Mortem Et Gloriam another try out

Another game of MEG with Stephen today with my venerable Sassanid Persians facing his Late Imperial Romans at 12000 points apiece.

This yielded 15 units for my lot and 12 for Romans although in hindsight I would have been better with one unit of 4 Elephants rather than the 2 units of two which are a tad brittle.
I defended and we set up in plains which yields minimal terrain options.
Romans had large area of Rocky Ground protecting one flank I had a smaller piece and a Rough Hill was only other item that remained on table (like FOG opponent dices to move/remove terrain one places).

We both had 4 Generals and both had a Talented CinC , 2 Competent and 1 Mediocre Sub-Generals.
Being mostly mounted Persians won the Scouting 'battle' and so Romans deployed groups first (Ala FOG its an alternate deployment in batches of 4 or so).

Romans moved first and we pretty much plowed into each other.
The Legionaries are very tough in MEG with Impact Weapons, Protection (Armour and shields) and in this case Darts and Integral Archer support (useful factor when defending against Mounted charges) and being Drilled (equivalent of good Regular training) troops the maneuver very well doing most things on Green or better cards.
My Cavalry were mostly Formed (poor Regulars or Irregulars) so not such fancy dancers needing Yellow cards for several moves.
I had a couple of Tribal (poor/clumsy Irregulars) units including the Elephants which essentially go ahead only unless one of the rare Red cards is utilised.

The use of the cards to Prompt charges/moves with various units types and classes was much easier to grasp this time than last (practice makes perfect) so this part of game really flowed.

We had a lot more shooting and melee than in the last game and so got into the nitty gritty of the combat system.
Pretty intuitive stuff when it comes to tactical advantages and weapon interactions (but much simpler than FOG) and the use of special dice works very well to (akin to Command & Colours board game to a degree).

The Legionaries and Auxilia showed their mettle against all but my unit of Superior Cataphracts with the advantage generally in their favour.
The mostly rolled Green or Yellow dice whilst I rolled White (flipped vs Cataphracts).
My Elephants suffered by being on 2 base units as all units in MEG are routed/destroyed on reaching 50% losses, so loss of one 'Nellie' in each unit caused 'Kill A Base' tests on units within 3 Base widths (all measurements are in BW in MEG).

The game was pretty bloody for us both but the Persians cracked first upon losing their 6th Tactical Unit (loss of Skirmisher type units does not affect Victory as such).

We really enjoyed the game today as we got into the rules much more with a greater variety of troop interactions and combats.
We both feel these are an excellent set of rules that will vie with ADLG as our go to Ancients set.

Combat Commander three scenarios played

Game of Combat Commander with my Dad and we managed to get in three scenarios.

First was on Eastern Front around Velyikie Luki in 1943 the next two were in Normandy pitting the British Airbourne against Germans at Benouville Bridge and then the Yanks storming Point Du Hoc.

All scenarios played before but part of the appeal of Combat Commander is that a scenario seldom plays the same twice or more.

As ever three super games with this excellent game.














Action on the Ost Front

Red Devils at Benouville bridge

Rangers storm Point Du Hoc

Over The Hills rules solo try

Had a trial run solo with newly acquired Over The Hills Napoleonic rules and jolly nice they are too.
Nothing particularly radical or innovative but they do work.
Game is geared towards a Divisional sized (maybe Corps on larger tables) encounter units grouped into Brigade/Regimental formations (somewhat akin in scale to Lasalle, Imperial Eagles or Napoleon At War)
First half of rule book is essentially the basics with a streamlined set of rules, the second half is Optional rules that add more detail and/or period flavour.
Very much up to players which Optional rules they adopt.
I left out the orders system (very like Gen De Brigade) but tried just about everything else.
I may or may not use the Optional movement rules (by flank, by echelon etc) whilst outside enemy engagement zone or use the simpler 'anything goes' system of the basic rules (very like Black Powders system)
The Combat and Shooting systems use a D10 which is bit different with you general having to roll equal to or under a base number which then yields 0-3 hits after various tactical factors are accounted for (again Options expand the number and effects of these.
Melee is conducted over a maximum of 3 melee rounds with Combat possibly varying between rounds.
Morale is fairly non-existent in Basic game (units are either Dead or in Action) but options introduce various Morale Tests and Wavering and Routing units and suchlike.
Units are rated by Fatigue Strengths which is an amalgam of Morale and Numbers and can be depleted or restored in several ways, again fairly intuitive stuff.
Infantry are also rated by Skirmish ability A - D class with A being best.
Usual formations are available and basing is fairly flexible.
Commanders are rated for Command Range, Rally Ability and Combat Influence/Charisma.
Movement is divided into segments of various rates with differing formations allowing varied numbers of segments.
For example a unit in Line might move 2 possible segments but suffer 1 Fatigue if it uses any part of second segment, whereas an Attack Column could move 3 segments with the third inflicting a Fatigue.
Moving through delaying terrain is either at full pelt but suffering 1 Fatigue or half rate without fatigue being suffered.
The sequence of play consists of several phases but it is essentially, Player A acts then Player B acts with one Moving before the other Fires and so on.
Some example historical OOBs included and a Points system but no Historical Scenarios (no doubt a supplement planned ?)

As I said nothing really earth shattering in how the rules address the various aspects of Napoleonic Wargaming but they do give an enjoyable game.

Only downside I found is that with Basic and Optional rules being split in the book it can get bit confusing searching for which rule you are applying or is updated/optional.
Also one or two key rules are kind of 'hidden' in the text and easily missed.
The QRS included is functional but I feel could be greatly expanded to cover more basic principles.
The set is well supported with a Yahoo Forum and Facebook pages and I had very quick answers to a few minor queries.

Overall a thumbs up for me for this rules set which is a nice alternative to use.


Cuirassiers clash with Prussian Hussars after emerging from a depression

Young Guard advance (rings indicate those still retaining initial volley bonus)

More Young Guard Battalions push forward, they have B Class skirmish ability so 2 bases of skirmishers to the fore (C class have only 1)

Prussian defend a cornfield

And some high ground

From approaching French

Overview of the field of battle

French center advances

French left wing across the river

Mortem Et Gloriam first try

Had quick trial game with these new Ancients rules with Stephen using my Punic Romans against his Carthaginians.

We used about 11000 points each yielding 14 Roman and 13 Carthaginian units.

Very interesting set of rules sort of play like Field of Glory but with 'inertia' due to card play.

Did not finish game as not much time and we had lots of rule referencing as first trial.

But looks to be a good fast playing game.

Requires some thought re optimum card play.

Need to play more to get into nuances of system.

Will it supercede La A'rt De L Guerre for us ? 

Maybe not but possibly a nice alternative.

New acquisitions

Despite a dearth of gaming time at present I did manage to feed the addiction :-)