Gaming At Bastion Gaming Center

         The gang and I took the trip up to Bastion Gaming Center to use their new giant gaming space. We played an oversized game of The Pikemans Lament using the stores 28mm painted armies. It was a case of ECW Royalists vs the Roundheads. The King's men were more numerous but not as well trained while the hard-bitten disciplined Roundheads were fewer in number but made of much sterner stuff. 

          We used the "convention rule" wherein a failed Command check did not end the turn but simply left the unit taking no action. The game was marked by the wildest number of "double-ones" and "double sixes" that I have ever seen. In the end the Royalists managed to overwhelmed the Parliamentarians.

 

Royalists on the right (big surprise there, eh?) facing the Roundheads on the left

 

faced by superior numbers the Roundheads sought cover and prepared to open fire

 

 

facing them the Royalists went with a holding action on their right,

 a flanking attempt on the left and steady pressure in the center

 

the Roundheads kept their over-matched cavalry well to the rear as a reserve 

(there are some of those misbehaving dice)

 

the left hook didn't end up rolling up the Roundhead flank but it did draw away the reserves to weaken the center for the final assault by pike, in the far distance you can see a unit of Commanded Shot (in the manor house) and a unit of Trotters these two units attempted to fire at each other every turn but in the end only exchanged a couple of volleys, simply horrible dice

 

despite facing cover and superior troops the sheer volume of Royalist fire managed

 to wear away at the Roundhead center 

 

 

while the cavalry did their part as well, wildly charging everything in sight

 

once the push of pike had begun the battered state of the Roundheads 

left them unable to stem the tide of advancing Royalists

 

       This was a fun game to play and it was quite a change from a convention in that I didn't have to cart my minis around, I simply used the ample supply of figures that are available at the shop. Everything you see on the table was available for sale at the store. The facility is quite spacious and has an excellent atmosphere. Perhaps next week we will have ourselves a Hail Caesar game.......