The Ides of March - from Paul Graham and Michael Stonyer, 17 March 2025

By Jupiter! Paul Graham ran the Ides of March event at the Wellington Warlords on Saturday. The words are Paul’s and the pics are from Michael Stonyer.

Ave all,

For a hurriedly organised event which unfortunately had its second day cancelled, this little competition worked out well I thought. Having the three tables lined up side by side was a nice touch as you could look down the line of games to see a wall of Romans facing a wall of Romans, just as it should be. In round 1 none of the scores was above 15 or below 10, as the players came to grips with the army sizes, table dimensions and opponents that looked like their own forces. It all loosened up in the next two rounds.

It was a game of 3 rounds but in the end Rome* of course was the winner on the day. Roma Die Victor Erat, as they say. The individual results were:

Place / Faction / Imperator / Score

I, Middle Imperial*, Alastair Duncan, 54

II, Late Imperial, David Kinzett, 51

III, Polybian, Raymond Dick, 45

IV, Marian, Graham Starkey, 36

V=, Early Imperial, Richard Mason, 24

V=, Middle Imperial, Michael Stonyer, 24

[*Armenian allies made a significant contribution to the outcome and are demanding a share of the Purple.]

Many thanks to all who participated, including Richard Fields who put up his hand as a substitute if needed, and our visitor Dave Madigan from the UK who watched on and offered helpful tactical advice (and occasional gasps of horror). Hopefully we can do it again next year, once more around the Ides of March? 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/824840264342234/posts/2853499311476309/

David Kinzett (Late Imperial Romans) deep in thought vs Michael Stonyer (Middle Imperial Romans). Dave Madigan is pondering and Paul Graham is wondering.

In the foreground, Michael Stonyer’s Middle Imperial Romans vs David Kinzett’s Late Imperial Romans. The result was a wining draw to the Middle Romans.

Action shot: David Kinzett (Late Imperial Romans) vs Michael Stonyer (Middle Imperial Romans).

David Kinzett (Late Imperial Romans) vs Michael Stonyer (Middle Imperial Romans). Paul Graham considers their deployment.

Raymond Dick (Polybian Roman) vs Michael Stonyer (Middle Imperial Roman) ended 23-1 to the Polybians (there was a penalty and bonus point system for things like cataphracts and most legionaires etc.). Michael observed that to the left is sitting “the Armenian hiding in Roman clothing”, a.k.a. Alastiar Duncan (also Middle Imperial Roman) who proved to be the One True Caesar, ave!