'To the Strongest' Flies East

Pikes, check. Elephants, check. Rockets? Headhunters?? Jesuit priests???

Master M and I headed east for our second game of To the Strongest. In August 1511, the Portuguese captured the city of Malacca (in modern-day Malaysia) in an effort to control seagoing trade between Indian and China. For the next one hundred and thirty years the Portuguese were involved in a series of conflicts with surrounding Malayan powers. Ultimately, they were defeated and expelled by the Dutch in 1641. For more information.

So, somewhere in the sweaty jungles of Malaya, the Portuguese face down the army of another upstart Sultan.

The Portuguese. Pike and shot in the centre, African slave shot and swordsmen on the left. Local allies on the right. The priest is a hero in game terms.

The Malayans. Archers and headhunter scouts in front. Rear: warriors, Sultan's Guard (in vests), elephants, rockets (not too many armies give you that illustrious combination!)

Opening dispositions.

The armies surge forwards. The jungle terrain splits the Portuguese forces.

Closer, and the Portuguese line looks a little ragged.

First contact: pachyderm versus pike plus priest.

The elephant expires, leaving a hole in the Malayan line.

However, the Sultan's Guard quickly plug the gap before the lines meet.

The conflict is fierce.

But ultimately it is the Portuguese who buckle!

One for the downtrodden colonies!

To the Strongest - 10mm Fantasy

Master M and I had a go at To the Strongest. I'm much more of a fantasy gamer than ancients, so I dragged out my old 10mm stuff for the game. First game, so it was just the flat green cloth with no terrain and not a heap of units. Thus the lack of wide shots! Here are some of the orcs. They're GW's Warmaster figures. Sadly out of production: they are beautifully detailed figures.

They're based for Impetus - 80mm wide bases. I love the look of the bigger bases: these wolf riders really do look like skirmishing troops. Heavy infantry units look suitably dense too.

As for the rules, we thought they were a lot of fun. Grid-based, so there's no fiddle factor with movement. There's a 'push your luck' element to activating your troops, which I quite enjoy. Master M enjoyed it too when I had a dismal run of activations!

In fact he enjoyed it so much he demanded another game, which we're in the middle of at the moment. A more detailed report to come.