my LAP army was approx:

c1: Inert R CvO Chariot CnC, 7x I CvO, 6x I LHF, 4x R AxO, 3 x R PsS,

2x I HdO, 1x I ElO - 27.5ME

c2: R CvO SG, 4x I CvO, 7x I LHO, 6x I AxO, 10x I PsO, 2x R ExpO - 27ME

c3 R CvO SG, 4x I CvO, 10x R SpO, 2x RSpS, 2x I AxO, 2x R ExpO - 27ME

c4: R CvO SG, 4x I LHF - 12ME

c5: 8x I BgeI - 4ME

This was a bit of a mess. In the past I had successfully used both an

Inert LAP and more recently a non-Inert one.

I was wary of the 2ME CvS/KnI in the Inert version I had used before

and the brittleness/lack of punch of the

non-inert version with 4 reg commands. Hence for the EIC I tried to

combine the 2 structures so went for

Inert but without the CvS and with lots of LH (very useful when you

have 4 non-inert reg dice)..oh-oh.

This depended on PIPs to do stuff as it didn't have the troops for

frontal assaults... but of course being

inert and mainly non-reg troops (so the SG's PIPs weren't so useful)

it didn't really have the PIPs to

apply the troops.

Game 1 vs Luchiano Marchisio with Seleucids

5 bounds of night attack vs me, after which Luchiano started to

back-pedal quickly. I couldn't re-organise and

attack him quickly enough. 13-12 draw to Luchiano as the invader.

Hmmm, must take scouting in future

but of course I can't do that as inert (inert is looking even worse to me now).

Game 2 vs Marchesi Ricardo with Inert MIR

Ricardo deployed only 1 command of AxS on a rough hill and 4 fortified

BgeO. There was a large open flank

on the table that was my natural deployment area but I decided to

setup to assault the hill since there was a

gap between it and another hill near the table edge. There was

language difficulties between us during setup

which meant that I didn't understand when he used the delayed battle

stratagem, turning my risky assault

plan into suicidal. A delayed command arrived bound 1 (OK), A large

flank march arrived by rolling a 5 on

bound 1 (but I didn't know it since I didn't understand). This then

all became clear to me when he started

putting troops on the board on bound 2 (during which the other flank

march also arrived). Bother.

Ricardo was very nice and offered to allow me to change my moves but I

was committed then and I just

turned one Cv general so he couldn't march into my flank. Then there

was a race to see if my CvO could

break through the AxS holding the open between the 2 hills before he

surrounded me. I did in fact break through

would have had a chance at his AxS CnC flanked..if I hadn't been

inert. I lost my competition head and

started throwing things in to make stuff happen...to see if I could

rescue the situation through luck. Of course

this just brought my army down quicker and in fact I only broke when

last bound was called (I wasn't watching

the clock). Well done to Ricardo, he had a plan and executed it well

23-2 in his favour. I think my frustration

in the 1st game contributed to this defeat and certainly there was no

reason for it to be anything other than

a 15-10 to Ricardo if I had been playing in proper competition mode.

Game 3 vs Jim Gibson with West Sudanese

Huh? I had a grand total of 14 after a crap day 1 and my reward is

Jim? This had a draw written all over it.

Jim is a cagey player. He defended with dunes all over the place. I

deployed 90% of my army on the

obvious flank to drive towards his table edge (which was clear of

dunes), not allow him to leverage multiple

Irr dice against me and punish his army's relative inability to

maneuver. This just took too long for both of

us (inert hurt again here). Things were in the balance with me driving

along is base-edge with Cv/Exp and

LH and fighting (and killing!) his CmS in the dunes with Ax/Ps. Both

of us had a great chance but we'll

never know. 13-12 draw in my favour as the invader.

Game 4 vs Umpire with Galatians

42WbS in a block with the CnC plus a couple of micro Exp/Cv commands,

had to kill 17 WbS. I did it with

them within 160p of my Bge. Dice were against me plus I made a couple

of mistakes which I was punished

for. 20-5 in my favour.

Game 5 vs Gordon Harrow with E.Hungarians

Great game, Gordon's LHS swooped on one flank of mine where c2 held

the gap between 2 woods. Heroic

die-rolling by my LHO vs his LHS stopped me from being over whelmed

while my Exp/Sp/Cv went to take

on his Kn in the middle of the field (on the opposite flank of a

central wood). There was a single game-winning

opportunity where I had had to interpenetrate my Sp line with a column

of Exp. This meant that there was

4 SpO and 1 Exp in the ZoD of one Exp. However Gordon had to charge it

with his Kn if he wanted to take

the chance. He did +5 vs +3 in my favour. I won, the Kn died and the

combo of Sp, Exp, El and Cv/LH

overwhelming his flank meant that the Kn command went down fairly

quickly. Gordon did finally dishearten

my c2 on the other flank (but he was wavering himself) when time was

called. 15-10 to me.

Game 6 vs Aldo Ciccocioppo with Nike Byz

Not a great match-up for my army as I've played this a few times in

the club. Luckilly he has gone

for a CvS rather than BwX heavy version. I hit one flank hard where he

had his low PIP command

and pinned down his CvS command with a swarm of AxO/Ps and some Exp.

15-10 in my favour,

but his army was on the ropes. If we had played more than 6 bounds I

believe I would have won.

Great fun all round, very interesting to see the relatively small

armies the Italians favoured.

Will not be using an inert general again for a very long time.