Saturday, 9 April 2022

Gaugamela and other stuff 😀

Is it just me or does time seem to get faster ? Not sure why I have been so busy the weather has generally been great and with my son back for a week I don’t seem to have made much progress, but we have done lots of walking and I have made some small progress.

First up before he returned to the ‘Smokey city down south’ we managed to get in our second C&C game this time Gaugemela. Alexander and the Macedonians are massively outnumbered but the Persians under Darius III still have limited leadership so it will be hard to make the numbers count. Just a few shots of the  battle.

Our setup using my hex system and 28mm figures.
Alexander’s force with 4 blocks of heavy Macedonian pikemen in the centre
The vast Persian army……?
Darius foolishly doesn’t realise how fragile his elephants are sending them in against Macedonian light troops who get the better of the fight
Persian chariots also prove ineffective 
But the Persians gradually start to make headway and the Macedonian attack is blunted
Darius knocks out two of the heavy pike blocks
And Parmenio Alexander’s trusted general pays with his life. The battle is hard fought and balanced
But somehow the Macedonians manage to win again, at least the Persians put up a better fight than at Granicus.
Last weekend I played a remote Napoleonic battle against Jon which he has already written up on his blog, a very enjoyable encounter.
The weather has been kind (cold but dry) and we have had lots of opportunity to get out walking. Above a trip to High Cup Nick
Here a fantastic walk out in the central fells on Friday.
Another fly by which seems to be quite regular on Fridays
I have been running out (actually ran out) of storage boxes. After searching the internet and getting a reasonable deal these arrived, how long I wonder before these are filled ?
Finally and about time a unit painted, these are foundry Afghan cavalry bought at York show. I have added extra rifles/carbines to all the figures and given them a more 20th Century feel with khaki colours. They will play as an suitable tribal cavalry from Central Asia.

That’s it for now hopefully another game tomorrow and some more painting

Thanks for looking Matt


32 comments:

  1. Great looking games (I would say that now wouldn't I!) and gorgeous scenery. Weather not so great here in the PNW. Light snow today with more snow expected tomorrow. Cold and windy too!

    Time certainly is flying for me too. I do not know where it goes. Perhaps time remains the same but it seems to pass more quickly since I am slowing down?

    Great stack of empty boxes. You have some serious work to do to fill them.

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    1. Thanks Jon you can certainly take credit for the Naps ! Many of us seem to ponder about the pace of time ? As for the boxes I needed a lot to get the best price and free postage these may well last a very long time ?

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  2. Lots of great stuff on here Matt.. The Ancient game looks great, although I am a bit surprised that elephants are "brittle"! The new Afghan cavalry look good and of course the scenery in the Lakes is stunning as always! Even the pike of empty plastic storage boxes is impressive in its own way.....

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    1. It was only after I charged my sons light infantry that he told me this was a bad tactical mistake ! comments like you should have charged the heavy infantry were very unhelpful as his lights finished them off ! As for the boxes they aren’t all going to be filled any time soon

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  3. Nice report and impressive pile of boxes, what would we do without them.

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    1. Thanks George, RUB are now an essential part of our Wargame collection, getting them cheap is the secret !

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  4. loads of cool things, I've had a pause post the challenge and a tidy up.

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  5. Game great as always but other stuff!!!

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  6. That pile of boxes puts the three I bought last week into the shade! Nice landscape pictures, I do enjoy those on your blog Matt.

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    1. I already have a few figures waiting boxes, but I do expect them to start a very long time 👍

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  7. Time certainly is flying by as all of a sudden, it's the weekend again, although being retired each day seems the same to me. A nice mix of game as always and the Afghan units look great too. I need to address my storage situation once we have re-furnished the lounge at some point. I'm hoping for some dedicated storage, if I'm lucky.

    Lovely walks but I can imagine it must have been pretty cold up there, as it was somewhat fresh here in Bristol, even when out of the wind.

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    1. Thanks Steve. I’m looking forward to a different pace of life when I retire which is not so long now 😀 but storage is a real issue unless you are very lucky to have a lot of space

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  8. Wonderful looking walking country Matt.
    Life is like a toilet roll, the closer we get to the end, the faster it seems to go.

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    1. Thanks Pat, if only we could just change the roll 😀

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  9. Great looking game. I also like the look of those Afghans

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    1. Thanks Neil Foundry figures just painted in a more modern style 👍

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  10. Fantastic stuff, the Persians on the wrong end, yet again :-(
    The Afghan cavalry look great.
    Cheers
    Stu

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    1. I wish I could say I let my son win but we are way beyond that 😢

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  11. Great looking games and sights, Matt. That's a lot of storage containers to fill - but I know you'll likely need more :)

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    1. Thanks Dean it might take me while to fill them but I don’t need to worry for a while 👍

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  12. At least it was nice to see the elephants get into contact Matt, even if it was against light troops. They seem to lumber across the table to little effect in many of the games we have.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence I was underwhelmed when my elephants keeled over within a couple of turns 😢

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  13. A grand game of C & C there Matt, must say it looks better with figures. Fine looking Afghan cavalry it was good to see them in action, not good for them though ;~) Wonderful outdoor shots again too.

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    1. Thanks Phil, C&C is a fun game and yes it works well with real figures making it look more like a proper wargame. The outdoor has been splendid recently

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  14. Great looking game and terrain, I like your Afghan cavalry and storage is always useful!
    Best Iain

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  15. Well that explains the speed of time....you've been busy! Ever since I played Batle Lore, I've come to appreciate the fun & some of the strategy behind the hex system games. What I really like is that you can have a large battle completed in a few hours, vs many hours from those Monster Napoleonic games of yore.

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    1. Thanks Terry, agree completely the benefit of the hexes is that ability to refight a larger battle and get some sort of resolution 👍

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  16. Cracking stuff Matt…
    You say time flies… But you certainly don’t waste it…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks Aly…….I feel I need to crack on with more stuff !

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