Champion of all Scotland !!

With my tongue firmly in my cheek, i can now claim to be the Fog am champion of all of Scotland... winning the scottish open 2013 !! A great weekend of fun filled action using an Albanian army from the 1450s. Living out in the sticks i dont get many ancient wargames in these days, so it was enjoyable playing four games in one weekend. All against gentlemen opponents. Here are my brief match reports; for my own delectation if no one elses.... Win or lose, the fun is in playing new opponents with armies I have never come up against before. Winning is just a happy by product of playing some (almost) vaguely intellectually challenging games with an historical theme. well here’s my match reports.... first game rob pooley early ottoman turks i lost initiative steep hill on my left and on my baseboard centre right- rough ground infront of centre right steep hill so a 3ft gap in middle of table he lines up with cav in the gap and sup LH on my right... mainly on/far side off the rough i push in centre with knights and cav... he skirmishes but has a block of cav not in one line who get mullered as they have to stand other charges/my cavalry shooting disrupts him/i charge and catch him etc etc... game 2 alan cutner seljuk turk but very interesting list... 1x 9dailami armourded MF sup IF 2x4 hc b/s arm sup 1x 4 hc pro b/s average 1x lf bow poor 1x lf jav poor 1x 2 els 3x LH b/s 2x dailami ally 9MF/LF IF sup i lose initiative steep hill in his middle base large rough on his right 2’6 gap in middle he has dailami and lf on his left.. cav in middle in a line, el at back right, lh and dialami ally on far right i skirmish on rf and push at an angle going towards the right in the centre gap his protected cav frag through my cavalry shooting. i charge and break them. my lh charge his lf which are hanging out the steep hill and catch them... then off into his camp – 6pts/12 i dance in the centre but pin some cav who cant move. he frags my cav and i have to charge with my knights... my kn and cav rout over a 4-5 turn period. i use this time to set a trap behind them with LH and handgunners so when his cav and els pursue i have 8 shots awaiting them... 6 hits on el.. rolls a one; his cav frag and break... 10/12 hard to see where i can get 2 pts from.. but he moves his hc towards my lh near his ex camp... i bring some lf bow all round the table all game and they appear over the steep hill. my lf and lh hit him and dirsupt him as he his near table edge; then frag him.. i rush my moves as we have played the 3.45hr game.. we get into shooting again. this time i have just 2 shots at him,... hit him and he routs... we look over to hunter and say whens last bound. hunter says quarter past.. we say its 16mins past... he shouts last bound !! game 3 hunter hope scots continental 8 longbow undrilled average 4 average hf h/w i win initiative and keep it uneven terrain on my left and rough on his far back left massive uneven on his centre right and a gentle hill in front of it i take a gamble and flank march... line my knights up on my left just in from the uneven against a line of bow my flank march of 1 lh arrives first bound... his line advances towards me his bowmen flee leaving the table edge open i advance my kn and lh and my lh had to charge his other bowmen in the flank to stop them moving away all the time he is pivoting his line elsewhere to trap me on the table edge my kn cut through the bowmen in front of me and i line up another charge into some more bows... which have a unit at an angle behind them not giving rear support but in the line of any rout... and then the camp behind them... he also has a unit of h/w hf isolated in the rough terrain. all that needs to happen is my kn charge, win and cut through into the rear bow beat them an d camp is gone too.. that would be 8pts/12 with at least another 2pts easy to be had except his 6 shots on my knights make 3 hits... i roll a 5 so even with rear support and a general i disrupt... and throw a one and lose a base... the chance of victory recedes and suddenly i look vulnerable all over the place... am staring a big loss in the face... after a bit more manouverings i realise i am only 40 minutes from the end of the game.. no need to take risks and i pull away as i still am not completely trapped on the table flank edge am losing 3-4 units for just one of his so its not looking good but by pushing forward he has left individual bow units isolated.... my cav shoot and disrupt a unit; charge in double drop him and career into the next unit along; which also disrupts and gets beaten in quick time.. routing through a h/w unit and my cav hit that unit too... on his right he has an isolated unit and i have 2 cav units there plus my foot bows who i bring up and shoot him.. disrupt and fragging him... 7/12 pts time is called before my cav fight his disputed average h/w and i have another h/w unit in the rough disrupted and vulnerable.. so maybe another pair of bounds would have seen me win big.. instead it was a draw but it was a hairy game and could have gone either way !! i was never really in control but the 2nd kn charge could have been a match winner... but no complaints game 4 jim copeland early scots i win initaive 8x8 mf off spear aver 2x 6 armoured hf i/f 2xlf 2x lh j/ls Alba v the Albanians... nice spot Jim! i liked his army and its an interesting one much under rated rough on his side on left and right side and a rough in my centre sector bound one and he is almost at the centre line... i was going to hit his left hard where he had lh and mf but he placed his hf in the rear near them.. so my last command of kns and cav switched to the rhs facing 3 mf units and a hanging flank. the cav and my lh shot his rhs end unit down my rh kn failed a test not to charge and went in and won my lh kn stood and passed tests not to charge pinning a mf unit... and simply waiting until the rh knights won, turned round and hit the mf in the rear at the same time as i charged frontally... his advancing mf in the centre were hit by lots of lf shots... with the hand gunner –1 twice taking him down and routing them... a lf unit routed seeing him rout and general dieing thanks to double dropping on low dice score.. i hit his camp... 12/13 pts in reasonable time.. my left was getting beaten a bit and looking squeezed so i sacrificed some cav and chanced a lh charge against his lh.. he had 2 mf units behind my LH but had no general and failed 3 times to turn his mf round to trap me. my lh beat his lh and he double dropped to fragged and that was game ! so other results meant i had pipped a couple of others to the champions spot- which was nice

