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Author Topic: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg64 back from the dead  (Read 125203 times)

Offline AKULA

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg 42 Holdfast
« Reply #630 on: October 27, 2020, 10:05:49 AM »

Excellent Matt  :-*
And so fast!

Brill  8)

Thanks guys. I just got into the groove on this one....before I saw the photos of the stunning watchtower that James built, I was planning on spending the weekend painting up some more figures, but this seemed to come together well.

It’ll also make a perfect centrepiece for your Christmas dinner table  ;)

 lol yeah, I’m not sure what the rest of the family would make of that

Honestly, either I need a new thesaurus or they need to come up with a superlative form of 'prolific', because that is insane.

I absolutely love it - it's bloody huge! Will be a commanding presence on the battlefield alright. Any chance those trebuchets will see tabletop at the same time? ;)

Thanks...I like insane. It’s not THAT BIG...the walls are a 20cm square, and it’s just under 20cm to the top of the parapet. I’m lucky to have a table that is 14’ x 5’ so it should fit in, without spoiling game play, but yes those trebuchets could make an appearance  ;)


Offline Plynkes

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg 42 Holdfast
« Reply #631 on: October 27, 2020, 10:43:57 AM »
According to Bob Mortimer (as Dave Hill from Slade), the key to a good centrepiece is to be attractive without dominating.


Fat chance of that, it is way too spectacular. Very nice. Whether or not you decide to use it as a centrepiece, you best stock up on turkey-flavour Cup-a-Soup ready for your Christmas dinner.  :)








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Upon our prey we steal...

Offline AKULA

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg 42 Holdfast
« Reply #632 on: October 27, 2020, 11:19:37 AM »
Nice start.
[Edit] Okay, between my reading the post and replying, you have finished and painted it.

:o I absolutely did not expect to see in between replying to the post earlier today, and finishing work, that it would be finished!

It looks great finished up! Amazing work!


12 hours, all one sitting, holdfast in a day?! You are a machine, mate! It looks great by the way.

Trust me, I was surprised how quickly it came together... 3 sessions, roughly 4hours each, Saturday, Sunday, Monday.

The roller made doing the walls a doddle...there is a square of hard card beneath the foam to give it some rigidity. TBH, I could have spent longer on the roof, but I’m happy with it looking a bit ramshackle.



Good job, I take it this is a warm up for a full castle?

I hadn’t thought about it, but then again, I hadn’t really considered building a Holdfast, before this week.

I’ve already got a Hudson Allen castle to represent Winterfell but could be tempted to build some more bits.



Great stuff :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-*
So that was a roller you used for the stone texture?
Was it one of those for green  stuff?

I guess it could be used for green stuff, although the shifting lands site says they are specifically for foam. I’ve got a couple of the other rollers as well...it’s of uses.


Stunning work, speed and quality!
And this is useful:
https://www.shiftinglands.com/
Never seen them before but I think my Christmas just got sorted out :)

Thanks mate.  Lots of interesting photos/clips on the shifting lands site.


According to Bob Mortimer (as Dave Hill from Slade), the key to a good centrepiece is to be attractive without dominating.


Fat chance of that, it is way too spectacular. Very nice. Whether or not you decide to use it as a centrepiece, you best stock up on turkey-flavour Cup-a-Soup ready for your Christmas dinner.  :)

I should be ok, will just go with the usual centrepiece of half a dozen bottles of wine  lol

Offline voltan

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg 42 Holdfast
« Reply #633 on: October 27, 2020, 12:31:13 PM »

I’ve already got a Hudson Allen castle to represent Winterfell but could be tempted to build some more bits.


Sure you'll need other castles :P  My problem is I don't like any of the currently available castle kits enough to pay the price they're asking for them. I've a plan to make one though, just have to wait till some of the xmas snacks have been eaten so I can get the packaging.
Yvan eht nioj!

Offline AKULA

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg 42 Holdfast
« Reply #634 on: October 31, 2020, 10:04:29 PM »
With the second anniversary of the start of my project fast approaching, I was keen to get a game in this week.

The rules are still a work in progress, but I thought who better than my 16 year old son to act as a play tester, given that he literally questions everything  lol

Some of the game mechanics will be familiar to anyone that has played my zombie AR:SE rules previously - the turn sequence is random card driven, with commanders having to decide what units to prioritise for activation. The combat system is simple and very bloody... I want a lot of figures on the table at the start of the game, and a conclusion within a reasonable space of time.

Today’s game was relatively small, c250 figures on the table, and reached a conclusion within 90 minutes.

The setup was intentionally simple, little in the way of terrain, and nothing too fancy in terms of troop types.

Scenario

Lannister forces are pushing northwards, but uncertain of the exact location of the northerners. As the dawn mists clear, the Lannister vanguard spots the banners of House Bolton in the distance...there is little room for manoeuvre, this will be a straight slog, but Ser Jamie’s force has a slight numerical advantage over the northerners, led by Roose Bolton’s bastard, Ramsey Snow.



Forces

House Bolton

1 x 12 Cavalry (just out of camera shot to the left of the photo)
1 x 24 Pikemen
1 x 24 Men-at-arms
2 x 24 archers


House Lannister

2 x 9 Cavalry (one unit just out of camera shot to the right of the photo)
1 x 24 Knights on foot
3 x 24 Men-at-arms
1 x 24 archers


First moves

Perhaps over confident due to their slight superiority in numbers, the Lannister vanguard pushed forward, but almost immediately ran into trouble. The Lannister cavalry, rather than protecting the flank of the advance, decided to wheel towards the Bolton archers, exposing their own flank, in turn, to the Bolton cavalry. The Bolton cavalry needed no encouragement, spurring forward to hit the Lannister horse moments after a well-timed volley from the archers had disrupted the southerners.





