Monday 3 June 2013

Pikes, pachyderms and Partizan

Yesterday we played the long-planned game of Raphia at Partizan.

I was far too busy to take many photos, but I did get a few good shots of the setup, and one of the team involved; so here goes!  This is a view down the 14' long table; the Seleucids being on the right.


Below, this is my phalanx, with first the agema/peltastoi, then the libyans, the five chalkaspides and three deeper machimoi taxis; some 600 minis with long pointy sticks!  There were 11 lovely Aventine  elephants on the table, and Craig's phalanx was very colourful in pink and blue.  


Below, Craig's lovely converted arabs stare across the plain towards the Egyptian phalanx, no doubt with considerable trepidation...


A view from behind the Seleucid left flank.


There seems to be something wrong with our elephants today... an African elephant routs through the King's Companions.


And below, an Indian routs through the Seleucid mercenary phalanx.


Eventually the Seleucid cavalry were able to turn onto the exposed wing of the Ptolemaic phalanx, and roll it up.  


I hope to get some more shots of the battle, later.  My "To the Strongest!") rules worked very well, in their largest test to date, and Keith and Craig had a couple of very interesting suggestions, that I am pondering...

Craig has posted a fuller AAR here.

Here are the various involved parties: Keith, Adam, Craig, John, yrs. truly and Dug.


Partizan was great fun; very well organised, as ever, and I love the high ceiling of the main hall.  Sadly I didn't have time to see many of the other games, or even spend any money.  I did meet lots of bloggers and gamers, though, and enjoyed chatting with the WSS crew on the next table, too, as well as catching up with Keith, Adam, Dug and Craig.  

Now...  what to do next?  ;-)

28 comments:

Steve h said...

Awesome!!!!!!!!!

Tarty said...

You must have been very happy with how it all turned out Simon, absolutely top shelf stuff here...doesn't come any better than this. Really an incredible effort 5 stars from me.

marinergrim said...

it was a great game to look at. well done one and all.

Unknown said...

5 stars indeed. It looked like a fantastic game.

Well done for this project.

Seb

Jonathan said...

I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed watching this project unfold and finally come to fruition - it must have been a proud moment for you and everybody involved. Well done! Whatever you decide to do next, I am looking forward to it :)

John thompson said...

I'll get my pictures sent out sometime this week Simon...once my daughter shows me how to operate the Ipad!

Thanks for the game, it was very entertaining and I thought that the rules worked well.

The civil wars of Ceaser, Pompey et al get my vote; I'm already looking at available figures.

Cheers
John

fireymonkeyboy said...

Awesome! Looks so great!

This has been such a terrific inspiration, well done to all of you.

FMB

Timur said...

That let's me without voice...
Awesome !

Simon MacDowall said...

Wow!

John Lambshead said...

That's one heck of a game.

Shaun said...

that initial shot of the two armies ready for battle is absolutely inspiring.

DeanM said...

Superb figures and terrain. The battlefield looks especially convincing. Best, Dean

Paul´s Bods said...

As Shaun has said, that opening shot is very impressive and inspiring.

roma912 said...

Superb looking table worthy of all the effort put into it!
Cheers, Ross

BigRedBat said...

Thanks all! It was a fantastic moment when all the minis were finally arrayed on the table, in those two long lines.

Cheers, Simon

Handgrenadealien said...

What a fantastic all round effort Simon, its good to see an Ancients game done on such an epic scale.
Where to go from here, well Gabiene, Paracatene, Corupedion, Panion.....

Regards HGA.

BigRedBat said...

Hi HGA, yes Gabiene/Paraitacene, particulary. Perhaps Magnesia in a year or two. Lots of potential battles...

Phil said...

Stunning pictures!!
Phil.

Cyrus said...

Fantastic looking game Simon! Armies and terrain are just brilliant.

Corporal_Trim said...

Congrats on pulling it off so well, Simon. Great looking troops and battlefield.

Regards,
Steve

Millsy said...

Absolutely stunning! Everyone involved should be congratulated. Thanks for sharing some truly amazing pics.

Dalauppror said...

Truly stunning sight !!!

Greate looking game and very nive to see all the pikes up on the table after following your struggle to paint them all, very impressive work!!!

Best regards Michael

Aidmar said...
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Aidmar said...

Great table, and the look of all these pikes together is really stunning! I think it was a really fun game. And about the rules... I am curious. Will you post a link to download it, or it will be a commercial product? Thanks!!!

BigRedBat said...

Thanks all! Kudos to Craig for painting his army whilst holding down a job and training for a triathlon, and to Keith and Adam for travelling 12 hours each way to Newark.

Aidmar, I am intending to cpublish them commercially, but it's likely to be at least 6 months as I want to play-test them a great many times and develop supporting material. I will be using them to run large games at Colours in Newbury and SELWG, this autumn, though, so there will be a chance for people to try them out. If you or anyone else are coming to one of those, and want to play, please drop me an email via the address on the front page, and I'll book you in!

Cheers, Simon

Prufrock said...

Well done to you and your team, Simon! Looks like a cracking game and a great day out all round. As an added bonus, you now have a massive amount of pike to deploy whenever you wish!

Cheers,
Aaron

Raglan said...

A big well done to everyone that was involved - now what is the next big event?

Happy walker said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.