Battle Day 2012 announced: Plataea 479 BC

The ninth annual Society of Ancients Battle Day, Saturday 31 March 2012
Sycamore Hall, Drayton Road, Bletchley, Near Milton Keynes, MK2 3RR

Plataea 479 BC

"When he had so spoken, he crossed the Asopus, and led the Persians forward at a run directly upon the track of the Greeks, whom he believed to be in actual flight. He could not see the Athenians; for, as they had taken the way of the plain, they were hidden from his sight by the hills; he therefore led on his troops against the Lacedaemonians and the Tegeans only. When the commanders of the other divisions of the barbarians saw the Persians pursuing the Greeks so hastily, they all forthwith seized their standards, and hurried after at their best speed in great disorder and disarray. On they went with loud shouts and in a wild rout, thinking to swallow up the runaways."

Mardonius the Persian general begins the battle by pursuing the retreating Greek alliance. From Book IX of The History of Herodotus, this translation by George Rawlinson and found online at
http://classics.mit.edu/Herodotus/history.9.ix.html


For our ninth annual Battle Day, we once again invite you to a unique day’s wargaming.

The battle: Plataea 479 BC – the day the Greeks decisively defeat the invading Persian army to secure their freedom, and arguably define for the next 2,500 years the cultural basis of what we call today “the west”.

So stand firm with Pausanias the Spartan King against the barbarian hordes of the Persians, or join Mardonius and the Persian Immortals in demanding earth and water from these Greek upstarts!

As ever, the aims of the day remain the same:
· To have fun!
· To gather as many ancient wargamers as possible to refight a historical battle.
· To fight the same battle simultaneously on many tables, using a different set of rules on each table.

As usual the day will run from 9am until 5pm, with an hour either side to set up and pack away.

And of course, The Society of Ancients will be awarding a number of prizes (for various criteria, some more frivolous than others) to the wargamers on the day, including prizes for Best Game and Best Terrain. With luck the lazy figure painter (that would be me) will have painted the prizes beforehand this year…

To offer to stage a game – contact Richard Lockwood at battleday@soa.org.uk or else via his details in Slingshot. But in any case, come along and take part as a player.

The cost of participating in the Battle Day, to contribute towards hire of venue and tables, will be held at £7 (juniors free), as it has been for several years now.

Every year it just gets better and better – this really should be a regular event on your calendar. Don’t miss out – come and be part of it!

The Battle Day is open to both members and non-members of the Society of Ancients.

2011 Battle Day - Kadesh

The eighth annual Society of Ancients Battle Day will take place on Saturday 2 April at Sycamore Hall, Drayton Road, Bletchley, near Milton Keynes, MK2 3RR. This year the chosen battle is Kadesh, and we have eleven games refighting this epic battle, using the following rule sets:

Armati - Command & Colours: Ancients - DBMM - Donald Featherstone - Giant DBA - Hail Caesar - Lost Battles - Peltast and Pila - Piquet Archon - Warlord - Warmaster Ancients

I am sure you will agree this is an impressive array of games for you to come along and take part in - most of the games are still looking for generals to join them!

The day is open to both members and non-members of the Society, all are welcome. We have to make a small charge of £7 to all attendees to go towards venue and table hire, although juniors are free.

The timetable for the day is approximately:

8am Hall available for set-up

9am Official start of the battles

9:15am Introduction to Kadesh: Ian Russell-Lowell puts the battle in context, and discusses the key moments and controversial issues.

4pm Prize giving. Oh yes. We give prizes. One for Best Overall Game and one for Best Terrain. And then we will be awarding the much-coveted and entirely spurious individual prizes for tales of derring-do on the tabletop.

5pm Official close

6pm Hall must be vacated

Contact Richard Lockwood (email: Richard@thelockwood.com or phone:07990 510492)

Armati by the Sea 2011 results

ARMATI BY THE SEA 2011

Sponsored by the Society of Ancients, Armati by the Sea was held at the Hotel Royale in Bournemouth over the weekend of 12th-13th March.

The format followed the now traditional matched pairs, with all the armies and terrain pre-selected and provided by the organisers (and drawn by lot for each round). All players were given A4 booklets containing full army lists and notes for all armies available in the pool (52 armies for 26 scenarios covering the full period range from 'Biblical' to 'Age of Chivalry').

After all 5 rounds, Roy Boss came out on top, with Bruce Rollet and Malcolm King as runners up.

The full results: 1: Roy Boss (132); 2: Bruce Rollet (127); 3: Malcolm King (109); then ... Stuart Campbell (100); Alan Zanich (92); John Bradley (84); Ian Kerr (83); Mark Fry (82); Craig Tannock (77); Phil Steele (69); Tim Cull (68); Paul Collins (64); Richard Jeffrey-Cook (58); Matthew Bennett (53); Oliver Hutt (47); Mick Owen (36).

Many thanks to Peter Barham for organising the event, to Mark Fry who umpired, and to Mark and Roy for again achieving the huge task of organising and providing all the armies, and shifting them down to Bournemouth.

Bookings are currently being made to secure the venue for Armati by the Sea 2012.

