Northamptonshire, 28th December

The Championship

-->

(Graham tries to remember how the Armati wheel'm works ...)

Or a quick glimpse of the shows team 'off duty' ....

Yes - what do the shows team settle down to when the season finally finishes? Well some ancient wargames, of course ...

I had hoped to get a ‘full’ five games in to show my support for the current initiative - but such is the amount of SoA admin and shows hours at this time of year, it was very much pushed to the last week or so.

Nevertheless, what a joy, to settle down to a simple, evening game of Armati – in this case a Roman Civil War with show teamer Graham Evans.

Well, we don't do this very often, and had to remember how to set it all up. I think we both went for Romans as they are 'keep it simple' armies ...

And in the way of these things, it was tight. There a very few ‘cute’ moves available in Armati – especially when similar armies face off. And that often means that the dice will determine the outcome … Well, it isn’t necessarily therefore luck that determines the winner … so much as the tactical ability to exploit or cope with what luck can always do to an otherwise predictable outcome (or that what I say when it goes my way … I just curse the dice if it goes the other way!) …

(yes, OK, Mrs Evans did deploy the wind-up Christmas Puddings behind my flank - well it was nearly Christmas, I guess ...)...

The Championship looks to have passed its trial year, so roll on 2010.

Remember, any two members can play each other and count the score in the Championship by sending the results in. You cannot play the same player more than twice, and the only restriction on the game is that it must be an ancient/medieval historical game, offer a fair and equal chance to both sides, and be capable of delivering an unequivocal win/lose/draw result for scoring purposes (though players may well agree between themselves how this applies).

Games do not, therefore, have to be figure games, and might well be played on computer – even via an internet connection (as long as both players are satisfied it meets the ‘fair and equal’ standard …)…

All that said, I suspect mine will be figure games. This year, I played 2 FoG and 3 Armati games (against 4 other members – it would have been more games but the snow deluge cause some ‘return matches’ to be cancelled) – all in my preferred 15mm scale, using Romans, Medieval Italians and Dark Age Spanish.

I suspect that will be my starting point for 2010 – but I’m not known for turning down the unexpected …

I wonder who is up for what ….

Central London, 19th December

'Spartacus'
No, not the ballet.

Actually a very rewarding multiplayer role-playing and map game from the John Bassett stable. Followed by a very sociable evening afterwards as we relaxed in the run up to Christmas.

I managed to get a copy of Barry Strauss's book at a discount in the closing down sale at Borders in Tottenham Court Road - so tried to get in the spirit ahead of schedule (a good job it was only spirit I was looking for as facts are few and far between ... and Strauss as much obscures them as illuminates them ...)..

The game is part of a developing approach to representing the end of the Republic, and I anticipate further developments in the new year (indeed, I hope that if I don't spill all the beans now, John will be contributing an article for Slingshot in the fullness of time ....)..

Suffice to say, for now, that whilst not without areas that need more work, this game brought out the complexities of Roman politics rather well ... the difficulties of managing the really important agenda (protecting your interests and faction within the Senate) with the irritating one (having to be away from Rome to deal with a rebel or an over-mighty citizen) ... or the difficulties of an over-mighty citizen in turning raw military power into tangible political credit ....

I got myself badly beaten up in the opening battle against Spartacus (OK - no battle ... I got myself ambushed ... some Thracian thing going on was my final memory ...)... and scurried off not in disgrace to Rome but in desperation to my old chum Pompey who was on his way back from victory in Spain. As a consequence, I took over the role of Pompey and all the advantages of his veteran army (and all the ethical/political issues of the great commanders of the Late Republic). The immensely powerful and loyal army (no hyperbole in either case) is an interesting tool: it means you hold the ultimate sanction ... a military government or a Civil War you are bound to win - and almost automatic defeat for your opponents. It almost seems that precisely because you hold all the cards, the other factions will oppose you: however modest your demands. There is a human factor in this. It is an interesting conundrum, and one the game made me think about afresh.
--> -->An enjoyable and thought-provoking run in to Christmas, and a last bit of recruiting before the year end. Thanks for the invitation, John - I hope to be able to play in the next evolution, and, yet again, do please write it all up for Slingshot ...

Birmingham, 13th December

Wargamer 2009
The other half of a busy weekend saw the Shows North crew at Wargamer in Birmingham (Tamara Fordham easily beating me in a pre-Christmas game of Gladiolus ...)...

