Some Hail Caesar

Had the boys over last night for a game of Hail Caesar. Didn't get to prep things as well as I would've liked and then had wireless issues when Patrick was trying to buy $200 worth of stuff from the store.... so game got going late and I was fair frazzled when we finally trooped down to the basement, but everyone had fun anyway.

My camera died, but Scott R. stepped up to be combat cameraman for the night and sent me his snaps.

Fulk the Bastard has recruited the mercenary Black Company and some Moorish allies and raised the banner of rebellion against the Good Count Raymond. He has also enlisted the support of some unholy allies (as if the heathen Moors weren't bad enough!). The witches gave any unit with LOS a reroll on a failed Morale Save once per turn. Came in very useful when they remembered to use it.

Fulk's household troops

Moors advance

Villagers watch the storm gather around them

Hillmen hold Raymond's right

Raymond's host musters

Heavy infantry on Raymond's left

Raymond's chivalry in the center

The Bishop wandering about in full vestments was able to give the Count's troops some divine aid in the form of re-rolls and Rally commands as well.

Both sides made a generally disorganized advance hampered by universally crap die rolls and fighting along the length of table (the deployment zones chosen in spite of the terrain obstructions because people didn't want to shift their seats!).

I pushed my foot into the village and the crossbowmen started potting at the Black Company causing some hits.

Patrick advanced his Moors and then the hillmen swarmed down to beat them up causing  a lot of hits and making some units Shaken. I managed to get one charge in with a squadron of knights to finish one unit off, but more crap command rolls meant I failed to get the rest of my cavalry up to exploit and ride down the rest of the heathens and opening the enemy flank.

Raymond's knights ride down one unit of Moors

In the center Mikey attacked piecemeal and was held at bay by my troops in the village. Unfortunately I only got the spearmen up to support and never managed to roll enough to get them in the front of the fight!

On the left the Black Company also advanced piecemeal, the cavalry getting shot up and forced to withdraw. One company of foot finally pushed me back from the fence and the second company advanced to get pincered by foot and knights at game's end.

The Black Company push me back in the center...

...and get destroyed on the left!

So a victory of sorts, not a great victory. No tactical brilliance was demonstrated by either side. 

In that year, Fulk the Bastard, enemy of God, did raise the banner of rebellion against the Good Count and did hyre many heathens and black-hearted soldiers of fortune. There was much stryfe of fyre and sworde throughout the land...

Lessons learned are to include the special rules on the order of battle sheets I made up (I noticed that everyone, including myself, was forgetting them), have some predone armies and order of battle sheets already sorted, so I can spend my pregame time setting out terrain and deploying armies, and maybe getting a smaller wargame table so my larger friends can fit behind it and won't feel like they need to cluster at the ends.

Of course once the rabbits have hopped off to the Big Warren in the Sky (and they are 8 years old now) there will be more room in the basement once again. I might even get a permanent painting table again!