the Battle of Ilipa in 206BCE.
Having seen Hood's Attack run its course through six games, time to turn the page and clear the deck for something new. A change of period is in order. Given that Ilipa is on the Society of Ancients' Battle Day slate next year, why not get an early start? Why not, indeed!
Last time some of the armies were out for battle was to restage the Battle of Telamon back in November of 2022. This may be the first time my elephants have seen battle. Actually, this battle must be the elephants' first appearance on the table since the QRS needed to be amended to include all of the elephant-specific rules.
Should be fun.
On the order front, a large box arrived onto my doorstep from Eureka Miniatures (Australia) today. The box weighed-in at 7.25 lbs. While I usually wait for the December sale, I put in my annual resupply a few months early this year and ordered direct from Nic in Australia. What did I restock this time? Almost all seven pounds of lead are 18mm SYW cavalry. That is a lot of cavalry! Yes, I have big plans.
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| Recent order from Eureka Miniatures |
Awesome! looking forward to the Ilipa after battle report
ReplyDeletecheers!
There ought to be a battle report in a few days after the battle. Great to see you pop in for a visit!
Delete3kg of Eurekan greatness. It woudl have kept Nic warm in the back shed casting over winter.
ReplyDeleteA big SYW project with his figures will be great to see.
Richard
As fast as the order turned around, the figures must have already been up in stock.
DeleteOh! Ancients in 28!! Looking beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteThe game looks great Jonathan, as does the big shipment from Eureka. They really do make lovely figures.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lawrence! I do like Eureka’s figure and have loads of them in my SYW and Napoleonic armies.
DeleteIf I had elephants looking that good, they would be on my gaming table every day …. Even in napoleonic games :-)
ReplyDeleteThis will be a lovely looking game and 7.25 lb is an impressive haul.
Thanks, Norm! I really ought to bring the nellies out more often. Can’t believe this is their first battle.
DeleteLooking forward to seeing the elephants in action. Also that's quite a shipment from Eureka
ReplyDeleteSeeing how the elephants work in BI is of interest to me too. Yes, quite a lead shipment from Australia.
DeleteThe game looks fabulous Jonathan. Good to see you maintain the height of your lead mountain.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Perhaps the Rejects would enjoy a crack at this battle? On the Lead Pile’s height, one needs to prepare for a long winter.
DeleteA nice change of era and nice to see these figures in action again and let's hope the elephants have a great debut! Blimey, that is a LOT of lead that arrived and nearly all of it cavalry, something that I'm not keen on painting I can tell you. Certainly looking forward to seeing them painted and what plans you have for them:).
ReplyDeleteHaving never used elephants in BI, I am not sure what to expect. In CCA, I usually have good luck or miserable failure with them in battle. The influx of cavalry is primarily destined for Hanoverian, British, Spanish, Piedmontese, and French armies.
DeleteCongratulations on your new arrival Jon! 7.25 pounds is a healthy weight. I’m sure it will grow into a beautiful bouncing army on your table top!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the Ilipa game.
Chris/Nundanket
DeleteChris, you make it sound like I’ve just had a baby! I suppose it will require nurturing and care. Looking forward to today’s contest as well. It will be fun breaking most players into a new game system.
Be interested to see the outcome on this one. I used Sabin's "Lost Battles" when I did the orbat/deployment as he shows his working.
ReplyDeleteI investigated Sabin and others before settling on the CCA scenario. Massaging data to fit a desired, singular outcome is not simulation, modeling or even experimental science. Showing that a solution “works” in Sabin’s context is really a case of reverse engineering. I may be a heretic…but one based on science.
DeleteGiven each battle is a singular event, I suspect that you need to bring in data of other comparable events to discuss what is a probable range of results. Is the historical result "to form"? If not you might well expect a different result. But that's really an SoA forum discussion rather than a blog comments one : )
DeleteOh, I reckon this could be a discussion here too as could be a discussion on Sabin’s work. Please identify yourself, oh, anonymous one!
DeleteApologies Jon. I signed in to my Google account specially to avoid this but it seems to be playing up. Anthony Clipsom here.
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DeleteAnthony, I suspected this might be you. Thanks for confirming! You’re correct that moving such a discussion to the SoA forum would be more robust with interesting arguments.
I'm more interested in Sabin's assessment of the historical sources, rather than whether his model is right or wrong.
DeleteVery nice Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteHave you tried using Commands & Colors with figures?
I'm sure you will have those cavalry painted within a couple of weeks with your painting output!
Neil
Thanks, Neil! Yes, I play CCA with figures regularly. A search through old posts will surface battles in 6mm and 28mm.
DeleteVery dramatic shift, Elephant units are very photogenic and easy to spot. The battle report should be interesting. The arrival of 7 pounds of cavalry....you will be busy!
ReplyDeleteI hope the battle will be interesting! One thing about BI, the battles are often not over until the game is ultimately decided.
DeleteThat's one fine looking pachyderm Jonathan. I shall look forward to reading about it's exploits in due course.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Phil!
DeleteLovely looking ancients and of course everyone loves an elephant! As it happens I still have three minifigs 25mm ancients elephants, I guess I should build an army around them some day? Nice bit of resupply there, with money tight I'm drawing down on the lead mountain as opposed to making deposits, I'm sure I can go a few years without having to make a purchase!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks! Building an army around your elephants seems a reasonable idea. As for the resupply, when you “need” cavalry there are no other options.
DeleteGood luck using elephants for the first time.
ReplyDelete7 lbs of 18mm cav! That’s craziness. More than craziness. That’s so many units. 😀
Stew, the players will need the luck employing elephants. I simply need to remember the specific rules and adjudicate reasonably.
DeleteThis is a lot of cavalry, no doubt but this is the bulk of the cavalry needed to field the horse arm for many of my new WAS armies.
A game with elephants is always fun.
ReplyDeleteIt sure is!
DeleteLovely looking Nelly and I look forward to seeing her and her sisters in action soon! The new arrivals are a significant reinforcement!
ReplyDeleteThanks! After a shaky start, the pair of elephants performed well. Yes, significant box of lead, no doubt.
DeleteGreat looking ancients game Jonathan. I look forward to the report.
ReplyDeleteAnd good to see who was responsible for Australia's recent uptick in exports 😂
Thanks, Ben! I do what I can to keep the gears of international trade turning.
Delete"Seeing the elephant" comes to mind as an apt phrase (in more ways than one) for your upcoming Ilipa game.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct in more ways than you know!
DeleteThat Hephalump is a lovely model. Had you previewed it prior?
ReplyDeleteExciting sounding battle too. Not familiar with it, but I always enjoyed deploying elephants in my Total War Rome 2 (PC game) battles, though rarely to good effect, as they tended to get scared and run back into my own units!
7lbs of any lead minis is a crazy amount, but all cav and all for SYW??? Wow.
I will have to check to see if the elephant made it in a photo shoot when completed. Yes, ALL cavalry, ALL SYW, ALL crazy.
DeleteOne of my all time favorite periods
ReplyDeleteGood! I will bring them back out onto the table again. Next up are Biblicals.
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