Saturday, April 2, 2011

Field of Glory Game

I had a game scheduled with the group today, but one fellow got sick, and the other remembered a nephew's birthday, so I was stuck gaming alone.

I broke out my 28mm Field of Glory armies and played my first game with them.

Both armies got a pretty standard deployment. Carthage started with cavalry on the extreme flanks, Gallic and Spanish infantry on the wings, and Libyan spearmen with elephants in the center. That unfinished wooden square behind the Carthaginian line is their fortified camp.


The Romans also started with a very conventional deployment: cavalry on the flanks, heavy infantry in a solid mass in the center.


As the two armies advanced toward each other, Carthage threw its cavalry out in advance of the infantry line, hoping to flank the Romans and force them to break their neat line. Both sides extended their light infantry into skirmish order.



Carthage definitely gets the better of the skirmish battle. They have two units of light horse and two large units of light foot. The Romans have only two small units of javelinmen.


The Roman cavalry on each flank charged the Numidians, who evaded on both flanks, leaving the Romans to strike the formed Spanish and Gallic cavalry. Meanwhile, the Carthaginian light foot chased off the velites, leaving the Roman main line uncovered.


Surprisingly, the Romans won the cavalry battles on both flanks, destroying the Gauls in two turns and the Spanish in four. Even with the Numidians nipping at their flanks, the Roman cavalry carried the day.


The Roman heavy foot charged the Carthaginian javelinmen and slingers, scattering them and uncovering Carthage's main line. The two opposing lines settled into the long grind that is infantry combat in this game. The big surprise was the complete failure of the elephants, which were destroyed in only two turns without causing the Romans to lose a single base.


Halfway through the infantry fight, the Roman consul attached himself to a wavering unit of hastati. The hastati lost the next round of combat, and Carthage made the roll to kill the consul!


Two Roman units broke and ran for the rear. One little unit of principes held up the Gallic infantry, but Carthage had spearmen headed for the Roman camp, with only velites in their path!


Carthage broke the Roman center, but a Roman wing commander rallied one unit of hastati and opposed the breakthrough. The Roman cavalry on the flanks destroyed the Numidian light horse and maneuvered to hit the Carthaginian infantry's flanks. And two Roman infantry units on the right managed to destroy a unit of Libyans and chase a Carthaginian general away from the fighting.

With six units destroyed or broken, and with their camp wide open to the victorious Roman infantry, the remnants of the Carthaginian army had to flee.

I enjoyed the game more than any other session of Field of Glory that I've played. I'm sure I am still doing some things wrong (the game is so complex!), but the rules made more sense to me this time than they ever have before.

9 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had a great game, nice photo's and figures. I not played the rules yet, like you said I think they're gonna be a little too complex??

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  2. I have the rules and have yet to play a game myself. I'm really looking for a good ancient/medieval game.

    That said, my first army is either going to be Late Republican Rome or Later Crusaders.

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  3. Oh, any thoughts on what clicked this time?

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  4. I think I am getting more used to the combat resolution. It has three or four steps, which makes it slow moving at first.

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  5. Very nice looking mini's on the board. Always nice to get some gaming in.

    Cheers
    Christopher

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  6. Sometimes it's just easier to think without other people around! ;-)

    I play FOG on my PC, and like it, but when it comes to gaming on the tabletop, I MUCH prefer Command & Colors: Ancients.

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  7. Really good batrep. Figures look great.

    I think combat was the toughest thing to understand in FOG, but once you understand it, its a great set of rules.

    I think I'm something like 11-2 in terms of Romans vs Carthos in FOG rules. I always aim to get 2-3 BG into 1BG of the opposition (usually by stepping the triarii up after impact). Usually does the trick.

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  8. Hi Scott,

    Love the figures! Truly inspiring! :)

    I sent you an email a few days ago on your new email address and it seems to have bounced back. Can you give me a ring? 815-230-9303

    Cheers,

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  9. Great report and wonderful minis - thanks for sharing!

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