Paul,Brian and I had a great game last night,pitching an Indian army against a Persian army,the game was in the balance until the very last move,we were all exhausted at the end!!
We allocated fighting points to units,made out our battle plans,and started the game.With both sides eager to get to grips,both flanks moved aggressively forward.......
My left flank cavalry and chariots gave Paul a bit to think about during the opening moves,my chariots crashed into his front rank cavalry and caused some casualties,I then replaced them with cavalry,as Paul reeled away from them,this was epic stuff.Meanwhile my centre was advancing slowly,light inf. to the front backed up by Elephants and finally heavy infantry.Paul was biding his time,and sat on the high ground awaiting my attack.
On my right flank,facing Brian,I had made my skirmish troops "elite" status,hoping to wipe out Brian's skirmishers,then launch my Elephants at his infantry! Brian's troops took all my "elite" shooting like some kind of joke!!-making no impression I had no option but to send in the Elephants!!-that'll teach him!! However after their initial charge,the Elephants dropped to a lower fighting rating,and were sent packing!!
This shows the centre of the board,my chariots are about to charge Brian's,who has cunningly backed his up with mercenary Hoplites and Camels,would I be the match of him??
Paul can be seen trying to stem the flow of the victorious Indian cavalry,he used his horse archers to very good effect,using hit and run tactics-very annoying!! -the tactics not Paul!!
Meanwhile,on the other flank,my first line of Elephants are being beaten,will my morale on these ponderous beasties hold??- NO!! they took off at a rate of knots,luckily to their right,and off the board. You can see my second line ready to attack,I hope they do better.
My right flank again,in disarray,skirmishers trying to support the second wave of Elephants.
In the background the Elephants are making a mess of Paul's troops on the hill,however in susequent moves I was beaten and forced to retire,but my following heavy infantry took the place of the Elephants,and the fighting raged on!!
Paul's first line of cavalry are regrouping in the background,whilst his second line are making a good stand against my super-duper cavalry.
This shot shows my "high tide" mark in the centre,just before th Elephants were shoved back,Paul has replaced his front rankers with more efficient troops,and this caused me some consternation! What you can't see on the far right of this photo,is Brian's cavalry charging towards the flank of my advancing heavy inf!! this was to prove decisive in defeating my last line of attack in the centre.
This should be called a "Gloato Photo!" Paul,against all the odds,threw a 5 on his dice,whilst I threw a 2,and he won the cavalry melee on the hill-I couldn't beleieve it!! The "chuckle brothers" thought it was hilarious of course!This signalled the end of the Indian army,with this flank lost,and the right flank lost,and the centre in all kinds of bother,I had to capitulate!!
The last shot,the Indians had nothing left to shore up the defences,you can see Brian's magnificent move with his heavy cavalry hitting the flank of my advancing infantry!!
well ,this was a great game,played in very good spirit,correct use of troops and tactics,a credit to all three of us,apart from just a hint of a gloat from Laurel and Hardy!! you'll be sorry.
Roll on Sunday,probably a Marlburian game.
First things first, gripping game from start to finish! Well done John for a spectacular "set-up"
ReplyDeleteJohn suggested introducing status of troops to the game. We have done this before but it's been a while and I think we've overlooked how good the mechanism is
Both sides have the same number of elite, veteran, regular and raw status troops. These can be light or heavy infantry, cavalry etc. It allows the commanders flexibility in their battle plan and makes you go gulp when first clashes reveal how you wished you had resorted to plan B!
Hope you noticed the dice in Photo 4
Ask him about the kill dice!
So Paul sent your elephants packi(derm)ng? Oh dear Graham would have been proud of that joke.....Looks like a great game, which of course I missed....
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