying one of the buildings as a base to fire on any approaching foe.

In the enemy centre a Division of infantry is tasked with advancing to capture the bridge, the second of the Victory objectives for both sides. They are reluctant to advance though early in the action.

On his right wing the enemy has concentrated his cavalry in support of a second infantry Division. 

To win the battle my lads must hold the wooden bridge and capture the village. Heavy Cavalry have advanced to confront the Goths while solid ranks of Heavy Infantry steadily advance on their objectives.

A unit of Heavy Cavalry despatched to hold the bridge make slow progress and block the line of fire for the light artillery defending the crossing.

More infantry cross the stream to deter the advancing enemy, while on my left wing the cavalry Division moves forward slowly. If I can utilise my numerical advantage wisely and the 'dice gods' smile I me my lads will cause havoc in the enemy's rear!

The Goths surge forward in an attempt to catch my Heavy Cavalry as they ford the stream. Thankfully they fall short and fail to reach their objective. On their flank Light Cavalry are skirmishing with my archers on the edge of the woods. Losses are light in this early exchange.

The enemy's advance is tardy in the centre and on his left. My advancing Heavy Infantry come under desultory fire from a small unit of archers. My own archers seemed reluctant to set their feet in the stream!

The violence of the Goths' aggressive charge drives my Heavy Cavalry back across the stream. The Army Command base is very nearly run down!

The 'dice gods' desert me! The archers holding the edge of Pendalorum fire on my Heavy infantry as they muster for an assault. One casualty causes a Morale check with a VI! Of course I throw Snakes' Eyes and they flee!!!

As my lads in the centre organise their dispositions for the defence of the bridge crossing they are unsettled by the Broken Heavy Infantry streaming towards the rear. Time for a quick revision of my plans I fear!

Heavily outnumbered my Heavy Cavalry gloriously resist the hordes to their front, fighting the enemy to a standstill. Morale of the home team soars at this point!

On my right I send more Heavy Cavalry forward skirting the melee with the Goths only to find my advance blocked by a Goth Warband. Meanwhile in the centre a second Heavy Infantry unit has braved Gothic bow fire and attacked the enemy occupying Pendalorum.

The defence of the bridge crossing is looking steady while on the left wing units have reinforced the gallant Heavy Cavalry in their melee. A decisive outcome here would see the enemy's army in grave difficulty. If my lads drive the Goth defenders from Pendalorum my army will hold both Victory objectives!

As the enlarged melee on my left swirls about I move more units forward in anticipation of taking advantage of the anticipated victory and driving the enemy before me.

On my right the Goths have routed one unit of my Heavy Cavalry! By virtue of a Blunder though my Clibanarii arrive at just the right time and place to shore up the line. Those 'dice gods' have not entirely deserted me it seems!

I spoke too soon of course as over on my left two cavalry units have been Broken and my Light Infantry charged by the victorious enemy! 

In the ensuing fight I loose by seven casualties and inevitably break despite a valiant dice throw of 11. It doesn't pay I am learning late in life to take those capricious 'dice gods' for granted at any moment.

As the remnants of my cavalry on the left wing try to reorganise to continue the fight the enemy's Heavy Cavalry sweep forward and catch my Horse Archers. The inevitable result sees my left wing Division Broken and the remnants forced from the field.

My Clibanarii loose the melee with the enemy's Goth Heavy Cavalry, who despite being Shaken survive the Morale check. My lads throw Snakes' Eyes, again, and it's all up for the right wing Division who are Broken too.

The Battle of Pendalorum is over in Turn 6 now my second Division on the right flank mimicked it's fellow on the left flank and Broke! Two Broken Divisions out of four meant the army was Broken too, it's will to carry on the fight evaporated! As ever though with Hail Caesar, a sweeping narrative of a fight, full of twists and turns, with sudden changes of fortune reflecting the uncertainty of war. 

ᛒᛁᚲᚲᚨ ᛒᛁᚲᚲᚨᛊᛊᛟᚾ

Otherwise the 'hero' of the Saga of Bicca Biccasson, Jarl of Pendaholm. The figure is from Matt Bickley's Vikings, available from Footsore Miniatures after a successful Kickstarter project. He is one of the first 'Add Ons' unlocked in the highly successful campaign, 'The Heroes of Valhalla', and struck me as suitably heroic for the main character ~

So, that's two figures completed now for this side project! Next up should be a figure for the Jarl's Shaman, Snaggar Snaggletooth. There has to be a touch of low resolution magic in any saga worth the name after all... Meanwhile, its back to raising a new Legion for Pompus Minimaximus.

Knoris

As I mentioned to you in my previous blog entry I had ordered another figure from Gripping Beast alongside the Penda vignette and the LBMS shield transfers and banner. Without more ado then I present to you Knoris, the King Under the Hill - I'm too tight to afford a mountain - Troll Killer, Slayer of Dragons, Brother in Blood to Bicca Biccasson and so on ~

He's the first of my figures for a small Dark Ages/Norse Mythology romp; otherwise the Saga of Bicca Biccasson. It will be, I hope, the true heir to the Saga of Noggin the Nog if ever there was one! More figures for this side project will appear as and when, so you'll need to be on your toes to keep up!