Graham Fordham provided the 'man'power in the afternoon, enabling me to head north for Derby in time to present the trophies at the end of the Doubles Event. Thanks to everyone for getting that to work: actually it is a real pleasure to do two events on the same day, but it can only really happen when everyone helps.

Wargamer is one of those smaller shows that the West Midlands seems to excel at, and was our last official outing before Christmas. We handed out a few more sample issues of Slingshot, of course, but mostly dealt with subscriptions for next year and enquiries. It was also a last chance to spend some money with the traders, entertain the visitors and put the year to bed.

(an appropriately wintry Flames of War)
And, of course a chance to take the camera around one last time. Not a great deal of ancients games on display at Wargamer, it has to be said ... we obviously still have some work to do ....

See you all next year.

Thanks from the Society of Ancients to all the show and event organisers ... 27 of them, for me, this year ... that's a lot of people mucking in to help us make sure the public doesn't miss out on ancient and medieval warfare.
(Wargamer 2009)

Derby 12th -13th December

Society of Ancients Doubles Masters 2009 Final
Now a Field of Glory event, this was the final round of this year's Society of Ancients Doubles Masters, and all to play for. A busy weekend, as, on Sunday we were also due to be at the 'Wargamer' show in Birmingham. Nevertheless, I managed to get a game in on the Saturday - partnering Lynda Fairhurst as her Scots took on the well-fancied Handley/Sharp Hungarians.

(Scots against Hungarians at Derby)

We lost - but narrowly. It was a tight and educational game - like all these, played in the best spirit ... In the end, Dave and Nick narrowly missed their shot at the title and the event was won by Wayne Dare and Kieth Martin Smith
That is, I think officially, the team was Graham Evans and Wayne Dare, with Kieth as first reserve. The combo won the Derby event, and that was enough to secure them the Alexander trophy for the year as Doubles Masters. More details on all the year's results can be found by following the 'Doubles' links on the BHGS website (here ...)

The Society's thanks go to the BHGS for organising this competition again, and especially to David Fairhurst who does the lion's share of it ...

Next year will see a major change to the Doubles, and a reduction to two larger events, one in England, one in Scotland. The English event will 31st July/1st August at Wheatley Campus just outside Oxford (again, details can be found on the BHGS website). We look forward to a great weekend.

Reading, 21st-22nd November

Warfare 09

Whilst some shows seem to have fallen away slightly over recent years, Warfare at the Rivermead seems to get better every year. once upon a time, it seemed the main hall was sufficient to house the trade and display games, the gym was spaciously accommodating competitions. Now the show proper takes the main Hall and half the gym, the competitions fill out the rest of the space, there is even a strange room right down the back with Warhammer stuff in it. The ancients competitions have always been very well supported, and with a good range of trade and games, this is an excellent event which fully demonstrates that the way to succeed is to stick to that traditional balance, mixing plenty of stuff to join in with and try out with the shopping and competitions.
(Phil Sabin/Eric Cruttenden's Lost Battles presentation of Cunaxa)
The Society of Ancients followed a now regular formula at this show ... a large 25mm Lost Battles participation game with author Philip Sabin on the Saturday, swapping to a Medieval Warfare try-out game with David Edwards and Kevin Large on the Sunday.

Cunaxa provided one of those classic 'Lost Battles' challenges ... how to beat a (significantly) cavalry army with hoplites - but at the same time (given the colossal advantage the hoplites enjoy, and for which they pay), how to win a game in which you can hardly afford to lose any soldiers? I know - during a quieter session, I played the rebels ... I won the battle itself, but narrowly lost on the game score. That probably will have meant a long and testing journey back to the sea ...(the Neil Thomas Ancient and Medieval Wargaming table)
Out and about, a number of things caught my eye ... A very legible layout of Antietam. Antietam is one of the many 'visitor friendly' battlefield in the US, and it was interesting to relate what was shown on the table to walking the field ... especially 'Burnside's bridge' .... I really must dig out those videos I filmed on the 2003 Historicon tour ...

(Antietam - Burnside's bridge)
That said, this blog is mostly about ancients.

So I was very interested to see, just across the aisle from us, the Malvern guys and their Arthurian themed 28mm Armati game. Armati is like that: just when you think you've met everyone that regularly plays the game, up pop some more. Of course, though the Armati League, I'm most used to seeing the game played in 15mm, and found, doing a vast Boudicca's Revolt game for English Heritage's History in Action, 28mm a difficult scale to get satisfactory visual results with. So it seemed strangely unusual to see the game in the larger scale. Kudos to them for putting it on, of course, and it's always nice to see Armati at a show.(the Malvern Armati game)

There was much more to see of course (see the banner collage at the top of the page) - doubtless most of the glossy space will go to the colossal Blenheim game in the main hall. Actually, I took some photos too, because it was impressive in its own way. If all static display games were as good, I might have more time for them. Mostly, these days, they seem to be sponsored by the people that make the figures, of course ...

