Ipsus Postscript

Here are some more images of Saturday's Salute game, taken during the course of play by chum Ian. The above shot is my absolute favourite shot of the game; quite possibly my favourite ever shot of a game of To the Strongest! Massed pike and elephants make for an exceedingly dramatic image.

The Gripping Beast scythed chariots looked spiffing!

Ian picked his moments carefully, snapping away during lulls in the action, missing out hands and playing cards.

This last one shows why I've moved to the deeper units for show games, they give a real impression of mass.

There's also a video showing the entire game, which I shot just before the players arrived.

I'd like to thank everyone who helped, the painters (mostly Shaun McTague but also Craig Davey), Ian for flocking, grouting and photos, and everyone who helped to run the game or talk to punters whilst I was running around like a headless chicken. Also Ian and Iain for helping with the setup and also Shaun and Rich who helped with the knock down at the end. The Warlords did a fantastic job running the show, which was one of the best Salutes I can  recall. They also gave us this trophy, which took me quite aback!

It was also super to see some of the other games, including the huge London Bridge skirmish game run by Seven Dials chums, the Friends of General Haig TYW, the big Leuctra, the Gustavus Adolphus 1:1 game and the dinky little Imjin River. Unfortunately I missed seeing any of the games in action, and got no photos at all. There were quite a few other games that I'd have loved to have seen in the flesh.

So what's next? I plan to run the same battle at the excellent Partizan show in Newark on Sunday May 21st. If you are coming and would like to play for a couple of hours, please email or message me and I'll book you in. We will run it in the AM, and again in the PM if there are enough interested players. It will be a little larger than the Salute version, since I intend to get a few more units finished.  :-)

In other news... there is a new version of the To the Strongest! Quick Reference Sheet available. There are some significant changes to Save Modifiers, and a few other useful tweaks. Also pick up the latest Even Stronger Supplement that came out last month, if you haven't already.

Ipsus at Salute!

Today chums Ian and Iain helped me set up the big Ipsus game at Salute, ready for the big day  tomorrow. 

Above are four of the eight new scythed chariots fielded, which will likely perform terribly on their first outing, in the manner of all new lead.

There are lots of lancers on the Antigonid side, eight squadrons led by Demetrius Poliorcetes.

The new phalanx- looking suitably pointy! Also some of the game's 33 elephants, above lovely ride-ons from Aventine, and below some venerable Vendels depicting Seleucus' massive herd.

Most of the lovely photos above were taken by chum Ian.

Ipsus can be found at GG04, near the centre of the hall, between the Warlord merchandising/painting competition area and the N7 exit. We'll hopefully play it twice, using my To the Strongest! rules, and we have spaces for players. Please do come by and say hello tomorrow! 

Mustering for Ipsus

Today I've started the laborious process of mustering the troops for Ipsus at Salute. They are currently scattered in storage boxes throughout the house and cellar. I need to find all the minis, count them, and revise the OOB and battle plan accordingly (and urgently!). These are just over half the required boxes.

If you play To the Strongest!, I've just uploaded a new version of the Quick Reference Sheet, version 1.1F. You'll want it there are several important changes in the save modifier table. Download it now, don't let your oppo steal a march on you! It's here.

Litter Lout

 

Here is a quick Work In Progress shot of the command stand for King Antigonus the One-Eyed, for the big Ipsus 301 BCE game at Salute next week. Antigonus was 81 years old at Ipsus, and had suffered a fall earlier in the campaign, so I've depicted him surrounded by his bodyguard, near a litter. The lion banner was suggested by Jeff Jonas, as Antigonus had earlier been Satrap of Lycia, which province was associated with lion symbology. I've depicted him "at bay", just before his dream of reviving Alexander's Empire was finally ended by an enemy javelin.

I started work on this stand as long as three years ago, so it has been an exceedingly slow burner. Minis were painted by various people including Shaun Watson and Shaun McTague. I still need to paint his litter and finish the base, flock etc. Below are the components yesterday morning, prior to basing.

If you are at Salute next week, please drop by to see Antigonus and his unfeasibly large phalanx! To the Strongest! will be at GG04, near the centre of the hall, between the Warlord merchandising/painting competition area and the N7 exit.

Phalanx VIII - All Over Bar the Grouting

Here is the Great Phalanx for Salute, approaching its finished form. All of the 720+ minis are now on bases- the only things left to do are grout around the feet of 192 of them, then paint the grout, flock and tuft, with which activities chum Ian is kindly assisting. But these are just snagging, the phalanx is, as of yesterday, combat viable!

Other things I need to do before Salute are to some extra command stands, notably one depicting Antigonus "at bay", finish the scenario and identify all the other minis required for the battle from amongst my huge stacks of RUBs- the Great Phalanx above constitutes approximately one half of one of the two infantry battle lines. I am quietly confident that the game will be the largest ancient game ever to be played at a convention, twice.

At Salute you will be able to find the Battle of Ipsus with me and sundry "To the Strongest!" chums at GG04, which is near the centre of the vast hall, between the Warlord merchandising/painting competition area and the N7 exit. I still have some organisation to do - next week I'll write out to the people who have expressed interest in playing. BTW I still have some slots for people to play in the PM game.