Battle of Catalaunian Fields 451AD - TtS Part One

The Alan’s look to harass and Harry their Hun opponents in the centre

 The NWS had its monthly games day yesterday at North Perth Bowling Club and there were a wonderful array of games on show.  Guido had organised for Steve and  I to take the roles  of the great Attila the Hun and Roman General Flavius Aetius.  The battle saw a large allied army of Germanic Foedarati from Visgothic King Theodoric I and Romans defeat Attila and his vassals including Gepids, Ostrogoths and Huns.

We had been working towards this for six weeks. Steve already had his army sorted and I certainly had the Romans covered. I had the Frankish army painted and awaiting basing in storage for nearly twenty years so this was going to be the catalyst to get them out of the box and on the table. 

We recruited Phil and Chris to help command on both sides and Peter stepped in when one of our regular To the Strongest players Jeff was indisposed.  The table was set up on a 12 x 6 surface and away we went on a bright and beautiful Saturday morning.

A few from Steve and Chris's side showing the extreme left flank command of Ostrogoths.
Unbeknownst to us these would be the worst troops on the tale however we did not engage.

On our right flank the command of Thorismund V , Gothic allies of Theodoric V and
Sangiban with his Alans.  All to be commanded by Phillip Tiberius W. 

On the extreme right flank of the Hunnic Confederation of barabarians we find Gepids of Arderic and part of Ellacs command of Huns.

The mighty Romans under the command of Aetius himself

Lovely figures of Steve's.  One of Foundry's best ranges in my opinion

Many of the Franks that I had especially based for this particular battle

I had also purchased the resin tent from OTP as part of their fantasy Orc range.  I think it suits
quite nicely as a suitable Barbarian style hide tent.  I still need to finish it as the paint was still
partially damp when we placed it on the table that morning.  Typical wargamers.

Masses of Hunnic and Burgundian javelinmen backed up by light cavalry and scary nobles

A close up of the Roman and Allied right

On the Roman left an advance is called for to negate the potential outflanking Hunnic horse

Foundry on my side of the table as well

The tabs on the back of the units help us determine the units general save without modifiers 
as well as the command that they are in.  The Romans had six commands and the Huns five
so it was very important to keep an administrative watch over all participants.

The Romans commence their advance in the centre

Steves lovely troops in the centre.  The Romans were determined to give them no maneuvering 
space whatsoever if at all possible.

The Ostrogoths demonstrate on the Hunnic left

Valimirs reserve of Ostrogothic cavalry at the rear

The Franks of Meroveus advance in support of Aetius

Sangiban and the Alans, stars of the actual battle historically, advance.

A combination of Gripping Beast and Foundry Romans

Frankish bow and sling do their best and wonder why they missed out on the Angon stakes!

A great aspect of TtS is the depiction of camps.

Sangiban advances again

Merovius in all his glory

The Roman right looks for a weak point to attack

Two of our worthy Generals in action

It would appear that the Roman camp Provosts may have...ahem...some discipline
issues within the allied contingents.

All the Franks were based on Simon's excellent irregular bat bases from his shop.  Clever chap
our Simon Miller and more power to him.  Great set of rules and incredibly well supported.

Steve advances his raw warbands and waits for the attack

Phil takes the high ground

"Lads this is getting out of hand now"

The action starts to heat up across the board

The advancing Riomans seem to have caught the Huns and Burgundians slightly on the hop

Each side awaits the opportunity to launch a foray into the enemy ranks

Those pesky Burgundian javelin men would fight well all day

Action in the right Roman centre and flank starts to develop quickly

A view from the Roman ranks

Love the new activation chits from Simon.  Very visible and double-sided for speedier play

The Romans are feeling pretty confident at this stage of smashing through the centre

Merovius refuses the flank on the Roman left whilst his opponent Chris just cannot get
 his army moving whatsoever through a succession of "1's"

The Roman auxilia take the woods, denying them from the Hunnic lights

A gap in the lines however can it be exploited

As you can see the game is certainly a large one and has a nice volume of figures on the table.  As we leave this part of the report the battle is evenly poised.  The Romans have managed to cut off a large amount of the table to deny the Huns their ability to get behind our flanks and rear and the fighting has been fierce in the centre without any major blows being landed as yet.

More to come.