An excellent weekend. Many thanks to all the people who dropped by and the volunteers who made the Society stand a relaxing place to be based. Although we only ever had three or four people on hand at any one time, I made 10 member/volunteers who rotated their way on and off the stand or game over the weekend. Volunteering like that is what make the Society of Ancients work well. If reading these blog entries makes you want to volunteer, contact the Secretary or put a comment on the blog (I'll get back to you and we should be able to fit you in ...)...(flying a banner on the Society stand)

Pevensey Bay, 7th-8th November

Anderida Doubles(click on the images for a bigger picture)

Yes, Pevensey Bay still looks as bright and blue as this, in Early November.

Many thanks to Eric Cruttenden and his team for continuing to bring us the Anderida event and its unique flavour. As an unashamed 15mm enthusiast, I delight every year in the trouble the entrants take over their armies - and actually just the brilliance of what they achieve. There is something about the size of 15mm and its ratio to table space that makes the spectacle of massed miniature armies in this scale unsurpassed, I think. And at this annual event, for sure, the effort is always appreciated.
(Pevensey Bay - some local colour)

OK ... While we're doing the beach view thing, I thought I'd indulge you a view of the local night-life. Not quite a pagan festival, there was certainly a ritual burning! Anderida is held on the weekend of Remembrance Sunday ... and this year that also meant that on the Saturday night they had organised their Guy Fawkes celebration. Quite handy to have a beach at your disposal. All this took place right outside the Aqua Club, the event's now traditional venue. The event now embraces an extensive FoG competition as well as its traditional DBM. The big prize of the event is the annual Society of Ancients trophy - not, of course, for the top scorers, but for the most valued contributors ... and appropriately half the Society Committee were playing (and the last two Slingshot editors usually umpire the competitions) so it has a bit of a family atmosphere.

This year, the DBM theme was medieval, the heavily subscribed FoG theme was the Greeks. Well, quite a lot of pikes, then. Thankfully, they can provide a reasonably diverting game in FoG, even though it remains more often the cavalry and the flanks that settle the battles (not, in itself, of course, a bad reflection of Hellenistic warfare - but I still feel Armati does this sort of thing better) ... That Seluecid mix of Phalanx with Elephants, Cataphracts, Chariots and Imitation Legionaries (Thorakitai ... Horse Archers .... Arabs ... the list is endless) proved very popular, of course (and I still have a soft spot for it - it was my first ancients army back in the early seventies ....)...

(Anderida 2009 - yes, we did get the 200 pikes vs 200 pikes clashes ...)

(Some very nice Legionaries chase off those pesky horse archers...)...

Yes, Chris and I did OK, and our Graeco-Bactrians had four entertaining games against Seleucids, Early Successors, Persians and Classical Indians (2 wins saw us sneak into the top half of the table in 9th place) ... You can get a full round up of results, and more pictures on the Anderida website (here ...) but the top teams were ... (FOG winners) Ian Stewart and Richard Collins (DBM winners) Darrell Pearce and Jeremy Morgan.


Coming up trumps again in the best army category, Adrian Bird's colourful style caught the judges eye, and his Seleucid army took first prize.

The blue ribbon award went to Kevin Large and Andy Rourke for an all round warmly appreciated contribution - helpful and entertaining play, good 'up for it' wargaming and a smartly turned-out Thracian army that was a contender in the painting prizes.


(Society of Ancients trophy winners Kevin and Andy surrounded by some of the good looking troops from the event)

Time to get the brushes out, I guess ...