(On behalf of the Society of Ancients, Richard Jeffrey-Cook presented the Armati trophy to Roy Boss (central), Peter Barham (lower inserts) presented further awards for notable achievements. Photo by Phil Steele)

For more information and pictures from Society of Ancients events, please go to our Shows North blog (Ancients on the Move) ...

Phil Steele
President

People Posts and Prizes

New Membership Secretary

At the end October Peter Garnett stepped down after two seasons of invaluable service as Society of Ancients Membership Secretary. Chris Helm has volunteered to take on this key role, and joins the Committee with immediate effect. A big welcome to Chris - whom some of you may have met as part of the Shows North team at Fiasco.

The Society's warmest thanks are due to Peter, who took over as Membership Secretary in our hour of need. We wish him the very best of luck. Web-based contacts for Memberships and Postal Sales are already redirected to Chris ... other contact details will be announced in the next issue of Slingshot.


(Paddy Griffith, as remembered by the Doormouse)

The John Westwood Trophy

It was with a unanimous decision that the 2010 Committee awarded the John Westwood Trophy for outstanding achievements in ancient and medieval history and wargaming set therein to the late Paddy Griffith in recognition of his remarkable life long contribution to military history and historical wargames.

The awarding of the prize was announced at the celebrated historian's memorial event at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst on November 6th.

For more on the event, there are links on my P.B.Eye-candy page...

(James Roach with the Paul Morris Memorial Prize axe)

The Paul Morris Memorial Prize

During a quiet interlude at this year's Fiasco show at Leeds, President of the Society of Ancients, Phil Steele, was able to present 2009 Paul Morris Memorial Prize winner, James Roach, with the ceremonial axe. The Paul Morris Memorial Prize is awarded annually to the most innovative non-commercial wargame set within the periods of the Society's remit.

The Committee is always happy to hear nominations and citations, although the Committee cannot engage in playtesting and evaluation, so consideration normally goes to wargames released publicly or on show at events and conventions.

Phil Steele
The Society of Ancients
www.soa.org.uk
http://soawargamesteam.blogspot.com/

2010 English DBA Open Results

The 2010 English DBA Open was held on 10th October at the Southsea Community Centre. Sponsored by Magister Militum and the Society of Ancients, thanks are due to Portsmouth and Allied Wargames Society for hosting the event.

Congratulations to Scott Russell, the new English DBA Open Champion, and to James May, the new English DBA Open Junior Champion.

(left to right: James May - Junior winner - Scott Russell - Open Champion - Arnaud Marmier - runner up)

The entrants played off in three pools of 6, the winners plus best runner up going into semi finals, the top four Juniors likewise into their own knockout phase.

In semi final A, Scott Russell defeated Lindon Paxton (Early Carthaginians vs Syracusans) 4-2; In semi final B, Arnaud Marmier defeated Mark Schofield (Pyrrhic vs Camillan Roman) 4-0.

Using the same forces, Scott Russell defeated Arnaud Marmier in the final 4-1.

James May won the Junior event.

Richard Pulley won the Plate Competition.

For an illustrated blog, please visit Ancients on the Move

Many thanks from the Society of Ancients to all those who supported the event. With a minimum of 5 games each, all the entrants had a busy and worthwhile day: we look forward to seeing everyone again in 2011 if not before.

Phil Steele
The Society of Ancients
www.soa.org.uk

Pool results: A: A Marmier 22; M Smith 16; M Myers 11; R Dowling 7; D Constable 6; R Walker (J) 5. B: S Russell 21; M Schofield 20; R Pulley 8; T Ellis 6; S Etheridge 6; P Myers (J) 5. C: L Paxton 20; C O'Shea 14; P Steele 13; F Schofield (J) 11; J Drury 11; J May (J) 0.

Armies and popularity: Viking (2); Ghaznavid (2); Early Burgundian (2); Patrician Roman (2 ... 1 East, 1 West) ... then 1 entry each: Early Sumerian; Minoan; Kushite Egyptian; Spring & Autumn Chinese; Asiatic Early Successor; Ptolemaic; Middle Imperial Roman; Feudal Spanish; Medieval French; Medieval Portuguese.

ENGLISH DBA OPEN 2010

(one of last year's semi finals)

The Society of Ancients looks forward to next weekend's English DBA Open, hosted again by the Portsmouth and Allied Wargames Society.

Sponsored by the Society of Ancients and Magister Militum, the English DBA Open is a one-day event running from 9am on Sunday 10th October. To enter, or for more details, visit the English DBA Open information page
Junior, Senior and 25mm categories are available, and trophies and prizes will be presented.

For more information about the Society of Ancients, visit our website
www.soa.org.uk

SOCIETY OF ANCIENTS DOUBLES MASTERS

Good luck to all the competitors in this year's Doubles Masters Tournament.

Over 40 competitors will be gathering over the coming weekend on Oxford Brooke's University's Wheatley Campus to contest the 2010 title.

Organised by the BHGS and sponsored by the Society of Ancients, the event, this year, consists of a single 'English Open' round in 15mm scale using Field of Glory rules. The south of Oxford venue will also be playing host to Flames of War and Field of Glory Renaissance (beta, singles) competitions.


(last year's champions with the Alexander trophy. Will they retain their crown?)

Details of 'runners and riders' etc. can be found on the BHGS website www.bhgs.co.uk