Anderida, November 2008
Russ King and I took Camillan Romans to Anderida 2008, the competition theme being “The Grandeur That Was Rome”, allowing any Roman armies or enemies from 753 BC to 476 AD. Dated 340 BC, our army was the earliest in the competition.
It was organised as three legions, each with 4 Sp(O), 4 Bd(O) and 4 Sp(S); the C-in-C’s command also had all the cavalry, 5 Cv(O), plus some Ps(I) leves, the second command added 6 Sp(I), and the third had many more Ps(I). The fourth command was the Samnite “Linen Legion” – Ax(S) ally-general, 14 more Ax(S) and 1 Cv(O). The entire army was Regular, and very controllable, but was likely to be vulnerable to many Hellenistic armies and (especially) barbarian warbands.
The first game was against Seleucids. The terrain wasn’t quite what we hoped for; a large area of rough going was on the enemy side of the table opposite our right, with a steep hill facing it. There was another steep hill on our left flank, facing an orchard. The Samnites started in column behind the right-flank hill, with the legions in line on our left and centre. The rough going was occupied by assorted enemy Auxilia and Psiloi, part of a smallish command which also included a few Fast Knights and 3 Inferior Elephants; a large pike phalanx looked menacing in the centre, supported by a command with Bd(O) “Roman Argyraspids”, light horse and cataphracts, and there was a substantial Parthian ally of Kn(X) cataphracts and LH(F) horse-archers on the enemy right flank.
The Samnites were handicapped by the steep hill, which kept them safe from the knights but also made it difficult for them to deploy, while the enemy light infantry rapidly deployed in the rough going and then attacked. The Samnites managed to beat them back and followed up into the open where they were supported by a legion. The Seleucid Kn(F) rode down a couple of Samnite elements but the Seleucid lights also suffered, and when the Seleucid general attacked a Ps(I) a 6-1 resulted in leves delightedly looting his body. This severely handicapped Seleucid manoeuvring on this flank, and the Romans attacked the elephants with leves backed by spearmen. The elephants despatched 2 Ps(I), 2 Sp(O) and 2 Bd(O) before finally succumbing; their demise broke a Seleucid command. On the other flank the Parthian LH were neutralised by consistently low PIPs and by Ps(I) on the steep hill pinning them from behind, but the cataphracts crashed into our left-flank legion. The Parthian general and some other Kn(X) died; the command held but was now pretty much immobile. In the centre, though, the pikemen eventually got to our centre legion which dissolved in a flurry of low combat dice. The game timed out at 5-5, with our right-flank legion close to defeat.
Next we faced Early Imperial Romans in a civil war. The terrain gave us a large orchard on our right flank, an ideal position for the Samnites to deploy in ambush. The enemy had only 3 commands; the centre was a large force of legionaries backed by artillery and flanked by 6 Bw(O) archers and a few Auxilia, the right was more legionaries and many Auxilia, the far right was the cavalry – 8 Cv(O) and 3 Cv(I). Nothing at all on the left flank. The Imperial cavalry advanced to take on our outnumbered horsemen, whom Russ handled brilliantly to delay combat as long as possible, while on the other flank the Samnites burst out of their orchard and wheeled towards the enemy archers while a legion advanced rapidly in their support. The archers fought well (twice 6-1ing Sp(S) Triarii who were fortunately saved by their Superior status), but were eventually overwhelmed, as were their supporting Auxilia; this broke the Imperial Cin-C’s command which included 14 legionary elements. The clash between the other Imperial legionaries and our legionaries was indecisive, and the game timed out at 8-2 to us.
On Sunday morning we opposed Later Visigoths – lots of warband, plus Fast Knights, bowmen and cavalry. We’d have very little chance in a stand-up fight, so we put the Samnites in ambush in a handy orchard on our right, the C-in-C’s command in the gap between that orchard and another on our baseline which was stuffed with leves, and flank-marched with the other two commands. On the Visigoths’ first bound they declared a flank march on our right; a Burgundian allied command of 23 Wb(O) and a Cv(O) general. Our flank-marching command had 27 elements, including 13 Ps(I), so we chased the Burgundians on. Then on our first bound our other flank march was declared – three flank-marches all arriving at the first opportunity.
