A free afternoon and a free dining room table allowed me to have a game from my Petaudia medieval/fantasy campaign. The Sorceress (now officially Queen of Lestrigon, an ancient title she has revived for her own purposes) has sent an invasion army south from her possessions into Orelia. She had invaded Orelia many years ago, but had been repulsed by a coalition of forces. Now Orelia stands alone and the Sorceress sees an opportunity to extend her power.

The game is played to Dragon Rampant rules, but with home amendments, in particular I have generals on individual bases who command groups of units, so that I can fight larger battles. So if a unit in one command group fails its activation role, then the initiative passes to another group in the same army, rather than the whole army having to "freeze" and pass the initiative to the other side. I also reduce the 3" gap between units to 1" as there are more units on the table and not a lot of room to manoeuvre - the table is usually 3 feet by 4 feet (90 cm by 120 cm).

The action takes place at Xanthos' Shrine and involves a Lestrigon force of 170 points against an Orelian one of 100 points. The Lestrigon host arrives in three separate groups - the Black Legion, then the Tunding goblin tribe, then the Flam Guard Detachment. The Orelians begin with their regular forces on the table and the Numancian mercenaries in reserve just off the table edge.

My figures are from an assortment of manufacturers, 25mm and 28mm, metal and hard plastic, accumulated over many decades. Orelian forces have blue and white as their main colours; Lestrigon use black and red and green. The road and trees are all commercial types, the hills homemade (one day I will get some more realistic hills but I have managed with these for years!).

The battlefield with the Orelians nearest the camera.

The Orelians have limited knowledge of gunpowder and have a small artillery piece - a Very Heavy Missile unit for game purposes.

A mounted commander leads the Orelian right wing cavalry, counting as a Reduced Model Unit. All my mounted units are six figures each, while foot units are almost all 12 figures each. Figures are from Essex Miniatures

A foot commander leading the Orelian left wing. The Orelians have a lot of longbowmen and these are pretty powerful in the rules, along as the pass their Shoot test! Figures are Essex Miniatures once again.

Black Legion infantry - crossbows to the front and spearmen behind. The spearmen are very old Hinchliffe 25mm Romans and Greeks, suitably painted and converted.

The Archon, commander of the Black Legion, with his dog and elite Guard and catapult unit. All old Hinchliffe figures again.

The Black Legion's right wing cavalry - cataphracts and medium riders, screened by javelinmen - the latter are, I think, HAT plastic figures.

Another view of the Black Legion heavy infantry.

Xanthos' Shrine - homemade from piece of stone picked up on a walking holiday in the Welsh Borders - a beautiful part of the country.

Black Legion horse archers evade away and leave the fighting to their medium brethren. All old Hinchliffe figures.

The Tunding goblin tribe arrives on the battlefield. Figures are all from Vendel Miniatures, long since out of business.

Orelian men-at-arms fighting Black Legion cataphracts.

Orelian men-at-arms fighting Black Legion medium cavalry.

The Orelian knights on the left of the picture fought a poor battle, getting themselves beaten by goblin wolf riders and medium cavalry and being chased off the table!

Hobgoblins on giant boars, formidable Reduced Model Units.

More goblin wolf riders, these are from the Flam Guard Detachment,

part of the Sorceress' personal army.

The heavy stuff moves up - Hobgoblin Guards, just about the toughest infantry the Sorceress has under her command. These are Essex Miniatures 25mm metal figures from their fantasy range.

The commander of the Flam Guard Detachment.

Half-goblin Bodyguard unit - 16 figures , but still only having 12 Hit Die, they just look good en masse. Old Grenadier 25mm metal figures.

The goblin wolf riders cleared the hill of Orelian longbowmen.

Numancian mercenaries - old Grenadier 25mm Barbarians. The Numancians are from tropical islands far to the south of Petaudia, so I opted for a dark skin tone.

The giant boar made short work of the Numancian axemen.

The final stages of the battle. The Orelians have lost over half their units now and have been forced away from the road, their line of communication back to their town, so conceded defeat and withdrew.