Royal Armouries, Leeds, 1st November

Fiasco 2009
Great to be back at the armouries again - even if the coffee is as expensive as it is luxurious ... even if the way they manage the apron in front of the armouries seems designed to frustrate exhibitors. Excellent slot the organisers gave us this year ... I'd asked to be next to the ever helpful Steve and Dave of the Lance & Longbow Society - but I also hoped to get a chance to look at the Ilkley Lads' ancient naval game ... which turned out to be right next to us ....
Ancient and Medieval zone at Fiasco 2009

As you can see from the photos, I was quite impressed with the deep gloss varnished 'deep sea' terrain boards they had borrowed for the event ... I hope you enjoy that reflective quality I tried to capture.
For a less 'arty' look at the game, and loads more pictures, you can try James Roach's blog ( here ...). The game is based on Piquet and features Xyston model ships. It seemed to work very well and looked splendid. Full marks, lads - and nice to be sited next to an ancients game. For another option, you might like to take a look at the Society of Ancients edition of Richard lee's Corvus (see it on the website's games page ...) ... If you get the chance to play either of these games at future shows take advantage. Always good to see the warships at work.

big figures Gladiolus from the Society of Ancients

Also available from the website, our own featured game was the gladiators classic, Gladiolus. An excellent participation game, and popular with kids and grown-ups alike. We had some fun with this, as usual.


some of the other games round and about at Fiasco

Elsewhere, Fiasco had the usual mix of games, displays and traders ... I was particularly impressed by the range of dice the Dice Guys had on offer (yes, the do ... dice).

For some reason, Fiasco always seems a little smaller and less well-attended than some of the other Autumn shows. Strange, given the excellent added attraction of The Armouries making this a potential day out for the whole family ...

Although perhaps there are slightly fewer of them, the quality of the games at Fiasco is always good (I suspect you'll guess which impressed us this year, though), and there's plenty for the younger ones to do too. Put it in your diaries for next year.

Twilight over the med. as the day ends at Fiasco ...

Crystal Palace 18th October

SELWG 2009Whilst I was at Portsmouth representing the Society in the English DBA Open Tournament, the 'A' Team was at Crystal Palace doing a Society display at SELWG. The main feature was a reconstruction of the battle of Magnesia from the Lost Battles stable. Daivid Barnsdale kindly sent me some photographs to share.(SoA participation game at SELWG: Magnesia)

Reports from the show have been very favourable, and I understand lots of visitors called by and left with Society goodies of one kind or another ...(photos courtesy D. Barnsdale)

Meanwhile, the Magnesia game was fought to a conclusion twice during the day, closely contested, but resulting in Roman wins ...
It was a pity SELWG and the Open clashed ... the Crystal Palace event has been missing from the calendar for a couple of years due to refurbishments, and has made a welcome return. Maybe next year.

More chances to see us during November ... Fiasco in Leeds at the start of the month, Warfare in Reading, Rivermead, three weeks later ... Casual browsers should note that we are fast running low on 2009 Slingshots so if you still want to join for this year you should not delay. 2010 subs can be taken/renewed on the website, and we have attractive rates at shows for a 2009/2010 combined option if you collect this year's back numbers when you sign up ...

And, of course, a warm welcome to all those new members. Don't forget to drop by at one of the shows and have a chat.

Phil Steele

Portsmouth 18th October

English DBA Open

Mid October and Portsmouth beckons - host of the annual 'English DBA Open' sponsored by the Society of Ancients and Magister Militum. Thanks to the PAWS club for running it and to MMs for adding in a nice DBA army prize.

Last year I managed to get down early enough to play, and had an enjoyable outing with my (formerly DBM) Axumite army. It worked very well, but I thought I ought to vary the mix (it is DBA after all) ... so in the end I decided to play around with the African theme and go for Christian Nubian .. which loses an Elephant general and gains some camels. Still a nice mix, I thought (and after last year I remain persuaded of the merits of Warband in DBA ...)...(Phil's opponents in the 'Ancients' pool)

My basic premise that no-one else would take a Christian Nubian was wrong (sorry Duncan - I very nearly took Later Pre-Islamic Arab ... perhaps we should collude next time ...)... I fought one in my second game. My impression was this year there was a bit more infantry around ... but a good mix of army types none the less. I fought against Chinese, Bospran, Palmyran and Egyptians as well as the other Christian Nubian. The army is Aggression 1, and aside from the civil war, attacked twice and defended twice.

We played off in two pools, Medieval and Ancient, with the pool winners plus next two highest scoring players going into a semi final (and the two highest scoring Juniors going into a Junior final also) ... Courtesy of a very generous Richard Pulley (whose Palmyrans forgot to put their armour on), I very nearly made it to the semis ... (and Richard faded out of them). Aside from that rather dicey game (in which Richard played well enough to leave me no chances other than lucky longshots with bowmen ... I need say no more, as four of those will win a game!) ... all were close and challenging. My game against Robert Dowling in particular saw me kill his general early on, but not get ahead on elements till taking his, six against my five. Now that is close.

