My Deployments and Opponents at the IWF's 2004

This report from Roma features a new innovation -scanned in maps!

After flying out professional-wargames-quality BA from Heathrow, thus not only avoiding Sleazy-Jet but also avoiding too many wargamers along the way, the Central London team arrived at Rome for the IWF's on Thursday lunchtime. Deciding that the 2 games I had played with the Lithuanians in the past 18 months was probably about enough, I went to the pub for the afternoon, followed fairly seamlessly by a huge meal in a local Italian restaurant (funny that) with what I like to think of as Central London's "extended family" - the entire UK DBR contingent.

After a rather fortuitous discovery that the games on Friday started at 9am (rather than the 5pm-ish we had all assumed) we managed all to get to the venue only 2 hours before the organizers did to open up, and I found myself playing an Italian with less English than I had Italian, and a Patrician Roman Army.

A rashly assumed traditional Reigate Style Patsy, and so after deployment of his first command (Vaguely standard 1st patsy command of Ax & Lh & some Bw - great painting -see below!)  I continued to assume this. Then came far too many Wb for even most ambitious Teuton to ingest - oops!

This left my Cv command stretched very thin, but surely our Cv will give them the edge vs Roman Lh - oh no, lots of Irreg Kn (F) !!! Maybe we need to extend our line even further, and attempt run down the LH with our 4 cavalry before the knights can arrive surely ? Great theory - dreadful in practice !

Well, things started well, with an early Teuton breakthrough against the thickening Wb line, but this of course grinds to a halt, and my Cv command starts to look very tired as it can no longer avoid the knights and its Cv are being beaten up by LH (S)!

The 3 war wagons with my CinC are also making heavy weather of beating 6 bowmen, and finally I am forced to commit generals all over the table. The Warband get over cocky, and attack impetuously, allowing my CinC to sweep down onto an exposed flank and teach the Teutonics what they should be doing, delivering the coup de grace on the Wb command. By now, with all my cavalry beaten, my LH (O) are forced to take on the onrushing knights - and of course manage to beat them!

Scary combat survived for many turns, with Cv and Teutonic commands teetering on the brink, but finally it is 10-0! Time for lunch, and a bottle of red win, some pizza and calamari.....

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