Behind Closed Doors. Oathmark

And so, on a gloomy Saturday afternoon two consenting male adults met behind closed doors in the confines of a house in Stevenage Old Town. Their aim, to test out the Oathmark Fantasy game system, written by Joseph McCullough, the author of the popular Frostgrave skirmish game.

“Male A” had brought a Goblin horde to the table, “Male B” a re-purposed Viking army which was serving as a “Human” army. A Christian priest doubled as a “Spellcaster”.

The Humans were fielding large, deep close-combat units, the Goblins a larger number of smaller units of spear, bow, wolf-riders and an artillery piece.

“Male A” decided to advance on a short front with a refused left wing. The goblins were more strung out. The artillery/ballista hit the human archer unit. Carnage. With a range of 42” and positioned in a hill it could dominate the whole battlefield. This was going to be tricky. (Note 1) The Humans ploughed on towards the Goblin line as the Goblin left started to sweep round the flank. The archers took more damage and eventually fled the field. Then the human line hit the Goblins. One Goblin unit fled but more were there to take their place. Eventually the Goblins turned the human flank and the Humans departed the field in defeat.

So, what did we make of the much-vaunted Oathmark. It is a very simple set of rules. We took two hours simply because we didn’t know them. The rules are a bit frustrating in their layout, but nothing too problematic. Probably a decent set of rules for those who want to play Fantasy in the style of Warhammer or Kings of War.

That said if Osprey released “Oathmark Historical” (as with Kings of War Historical) would I play them in preference to To the Strongest. Definitely not (Note2) .

Simon

Note (1) The artillery debate was akin to the Palmyran Cataphract discussion albeit not conducted in Australian. It seemed a very powerful weapon for the points cost. That said its “power” could have been down to the limited terrain which did allow if to dominate the batttlefield .
Note (2) People may recall that Simon Miller did plan a “Fantasy” version of TtS, which indeed was intended to be released after the Ancient set. I wonder what ever happened to them. I must ask him!

Sassanids vs Palmyrans; the Grudge Re-Match

And so, on a dusty table in deepest, darkest Stevenage, the armies of Sassanid Persia and the mighty city state of Palmyra once again clashed to fight for pre-eminence of Eastern Syria.

After extensive, and sometimes acrimonious debate, the Sassanids had been given a 1 point per Cataphract unit benefit compared to last week. This had been spent upgrading some Sassanid units to veteran.

The Sassanid plan appeared to concentrate on overwhelming the wings, and hope that the infantry-based centre could hold on long enough for the wings to win the day. As befits an army lead by Chris and Tony, the Palmyran plan was less subtle…..

The early exchanges seemed to favour the servants of Ahura Mazda. Palmyran light cavalry died and gaps appeared on the extremes of the Palmyran wings. But the Sassanids held back. We now know that they hadn’t realised that one unit from the Palmyran ORBAT was missing presumed….well just missing.

The massed archers on the Palmyran left fired volley after volley into the Sassanid cavalry, who lost a unit meaning the general had to move. Not the best start to his day.

The fight on the other wing appeared more even. Units traded blows, took disorders but eventually rallied. The Sassanid plan seemed to be stalling, especially as poor chit drawing on their right flank meant they couldn’t turn the exposed Palmyran right.
 
The then Palmyran centre got into action and it started to grind across the centre. Even the mighty Pachyderm seemed helpless to intervene.  First one Sassanid javelin unit, then another and finally an archer unit died smashing open the Sassanid line.

To add insult to injury the “lost” Palmyran unit finally managed to appear on the Sassanid baseline, only three boxes from one of their undefended camps.

Game over.

A hard fought fight, but even “honest Simon” aka “the Supreme Being” will admit that it felt like, to use  boxing terms, a “Heavyweight vs a Cruiser of Middle Weight”. The Palmyrans are a mighty army indeed!

That said I guessed that when I first checked the list. They can also add Roman Legionaries, Auxila and Cavalry from the time when the Palmyran King Odenathus was given military command of the Roman Near East to fight the Sassanid threat.

Simon

What a Tanker in Western Ukraine

After a week-off for well deserved R&R our war reporter ventured East last night to witness an armoured clash in Western Ukraine.

The scene; a sleepy hamlet in the Ukraine May 1944.  As the mists cleared the silence was shattered by the sound of tank engines.  Chris’ T34/76 charged across the table to find cover in a wood. His SU85 was more circumspect and advanced cautiously, shielded by a farmhouse.  To their North Tony was also uncharacteristically cautious . His mighty T34/85 took up position in a wood covering the village crossroads, leaving his T34/76 to advance slowly along the Northern edge of the table.

For the Germans, Malcolm’s Stug advanced to face Chris’ T34.

The Panther and a MkIV advanced cautiously along the Northern edge of the table, with another MkIV shielding their flank.   The Stug fired three times at the T34. All misses. Less than impressive gunnery. However, feeling very exposed the T34 retired , only to find itself in the gunsight of the Panther. Result, one dead T34.

To the North Tony decided to put his “fast” attribute to good use and try to outflank the Germans .  It worked in part but the Germans turned the tables and the Panther and MKIV hunted him down. A flank shot from the MK IV put paid to another T34/76.

The Su85 took damage and was soon reduced to two dice and reduced speed. Ouch! He was also being stalked by the Stug and a MKIV. Things were looking decidedly “sticky” for the Red Army.

However Tony’s T34/85 finally scored a Russian “kill” when it planed a shell into the rear of a MKIV.  “Boom”. One very dead tank.

Chris fared less well. His SU tried to escape but fell to another rear shot, this time from Malcolm’s Stug.

Tony valiantly fought on.  He damaged the other MKIV which wisely retired from the fray, but was unable to stop Rob’s Panther again going “fast” to close to short range. Result, one dead T35/85.

A fairly fast and furious game . Lesson learnt. Flank shots are good, rear shots are excellent!      

Next week a return to the deserts of Mesopotamia for a TTS game featuring Sassanids and Palmyrans.

Simon