The semis and final were played with a matched pair provided by the organisers. In this case, Wars of the Roses with all options (and the players could pick their preferred variant before the matches started). Refreshingly, all four armies ended up different (and hopefully the players will contribute their reflections on the choices they made to a report for a future issue of Slingshot)..

Perhaps as a result of so many Bowmen on the tables, both games seemed quite tight and 'cagey', but Martin Myers and Colin O'Shea won through to the final.So another bash with their WotR armies, and another tight game. Actually quite a long game which, had I had to call it, I'd have got wrong. In the end I think some rather risky attacks paid off, and Colin's army won the day. That said, it was a close game and both players would have made worthy champions. Great day out and a good mix of waving the Society banner with some simple no-nonsense DBA games. Pity about the roadworks on the A3 on the way home, of course ....
(Martin Myers and Colin O'Shea - runner up and winner - pose with their trophies)

We were a little down on numbers this year - perhaps not least because there was another event on the other side of the M25 ... the return of SELWG ... The other SoA events team was at that one ... (I hope to get some feedback for you ...) ...

Full results, hopefully more pictures etc. should come up in due course - watch the PAWS page
http://uk.geocities.com/paws_sec/2009_English_DBA_Open.htm
and a write up is promised for a future Slingshot.

Derby 3rd - 4th October

World Championships

Many thanks to the Derby organisers for their good offices. We were in one of the further corners last year, and a little short - especially on the Sunday - of the passing traffic necessary to make participation games work. This year Graham offered to reprise the 'double game' offer of The Great Commanders which we ran at Milton Keynes earlier in the year ... but on the proviso that we had a more suitable pitch.

OK - so the layout of Derby University's Kedleston campus Atrium meant it wasn't quite as easy to get round the stand as we'd have liked ... but we asked for footfall and we got it. It was really only be Sunday afternoon that the games had some idle moments (otherwise, more often than not, both were in continual use and attracting spectators, too)

So, Alexander at the Granicus or Hannibal at the Trebia , played with Ancient and Medieval Wargaming (AMW) - I've explained the basic idea here before. The project attempts to introduce people to historical wargaming in the ancient period: Neil Thomas's game is one which, although it has a fair degree of variety and subtlety, has basics which can be picked up pretty reliably during the course of the first game. The rules are in a book which is aimed at the general reader and which is available from mainstream bookshops. Stylish though they are, Graham's presentations feature simply painted 20mm plastics (mostly HaT) .. also available in many High Streets (if you have something passing for a hobby shop) ... So, an introductory game that's quick to pick up and is good with youngsters and newcomers, which you can buy in normal shops and is shown played with equally 'non-specialist' figures in a package where a few boxes of plastics will do you a very plausible Great Battle for a minimal investment. Excellent.(click on the pictures to get a bigger image)
The results were a bit of a swing from the Milton Keynes outing. Without Will bringing his uncompromising determination to the Roman cause, Hannibal reasserted his customary control over the Trebia scenario. Alexander, however, was no longer just walking over the Persians at the Granicus. Whereas in the MK version, the somewhat flimsy cavalry force was backed by a unit of hoplites and a unit of foot skirmishers, in the Derby line up, both units were hoplites. Facing a Macedonian phalanx, this really did seem to bolster up the Persians ... meaning attempts to overwhelm the enemy flanks did not automatically entail allowing the Phalanx to walk off the board in the centre (which is fatal in AMW).Well, the results speak for themselves ... The (experienced) SoA presenter team beat Alexander 4-2 at Granicus, but lost 6-1 to Hannibal (and his elephant, if that isn't giving the game away ...)..

I think 13 games isn't bad going for a participation game at a show that is a real battle - one or two of them 'two handers' . 8 visitor/Great Commander wins against our own SoA Romano-Persian opposition shows we mostly let them win!With the games popular and busy, I only got a cursory go around the rest of the show. There were quite a few ancient and medieval games around ... a good looking FoG demo by the Burton lads ans another chance to see the 1st Corps demo game of Magnesia which I included in the entry for The Other Partizan a couple of weeks back.(good looking 28mm figures)
Now I don't feature 28mm ancients here much (well, aside from Eric's collection which regularly fills out the requirements of the Lost Battle series of Society presentations) ... but the 1st Corps ones are quite nicely proportioned and I do like the Magnesia set up.(more good looking 28s!)
I quite like these Peninsula Napoleonics as well. Again, no fan of the sprawling Nappy 'static' games we see so often, this time the big one was a Borodino in 6mm (the kind of scale you might well actually use for refighting Borodino! ) and the compact and densely filled Peninsula game wasn't too overblown and looked great (the sort of Divisional scaled game you might actually play in 28mm ...)... An uncharacteristic thumbs up from me.
The Leeds club very big 'Raid on St Nazaire' which I had to go up to the balcony level to get a good look at (get it all into the camera frame). I wonder how it worked.

