"The Battle for Evermore" - Cataclysmic Fantasy Battles

In this Led Zeppelin-esque, Tolkien-inspired mega-clash, five armies - representing good versus evil - fight it out for the future of Middle Earth at the base of the Misty Mountain.

An army of Orcs and Goblins was defeated by an army consisting of Men, Elves and Dwarves. Each side had roughly 600 points. Rules used were Midgard.

Highlights included a monstrous dwarf bombard cannon ball taking off the head of the Goblin king, killing him stone dead, when he rolled a double 1 for a risk to generals test; a unit of Orc boar chariots bouncing off a dwarven shield wall; Goblin light riders humbling some Elven horse...and many more.

The big disappointments were, respectively, The Dark Lord and the Queen of Light. They were 4 star scorcerers, although they managed to fluff most of their spell castings turn after turn and didn't have a huge influence on the battle.

Either way, Middle Earth was saved for the forces of good and the evil ones were banished forever. Well, until next time at least....

54mm WWII - Big Boys' Toy Soldiers

A low level skirmish game in which a US recon section had to scout out the most appropriate route through to the other end of the table. This was dutifully undertaken through the time-honoured wargame tactic of driving or running up the battlefield to attract some enemy fire, thereby identifying the hidden enemy combatants. This lead to the inevitable sacrifice of a number of men and vehicles, but the mission was accomplished! A great example of 'Recon by Sacrifice', if you will.

'You can't make an omlette without cracking a few eggs', as they say.

Scouting for Victory - Franco-Prussian War

In this scenario, the two opposing armies had to scout ahead with some light cavalry, aided by Chasseur a Pied or Jaegers in order to make the way for the main infantry bodies of the respective forces to engage the enemy.

The game swung this way and that with commanders being killed by enemy fire, artillery batteries running out of ammunition, battalions morale breaking only to leave gaps in the firing line.

In the end the Chassepot rifle enabled the French to gain a narrow victory, the Prussian Krupp artillery having been held back too far to have made their highly accurate fire make a significant impact on the game.