I could have been a contender!!!!

This weekend I was in London, playing in a wargames tournament.  My army was Roman, 90BC, with some native Roman soldiers, backed up by a load of hairy Gallic mercenaries and an elephant.

 

 

This (above) was my basic battle formation - Gauls in front with flank supports, Roman Legions in the second line to go where they were needed, and the mule train hiding at the back with the army's valuables.

 

 

The elephant did sterling service in most of the games - here it is rampaging through a Chinese army.  Some of the models in my army, including the elephant, are very old and were bought on my 13th birthday!

 

 

The tournament was held at a pub in the middle of London.  Being owned by an Indian, lunch consisted of very nice curries...

 

 

I don't know how wide spread this story is, but there is a new building in London that has curved walls.

 

Being curved inwards, the light that is reflected from the windows focuses on a small area, like sun through a magnifying glass.  This became big news here when the heat melted the roof of someones car!

 

The games were all great fun and hard fought.

 

My opponents seemed to think that the hairy Gauls were an easy target for their heavy cavalry - something that they soon learned to be incorrect.  By Sunday lunchtime, I had scored a losing drawer, a winning drawer and an outright victory, and I was sitting 3rd in the league table.

 

 

Sunday lunch was very nice.

 

 

My final game was very tought - a good army being played by the best player in Britain.  I had little chance, especially when my left flank guards decided that they were not going to take part in the battle (this is a feature of the rules that can sometimes come into play, representing many battles where leaders were let down in this way).  I fought hard but was totally whipped in the end.  But I did have a glimpse of glory, and will be going back again next year with a different army to try my luck again...