On the Silk Road....

Blog on hold for four months as I am on the Silk Road coming back from China overland.. am following in the footsteps of... well nobody really . It's just a meander through Turkestan and the Caucasus in a rough direction towards home. Occasional updates on www.silkroad2013.tumblr.com

Bayfog accommodation available

Accommodation for Bayfog V 26/27 Oct 2013 Below is a selection of bed and breakfast providers close to the village hall who all have said they have availability for the weekend. Most of whom will take one night bookings. Although space does fill up quick so early booking is advisable. (as at 21/2/13) There is an accommodation guide on the RH Bay web site http://www.robin-hoods-bay.co.uk/html/useful_links.htm Raven House ravenhouse@rhbay.co.uk Tel: 01947 880444 Mob: 07796 958675 Email:ravenhouse@rhbay.co.uk Website:http://ravenhouse.rhbay.co.uk/ Devon House p.lawrence378@btinternet.com In relation to our telephone conversation this evening I can offer you the following accommodation.....1 Single room at £50.......1 Double room at £75.....1 Twin room at £75.....1 Double room at £70. All rooms are en suite and a Full English Breakfast is Included. If any rooms are required please contact us asap as rooms go very quickly. Regards Ann and Paul Devon House 01947 880062 Email: devonhouse.rhb@virgin.net Website: www.devonhouserhb.co.uk Cotebankhouse Two rooms available one double one twin, twin room can hold three if required. Tel: 01947 880589 Email: kathcotebank@msn.com Website: www.cotebank.com westroyd we will be taking a minimum of two nights that weekend but do have availability at the moment Tel: 01947 880678 Email: westroyd@btinternet.com Website:www.westroyd.co.uk The manning Tree Tel: 01947 881042 Email: themanningtree@btinternet.com Website:www.manningtreebnb.co.uk We have one twin and two double rooms and would be happy to take bookings for one or two nights. The only conditions we do have is that we are not able to take children or pets. Thorpe Green House Hi, please go ahead. I do prefer two night bookings but do accept one night only so that's fine. I don't have single rooms, one room is a double bed and the other is super-king size, both are £75 for one night and £70 if booked for two. Janet Cooper Thorpe Green House 01947 880339 / 07790 520945 Email: janet.tgh@btinternet.com Or: info@thorpegreen.co.uk Website:www.thorpegreen.co.uk Thackwood We have 3 rooms available at the present time for the 26/27th October 2013 the price for 2 people sharing is £70 per night or £50 single occupancy including breakfast and we have free off road parking. 01947 880858 Email: tracygreen113@hotmail.co.uk Website: www.thackwood.com Streonshalh Hi Paul, we would let 1 of our double rooms and both our singles for 1 night on either night but we would require 2 nights for our other 3 double/twin rooms. As well as holidays it might be Goth Weekend as well Tel: 01947 881065 / 07814 570024 Email: admin@streonshalh.co.uk Website: www.streonshalh.co.uk Leeside Tel: 01947 881143 Email: lee-side@rhbay.co.uk Website: http://lee-side.rhbay.co.uk Clarence Dene Clarence.dene@virgin.net Hello we can take Friday & Saturday bookings , we will also take one nighters only if the Friday is booked first then we take the Saturday 01947 880478 / 07811 175931 Email: clarence.dene@virgin.net Website: www.clarencedene.co.uk Saxonvilla Westondes1@gmail.com www.saxonvilla.co.uk Tel: + 44 (0)1947 880812 Mobile: 07958003191 or 07908206261

