By Miguel Ferres

You have spent months finishing your army! You have tried out the stratagems and proxies for the miniatures. And then, you take your army to the tabletop and you just can’t win with it? What would you do?

The omens didn’t look good; torn apart last Friday and upon entering the game store, the last game was just ending. There were dead legionaries everywhere and rampaging Cataphracts all over the field of battle! Those Parthians would soon be facing my Bactrians!

When Sid sells an army because it’s “ over- powered” you suspect something. The Cataphracts no longer face the chance of being disrupted on the charge but their lack of mobility is penalised with “ deep” in To the Strongest.

This didn’t stop my opponent investing heavily in cataphract “ kettlemen”, he even brought cataphract camels he was so enamoured. Well two can play that game and I swapped out two dual armed companions for my own cats!

I decided to test their superiority with an immediate assault on the Parthian left. We did scatter one unit of light horse but we were dreadfully exposed by our rash advance. The Parthians even had the temerity to unhorse my brave Cataphracts with bow fire from behind their line! I must remember that ruse.

My left wing only faced two Cataphracts but do you think I could make any headway? The Parthians wheeled and wheezed forward, smashing all before them.

How I wish I’d dropped my infantry centre in favour of more horsemen. I still had my trusty spear though…

Arrows and camels did for the royal guard. My only hope lay in a dogged defence of my camp and the phalanx!

I’m afraid the ladies of the camp would be dinning with a new cast of customers tonight!

So I’ve yet to win a game but I still love the army. Changing the pikes to spear didn’t work, neither did changing the Companions into Cataphracts. Should I drop all the infantry totally or was I just meeting the wrong match- ups for my nimble steppe dwellers? Too late, I my eyes had already alighted on a new list; Alexandrian Imperial. Isn’t that what keeps us collecting and keeps us poor!!!???