Clash of Spears - Summer 2022 Georgia Tournament!

I gathered this past Saturday, Aug. 27, with a group of wargamers to participate in the Clash of Spears Summer 2022 tournament at Giga-Bites Cafe in Marietta.

The tournament was hosted by my friends Alvaro and Francisco Erize - the amazing duo of brothers at the heart of Fighting Hedgehog and authors of the award-winning Clash of Spears rules.

Due to life circumstances, I've not been able to game in a long, long, time. But now that things have changed for the better, when I heard about the tournament I was eager to attend. I just needed to finish painting an army - so I stepped up and did what I usually do: I waited until the last moment and worked like mad to get a Celtiberian force painted up in time. Fortunately, I succeeded and showed up on the day with a fully-painted 900-point Celtiberian warband! (I will write on the painting saga in a later post.)

There were about nine other warlords vying for the famed Clash gladius, though that number would vary throughout the day as some had to leave early. 

My tournament after-action report will be told mostly in pictures and descriptions, rather than a boring, dry verbal account.

Once I arrived and the tables were set up (which I have to say, were beautiful), it was time to fight! Just my luck, I was paired against Alvaro in the first game - great. My first foray back into wargaming in many years, and I was faced with one of the game's designers! I did not expect this game to be easy, and I was right.

My deployment, and my first mistake. With two leaders, I should not have split my forces into three divisions. That meant my Lvl 4 leader would have to try and stay centered all battle in order to be able to give orders to two formations.

The right side, my left, of the Roman line. A nice. strong, compact formation.

The left, my right, of the Roman army. Light troops flanking the shield wall.

My Celtiberian nobles and a Lvl 3 leader form up on the flank.

Overview of the initial deployment. Observant players will already see that I am going to have trouble concentrating enough force to break the enemy line.

On my right, the caetrati and slingers face a well-drilled Roman formation. They would eventually see off the caetrati and assault into the slingers.

The scutarii look on as a unit of caetrati advances to contest the objective.

Clash of Spear measurement gauges come in very handy when making sure your troops stop just outside of enemy missile range,

On my left, top in this picture, Alvaro's Romans have advanced steadily towards the objective while maintaining a strong formation. At the bottom, the enemy eye each other earily over the second objective.

I took advantage of an opportunity to charge with my nobles, doing very little damage, before riding away back to a safe distance.

The Roman troops, having dispatched the caetrati, secure the objective by charging into and pushing back the slingers. 

At this point, the Romans held both objectives. Combined with heavy losses among my caetrati, this was enough to force a break test which I failed, conceding the field of battle to the Romans.

At the left objective, I still had enough force to cause some damage, had the leaders not decided that discretion is the better part of valor and fled!

The outcome was never in doubt, and my Celtiberians abandoned the field to Alvaro's Romans, awarding him a major victory. I managed to salvage a single victory point - not an auspicious start to the campaign.

The second game would be a skirmish between similar forces as my Celtiberians took on Kenny's Iberians in an internecine peninsular clash.

Kenny and I, right, prior to our match. Pardon the lunch detritus in the foreground, but Clashing makes one hungry.

The Celtiberian line, a much more compact formation than the previous battle.

Initial deployment, with the objective markers (the top objective is hidden in the structure). This was the retrieval scenario, with the hidden object in one of the randomly selected objectives. Until we knew which, we'd have to contest them all.

On the right, the caetrati advance towards the objective.

Slingers start peppering the enemy, caught in the open, with stones, diminishing their ranks.

State of the opposing forces after the first turn. My line is still holding together well.

A solid line of Celtiberians.

The slngers, having devastated one unit of enemy troops, turn their attention to the one securing the center objective, which, as the fates would have it, contained the hidden valuable. The enemy gains the advantage.

On the left, the caetrati soften up the opposing cavalry before being charged and taking some losses. Still, their javelins took their toll.

The weakened cavalry was no match for the charge of the scutarii, who decimated them!

At this point, though the enemy had possession of the treasure, the Celtiberians were solidly in control of the field. Due to their losses, the Iberians were forced to take a break test and fled, abandoning the sacred item that had cost them so much in sweat and blood. 

This game went much more my way, with the Celtiberians gaining a major victory! The nine points from this battle got me to 10 total points, firmly in the middle but still with an outside shot at the champion's gladius if things went well in the third game.

For that crucial game, I faced off against Brett and his heavily armored Romans - this would be a tough test indeed.

Once again, the Celtiberians face a heavily armored, compact formation of Romans.

Apart from a unit of velites on the hill, the Romans were all heavily armored with big shields to absorb missile attacks.

The wild Celtiberian caetrati rush screaming from the woods. Perhaps next time, quietly staying in cover would be more effective...

The one real tactical mistake I can point to that my opponent made - his cavalry charged unsupported and were caught alone and in the open.

Not one to pass up an opportunity, the leader orders the scutarii to break formation and throw their spears, impaling the the horses and riders under a storm of sharp steel. The eerie cries of dying horses could be heard across the battlefield.

Emboldened by the success of the scutarii, the caetrati charge a wall of Roman shields - with little effect other than to die upon Roman spearpoints.

Don't let the apparently disordered Roman line fool you - at this point they are still in a very strong defensive position keeping my troops away from the objective.

After butchering the caetrati, and the scutarii next, the Romans command the center. 

I managed to salvage some respectability by charging my cavalry into the enemy deployment zone, but it was too little, too late. I failed the break test convincingly, handing Brett a major victory.

In the end, the might of Rome prevailed again as the Celtiberians really weren't able to score enough damaging hits, while getting punished in return. Brett's major victory was a crushing defeat for my troops, and the two victory points I was able to salvage left me with 11 total - tied for fifth in the overall standings, firmly and solidly mediocre.

My impressions on the day:

First, Alvaro and Francisco put on a terrific tournament. Each and every table had beautiful well-placed scenery that truly enhanced the gaming experience. And the brothers were gracious hosts, moving from table to table to answer the myriad of rules questions and comment on the ebbs and flows of the games.

Secondly, the level of good sportsmanship was tremendously high. The competition was fierce, but there was no sense of the uber-competitive, win-at-all-costs, attitude I have sometimes seen at other events. Yes, everyone was out to win, but all of my opponents were fair and kind. Moves and countermoves were discussed before decisions were made, and rules queries were addressed politely.

It was a pleasure to compete and enjoy a day of fellowship with such a great group of guys. Despite the thrashing my army took at the hands of the Romans, I am eager to send them back into the fray.

I am planning on adding some units with heavier armor, but that will mean fewer skirmishers... or smaller units... or different leaders...

Choices, choices.

I have decided on one thing - next time, the gladius will be mine! Oh yes, my precious, it will be mine!

'Til next time.