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Friday, August 17, 2018

Chaeronea, To the Strongest! Style

Scott's beautiful 15mm hand-painted shields
Scott hosted an inaugural To the Strongest! (TtS!) game using his finally painted 15mm ancients' armies.  On the slate for this day's battle was the 338 BCE battle of Chaeronea between the Macedonians and Greeks.  While I bought a copy of TtS! when first published, no opportunity arose to give them a try.  Until now.  Perhaps not having a ready-made grid mat at hand caused my procrastination?  Perhaps.
The long Greek battle line
When Scott scheduled the game and announced an ancients battle, I figured we would be using his fine 28mm collection.  I was surprised to see 15mm armies arrayed upon the gridded gaming mat when we walked downstairs and entered his game room.  Pleasant surprise, for sure.
Greeks pinning a yellow-shield phalanx
Being absolute newcomers to TtS!, Kevin and I would face off while Scott adjudicated and kept the game moving along.  With Kevin taking up station on the side of the table behind the Macedonians, the Greeks were left for me to command. 
The lone Greek cavalry
Greek Center under Lysicles
The battle began with the Greeks advancing all across the battle line maintaining a close cohesion.  The Macedonians had trouble coordinating their movements due to a number of inopportune aces being drawn from the deck.  In TtS!, an ace stops most activations dead in their tracks.
Greeks advance
While the Macedonians wait
Alexander's left wing cavalry came on boldly into the Greek Hoplites on the Greek right but a sudden repulse made the Macedonian cavalry much more timid.  Fortunately for the Macedonians, both Alexander and Phillip act as Greek Gods in this game each having three rerolls per turn.  Even with Greek success in disordering the Macedonian cavalry, Alexander calmly withdrew, reordered his cavalry wing and waited for the Greeks to come on again.
Greek right
Alexander's cavalry disordered and driven back
Come on again, the Greeks did too.  By now Kevin realized the power and invincibility of his cavalry arm and used a combination of first strikes, multiple activations, and rerolls to thwart any Greek thoughts of making a breakthrough on the Macedonian left.  After destroying a unit of Hoplites, Alexander turned the right flank of the Greek army and began to roll up the Greek line. 
Piles of cards signifies action on the right
With the Greek right crumbling, Greek attention shifted to their center and left.  After much bashing of spears and shields, the entire line was in chaos with pockets of opposing units in deadly clashes.  All semblance to ordered lines had vanished.  Finally, the Greeks accepted the likely outcome of battle and withdrew from the field.  A victory for the Macedonians!
Clash on the Greek left
What are my first impressions of TtS!?  Well, it is a fast-paced game with much tension, drama, and a fair bit of luck.  It was both fun and frustrating.  More fun than frustrating, by a wide margin.  The game mechanisms are quite simple and after a few turns we rarely looked at the QRS.  Movement and combat resolution were rapid with the grid and deck of cards.  Everything seemed intuitive and straightforward.  An elegant system that moves along very quickly.  Since not every unit may act in a turn, force management is important.  I could see tactics developing after having experienced a few games.  I already have a number of thoughts in mind for the next battle.  We completed two Chaeronea battles in under three hours.  That is a huge accomplishment.

TtS! is a fun and challenging game that I want to try again soon.  The game motivates me to put 28mm ancients into the painting queue and build myself a gridded mat.  I think I could defeat the Macedonians next time...    

44 comments:

  1. Lovely looking collection and battle. Yes get those 28 mm ancients in the painting que. still not sold on TTS. I know it works but it was designed for a very specific purpose of getting through huge display battles very quickly. Perhaps I need to give it a go......but grids don’t do it for me really🙂

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    1. TtS does get through large battles quickly. No doubt about that. I can understand your reluctance to embrace a grid. Your game tables are so beautiful and well-stocked with terrain that a grid really would not work well.

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  2. A wonderful battle I've played many times with SPQR' system...beautiful and impressive pictures!

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    1. Thanks, Phil! I ought to pull my copy of SPQR from the shelf and give this battle a try using that system.

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  3. Great looking Chaeronea Jonathan! I haven't tried TtS - still prefer CCA for hex/grid based games.

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    1. The table is all Scott's doing. CCA is my favorite for grid-based ancients too but TtS was quite fun and a new experience. Maybe TtS will take over my #1 Gridded Ancients spot? Only time will tell.

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  4. That's a great looking game Jonathan!

    Christopher

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    1. It is! The layout and troops are all Scott's handiwork.

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  5. Wonderful looking game Jonathan!

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  6. Lovely armies. I'm glad you went with some 'honest' shots that show the playing cards on the table.

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    1. Scott is a master painter.

      All of my BatReps are 'honest' working shots. No stage setting when I am playing!

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  7. Great looking Greeks. Some guys at my club play these rules. Maybe I should pay them some attention.