Penda, the last Pagan King of Mercia

No games scheduled here in GHQ this week for numerous reasons, mostly due to a lack of opponents and my crook foot! While the Lead Pimple has swollen somewhat of late I find there is very little prepped and spray undercoated ready to face the brush. Hence this small vignette/command stand has enjoyed its moment in the sun! Four figures in three castings depicting Penda, the last Pagan King of Mercia, and his entourage ~

This is a vignette from the Early Saxon range sold by Gripping Beast. I ordered it on a whim when ordering some LBMS transfers sheets. As my handle on one Forum Board is Penda I thought I'd paint him and his fellows for fun. Of course he's rather 'out of period' for my Late Romans, but, "my toys, my game", so no doubt he will appear in such games at some point!

Alongside old Penda I also ordered another figure well outside my comfort zone! I expect pelters from at least one Follower when they see it! Keep an eye out later in the week for that one! In the meantime back to cleaning up more Late Romans and some other figures...

Late Roman Cavalry

This unit of Foundry Late Roman Heavy Cavalry is the last of the mounted figures I sourced from Colonel Bill's to expand the collection. They are a mixture of the Late Roman and Arthurian ranges, giving me the look of a battle hardened formation which I think suits the period nicely. The shield transfers are from LBMS via Phil, the only difficulty I had with them was that they were from the Gripping Beast range and so not quite a perfect fit for my shields. The bases are from Warbases of course ~

Next I have some infantry units in the Lead Pimple awaiting preparation and spray undercoating, so I'd hope to get on to them once I get myself organised. As an aside, I bought some further packs from Foundry at The Other Partizan to beat their price gouging; more cavalry and some Franks/Saxons to flesh out the Barbarian allies in either army. 

1940, Somewhere in France

Our regular Tuesday game should have been at Phil's this week but my foot is still not cooperating I'm afraid to say, so Phil gamely volunteered to pop over to GHQ so we didn't miss another week. We decided on a WWII game using my small 1940 collection and Bolt Action v3 as our rules. Now, I don't have a copy of these, but fortunately Phil does. {I didn't buy a copy, viewing the price asked as frankly just short of usuary!} We've had a few trial runs with the pre-released rule snippets so hopefully we would cope! As ever then an annotated photomontage follows to carry you into the action somewhere in France, 1940, on the road to Dunkerque. The outnumbered British forces must deny the bridge crossing to the advancing Germans to enable the supporting French to take up new defensive positions and more British soldiers to be lifted from the beaches. Six Turns, with a possible Seventh, would see night fall and a British victory if they still held the bridge ~

The 3" mortar fires on the advancing Germans to open proceedings...

...close, but no cigar! The Germans advance through the barrage!

The emplaced 2lb Anti-tank gun opens fire on the lead German Panzer 38T...

...scoring a hit! Superficial damage, but the tank is immobilised, effectively blocking the road to its supporting tanks. 

The bren gun team fire on the leading German unit; no casualties result from the fire but the first Pin Marker appears.

A bottleneck is quickly developing for the attacking Germans with the road blocked by the immobilised 38T and the supporting infantry squad pinned.

British engineers have done what they can to fortify the ridge line overlooking the bridge. The Vickers MkVI tanks advance towards the bridge to deter the German advance.

Further along the ridge the line is lightly defended by machine guns and a supporting infantry squad. Their 2" mortar team will be used to put down covering smoke.

The German advance is developing on their left as they plan to flank the British right and force a withdrawal.

The 80mm mortar scores a series of direct hits on the British left. One machine gun are destroyed and the crew killed, with the remainder fleeing after failing their morale check!

The first German squad has reached the banks of the river. The engage in a desultory firefight with the entrenched British on the low ridge.

The immobilised 38T is knocked out by the leading Vickers Mk VI. It goes up in flames and is hastily abandoned by it's crew! An important moment in the fight for both sides.

The 3" mortar lays down fire on the German squad nearest the river...

...they suffer minor losses but pick up more Pin markers. The assault just became that little more difficult.

Under the cover of the smoke shells from the 2" mortar the leading Vickers Mk VI crosses the bridge. It's companion is less enthusiastic it seems, while the loan Matilda MkI engaged the German machine guns targeting the infantry on the British left 

Despite the best efforts of the British infantry the German attack is gaining dangerous momentum on their left. The Commander arrives to coordinate what he hopes will be the decisive attack.

British reinforcements arrive in the nick of time but crucially are caught in the open, suffering losses and gaining Pin Markers in number!

A German squad occupying ruins on the British centre are laying down a bothersome fire on the enemy. Losses are slight but Pin Markers are mounting. Coordinating the British defence is becoming more difficult.

Just as the balance is moving to favour the Germans their PAK38 anti-tank gun is hit, it's crew killed and the gun destroyed by the 3" mortar!

The British reinforcements are suffering mounting casualties but crucially they are holding up the German assault on their right flank as Pin Markers mount on the attackers.

The German attack is becoming harder to coordinate at squads fail to rally or to pass Order Tests due to the number of Pin Markers despite the presence of the commander in the front line!

Chaos grips the German tank force. One is destroyed, one fails five consecutive Rally Tests and the command tank is held up by the fire from the British 2lb Anti-tank gun on the ridge.

Losses on the British left have been substantial, but with the tank chaos the Germans cannot press home the advantage there. The survivors cling on grimly and lay down nuisance fire on the distant Germans.

Turn Seven sees the last chance for the Germans unravel with a succession of British Command Dice drawn from the bag! Phil concedes at this point, knowing his force has spent itself despite best efforts. His plan was sound, the British defence desperate, but the loss of his 38T's proved decisive! A win! But for my foot I might have done a lap of honour!!!