II/82a Western Patrician Roman v III/35b Feudal Spanish

A last chance to get my new armies on the table before the end of the year! I'm using a 1.2m square board. It's a broad valley, narrowing to a defile: featuring steep hills on three sides with low, wooded hills within the valley.

Romans roll defender and field a German-heavy option, and elect to keep an Ax back in their fort. With a feeling they ought to have opted for a Hun LH they have 3x4Wb, 1xBd, 2x4Ax, 2xPs, 1Cv, 2x3Kn, and a KnGen. 

Spanish roll aggressor and field the first or main of any option. This leaves them a core of 3x4Sp supported by fast Cb; two javelin toting Ps, one LH for annoying enemy deployment of light troops, one Cv for killing said light troops, and the real strength, 3Kn and a KnGen. 

The Spanish push lighter groups up near the limit of deployment. It's nice to have plenty of room!

Turn 1

PatRom PIP=1!

The mass of troops move forward at slowest pace, 2BW.

FeuSpa PIP=6!

Left flank LH+Ps race forward then split, the Ps ducking inward to ZOC PatRom right; LH stays clear ready to zip round further if the next roll is a 6. (Spoilers: it is not.)

Turn 2

PatRom PIP=3, and the warbands wheel up into the wooded hill cover. 

FeuSpa PIP=3, so playing safe, the Ps and LH pull back while the main mass of troops walk forward.

Turns 3 to 4:

Both sides use crafty maneuvers. PatRom Cv races in, is flanked by Ps before Wb can support; but it holds on long enough for the Wb to in turn trap the Ps. The FeuSpa LH races back to its own lines before it too can be trapped!

Turns 5 to 7

PatRoms decide to attack left while holding right. The Wb begin the slow process of getting across to mark the FeuSpa Sp, covered by their Cv, while the bulk of forces wheel left (below); in response the FeuSpa get their left flank wheeling forward and prep for their main advance by spreading out on their right (below).

These processes work best for the PatRom, though only by leaving their left flank horribly exposed:

And again, although the FeuSpa push their Cb into the wooded hill to match the Wb, their left flank Kn can't ever quite catch the other two Wb!

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Turns 8 to 10

The FeuSpa get a real roll on and attack all along the line! Their left Kn and right Cv slaughter a Ps and Wb!

With precious few PIPs to spend the PatRom KnGen commits himself right, and destroys one of the Kn! And in the woods, that audacious Sp element is made to pay: a Wb manages to front up and immediately destroys it!

But the shoe is on the other foot as the FeuSpa pounce on the isolated enemy general!

Turns 11 to 12

Draw! Draw! Draw! The melee continues around the two generals, more and more elements being sucked in. Meanwhile the FeuSpa Cv pounce on the seemingly-easy target, Ps.

The PatRom Ps score a 6:1 over the Cv! And with that, they have their 4 elements to 2 victory!

Both sides look great, and although it's a shame that the Feudal Spanish could not win, it's nice to have a Roman side that does not suck.

The strange pull of Book III's steppe armies

 I have finally completed what threatens to be an ever-growing morph.

The aggregated force:

This aggregate army gives me either:

III/1 Slav: Definitely III1c Southern Slav, and options to combine Vikings or Carolingian period German Knights to cover III/1a. The 1b army Western Slavs are spear-heavy, so probably not those.

III/16 Khazar: Pending the completion of a bolt-thrower, only the more mobile options.

I have put together two war-wagons as at Dec2021, so that the army will also suit III/47 Pecheneg very well.

Some close-ups

For foot troops in particular I tried to paint with a natural fiber, natural dye kind of blend. Mounted troops get more rich silk and bold type colors.

I think of this as my CvGen, all Orion minis

light horse examples from Orion

two examples of the Orion cavalry

the horde elements are mostly Orion Skythians with a few Orion Slavs

Orion Slavs feature a surprising variety of archer minis, and mixing those with other Orion minis permits a nice mixture.

Slavs left, Skythians right. The odd couple at center are Greek staff slingers from Alexander's Lights by HaT.