Fate of a Nation: Our First Game

When the Flames of War supplement for the Arab-Israeli War came out, I was inspired to paint up some forces for the conflict.  After talking to a couple of fellow gamers, we chose our sides and made a commitment to complete our first 1000 points.  Two of us managed to reach that goal, myself with a Jordanian force and Sam with an Israeli force.  Our first game was set at 1050 points (the amount I had ready).  Sam was joined by another member of the group (John) and to battle we went.

My Jordanian Artillery Battery

I had an HQ platoon and 3 armored platoons  all with M48 Patton tanks 

plus a mechanized infantry platoon with M113 carriers.

The Israelis had a n HQ Sho't tank, 3 Shermans and a Mortar Platoon on their left flank

On their right flank that had 2 Magach tanks plus priority air support

Things on my right flank went well as two of my M48's took out the Israeli Shermans over the course of several round.  This negated the Israeli left flank and made it impossible for them to capture their objective on my right flank.  Unfortunately, I had dismounted my infantry and then realized to late I had the opportunity to seize my objective from their depleted left flank.  I remounted and moved at the double to try and take advantage and rush the objective.

My left flank was ineffective in dealing with the two Magachs across from them.  The Israelis used smoke to force me to move forward and thus reduce my rate of fire.  This, coupled with air support and the Israeli mortars, slowly took its toll on my left flank.

Near the games end, I had destroyed two Israeli Platoons but had lost three of my own.  My left flank, which included my HQ tank was utterly destroyed.  With his forces depleted and my still having two tank platoons, a mechanized infantry platoon and an artillery platoon, I decided to rush the objective on the Israeli left flank.  We ended the game at that point with it looking like a win for the Jordanians but in reality it would have been close and might have come down to assault with his remaining forces.

I'm already planning my additions to my Jordanians for our next game.  Sam is looking at doing a UAR force so we will have all the sides available via the Fate of a Nation rules.

Rome Triumphant!

Another fun Ancients game at Mike's house.....well, fun for the Republican Roman commanders at least!

Republican Romans faced off against the Carthaginians and allies.  As usual at Mike's, we used Tactica as our rule set.  Before gaming with Mike I had never encountered these rules before.  As I learn more I like the rules. They are fairly simple compared to many rule sets so lend themselves to a easy game for people new to the rules.  The hardest part for me is movement, as the rules try to replicate the style of Ancient warfare by making maneuvers fairly difficult to perform.  This can make taking a flank difficult as you usually have to break some units first to break through and then turn on the flank.

As I alluded to above, the dice were not with the Carthaginians this day.  As for the Romans, things went much better.  In particular, my Roman cavalry (supported by skirmishers) destroyed Mike's left flank force quickly enough to bring their numbers to bare on the exposed infantry flank.  Considering how poorly I usually roll, I think Mike was stunned at my sudden good fortune.  The good new for Mike is that my luck never holds so it could be 2015 before I get another run of dice luck like this game.

My cavalry charging in to destroy Mike's light cavalry.

The right flank of the Carthaginian line.

The glory of Republican Rome.

Some beautiful Carthaginians (yet to be released) from Gorgon Studios.