Thoughts on Derby 2015

Here was the draws and running orders for the day

Round 1
John v James – 19-111
Jez v Ken - 0-130
Matt v Jan – 98-32
Tony v Paul – 7-123

Second Round
Ken v Paul - 82-48
James v Matt - 82-48
Jan v John – 47-45
Tony v Jez 40-38

Round 3
Ken v James – 42-88
Paul v Matt – 116-14
John v Jez – 8-122
Tony v Jan (score not recorded –will check other bits of paper but a draw IIRC)

Stand out moments – I had 3 great games – against Jez and his Swiss my light horse did enough casualties to his support units to allow me to win without having too much contact with the deadly Swiss pike. Paul was a tough opponent with his Feudal English – in fact it was down to one point of VD and it would have been a mutual snap. Then there was James and his Romans………

When he posted this list I couldn’t make my mind up if it was genius or foolish. He ran four commands each with an incompetent general. Each command consisted pretty much of a Legionary unit, one Auxilia and one cavalry. The problem was that the generals were with the Legions and the Legions were A class veterans VBU 6 I3, so the generals may well be incompetent, but the Legions certainly were not! Playing me he attacked with single minded determination, chasing down and driving my light horse back. Even though I won the initiative most of the time this usually meant he had four commands still left to activate when I had finished, and those damned A class Legions with generals were rallying from disorder on a 2! I made a few mistakes and was punished mercilessly by James who was on top form.

Of course I worked out a cunning plan how to beat him the next morning – at least I think I have

The other event of note was that in the draw Paul and John didn’t meet – which was a shame as they had historically opposed armies, so as they were both free Sunday morning they agreed to play another game – and Paul – overall victor in the competition got his backside handed to him by John who finished seventh. Just goes to show !

Thanks Ken for stepping in as organiser and thanks to all who attended. As always, win or lose, three great games played in the spirit of fun and a great bunch of guys. As a backdrop I think the Derby event is great and one I look forward to all year. Hopefully we can get more numbers in coming years and get back to the 16 or so we have seen in previous years.

Thanks also Paul for the game on Sunday. That one was the most interesting and bloody of all the battles! Both of us on the point of breaking for a few turns, Midway through it was looking like the Romans and Swiss all over again but a few lucky breaks evened things up. Paul's longbow were struggling to hit anything worthwhile and then his knight charge faltered a bit. 3-0 short bow A archers are not supposed to stop and then force back 7-4 knights but the system always throws up a few surprises. I think they may have been up late watching the rugby the night before! Indeed, copious amounts of mead the previous evening meant his flank march did not even get out of bed.

Look forward to seeing you all next year or at the next event!

Regards

John

Thanks to Ken and all the guys who made for another great days Impetus gaming. And thanks to Ross who made the initial arrangements.

Well Charles the Bold managed to follow historical precedent by not winning his battles! One loss and two draws seems to have ended Burgundian aspirations. But at least he was not killed in action, so perhaps he may yet ride again...

A copy of Baroque (when published) is the ideal result

TD