The Burgundians arrived, fled from our pursuing legion, then turned and rushed impetuously at the legion. They scored some success, killing 4 Sp(O) and 1 Bd(O), but were enveloped by the Samnites emerging from ambush and blocking recoils etc, and soon broke. Pursuit eventually exterminated the Burgundian command. Meanwhile one of the two big Visigothic warband commands had no enemy to fight and spent the game manoeuvring to no effect; the other plodded towards our C-in-C’s legion, delayed by a couple of Cv(O) and by Samnites nipping at its flanks and rear. Close to the time limit, the warband charged; they killed some legionaries but also took losses. On our final bound we needed to destroy 5 more elements to break the Visigoth command and win 10-0; we charged in everywhere and failed everywhere. 6-4.
Our final opponents were Attila’s Huns – C-in-C’s command with assorted warband plus light horse, a Hun command of just light horse, Gepids with Kn(F), Wb(S) and Bw(I), and Ostrogoths with Kn(F) and Bw(I). This time the Samnites had no suitable ambush site, but otherwise the terrain was pretty good – a rough hill forward on our left centre, an orchard next to it, and another orchard opposite our right flank. We refused our left, putting the Samnites behind the rough hill (which they promptly occupied) with our C-in-C’s legion behind it facing to the left, and the other two legions in the gap between the two orchards. The Ostrogoths faced those two legions, the Huns screened the rough hill, while all the warband and the Gepid cavalry were in columns facing empty space on the Huns’ right. The Hun plan was evidently to march the warband past the rough hill and then send them against our C-in-C’s legion.
On our right two legions rapidly advanced against the Ostrogoths, who charged; the Ostrogoth general killed two Triarii elements but the others had no success and most of them died. The general pursued into trouble and was killed; the Ostrogoth command failed its PIP roll (6 needed) and broke. On the other flank the Gepids got 1 PIP, decided to control the Kn(F), who would otherwise have burst through two columns of warband and charged at the Samnites, and let the warband go. The Gepids burst through some of Attila’s warband who joined in, and the whole mass rushed at the Samnite Ax(S) on the rough hill. A very bloody struggle followed; the Samnites took some losses but killed many warband – enough to break the Gepid command, and the Hunnic army broke for a 10-0 win to us.
A couple of points worth mentioning:
One of our opponents, frustrated by our deploying in and around terrain instead of neatly lined up where his warbands could charge at us, remarked that he’d have won “if we’d fought fair”.
Our 29 points got us fourth place. We were particularly pleased that our two games against warband armies had netted 16 points.
Forest Foray, 11/12 October 2008
Only 10 DBM players at this 25mm singles competition, outnumbered by the 12 playing Flames of War. But there were some rip-roaring games and a great spirit, nonetheless.
I took Later Carthaginians, pre-Hannibal version (for the cheaper Irregular infantry). It was a small army, the command break points being 6.5, 6.5, 4.5 – one command with the spearmen supported by Ax(S), psiloi and one artillery element, a second with two elephants, cavalry, light horse, psiloi and Auxilia (mostly Ordinary), and a small third command with two more elephants, light horse, a few Ax(S) and some psiloi.
The first game was a historical one against Polybian Romans, who also fielded an elephant and lots of Auxilia, half Superior and half Inferior. I had lots of rough going to defend; I planned to hold on my left with the smallest command, while attacking with massed Ax against mainly Ax(I) on my right and threatening the Romans’ rear with an outflanking move by my LH and Cv. Poor PIPs stalled the last part of the plan.