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    1. The Greeks are real gems with the handpainted shields.

      Give TtS a try sometime. We found it quite enjoyable and no headaches.

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  8. I like the system, it's simple to learn the basics but there is a lot more to the rules once you get going. I went for a minimal grid which seemed to work well and not be to intrusive,I look forward to your 28mm ancients pushing their way to the top of your painting que!
    Best Iain

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    1. Simple but subtle is a good assessment, Iain. I am sure more of the subtlety will come to fore once I get a few more games under my belt.

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  9. I am very glad you liked the rules! We should get in more games with the system. I have a few more 15mm ancients armies that I could paint: Marian Romans, Gauls, and Persians.

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    1. Scott, you are a good host, a great umpire, and master painter. I look forward to more games of TtS.

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  10. Great images from an impressive Ancients game. Well done.

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    1. Dean, I can only take credit for the photos and the Greek defeat in the game...

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  11. Interesting to finally see the rules in action. I have a copy as well, perhaps we should bring the Egyptians and Assyrians to the table in the fall?

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    1. That is a great idea! Maybe play the same game twice? One time with TTS! and a second time using Impetvs? A compare and contrast might prove interesting. We need a big gridded mat.

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  12. Great batrep of my favourite pike versus hoplite battle. Would be interested to see both the rematch and comparison games with TtS and Impetvs.

    Cheers, Ross

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    1. Thanks, Ross! We will see about Chaeronea rematches.

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  13. Fantastic miniatures and great battle!

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  14. Great report Jonathan. I have played a few TtS games now and my only complaint is the table clutter that the cards create.

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    1. Thank you, Mark. The playing cards certainly stack up in TtS!

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  15. One of the things that has prevented me from playing TTS is the lack of a grid. I know that’s it’s not that hard to make little markers but it’s an extra step you know?
    Glad you got to try it out finally. Seems like a fun time was had. 😀

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    1. Stew, lack of a gridded mat have kept me from trying many gridded games too. This experience is nearly pushing me off the fence to make one for myself.

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  16. I am glad your intro to TTS! went fairly well, even if in a losing cause. Scott's troops are gorgeous... of course!

    The cards can be replaced with D10's, but given the mechanics of the rules (and the time guys can waste on dice mojo moves, LOL), the cards work better.

    A basic grid can be done easily in less than an hour with a large piece of felt (almost always on sale at Joannes; I like the "heather" type patterns when available) and a sharpie to mark just the corners of the boxes. Using 3 tape measures made it very fast.

    https://blundersonthedanube.blogspot.com/2015/09/ad-fortissima-to-strongest-rome-vs.html

    You can get a nice effect by multiple light coats of various colors of spray paints (several shades each of browns, green, and yellows mostly) before or after the grid is marked.

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    1. Resolution with the playing cards was bloody fast. We were resolving combats in seconds, literally.

      I should get myself a grid mat. Whether to make or buy, that is the question. You have done a fine job on your mats, I will take a look at Joanne's next time I stop in for some paint.

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  17. Great game, nice armies. Our group loves TtS since I first bought it a few years back. I've stopped looking for another set of ancients rules.

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    1. Hi Joseph! Glad you liked the game and armies. The armies are courtesy of Scott M. I enjoy Impetvs but TtS! shows great promise. Scot may be sold on TtS! so we will likely see more thes games in action on the gaming table.

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  18. Very nice. Grids seem to in vogue lately!

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    1. What is old is new again! How long before we rediscover why grids fell out of favor in the last cycle? Coming from a hex and counter background, gridded games never went out of vogue.

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  19. Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed it, Dave and thanks for popping in to leave a comment! Much appreciated.

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  20. Great report Jonathan - like Mark S above, I have played many games of TTS using both 15mm and 25/28mm and covering dark Ages to War of the Roses, with everything in between EG the Battle of Hastings. They are a pretty good rule set if you want to get through a game in 2-3 hours and have a definite winner at the end, but the card turning can be frustrating on some occasions

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    1. Thank you!

      We got through two complete and decisive playings of this game in less than three hours. That is fast.

      I found and subsequent failures frustrating for sure. I need to work on deck management in an attempt to mitigate some of those frustrating outcomes.

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  21. I keep hearing about these rules, and will have to give them a spin. Sounds like you had a fun game!

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    1. Give them a try, Markus.

      Win.lose, or draw it is always enjoyable to spend a few hours leaning over the game table with friends.

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  22. Hi Jonathan- sorry missed this until now! I'm glad you had fun. I've also been looking at this battle for my own gaming- hope to get to it next year! I plan to extend the Greek line across the entire width of the valley; no flanks! :-)

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    1. Hi Simon! Chaeronea is an interesting game in which the Macedonians figuratively hold all of the cards. It was great fun and a battle I want to try again soon.

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