Oldnew Games Table up and running

Finally.  Some of the decorating is finished in our house, the move having been completed a couple of months ago.  It has a single-story extension at the rear, part of which is a sun room type of thing (not posh enough to be a conservatory) with a translucent ceiling.  It faces south, so the light is amazing during the day.  The electric lighting installed by the previous owners needs beefing up for night time games, but that will happen.  A few initial piccies:

This one is a Successors game for our Empire campaign, taken from an angle to show as much of the two armies as possible.  The table is made from four old trestle tables recycled and reused from the Phoenix club; in total they give an area of five feet by nine, so equivalent to a table tennis table, except that I got them for free.  I will probably get some proper semi-arid mats or something at one point, but bits of my old mat on some cork will do the job in the meantime.

The second game is also part of the campaign, this time a Gallic incursion into Roman-controlled Gallia Narbonensis.  Alan from Ayrshire gave me a large mat of artificial grass a while ago, and now it sees its first use.  I set up the terrain using the old Tabletop Games booklet of maps for wargamers, and then took photos of the deployed Roman army.  This is the left wing.

Above are the Latin legions of the centre left, with the Triarii deployed wide at the left rear.

Next up are the Roman legions.

Above is a close-up of the rightmost Roman legion.  Their Principes are on the reverse slopes of a hill, so they will be taken off the table to keep them hidden from the opposition.

Finally, on the right of the army are the combined Roman Triarii and some cavalry, hiding behind another hill, along with skirmishers out front.  The right flank rests beside a small piece of rough ground.

And a full length table shot, just because I can.  The backdrop is for model railroads, an idea shamelessly copied from some posts on The Miniatures Page.  I'll add some more along the long wall at one point.

All of the previous photos were taken in daylight; shots of the game are from yesterday evening.  Most didn't come out, but a few are useable.  The first one above shows the success of the Latin Equites on the left of the Roman army - they have already destroyed some Gallic heavy cavalry.

The next one is taken from the behind centre right of the Roman lines - Gauls are infesting the woods, with another large warband coming around the outside edge.

Back on our left, the Latins go haring off in pursuit rather than doing what they are supposed to do - come back and help destroy the other Gallic cavalry and then turn in on their infantry.  Oh well, maybe the unusual scent of victory has scrambled their brain cells.

A great mass of Gallic warriors crunches into the Roman centre.  We paid the points for close-based Gauls to give them more of a fighting chance up front against the legions.  Simon's figures are based in loose formation, so we just said that an element counts as four men wide instead of three. 

Here the Gauls at the extreme left of their army, the guys who came around the outside of the woods, are given an appropriate welcome by the Roman Triarii and Extraordinarii, after being shot up quite a bit on their way here.

The Gauls almost broke the two Latin legions, eventually losing by a couple of figures.  This was one of the closest games I've ever played.  The idea of allowing the warriors to count as close based worked well.  I'm pleased with the table, not so much with the lighting, although it is still better than the club.  Next up will be a Roman assault into Macedonia itself - will this see the final extinction of a once-proud power?