Maybe it'll be at their home show, Fiasco, at the end of the month.

Thanks to everyone at this one - enjoyed it as usual ... (similar slot next year maybe?)

SELWG on 18th, English DBA Open (in Portsmouth) also on the 18th, Fiasco on Nov. 1st

Come and see as at a show.

Farnborough, 20th September

Society of Ancients Games Day
Sunday saw the first Society of Ancients gathering without an AGM - just a Games Day ... and an opportunity to meet the Committee. There weren't that many of us there, but this was a first toe in the water - and I guess it meant less hosting and more games playing for the Committee.

We had a 2000 anniversary game of Teutoburger Wald ... a long sorry march through the forests for Varus and his men. This was an impressive scenario modified Armati presentation in 15mm
In addition, there were try out games and Championship games. As well as spectating the occasional progress of Varus and his men, I got to try out Empire ... which I can highly recommend (it genuinely is quick to learn and seems to harness some of the global dynamics of the BC Imperial periods quite cleverly ... anyway, thumbs up to that ...) ... and I had a Championship game against Daivid Barnsdale (my Romans v his Carthaginians) ...

This was the Society of Ancients Championship 'reborn', of course - so I couldn't do anything quite so churlish as use the right Romans to face the threat from Africa - so, in fact, 2nd Edition Armati, Carthage Resurgent (WF)* fought Aurelianic Roman (A2)*

It proved a tightly fought affair ... Daivid learning Armati as he went, me paying insufficient attention to my own army as I explained to him the nuances of his! I had the legionaries deployed wide (their more vulnerable formation confronted by Hannibal's warbands ..) .. and only just survived the onslaught (with the lost of one eagle ...)... The game turned on a cavalry melee area.Armati cognoscenti may recognise three mounted units here, all one BP off being broken (that means whoever loses next time is removed ... draws will not count as mutual destruction does not happen. The Spanish must fight each Roman unit individually - and have not been 'spooked' by the camels ...) .. And yes, if the Carthaginian breaks both Roman units Hannibal wins .. if the Spanish break, Hannibal loses. Ignore the little dice (they mark three fatigues per unit .. so everyone is tired!). The big blue die is the Carthaginians rolling a very powerful 5! The Roman Auxiliary cavalry fight first .. a 6 wins the game, a 5 squares the melee, a 4 sees them break and leaves the Spanish odds on to see off the Camels next turn to win the game. They roll a 5! The Camels fight next and must roll a 6 to square the melee and survive another turn - they are 1 FV down, so are in a 'no win situation' against a 5.

OK, I'll move on - the Camels roll a 6, so the whole melee goes another round ... and the Auxiliaries rout the Spanish and the Romans win the battle. Meanwhile, events elsewhere really did mean the Carthaginians did have to break both units in this melee to win the game (and didn't have much time to do it, either) ...

Excellent game, and a Championship win for the Romans. Ken Cooper took over my Romans for another bash, and deployed the Roman infantry deep to resist warband... a much more productive arrangement, even though (another newcomer to the rules) he did it without understanding the full implications... Fortuitously the (now overmatched) Celts were deployed directly to the Legionaries' front and got some very nasty treatment. The Romans dealt with their foes more methodically this time.

That said, I thought Carthage resurgent a better treatment of Hannibal's army than the A2 list (but that's a digression I hope the general reader will forgive) ...


Elsewhere I saw games of Field of Glory, Command and Colours and Maximilian, I think .. as well as Phil's Empire participation table which ran pretty much all day. Please give me a shout if there is something played this year which I have missed off.

As I said above, this is 'year one' for SoA moving on from an AGM based event to a general member invitational event or events, and was quite low key. It is a good base from which to start, and I hope more will come of this in future years. we are by no means restricted to a single event nor to the South of England ... so if you want a Society of Ancients member event in your region/country, think about how you would go about organising one and get in touch with the Committee.


Oh! ... and don't forget those Society of Ancients Championship games ... 3 more months to go, so get some games played and send results in to Bill - he's dying to hear from you!


* ... in parentheses, 'WF' signifies the list drawn upon one available free from Warflute, 'A2' signifies one printed in Armati 2nd edition lists section.