Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Society of Ancients 2012 Committee Changes

The Society of Ancients is pleased to announce the following changes to its governing committee for 2012.

The new president, as of 1 January 2012, will be Roy Boss. Roy takes over from Phil Steele, who has served as president since 2006. Roy is a long time war gamer, who can recall playing at Tony Bath’s house in the 1960’s. He’s also known the author of Montvert’s long out of print, highly sought after volume on Justinian’s wars.

Taking over as editor from Richard Taylor, as of the March 2012 issue, will be Mark Watson. This will be Mark’s second period as editor, in which role he served from 2008-2010, when he oversaw the revamp of Slingshot into a new glossy format.

Finally, also joining the committee will be Rick Priestley, Patrick Waterson and Paul Innes.

Rick Priestley is a long time member of the society and a well known games designer, probably best known for his historical, sci-fi and fantasy rules, which he wrote during a long and successful career at Games Workshop. His current historical rulesets, Black Powder and Hail Caesar, have been published by Warlord Games.

Patrick Waterson has been a prolific contributor to Slingshot over the last few years. He won the inaugural Phil Barker Prize, for his article “Amazed Was I Ere I Saw Zama”, published in Slingshot 262.

Paul Innes will be well known to members as the Society's organiser in Scotland and has been responsible for running the spectacular Scottish Battle Day "embassies" at Claymore over the last few years; Paul has also been part of the Tactica II project. He'll provide welcome representation for the Scottish members of the Society.

The members of the current committee who will remain in place in 2012 are: Richard Jeffrey-Cook (Treasurer), David Edwards (Secretary), Chris Helm (Membership Secretary), Richard Lockwood, Daivid Barnsdale, and Philip Sabin.

The Society would like to thank the outgoing officers for their time and efforts on our behalf. Phil Steele has been a tireless promoter of the Society, and an ever present face at wargaming events up and down the UK. Richard Taylor has spent two years in the post that is the face of the Society to many of us, and has been an outstanding Editor.

The early renewal incentive for 2012 (available to members who renew their membership before the end of February 2012) will be a game called “Call it Quids,” a two player board game of the Battle of Kadesh, designed by former SoA President Ian Russell Lowell, assisted by Graham Evans.

Friday, September 23, 2011

2011 Society of Ancient Doubles Masters - results

DOUBLES MASTERS 2011

The Society of Ancients Doubles Masters was hosted over the weekend of the 3rd and 4th September in Abingdon by the BHGS and the Oxford club.

24 Teams competed in DBMM and Field of Glory for individual awards and for the Doubles Masters Alexander Trophy (which would go to the highest scoring pair over both events).

Field of Glory (Ancient and Medieval)
1. Terry Shaw and Simon Hall
2. Dave Handley and Nik Sharp
3. Keith Martin-Smith and Graham Evans
.... S Munton/G Briggs; D Fairhurst/L Fairhurst; D Pearce/H Pearce; D Bannister/M J Simpson; A Ellis/K Ellis; G Jamieson/R Jeffrey; D Morrisson/ J Patrick; J Akers/P Card; P Steele/C Ager; J Simpson/D Saunders ...

DBMM
1. Mike Bennett and Colin Sharp
2. Greg Mann and Mark Hare
3. Mark Priest and Lawrence Greaves
... T Richardson/K Nathan; J Morgan/T Childs; P Kershaw; J Saunders/P Saunders; S Rathgay/J Smith ...

DOUBLES MASTERS
1. Terry Shaw and Simon Hall (FoG)
2. Dave Handley and Nik Sharp (FoG)
3. Mike Bennett and Colin Sharp (DBMM)

The event also hosted FoG R and AK47 events: Alastair Harley won the FoG R and Peter Parker Harris won the AK47

On behalf of the Society of Ancients and all the players, many thanks to the hosts and organisers and congratulations to the worthy Champions

(2011 Doubles Masters: Terry Shaw and Simon Hall)

Thursday, August 4, 2011

East of England DBA Challenge 2011

CANCELLED

The Society of Ancients cordially invites you to t
he

A one day friendly DBA tournament taking place at Eastern Front Wargames Show, St Andrew's Hall, Norwich.
Sunday 21st August, starts 9:30am
Pleny of Games. Plenty of time to see the Show.
Great Prizes (Champion, Dux Britanniae, Junior, Newcomer, Best Presentation)
Counts towards the 2011 Society of Ancients UK DBA League

Please come along and join in. The cost is just £5, which includes entry to the wargames show. The fee is payable on the day, but please contact the organisers to book in, in advance. This should not deter late bookers (do come, even at the last minute), it is simply to speed up the organisation on the day.

Bring your own army in 15mm, any valid army is allowed from AD 410 to AD 1066. No terrain required. One list (all elements must be selected in advance for the event), normal dismounting rules etc. apply. Armies that actually fought in Britannia within the period also qualify for the 'Dux Britanniae' award. 'Newcomer' simply means you have not played in a SoA UK DBA League previously this year. Loan armies can be organised if needed.

This would be a great opportunity to get some games in whilst visiting a show, or for intrigued newcomers to tryout DBA (let us know and we will arrange the draw so you get to play an experienced player in the first round who can show you the ropes).

Enquiries and entries
yesthatphil 'at' yahoo.co.uk

The East of England DBA Challenge is sponsored by The Society of Ancients, Eastern Front and Monarch Military Books

Friday, July 1, 2011

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.

Friday, March 25, 2011

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)


Wednesday, March 23, 2011

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