The first action of the game saw my artillery destroy a Triarii element with a 6-1, which did nothing for the Roman player’s morale. I also bagged the Roman elephant, and quickly broke the smallest Roman command, but Achaian peltasts in Roman pay, supported by velites, crushed my smallest command. A shoving match between legionaries and spearmen in the centre was indecisive so the important action was on my right where I confidently expected to beat the Italian auxiliaries. The Ax(I) proved to be surprisingly tough, holding on for ages while a dribble of casualties elsewhere threatened to break my C-in-C’s command. However, the Italians succumbed in the end and the Roman army broke for a 9-1 win to me.
Then I faced Medieval Germans – a 13th century version with one Imperial and three City commands – hardly any knights but lots of Blades, pikes and spears. I invaded and placed some rough going which all landed on the Germans’ side of the table (I ought to have placed a road and steep hills instead – a bad mistake there). I tried to outflank the German right, which was held by an allied command of mainly Sp(I), with cavalry and elephants but made little progress, and elsewhere the Germans Bd(X) carried all before them. I inflicted very few casualties before my army collapsed. 0-10 defeat.
The third game was against Siamese – enormous numbers of Wb(F), lots of elephants and not much else. I defended and placed orchards, which fell so that I could place ambushes in two of them while a third got in the way of the largest warband block. The orchard on my right flank contained two elephants and some psiloi in ambush; risky as the elephants can only just move out in one go, but it proved effective as their emergence was a horrible shock to the Siamese warbands. On this flank elephants, Ax(S) and light horse massacred the warbands who had charged spontaneously all over the place, breaking the Siamese C-in-C’s command. On the other flank another orchard was held against Wb(F) by Ax(S) and Ps(S), and looked secure – but a great string of combat dice by the Siamese ended with all the Ax(S) dead and my flank shakily held by a few psiloi. Meanwhile I was mopping up the occasional element in the centre but also taking casualties so my centre command was in danger, while many carefully arranged attacks failed (my artillery had four shots at an elephant-mounted general, admittedly into the wind, and failed). Then a superb combat round saw 6 Wb die to Auxilia and cavalry, breaking the Siamese army for a 10-0 win.
In the last match I faced Later Sargonid Assyrians – small commands, but very tough troops. I invaded and this time I did place a road and steep hills; three of the hills were on the Assyrian side but the fourth, on my left flank, enabled a couple of Ax(S) to keep the main Assyrian cavalry force out of the game. Spear and Ax faced Spear and Ax in the centre, while on my right all four elephants faced the Kn(S) chariots.
The game started in mist, and poor PIPs prevented my elephants from advancing rapidly. The Assyrians were able to screen the chariots with two waves of psiloi; the first wave were all trampled but the second killed three of the elephants. My cavalry then rode down all the psiloi, while a LH sub-general destroyed a chariot which had come forward to support them. The other chariots then trundled forward and charged, but failed to beat my Cv(O) – my LH general destroyed another chariot, and then bagged the sub-general. The Assyrian command held but was crippled, and was soon finished off – like mine, the Assyrian commands had small break points.
In the centre the main heavy infantry forces clashed; the Assyrians had generally better troops but I had more of them and overlaps (given at one end by the artillery, which chased a LH off the table and then had repeated shots at a Cv(S) general). I lost a pair of Ax(S) and one Ax(O), but killed some Sp(O) and then a double-overlapped pair of Sp(S).
As the time-limit approached my C-in-C’s command had lost nothing, my smallest command was close to breaking but had no real opposition, but my centre command, which had lost both elephants, 3 Ax and one Cv, was half an element from breaking. The Assyrian spear command was two elements from breaking, but more importantly one more loss would make half the Assyrian army gone. Unfortunately the Assyrians then destroyed some more Ax to break my centre command. On the last bound I arranged as many combats as possible, with good chances, but failed to get any kills so the game ended at 5-5. A fair result to an excellent, hard-fought game.
Attack! 12/13 July 2008
An interesting time at Devizes. Russ King and I planned to use Neo-Babylonians, Nebuchadnezzar’s army, with Kn(S), heavy chariots, some decent cavalry and a few light horse supported by double-based Bw(X), Bw(I), some Sp(O) including mercenary Greek hoplites, a few Psiloi and some Hordes. Plus a Median ally with cavalry, archers and spearmen. On Saturday morning one team didn’t show up so I had to get out the reserve army, Medieval Germans, and leave Russ with the Babylonians.
