Post by ken on Nov 21, 2017 12:16:01 GMT
The Tribal Mongol invasion of Viking territory was met by a Viking army with Breton Allies on a plain devoid of terrain other than a row of fields in the centre of the field and some plantations on the Mongol right flank. A road ran through one of the plantations and between two of the fields, and a small hill covered the Viking right flank.
The Vikings deployed with their weaker command on the left flank covering the plantations and one field, whilst the main infantry force occupied the centre. The Breton cavalry covered the more open right flank.
The Mongols, whose army consisted of three equal commands of ten light cavalry bow, with the front ranks consisting of elite troops (with the exception of one unit on their left flank).
The Mongols who were attacking cleverly deployed so that they avoided the Viking left flank and all three of their commands faced the central command and Breton Allies.
The first few turns involved both sides advancing towards each other, with the Viking left flank trying desperately to manoeuvre into a position where it could be of some use. In point of fact the only units that achieved anything, where the two Huscarls and two bowmen at the extreme right flank of the command.
As you would expect, the Mongols engaged in a fire and retire, return and fire again tactic, which inevitably caused a few casualties. In response, the Vikings who only had two Breton light cavalry javelin, and the two previously mentioned bowmen (who took three turns to get into range) could do little in response to this other than relentlessly push forward.
The Breton medium and heavy cavalry made a few charges, which the Mongols evaded, but it got to the point that if they evaded again, they would be off the table; so they stood. The two Breton HC were in the lead, and hit the Mongols double overlapped. The Mongols held, and it was only the Bretons armour that saved them from going down. Next turn they weren’t so lucky, and even the armour could not prevent one being disrupted. The Medium cavalry were equally unsuccessful and without armour, started to take losses, while inflicting few back on the Mongols. My dice were good, but Brian’s were red hot.
It eventual took some successful rallying whilst in combat for the heavies; and throwing my light javelinmen in to support the mediums right flank, and some HI on the left that turned the fight, and I finally took out a couple of Brian’s left flank; but not before losing two of my mediums.
In the centre, when my bowmen finally got into range, I managed to cause a disruption on Brian’s right flank, making him use pips for rallying. The Viking centre advanced relentlessly into the constant storm of arrows, taking losses on most turns at some point in the line. I made a conscious decision to keep going forward even though I had the pips to attempt rallies. Luckily, I made three charges, all of which went fast, gaining me extra movement which helped me keep the pressure on. My thinking was that I needed to keep pushing to either cause a rout off the table, or more likely (as was the case) force the Mongols to turn and fight, if I stopped the advance to rally he would get more chances to whittle me down, or worse if I broke the line to allow some parts to rally whilst others advanced, of getting flanked. This was a risky option as it meant that when I did finally close with him, most of my units had taken at least one hit. Being heavies they were fairly resilient, but a couple of unit had taken two hits, and one three.
In the fighting that followed, I had some big wins which blew his weak units away, but I also had a lot of failures which allowed Brian to take out some of the previously damaged units, and weaken others. When last turn was called Brian as attacker was just finishing his turn; which left me my turn to finish the game. It was make or break, and I threw anything available into the combats. I took out a couple more units, but Brian brought out a few more 5s and 6s that saved his army and caused even more damage to me. Final result Brian lost 27 out of 30; I lost 15 out of 24.
Well done to Brian for holding on and successfully (mostly) taking on heavy infantry in the last couple of turns. A key feature that saved Brian was my inability to get on the Mongol flanks and force disruptions and loss of fighting factors; my infantry couldn’t outpace his horses, and when I did make him turn and fight, the game ended before any advances after combat could take effect. A thoroughly enjoyable (if frustrating) game.
The Vikings deployed with their weaker command on the left flank covering the plantations and one field, whilst the main infantry force occupied the centre. The Breton cavalry covered the more open right flank.
The Mongols, whose army consisted of three equal commands of ten light cavalry bow, with the front ranks consisting of elite troops (with the exception of one unit on their left flank).
The Mongols who were attacking cleverly deployed so that they avoided the Viking left flank and all three of their commands faced the central command and Breton Allies.
The first few turns involved both sides advancing towards each other, with the Viking left flank trying desperately to manoeuvre into a position where it could be of some use. In point of fact the only units that achieved anything, where the two Huscarls and two bowmen at the extreme right flank of the command.
As you would expect, the Mongols engaged in a fire and retire, return and fire again tactic, which inevitably caused a few casualties. In response, the Vikings who only had two Breton light cavalry javelin, and the two previously mentioned bowmen (who took three turns to get into range) could do little in response to this other than relentlessly push forward.
The Breton medium and heavy cavalry made a few charges, which the Mongols evaded, but it got to the point that if they evaded again, they would be off the table; so they stood. The two Breton HC were in the lead, and hit the Mongols double overlapped. The Mongols held, and it was only the Bretons armour that saved them from going down. Next turn they weren’t so lucky, and even the armour could not prevent one being disrupted. The Medium cavalry were equally unsuccessful and without armour, started to take losses, while inflicting few back on the Mongols. My dice were good, but Brian’s were red hot.
It eventual took some successful rallying whilst in combat for the heavies; and throwing my light javelinmen in to support the mediums right flank, and some HI on the left that turned the fight, and I finally took out a couple of Brian’s left flank; but not before losing two of my mediums.
In the centre, when my bowmen finally got into range, I managed to cause a disruption on Brian’s right flank, making him use pips for rallying. The Viking centre advanced relentlessly into the constant storm of arrows, taking losses on most turns at some point in the line. I made a conscious decision to keep going forward even though I had the pips to attempt rallies. Luckily, I made three charges, all of which went fast, gaining me extra movement which helped me keep the pressure on. My thinking was that I needed to keep pushing to either cause a rout off the table, or more likely (as was the case) force the Mongols to turn and fight, if I stopped the advance to rally he would get more chances to whittle me down, or worse if I broke the line to allow some parts to rally whilst others advanced, of getting flanked. This was a risky option as it meant that when I did finally close with him, most of my units had taken at least one hit. Being heavies they were fairly resilient, but a couple of unit had taken two hits, and one three.
In the fighting that followed, I had some big wins which blew his weak units away, but I also had a lot of failures which allowed Brian to take out some of the previously damaged units, and weaken others. When last turn was called Brian as attacker was just finishing his turn; which left me my turn to finish the game. It was make or break, and I threw anything available into the combats. I took out a couple more units, but Brian brought out a few more 5s and 6s that saved his army and caused even more damage to me. Final result Brian lost 27 out of 30; I lost 15 out of 24.
Well done to Brian for holding on and successfully (mostly) taking on heavy infantry in the last couple of turns. A key feature that saved Brian was my inability to get on the Mongol flanks and force disruptions and loss of fighting factors; my infantry couldn’t outpace his horses, and when I did make him turn and fight, the game ended before any advances after combat could take effect. A thoroughly enjoyable (if frustrating) game.