DBMM at Bayfog 26/27 Oct

There will be a 15mm DBMM competition this year. It will be an open theme but 450 points. 4 games over the weekend- 2 Saturday and 2 Sunday This will be alongside a FoG competition, which is now in its fifth year. Accommodation guide will follow shortly but see robin hoods bay tourism association web site for details

Bayfog V 26 and 27 October 2013

Bayfog V will again be held in Robin Hoods Bay Village Hall over the weekend of 26/27 October Field Of Glory ancient rules will be used and DBMM will also be offered if there is interest. Field of Glory will be 900 points, singles, and will be an 'average joe' only competition. No superiors or elite troops allowed. (but poor troops are). Any army before 1067 is allowed DBMM details will be confirmed later. Bed and breakfast accommodation can be found through the robin hoods bay tourism association website http://www.robin-hoods-bay.co.uk/html/where_to_stay.htm

bayfog IV results

“Bayfog was average this year” says Marco Baroni ! This was the Field of Glory ancients competition. Well many thanks to all of you chaps who made the journey to my small part of the world. It really is appreciated that all of you make the trip. I hope you think it is worthwhile. I think Bayfog IV was probably the best yet both in terms of numbers and atmosphere and it was great to see a well lit hall filled with gamers taking lots of exercise. With the tables laid out over the badminton court, I am sure wargaming is a sport really !! I would also like to thank the sponsors who gave generously in straightened times. Thanks to Donnington, Magister Militum, Opsrey and Perry Miniatures. Your support is much appreciated too. Well done to champion Neil Howard and commiserations but much appreciation to Malcolm Gordon. Malcolm won the £30 Perry voucher and Marco Baroni in the Mr Average 11th place won the £40 worth of Donnington figures ! The results of the 900 points Average Joe competition are below. I am open to suggestions for next year (on the basis people want to come again!) and will look at dates asap too. As a review I thought the average nature of the troops meant results were in the balance at all times and the absence of superior troops brought an unpredictable nature to the games which made a nice change. The close nature of the scoring reflects this too. 1. Neil Howard Tupi 69 2. Ian Mackay HYW Eng Cont 1420 66 3. Bob Amey Warring States Han 100bc 65 4. Gordon jamieson Warring states Han 200bc 63 5. Robert Taylor dailami Dynasties 950 62 6. paul Johnston Auxumite 570 61 7. Hugh Cameron Low countries 1478 57 8. Richard Case Komnenan Byzantine 1187 47 9. Dave Morrison Santa hermandad SNC 1483 46 10. Graeme carroll medieval Indonesian 1292 44 11. Marco baroni Free Company 43 12. George Dick Low countries 1477 43 13. matt poole WOR Yorkist pretender 42 14. John Muir medieval Danish 1490 41 15. Richard Butler HYW Eng Cont 1455 40 16. Dave Saunders mamluk Egyptian 1401 39 17. paul dawson HYW Eng Cont 1356 35 18. John Hogan HYW English Continental 1423 34 19. Roger Greenwood War of Roses tudor 1482 32 20. Robert Middlemist Numidian 47bc 19 21. Malcolm Gordon Classical Greek Thessalanian 470bc 11

blog technology

Sorry to those few people who visit here- i have exceeded my photo capacity and have no idea how to reduce it so new photos cant be uploaded at the moment- despite me deleting lots of pics from here.