New games room and table christened with TYW scrap!

Well, as the title of this post suggests, my new man cave is ready for action. There will no doubt be a larger inaugural game to celebrate the occasion but Rob came up last night for a taster. I opted for Thirty Years War largely because I knew where all the troops were under the table but also because it is a colourful period and the rules are pretty straightforward (Pike and Shotte, love 'em or hate 'em they work for me). Rob took the Swedes and I led the Imperialists, in a simple encounter battle for possession of the river crossings.

 (Above, the armies deployed for battle. Below, a close up of the Imperial left wing)

 (Above, the Swedish army, with their Saxon allies on their far right flank, well out of the way! Below, Finnish horse pushing across the river to try and delay the Imperial advance. They failed and were broken after a hard fight with Imperial cuirassiers)

 (Above, the Swedish centre, the Blue Brigade and the Yellow regiment cross the river. Below, Imperial infantry in some confusion attempting to form up to receive the Swedish attack).

 (Above: Swedish dragoons before they dismounted to take pot shots at the Imperial right wing. Below, over on the other flank the Imperial Cuirassiers, Harquebusiers and Croats forced the Saxons into a defensive hedgehog).

 (Above, Imperial pikes stormed across the bridge, driving off the Saxon musketeers holding the opposite end.  Below, battle rages as the Swedes get in close).

 (Above and below, the hapless Swedish dragoons again. They dismounted just in time to be hit by Imperial Harquesbusiers, fresh from driving off all the enemy horse on the Swedish left flank).

 (Above, the main Imperial infantry line advancing towards the Swedish Blue Brigade, while below, four squadrons of Swedish horse held  in reserve are pushed forward after the Finnish and Livonian horse on their left had been drive off by Imperial cuirassiers.)

 (Above, Swedish cuirassiers move forward in support of their infantry while below, the left closed with the Swedes and crossed the river in strength). 

(Above, Croats harass the Saxons and keep them from deploying out of their immobile hedgehog formation. Below, opposing pike blocks clash in the centre). 

 (Above, the Imperial advance is halted temporarily by the elite Blue brigade. Below, the end of the action.)

This was a great game and when we had to finish it was still very much in the balance. My right wing had driven off and broken their opponents and were swinging around to engage the Swedish centre. My left wing was held up by the Saxons and the terrain. In the centre things were evenly matched except that Rob had six squadrons of uncommitted Swedish horse and his infantry were superior in quality to mine. We  shall never know........ and most remarkable of all, although we were both plagued by some dreadful command rolls as usual at the wrong time, neither of us managed to throw a double 6 and blunder during the entire game!

New games room and table ready for action!

Yesterday saw the completion of my new table. The man cave is also just about ready for use; I just need to sort everything out, fill the display cabinets and put some pictures on the walls. There's loads of space on the shelf under the table for all my stuff, indeed there's plenty of room for more stuff!

The table is 5' x 12' which while not as wide as my previous one is longer, higher and far sturdier. 5' is wide enough I guess, even for the massive Black Powder and Pike and Shot games I play. Another big advantage that it is well lit, heated and everyone can stand up straight without cracking heads on the ceiling. I can fit a 2' extension to the table if I really wanted to.

I have a new terrain matt on its way as the old one, apart from being too small for the new table, has seen better days and hasn't really survived the move.

I'll be glad when I can get back to some painting and especially basing as I have lots of troops completed but in need of basing. I will still be keeping my painting station upstairs in the 'office' so I don't have to disrupt the production line whenever I have a game. Now, where did I put my backdrop??????