The Lannister cavalry, already under strength, crumpled under the deadly archery, and charge from the northerners. Buoyed by their success, the Bolton horse pushed on towards the Lannister infantry.  The first target in range was a unit of Lannister knights advancing on foot....this time the Bolton archers had less joy, and the cavalry lacked the momentum of their previous charge. As the fighting continued, the nearest Lannister men-at-arms charged into the melee, routing the Bolton cavalry.




Desperate measures

As the remnants of the broken Bolton horse fled the battlefield, Ramsey was forced to pull back his archers as the Lannister centre was advancing quicker than he’d expected (curse those random activation cards). To stop the retreat becoming a full blown rout, Ramsey urged his men-at-arms forward, catching the lead Lannister’s by surprise.



Ramsey’s men appeared to have the upper hand in the combat, inflicting heavy casualties, but the Lannister men-at-arms held them up long enough for the heavily armoured Sers to smash into the northerners. On Ramsey’s right flank, his archers were engaged in a bloody hand to hand fight.



Turning point

It was at this point, that the commander of the remaining Lannister cavalry, more than made up for the ineptitude of his counterpart on the other flank. Having spent much of the last hour doing little more than staring at the fearsome looking hedgehog of Bolton pikemen, the Lannister cavalry charged into the flank of Ramsey’s counterattack.

As Ramsey’s men fled from the cavalry, the archers also broke and ran for the safety of the table edge (and tree line).



The Bolton Pike, with no threat to their front, turned to hit the remnants of the Lannister foot, which broke immediately. With the majority of the Northern force either dead or in full retreat, the Officer in charge of the Bolton Pike wisely ordered his men to halt their pursuit, and then to head back the way they’d come.



As the battle drew to a close, the losses to both sides had been heavy. 

House Bolton had lost its cavalry, and half its infantry...Ramsey turned up in camp that evening, having somehow managed to avoid being ridden down by the Lannister horse.

House Lannister had fared little better...as Ser Jamie surveyed the field of battle, maesters tended to the wounded, while camp followers looted the dead and dying. Although he had managed to rally those troops that had broken during the fight, his losses were almost as heavy as those of the Bolton’s....probably best to leave that detail out of the Raven to Lord Tywin.


Post game verdict

For a first outing, the rules worked well - a thumbs up from my son...high praise indeed.

The rules are bloody...and unforgiving of poor decision-making. There are a few tweaks that I have in mind, but I’ll probably try another game, with some different troops types, before making any adjustments.

One thing I definitely want, is to make some markers, for broken units, to show which have been activated, and also to show where the combat has taken place...just removing casualties leaves the battlefield a bit too clinical...particularly on a white table.
« Last Edit: December 27, 2020, 11:15:23 AM by AKULA »

Offline Grumpy Gnome

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg43 Bolton’s vs Lannisters battle report
« Reply #635 on: November 01, 2020, 08:54:27 AM »
Excellent battle report, and great to see all these troops take the field. Second anniversary... inspirational! I admire your dedication mate.
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Offline Mason

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg43 Bolton’s vs Lannisters battle report
« Reply #636 on: November 01, 2020, 12:06:26 PM »
Blimey! Two years!?!
That went quickly.
 :o

Good to see all those painted figures hitting the table.
 8) 8)

I like the idea of markers, much better visually.

Maybe, while you are at it, you could make some 'blanks' to replace figures in the movement trays when a unit takes casualties?
It would look better and is something I shall be doing for my OGAM forces as the spaces look a little weird when the casualties mount up.
 ;)


Offline gibby64

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg43 Bolton’s vs Lannisters battle report
« Reply #637 on: November 01, 2020, 01:22:34 PM »
Awesome seeing it all laid out on the table!!
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Offline Captain Blood

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg43 Bolton’s vs Lannisters battle report
« Reply #638 on: November 01, 2020, 03:19:36 PM »
Impressive Matt  :o :-*
Glad you finally got to play with them! :)

Online HappyChappy439

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg43 Bolton’s vs Lannisters battle report
« Reply #639 on: November 01, 2020, 03:29:05 PM »
Great to see them in action! Thanks for sharing

And good point about markers, though that sounds like it'd be a pretty interesting modelling project in itself!

Offline Captain Blood

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg43 Bolton’s vs Lannisters battle report
« Reply #640 on: November 01, 2020, 03:31:48 PM »
And good point about markers, though that sounds like it'd be a pretty interesting modelling project in itself!

Just saying... ;)


Online HappyChappy439

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg43 Bolton’s vs Lannisters battle report
« Reply #641 on: November 01, 2020, 04:38:16 PM »
Just saying... ;)



 :D Yup, your project was definitely what I had in mind!

Offline Ultravanillasmurf

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg43 Bolton’s vs Lannisters battle report
« Reply #642 on: November 01, 2020, 06:04:14 PM »
Interesting report.

Offline gamer Mac

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg43 Bolton’s vs Lannisters battle report
« Reply #643 on: November 02, 2020, 10:41:59 PM »
nice report  :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-*

Offline AKULA

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Re: AKULA’s Game of Thrones - pg43 Bolton’s vs Lannisters battle report
« Reply #644 on: November 11, 2020, 07:51:47 PM »
Richard’s markers are definitely an inspiration...just hope mine end up half as good  :)

In the meantime, I’ve finished another unit of Golden Company.

The standard archers are made from FG Cultist bodies, with Oathmark heads. I think the mounted commander is a Perry metal, but I’m not 100% certain.








The Summer Islanders are Perry Sudanese, with FG/Perry medieval weapons, and greenstuffed feather capes.






« Last Edit: December 27, 2020, 11:05:40 AM by AKULA »

 

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