More pictures from the past that haven't hit my blog yet. This is from a field of glory game in 2025. It seems FOG picks up in the summer when Nate is on break from teaching. Of course, the 'honey-do' list gets long and childcare and vacations complicates everything. I played a game of FOG in 2026, but managed to only take 2 pictures, so not worth a post.
This game I was playing against Chris who is definitely remembering how to play and can put up a decent plan. I feel like I'm constantly on the back foot using Carthage vs Rome. I'm not sure if it's historical, or a function of the point value we play at (lower than normal), or composition of the troops we have, or what (definitely unrelated to my skill level).
Notable in this game I learned to not have my elephants race off versus light skirmishers. Slinger in this case. It reminded me of being told about how in DBA/DBX slingers vs elephants see no results 5 of of 6 turns, and then 1 in 6 you lose your elephants. Don't do it. This is precisely what happened in this game.
I, typically, ended up with my cavalry charging in and bouncing off against walls of well ordered infantry, who crept forward. The end game was my infantry core being ground down and cracking vs the (seemingly) endless small units. After this game I think I went for larger blocks of spearmen to avoid the penalties of losses kicking in after a single base was lost.
I'm currently in the process of painting another army (Syracuse) so I can try something different. Although honestly, they are mostly hoplites (offensive spear), so not that different.
It will give me an option for hosting a game myself when Nate isn't around (who has 3-4 different armies).
I have yet to play FoG, but have heard good things about it. DBMM is our rule set of choice and Republican Romans v Carthage is always a fun match up. Whatever the rules though, losing elephants is a painful and expensive business. It is just a shame you didn't manage to hang on to them to get stuck into the legionaries.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably using my elephants wrong. They have some benefits against cavalry. They can't be 'brigaded' with more troops though, so they can't double move with a leader when far from the enemy....and their movement rate is a bit odd. So they end up breaking formation. There's probably a solution I just haven't figured out yet.
DeleteGood looking game, regardless of unproductive pachyderms. Always imagine elephants reigning supreme on the tabletop, but I read frequently of them not performing very well at all. (Maybe the prospect of being poked to death by massed ranks of pikes or turned into giant pin-cushions by eager archers shooting at such large targets might do that to a Jumbo.)
ReplyDeletePerforming not well historically? Or on the tabletop? I imagine they were pretty amazing the first couple times they were used against troops/leaders who had never seen them. Most wonderweapons get nerfed pretty fast in the crucible of war though.
DeleteMy buddy who runs the romans keeps harranging me to take a max compliment (6) of elephants. We usually play with a low point value, so it's not really feasible after purchasing all the mandatory/core stuff.
Great looking game, never tried the FOG rules
ReplyDeleteI haven't played many ancient rules. I *THINK* i've played DBA (or some nearly identical set) a couple of times. So I don't have much perspective. Having said that, I'm surprised how many people have commented not playing FOG. They have been around for a LONG time, they are on their 3rd edition, and there was a impressive number of expansion books for most eras. I think there was some regular competitive play for a while too. It's even made it into computer form (not sure how close/loyal that play is to the table rules though). I suppose all wargaming is local wargaming though.
DeleteIf you are interested, the latest edition is free. https://www.bhgs.org.uk/field-of-glory-ancients--medieval.html (There's a link that takes you to slitherine, and a link on that page starts the download immediately. No signing up or buying a 0 dollar item).