Father Versus Daughter

 At my daughter's suggestion we played a wargame. She was keen to have Dark Elves but I said we needed to keep it simpler and have human armies until she understands the basics.

  The last time she played wargames with me was when she was a very young girl. They involved me being games master and setting up obstacles for her to overcome and treasures to find. Now she is in her early 20s. She enjoys online fantasy sword and sorcery games but was inexperienced in tabletop games.

Mat and I still had our armies set up from our recent dinosaur egg game so I decided to use the same forces minus Aztecs and dinosaurs. The objective this time was to occupy table quarters free of enemy troops.

Lexi chose the better armed but less numerous Beerstein army over the Bogavanian and Fezian one. The Beersteiners also had more and stronger heroes.

The armies entered the table from the same points. I explained her options as we went and generally moved her units for her. Lexi decided on the eventual strategies. Basically, she occupied her entry quarter with a strong defensive missile line and then sent two units over the central bridge to contest another quarter.

BELOW: Fezian sword and shield lights with the Moon God flag (borrowed from ancient Sumer).

                                                    Beersteiners with the Beerstein flag.

                                     An advantage of Alexi's army was she had two cannons.

                                Bogavanian pike shelter behind cover. They are led by a Fezian hero.

   An interested observer studies the Fezian musket men as they move on to a rocky hill to back up a Bogavanian unit.

                                    They see Beersteiner musket men n position behind cover.

                   The Beersteiners peer back. Chances are that both sides muskets are here out of range.

 

                                      Beersteiner long bows back up the artillery and muskets.

                                 The commander and a hero are attached to the long bow unit.

            Beersteiner musket men cross the central bridge, preceded by a small unit of heavy infantry.

                                   Fezian pike men charge out of the woods and fall short but then the Fezians counterattack. This meant they got to have the first round of combat. However, both sides are counted here as heavy and the Fezian pikes (spears really) give the Fezians three ranks attack as opposed to the usual two ranks.

                             Two units of Fezian lights are also advancing towards the battle.

We have played about six moves over a couple of days. (Lexi wanted to play just a short time and to leave it until another day).

So far, she is looking strong at one side of the river but the small force she sent across the river might well go the way of general Custer. She is aiming to get her yellow coated musketeers up on the bald hill to form a firing line. She elected not to put them into the existing battle. She also has two heroes with the musketeers that she could have sent in the melee but, so far has chosen not to.

FIIGURES: A Call to Arms, a David and Goliath set, Amies in Plastic Dervishes etc, Timpo Acton pack ACW with Persian style gnome hats, various odd figures including Charbens, Monarch, Reamsa, HK copies of Britains Detail Turks, etc. There is one Airfix space man conversion.