The intro WMA gaming day at Worthy Gaming

On Saturday 19th January we had the introduction day to prepare local gamers for the Warmaster Ancients to be run on Saturday 23rd February. After the day they should be happily able to play games on their own and give their opponents a decent game.

The tables were covered with carpet tiles in two different styles, green and yellow (for a desert battlefield). All tables 180x150cm.

For the first game it was easier to get all the players involved, so that everyone could learn at the same time. The match-up was Indians vs Parthians (1,000 point armies).

The best way to attack the enemy is in the flank or rear. These Parthian horse archers got the hang of it, quickly on to the flank of these Indian infantry and whittling away at them. Using Initiative moves to get into contact, inflicting some damage (eventually they wiped out two entire Indian infantry units) and then falling back to avoid continued combat. A highly effective tactic.

A larger view of the situation. For three moves the Indians failed to move anything in this sector of the table (the elephant on a round base is their commander Porus) and just had to take it on the chin as none of the archers had a target. Once they were able to turn and face the Parthian horse archers it was a different matter however.

The main force of the Parthian army fights against a singe brigade of the Indian army but it does contain a unit of heavy chariots. This is the offensive part of the Parthian force and had their only two units of heavy troops, cataphracts.

In a frontal attack against the Indians the Parthians were successful but lost almost all their cataphracts, leaving them with very little to attack with. But with wiping out the Indian brigade, the two Indian infantry units on the other side of the table all that was needed to sucure a win was to kill two more Indian units and that was done by shooting two elephants to death with massed bow fire (3 units per elephant).

Using the single elephant rules makes elephants horribly vulnerable and easy pickings if you can attack them right and so the elephants became the downfall of the Indian army.

We took a break for lunch and over the meal discussed what we would like to do to get historical gaming going at Worthy Gaming.

For the next games we split into two games; Late Romans vs Carthaginians and Parthians vs Sassanid Persians.

Close up on the Sassanid army. The figures were only finished the night before the event, so basing still to come.

After the first move of the Parthian army. Only one brigade got to move, the others sitting and watching. In fact falling command rolls and having blunders was a feature of this game.

Close-up of the Parthians – 2 units of catapracts, a unit of foot archers and horse archers.

Again the flank attack features as the tactic of the Parthian army.

The Parthian attack certainly broke up the Sassanid brigade but at the cost of two bases of the Parthian horse archers.

Massed combat in the centre of the table. With more heavy cavalry available the Sassanids tended to win these combats.

The other game, Carthaginians vs Late Romans. The Romans advancing happily whilst the Carthaginians (foreground) failed to move most of the army, so ended up leading with the Gallic warband and two units of Numudian light cavalry (one unit of which has already lost a base to shooting).