Over the last few months my 10mm WOTR armies have been undergoing a major upgrade and a complete rebase. The project is now at about two thirds completion and there are enough finished units to put on a game. I also have a nice new battle mat although the terrain is still a work in progress.
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| The Armies Before Rebasing |
Hence, this week's remote game was to be Bloody Barons via the medium of WhatsApp. Unfortunately, the lighting is terrible in my back room and the game photos weren't great but as I've had a request to record the game here we go......
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| The Opposing Forces Muster - fully rebased |
For this inaugural battle the forces were:
Lord Sacriston T
Baron d'Eclair T
Count Catchmole M
2 Household
6 Retinue
4 Levy
2 Handgunners
2 Light guns
Sir Falus de Farthingdale, Lord Waldridge ATM
Lord Lambton A
Marquis Ravensworth ATU
3 Household
5 Retinue
3 Levy
1 handgunners
1 Heavy gun
The game began with a general advance by Sacriston, pulling in a unit from the right flank to bolster his centre facing the hill. Even Count Catchmole left the safety of his hill, presumably to 'dig in' in the hedgerow country on the right flank.
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| The Forces Deploy |
Lord Waldridge won the pregame, becoming the attacker. Sacriston deployed first with an even mix of units across his front. Unusually, Waldridge chose to deploy a mainly Levy centre, in the wood, with massed Household on his left flank and his right flank in boggy ground.
After carrying out defender depletions, it turned out that most of the defenders Levy had not turned up and several units were down by half a base.
Both sides had also chosen to advance there left centre zones. This put Lord Waldridge in command of the central hill with a force of 2 Levy and a Retinue.
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| Ready to Begin |
Both sides gained slight bonuses in the Scenario phase with the Defenders having a slight advantage.
One of Sacriston's units was upgraded to Household and Waldridge's position on the hill was undermined by his Retinue being put back into the reinforcement area. On the plus side, for Waldridge, it was apparently an unseasonably hot day and the bog had dried up.
Waldridge's centre was now dangerously weak but the non arrival of Sacriston's Levy meant he wasn't in a position to take advantage of this.
Waldridge also advanced to meet Sacriston's attack head on and an archery duel commenced.
Taking advantage of a good archery result, supported by fire from his light gun, Sacriston launched an attack against the uncommanded Ward opposite, driving them back to their baseline.
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| Sacriston Pierces Waldridge's Line |
[ Note: the nasty yellow counters, in the photos, are casualty markers and the red shock markers show units that are out of order. I have plans for better markers but for the purposes of this game I felt the brightly coloured markers helped players see the action better.]
With his weakened left centre held by Levy and his right centre being driven back, Waldridge commanded an all out attack on both flanks. Both attacks were successful with d'Eclair and Catchmole's Wards being driven back to their start lines; d'Eclair falling in the process. By contrast Catchmole led a charmed life and survived against all expectations.
Despite his early success, the tide was now turning against Sacriston, with both flanks falling back. Nevertheless, his own Ward continued their advance driving the opposing Ward from the table.
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| A Blurry Sacriston Drives Forward Whilst His Flanks Collapse |
Unfortunately, this was too little, too late as the next move so both his flanks driven from the field; even the charmed Catchmole falling in the process.
All in all this was a successful game and the players seemed to enjoy the proceedings, despite the limitations of the format. The Peter Pig style grid system is a real benefit for remote gaming.
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