Britcon 2003

This year, after realizing my Lithuanians had started to get so familiar even my opponents were getting sick of seeing them turn out, I had decided to try and give some little-used lead a chance to shine. This game it was the turn of the Carthaginians - the Later ones to be precise. 

I even chose a Children's Version of the list, complete with Elephants, warband and a Numidian ally - not even the proper players choice of "Wall-o-Spear" or apparently the Spanish ally(?). Even though the main objective was to deploy the army I had also played 2 practice games with it though - enough to realize that the warband command was always going to die, so I had at least not let the CinC command it - a good decision as it turns out.

Game 1 (well, game 5 actually).

• vs Ch'in Chinese

This game came after 4 preview games - one with Lusignian Cypriot and one of 6mm Fire & Fury - so as you can see I was really taking things seriously. However this extreme level of preparation failed to extend to me actually remembering several of the fairly significant rules of play, and indeed of using those I did effectively.

Being a defending 4 command army with plenty of Cv, Elephants and Lh (O) playing a 3 command army unlikely to feature any of these things in spades I chose to get myself off to a great start by sending my ally off on a flank march, thus depriving myself of any options at deployment, and also reducing my opportunity to do any outflanking moves. I also then narrowed down the table further by placing 4 pieces of terrain, all of which fell at the front of my deployment zone, pinning me back like a masochistic canary firmly fastened into the middle of a dartboard. 

I then proceeded to split my army, leaving the mounted command isolated and unsupported on one side of a wood and my highly mobile & flexible center to fend for itself. I also hid 5 auxilia in a wood, from whence they never appeared all game.

However this wasn't enough, and my warband command were deployed facing a block of Ax (X) - which they didn't really fancy (having not read the bit in the rules that says the Q/kill Ax (X) before the game) so I allocated all my pips to change their neat solid line into a series of uncoordinated columns which were then instead launched piecemeal against a Bw/Bd(F) block whilst 4 auxilia of my own took on the 12 auxilia X of my opponent.

Surprisingly, none of this went particularly well, and inside a couple of hours I was back in the bar with a pint in my hand and with my arse sat on the table across from me next to the ashtray where I had made some room to put it after Mr Peregrine Young had earlier quite rightly handed it to me on a plate. 0-10

Game 2

• vs Alans

  Com1		LhS	7	KnF	6	LhS	6
  LhS	6	KnF	5	LhS	6	KnF	6
  LhS Gen	1	LhS Gen	1	KnF Gen	1	KnF Gen	1
  	7		13		13		13

When swimming with the pond life you ideally want to meet a larval-stage water-boatman with hydrophobia, not a great big hairy frog with a sharp pointy stick. However both myself and Mr Phil "The Flank March Alone From My Last Army Nearly Destroyed 25mm As A Competitive Game In This Country" Jelley found ourselves both in the mindset of bugs staring at amphibians come Saturday morning. 

Rather surprisingly I deployed a river as attacker, and even more surprisingly the Alans came out with some very small gentle hills. I stuck the warband command next to the river, the spears down the middle and the cavalry, supported by the Numidians on the flank. The Alans went for a rather surprising "stick all the Lh out front and keep the Kn as a reserve ready to commit" tactic (shocker!).

A combination of iffy pips by the Alans and rather confusing aggressive advances by the Carthaginians ("erm, why are those Wb (F) trying to rush us - we're Kn (F)?") restricted the knight redeployment (mountains & Mohammed...?) as the Alans instead concentrated on separating their Lh into smaller groups and scattering them in front of the lines.

This ultimately was to prove their undoing as it allowed first the Ps (O) from the spear command, and then the elephants and Ps (S) from the warband command to catch a good fistful of LH... and kill them all !

On the left a Mexican standoff had developed with the Alan Lh line not quite brave enough (well, as 13EE for the command what do you expect?) to come off a hill and fight my Numidians and mounted command. Then the Alan knights suddenly decided to find out what all the fuss was about - bursting through their own Lh - just as across the table similar things were happening, as knights charged spears and knights charged elephants and warband (and Ps (S) actually). But, even in the ensuing crapshoot the Alans command sizes - and losses to date - and opponents who were generally on better factors than them - all counted, and it was 10-0 to the Carthos!

Game 3 vs More Ch'in

Great matchup.  I got the warband into the spears, who were in a single rank (although supported) and my spears into the front of impetuous Bf (F) who were attempting to save some bowmen. My two mounted commands were falling back coherently in front of the chariot command, leaving the elephant as a deadly breakwater, and even managed to shift a couple of spears to help.

But I lost, quickly, and 0-10. Again.

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