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| At the start of the battle the Spanish plan is to try and hold the high ground and river banks. |
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| However the Celts easily crossed the river on their left flank... I'm doing my usual thing of using trees as move markers. |
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| On the right, the Spanish lights reach the line of the other river before the Celts reach. In the centre, the Spanish are perched on two hills - with the disadvantage that there is a gap between the hills. |
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| The fight on the Spanish left has started and the Spanish cavalry are facing the ends of the Celtic right centre. I used 15mm trees for this battle as they fit in with the terrain better size-wise. |
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| The forward Spanish hill is about to get attacked to the front. |
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| Those Spaniards holding level ground between the hill and the river don't fare well. |
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| A view of the Spanish right flank show it under pressure - the Celts on the other bank are approaching the river as well. |
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| Meanwhile on the Spanish extreme left the Celts are making headway. |
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| The Spanish left and left-centre. The cavalry are doing well, the light infantry less so. |
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| Right centre is a similar story - Spaniards on the hill killing off an assault while the Spaniards on the plain die bravely. |
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| Spanish right flank the Celts are quickly approaching the river line as the Spanish try to cover any possible crossing. |
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| Meanwhile the second Spanish line awaits the onslaught. |
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| Spanish extreme left looking increasingly fragile. |
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| A view of the battle at the end of Move 4 taken from the Spanish left flank. |
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| And a similar view from the Spanish right. |
It looks really strange seeing some of my boards back in action Rob. By the way the odd looking board is onbe of the original prototypes. You can make it blend in by going to Wilko's and buying a sample pot of their bright yellow.
ReplyDeleteI don't tink I'd dare try! The boards certainly make a difference in the battlefield - put them down and, from the player viewpoint, you're constricted by the terrain instead of controlling it. Makes you think more - when you totally decide what terrain to use I think you're already deciding setup and tactics.
DeleteI enjoyed this one. Some favourite old figures in there, figures that were being replaced just as I was getting started.
ReplyDeleteThe boards look good, as for the varying colour, I would assume that it was varying vegetation. When I was looking around here for inspiration/reference prior to painting my table, I was surprised to realize that no 2 hills or fields were the same colour and that some changed colour when the sun went behind a cloud or moved across the sky.
Only thing I made a point of lining up were the rivers/streams, put a half hearted attempt to match the earth coloured areas. Overall, looks OK colourwise on the actual board so happy with the variations.
DeleteLovely game and so nice to see those old warriors in action. I do like those older style Minifigs horses - smaller but more elegant than the ones that replaced them. Characteristically chunky spears and javelins too! I have some of these Spanish - some look identical but with much thinner spears - do you know which came first: thick or thin?
ReplyDeleteDon't specifically know about the Spanish but the first Macedonians had thick telegraph poles, later ones thinner. The original Macedonian shieldless Companion had a very short thin spear; I ordered some when they were first released and when the order arrived there were already some with longer spears present! Generally, for PB series the order was thick spears, thin spears (that broke easily!) then separate spears.
DeleteThanks for that. Yes that is my impression from looking at the catalogues and known early examples. The very thin ones must have been hellish to cast as well as very fragile - but can be replaced with wire if you are careful.
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