Cataphract 1 - The Catalaunian Fields

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Cataphract is another GBoH title, for which this was our first play. It's not clear how much difference between this and Alexander and SPQR there is, but having played those games, it was not difficult to get going in this one. We chose Catalaunian Fields for our first play, feeling we had enough experience with GBoH to manage the number and variety of forces brought to battle.

I played the Romans, which set up on the west side, with the Huns to the east. North is to the left. Here's what the setup looks like:

Catalaunian Fields setup

We went five or six rounds, with my Romans pushing back hard on the Huns, but the Huns making a number of spectacular rallies. They were really favored by the dice this game in that respect.

Contrary to my normal more cautious play, with this game I spent just a turn or two getting forces positioned, than went straight into it, charging the Huns line head on.

Score:

  • Huns: 31 RP withdraw.
  • Romans: Theodoric II killed, 25 RP.

Here's what it looked like at the end of Turn 5 (or so) when we wrapped it up:

AAR

Notable:

  • The Shock combat differs only in one places, which is a step after the shock resolution. Alexander puts an extra step here which is not present in Cataphract.
  • Don't let leaders get killed! I mmanages to get Theodoric II killed. From Section 12.11, eliminated leaders are worth 5x their initiative in RP.
  • Rally rolls can be game changers! The Huns managed to rally at least 25 RP, which is a really big deal.

Here's the situation where we called the game for time:

End of Catalaunian Fields

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What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

  • Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
  • Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
  • Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
  • Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
  • Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
  • Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
  • Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
  • Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

  • Have a solo game ready to play.
  • Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
  • Referee a game in progress.