Sunday, August 26, 2018

11th August, Manchester University


Which brings us almost up to date ... August saw Britcon again ...

For me these days no longer the exhausting long weekend of DBM, Armati or FoG but a quick-fire day of DBA.  Saturday only ... five games.


Britcon is generally a themed competition and this year Simon was moved by the one thousandth anniversary of the battle of Cannae (the later one between the Byzantines and Lombards) and offered a list of Armies and enemies of 1018.


This actually fitted quite well with my tidying up programme as I have been working my way through an old Byzantine (generic) collection and it would be a useful spur to the process.  I got the new (8Bw) infantry finished and completed the army with Anatolian cavalry etc. and the previously refurbished camp.  It is all coming together ...


Now I said 5 games ... well in this case not for me ... like thousands of others that Saturday morning I fell victim to roadworks and sat on the M6 for 2 hours missing games 1 and 2.  They are building a smart motorway by means of running a thoroughly dumb one.

Fortunately the Umpire was able to stand in for those 2 games so no byes ensued and I was able to take my place for the afternoon session.  I got to play against East Franks, Early Muslim North African and Early Bulgar ...




I achieved a timed-out draw and 2 wins ... and a 4th equal finish.   Not bad for the only Byzantine in a Frank fight!  Of course I had set out to shoot my way to victory and the results were predictably random.  Against the Franks I couldn't hit anything.  Against the North Africans I probably had the right army ...

... and against the Bulgars I hit everything.  I think my averages were about on par but the 6s came all at the end against the benighted Bulgars.

Results ...
1. Mark Johnson, III/52 West Frankish;  2. Colin O'Shea, III/52 West Frankish3.  Tim Rogers, Fatimid Egyptian; plus ...
4= Baldie Storey, III/53 East Frankish and Phil Steele, III/65 Nikephorian Byzantine6. Richard Pulley, III/52 West Frankish7= Arnaud Marmier, III/33  Early Muslim North Africa with Tuareg Allies and Malcolm Hogg, III/52 West Frankish9. Tamara Fordham, III/71 Georgian10. Chris Rigby, III/14 Early Bulgar.


Aggression 4, I attacked in all games.

It was the last day of the heat wave and it rained stair rods in the evening.   Yeah, yeah ... I know ... it rained in Manchester (big news story ... !) and I bashed my car in the car park. Eventful day.

Hoping to do it all again next year.  Partizan in a week!


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