Clubbing it! Troy's Anabasis into the Gobi- Trojans vs Han Chinese

 

We played another Chariot Wars era game. The relentless Trojan anabasis east took them to the arid plains of the Gobi Desert! As the sun rose quickly, facing them along a ridge line was the might of the army of the Han Dynasty! In the image above, the armies face off.

Below, Xiongnu Horse archers make a dash for the Trojan Right flank protected only with a think line of Chariot Runners to protect the chariots from the missiles of the enemy. 

General Trojan Advance

Turn 2, The Trojan Chariot unit charged the Han Bolt Thrower/Torsion Engine who fled off the table. 

Boy do those Trojan Chariot Runners enjoy a nice early sprint towards the table edge! Is rolling a 5 to rally on 2D6 a possibility? That would be a resounding no! The Trojan (operative word) Warbands continue the advance. 

Han Chinese Light Cavalry charge into the flank of the Trojan Warbands. I should explain. The Trojan Gneral (yep, that would be me!) completely forgot that Warbands halve all their movement including when they march if they Wheel. Oops! Big oops in fact! This left the Trojan Warband unable to turn around to face the cavalry threat and unable to turn and move forward enough to avoid being flank charged by said cavalry! I figured as a close Order unit with the stability that ranks afford, they would have a static combat resolution of +4, whilst the Cavalry have just +1 and they would to stand despite being charged in the flank; especially given the placement of my General and ASB who were both within 12" (Ld 9 and a re-roll if necessary).

Meanwhile the Han's Xoingnu allies pick a fight with the Chariot Runners who promptly leg it, never stopping until safely off the edge of the World!

Oops!

The "problem" from the Trojan perspective.

Crash!

As predicted, the Trojan Infantry hold but I had managed to make yet another mistake! I thought that the Trojan Warband had to be engaged and the flank in order to the front to lose their rank bonus. Wrong! This not being the case put them in even more trouble than I had anticipated! They lost the combat but just about manged to hold due to the proximity of the Army general and ASB.

The Han charge with a unit of spearmen hitting the corner of the Trojan Warband but providing precious static combat resolution to the ongoing melee. The Trojans break to be pursued by the Han infantry and cavalry. In the next turn they rally and form as strong a position as possible by redressing the ranks. ***This is where I fall out a bit with the rules, as despite playing the Trojans, I don't think a unit should be able to rally into a position where they would have a stronger static combat resolution should the enemy charge again.***

The last desperate charge of two units of Trojan chariots including the army general and ASB in order to salvage something if only for the sake of their honour! It was not to be as I must have rolled the worst set of dice I have rolled in any game of WAB I have played in a long time! Well done to my Han opponent who wiped the flower of Troy from the map! 

All in all, another great game and a great deal of fun. with more to come next week with any luck.

Longbow Master Richard Head on looking at selecting some Yew staves for the English Longbow.

Clubbing it! Another Chariot Wars Game, ADLG, Art De La Guerre Piccies

I'm afraid, dear reader, that all I have time for this week is to post up some pictures of the last WAB, Chariot Wars game we played and a couple of the ADLG, Art De La Guerre game that was going on on the next table. I messed up and, despite using my phone in place of a camera I didn't take pictures of the last third of the game (basically a senior moment of forgetfulness lol). I'm also suffering the recent effects of having an infected root canal molar pulled and the last thing I want to do is write out a full Bat Rep. i kind of just want to relax and maybe sleep a little this Sunday!

One thing i must remember to do, it to take some pictures of the game with a camera and with my phone. The overall difference in quality is astounding with the camera. The camera, despite being only a Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ82 is a bridge camera, has massive advantages over a phone's lens in that the camera has a massive optical zoom range, optical image stabilization, electronic viewfinder, macro and close focus ability and the ability to take very exposures. also, the phone seems to have the uncanny ability, to use a technical term, "make shit up" if one takes publishing taking very large files into account I always have to reduce my files down to much smaller sizes with the phone).

Anyhooo..... without further ado:

WAB, Chariot Wars, Trojans vs Sea Peoples:

ADLG, Art De La Guerre, Sassanid Persians vs Late Romans:

Wor Lard, Lardy Games Day Durham Club November 2025

I was kept away by my lovely neighbours all throughout the night prior to the event so some of my recollections of how the rules played in the two games are a little hazy. The games I played were Fire in the Sky, a WWII Air War game and Midgard Heroic Battles. Both games were great fun. If I chose between the two I'd have to go for the bloodthirstiness and "up and at 'em" Midgard Heroic Battles which not only scratched the "good laugh" itch but also my obsession with Post Roman/Early Medieval warfare. Midgard Heroic Battles was a set of rules which, despite being "scudded", I absolutely loved playing. 

The pictures of these two games are interspersed with two games of Chain of Command, in 28mm and 15mm respectively. I'm afraid that I forgot to take any pictures of Conrad's fab looking game of What a Tanker, Apologies if you're reading this Conrad, you can blame my neighbours! 

Chain of Command 15mm.

Chain of Command 28mm

Fire in the Sky:

Midgard Heroic Battles: