Copyright © 2011-2024, Paul Scrivens-Smith

Copyright © 2011-2024, Paul Scrivens-Smith

All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the creator.

Tuesday 19 October 2021

The Battle of Bairen,1097 at Partizan


It seems that everybody else who went to Partizan has already updated their blogs, but pressure of work and a trip to London last weekend have left me rather tardy.

James, Martin, Tom and myself put on a rather huge game of Midgard to refight the Battle of Bairen  1097 using the extensive El Cid collections that we have been working on these past twenty years or so.


I'll not write a full report, it's been far too long for me to recall all the details, but what follows is a selection of photographs from the action.

Moorish boats offshore prepare to raid arrows on the flank of the Aragonese forces



A rather spectacular shot of the initial deployments

James fashioned the sea and shore from a sheet of perspex


The Aragonese Jinetes launch themselves at the massed Moorish camels


The one where Martin points at Toms cock, so Tom does too.


They have calmed down a bit now

After an initial missile duel, eventually the battle lines close to contact



The Moorish camels supported by the boats swiftly gain the upper hand on their left flank

Forces start to clash in the center


King Pedro leads his Caballeros in the charge, but is swiftly cut down in single combat


The Aragonese left force the Moorish right almost back onto their camp




With King Pedro dead  and the Moorish camels raiding their camp the forces of El Cid and Aragon collapsed, El Cid cut his way out through the Moorish camp and would live to fight another day.


The game played really well, it's by far the biggest game of Midgard we have ever played by, I reckon, a factor or about three, but the rules scaled up really well.

We were well chuffed to win the McFarlane Shield for the best demo game. Not bad considering some of these figures were painted 20 years ago.


Hope you enjoyed, I'd suggest that if you are thirsty for more check out James', Tom's and Martin's blog posts:

Partizan Round-Up and El Cid Vignettes

El Cid: the Battle of Bairen, 1097 CE






18 comments:

  1. Simply stunning - a well deserved award clearly Paul!

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  2. Superb game with beautiful figures and terrain, Scrivs! I see Alan Perry too! Very impressive - wish I could've been there.

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    1. Thanks Dean, James was responsible for the terrain, although about half the figures are mine.

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  3. Fantastic looking game. Now I want to dust off my El Cid collection

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  4. Fabulous looking game! Really dig the sea/ shore area

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  5. Stunning looking game from a excellent period!

    Christopher

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  6. Gorgeous looking game and congratulations on your award!
    Best Iain

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  7. Well deserved award, Paul, loved the eye candy. And here I thought your collection was huge back when you first gamed with it at Rock Con.

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  8. Not surprised that you were awarded best demo game. It looked superb. The coast/sea was especially brilliant.
    Regards, James

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    1. Thanks James, that was all James's work, I just provided a ton of figures

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