To the Strongest! Chaeronea Refight

The fellas came over today to show off new toys and play a couple of games!

Kevin is making his own game to refight Culloden.  Since he and I both had ancestors there, we have an interest in the battle!  Here he shows me some of the labelled troop blocks he has made.

John and I thought they looked spiffy!  Kevin hired a graphic designer and really has the makings of a cool game.

We played some "Table Battles" from Hollandspiele, a game that Kevin and I enjoy.  This was Jon's first time with the game, and he wasn't sold on it.  After a break for lunch, we headed into my gaming room to play To the Strongest!

Jon had to get some pictures of the troops right away. I think he was impressed! The Old Glory 15mm ancients paint up very nicely, and this was the first time my group has gamed with these figures.

To the Strongest uses playing cards for activation and combat resolution.  Units can activate multiple times, but once one fails an activation, the whole command stops.

The Greeks (right) were able to move forward while keeping their line in good order.

The Macedonians advanced too.  Kevin led with his left, Alexander and the companion cavalry.

Once the Macedonian heavy horse got into contact, the combat became fast and furious!  Alexander's ability to reroll failures kept the companions chipping away at the Theban hoplites.

Jon pushed the Greek left forward and came to grips with the Macedonian pikemen.  Both hoplites and pike phalanxes are tough to kill!

Eventually the Macedonian horse swept around the Greek right and won the day.

After this first match, Kevin and I played again, with me taking the Greeks.  Again Kevin was victorious!  The fellows enjoyed the rules, and I think we will get To the Strongest on the table again.  We all agreed that the use of squares really speeds up gameplay.  We were able to finish two full games in two and a half hours.