As part of Global MeG fest 2, the Leighton Buzzard players, instead of all meeting up on one day, have chose to split our games over several days. Here is my first game of the three in this sequence. David invited me round to his games shed, he had chosen Parthian Vassel states, and I had used my Imperial Roman.
These have been slightly tweaked since Burton (the last time they were used in anger) to improve their command structure.
New version: No longer talented cinc , competent, mediocre, but CCT, and a couple of Orb upgrades for average units. 
David's list (screen shot from phone, excuse the quality): 
Ah, horse archers, many many horse archers, always a bane, especially when in cantabrian vs Romans, it slows you right down, and is like catching fog. It only needs three units to kill, but it will be very difficult if David dances and evades my slower foot.
David won the attack/defend roll, and chose to attack, leaving me to chose terrain, so very dense mountains please! This ended up having dense terrain and a secure flank of woods/rocky ground. As all my infantry is flexible, I did not mind! Two woods and a village ended up on the right, a wood anchored my centre, and a marsh sat mid table. David also chose two patches of open terrain, not pictured here, coz it's open!
Scouting cards, I get 2 to his 6! He plays his best 5, I play my only 2. Not bad vs a nearly all mounted force. I deploy my 1/3rd first then. 3 units plays 5 per deployment block, think I migght be pincushioned here.
Deployment. My plan is simple, anchor left, advance centre with my best foot, swing with my right through the flank woods, keep my cavalry away from the shooting hordes as I can't win in a darts match, as I don't have any! Basic aim at the camp as that is likely to be the only TUG I'll get to. David deployed light horse ahead to screen and soften me up with missile fire, heavies behind for the coup d'grace!
Turn 2, moving my exceptional legion and supporting superiors, I decided that this light horse screen was getting annoying and in the way, so, I was in shield cover (-1 to move,but helps by reducing enemy shooting effectiveness), I bought the -1 off with the yellow, group moved on the green, and for a white, upgraded to gtereen, bought a single move forwards, pushing back the hordes of cantabrian light horse. Yes, it left one in the backfield, but as light horse, I wasn't unduely worried. I had plans...
On the right, my three average units cleared the first wood, and my superiors infantry moved up to point blank of a horde of three light horse units, shielding my cavalry behind them. Note my floating cinc to their left, as he deals out his cards to the two subordinates.
David reacts to my impetuosity by bringing two light horse units around the marsh to my rear, and turning the ignored unit to face the rear of my superiors.
So, David rotates a catafract unit to face my exceptioanl's flank (not easy when you are tribal, it's expensive cards), and lines up a nasty charge, if he can shift his own light horse. I had previously charged one of his light horse pushing them into an awkward gap, sent another through his camels, forcing a KaB, and my superior cavalry had pushed anther unit back into my lines, where they had swerved to avoid my troops. He committed his camels to support his flank charge, but it was my turn to charge first, and my superior 8 of legionrii smashed into the flank of his charging catafract cavalry, stopping them dead!
The retreating light horse had caused themselves a kill! Oops! My left hand superiors took a wound from shooting from three units previously too...
Exceptional, impact weapons, general, pretty lethal combo? Nope, only two wounds vs one on the way back! Ouch!
The presidaries show them how it's done, one attack, a skull and a wound! 
The Parthian catafracts rotate and send in a friend as an overlap. I push infantry forwards to try and gain a flank. Meanwhile, below, my superior cavalry angle to join in the fight, as just off shot to the left my superiors retire rather than be flank charged by David's fast approaching catafracts from the left.
The exceptionals despatch the camels with brutal efficency (they were only a 4 and heavy armour, I was exceptional, melee experts with a general). (2-0). You do not have to pursue vs cavalry, but in this case, it would take me beyond his guard catafracts (superior, I've been nuked by similar in the past) and on towards his camp.
I push two units right to try and envelop the engaged catafracts, while my cavalry are definitely up to something...
Not forgotten, my archers fire ineffectually out of the wood at David's horse archers, neither will do much here all night!
Superior, long spear dev charge catafracts (+3) pile into my superior, impact weapon romans (+3), I get a kill and a wound, he gets a wound to add on to my wounded base from shooting. 
The reserve catafracts close quickly, my superiors expand to make less chance of a flank charge and provide overlap potential. My superior cavalry (despite taking a wound) and the average Seguntienties both manouver around David's engaged flanks, setting up for the next turn...
Well, that was unexpected! David's talented CinC dies beneath the blades of the Roman foot, brought low and trampled in the dust. This causes massive Kill A Base tests, as an army commander dieing causes these to be one level higher for all troops in range. It also means his centre units are lacking a commander so have to pay double cards to do anything next turn!
And yet another guard catafract dies as he is skulled on the KaB test, his nearby troops also take losses, the general was obviously well loved!
The superior cavalry smash into the flank as the catafracts attack my superiors legion. The cavalry roll well enough, and the guard catafracts shatter (4-0) and scatter back. 
An average auxilia with impact weapons crash into the flank of the right hand catafracts, and do enough damage to take them down to a whisper off breaking. 
My excpetioanl gaurds charge a unit of light horse, pushing them off tale and breaking them (5-0) and brings them a whisker away from the camp.
My pursuing superior cavalry hit and damage the catafracts on the left, who swing round to redress the imbalance, but fighting in two directions leaves them horribly vaulnerable and I only need a kill and a
wound here to break these too.
With that it was all over bar the trimph back in Rome, the vassel was crushed 15-0 and I would be adding a province to the empire. First game of 3 this week, and already on a good score.
David and I really enjoyed the game, and if he had kept his light horse out of the way of his own catafracts, and slowed me more with shooting rather than committing to charges, he would have caused me a whole lot more hurt! Next, Langobard!
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