Time for this years To The World’s Strongest tournament, once again in Blewbury, near Oxford. This was a superbly organised competition with thirty-two players competing: the largest tournament I’ve been in and, I think, the largest To The Strongest tournament ever.

My first game was my Early Imperial Romans against Andy’s Dacians, with their very nasty two-handed falx choppers. This was a repeat of the first game of the 2023 SELWG competition, and in fact the fourth time in the last two years that I have played Andy first game in a tournament!

My plan was to defeat Andy’s command on the left flank with my veteran cavalry, then loop around the take his infantry in the rear as the Roman “mincing machine” attacked them from the front. Unbeknownst to Andy, I also had an Equites Alares unit Flank Marching off table on the left: the arrival of which would hopefully come as a nasty shock!

The Dacians seemed to have the same idea as the Romans, but reversed: so as battle opened, both sides’ infanry lines hung back as the left (Romans)/rigth (Dacians) flanks advanced strongly forward.

As battle was joined there, I then sprang my flank march surprise: my Equites arriving on the flank of the Dacians’ Sarmatian allies. All was going to plan!

I didn’t have it all my own way, but as the situation on the flank resolved itself, I definitely had the upper hand and, although I wouldn’t be looping round onto the enemy’s infantry’s rear for some time, had built up an advantage in victory medals that would serve me in good stead for the main infantry combat.

Back to the centre, where my infantry were now closing with the enemy. Five units of legionaries, two veteran, plus a unit of auxilia, versus five Dacian warbands. Given the situation with the cavalry, all I needed was an exchange of units, one-for-one, to win the game, and I had an overlap with the auxilia.

Then disaster struck!

As the two lines came together, the first combat to be calculated was on the far right of my line. The auxilia were broken by the Dacian charge and fled the table. Okay: not good, but, as I said, a one-for-one would still be okay.

Unfortunately, the legionaries next to them were Disordered by the sight of the fleeing auxilia (failing to achieve at least one [5] on two cards drawn: only a 16% probability) and then broken by the Dacians hitting them.

Their rout led to the next unit of legionaries also being Disordered and, you guessed it, then being broken by the charging Dacians.

Almost unbelievably, this rout then led to the next unit of legionaries going Disordered and then being destroyed, taking an officer with them.

That’s one auxilia and three legionary units being destroyed in one charge, with only the veteran legionaries on the left of the line standing their ground!

Just to emphasise, that was four units and an officer gone in one turn: a loss of ten victory medals and the game!

It was only the cavalry unit I had destroyed on the left that gave me any points at all, with the score going 2-11 to Andy…my only consolation being that I now had plenty of time to watch the other round one games!

A fantastic win for the Dacians!