My German army had a sub-general’s command with 16 pike elements, some crossbowmen and Psiloi, the C-in-C with knights (Ordinary), cavalry (the compulsory Kn(I) downgraded to Cv(O)) and crossbowmen, an ally with more Kn(O), Cv(S), Cv(O) and Psiloi, and a Swiss ally with 16 Pk(S) and 5 psiloi.
The first game was against Khazars – many light horse backed by Superior Cavalry and some not very good infantry. I refused my right flank, relying on the Swiss to drop off rearguard elements as they advanced, and aimed to attack strongly on my left with the C-in-C’s command with the German ally (the Duke of Bavaria) on his left. Unfortunately the Bavarians were unreliable, nearly scuppering my plan. Khazar light horse contained the two pike commands, while more headed for my undefended camp. The Emperor’s mounted troops hit a line of light horse – and all three Kn(O) elements died in successive combats. Despite this discouraging setback, the cavalry and crossbowmen exacted a toll of LH and Cv(S), driving the Khazar command to retreat. However, the sub-general’s command was in trouble with Khazar LH riding down crossbowmen (even when 1-4 down) and then trapping and killing the Kn(I) general. That command broke – then so did the Khazar command harried by my C-in-C, bringing the Bavarians in at last. Too late – baggage losses brought my total loss to half the army so the Germans broke for a 1-9 defeat. An excellent, close game.
Next I faced New Kingdom Egyptians. Again I refused the right flank, leaving the Swiss with an unsupported flank, and attacked with three commands on less than half the frontage. The Egyptians attacked my Pk(O) with a command of 10 Wb(F) plus a Psiloi general; they killed two pike elements but with a break point of only 4 they didn’t last long and this left a hole in the Egyptian centre. The Bavarian Psiloi, rushing out of ambush in a wood, kept most of the Egyptian archers occupied while the C-in-C’s mounted troops attacked chariots and Ordinary Blades – the C-in-C himself charged and rode down four Blade elements. The Swiss, after chasing off a line of Psiloi and “pressing forward”, got into some Ax(O) and started butchering them. A second Egyptian command soon broke for a 10-0 win to the Germans.
On Sunday morning one of the missing team turned up wanting to play, so Russ and I teamed up again with the Babylonians. As the luck of the draw would have it, we faced the Khazars who’d beaten me on Saturday. The Babylonians were able to hold off outflanking moves by LH, with some loss on both sides, and attack strongly in the centre; unfortunately our combat dice were awful and several Kn(S) chariots were lost against light horse and even cavalry. But then the luck turned with a vengeance; a Cv(S) Khazar general was shot dead by our archers, and another was hit in the flank by a Psiloi, with one overlap and no recoil for the general. The combat dice were 6-2, the general died and both Khazar commands then broke for a 10-0 win.
Our final opponents were Palmyrans – lots of light horse, two blocks of cataphracts, many archers and an Arab ally with 13 Inferior Blades, whose job was to deploy behind the Palmyran archers and move through them to engage suitable enemy. The Palmyrans started confidently, redeploying to get the cataphracts away from our Bw(X) and masking much of our front with LH. They made an error in moving a column of cataphracts too close to an area of rough going, enabling a Ps(O) to attack their flank. That Psiloi destroyed three Kn(X) elements, including a general, and demoralised the opposing player if not his command. The main action was on the other flank, our left, where our strike force attacked a mix of assorted light horse and bows. Our Kn(S) chariots were useless, all four on that flank going down without inflicting any loss on the enemy, but our Cv(S) and Cv(O) fought much better and slaughtered many LH – the Palmyran command was soon close to demoralisation. The weakened Palmyran command on the other flank was broken, mainly by archery. At this stage our C-in-C’s command was one element from breaking and so was the Palmyran command engaging it. I arranged as many shots and combats as possible – nothing died on either side. But in the centre our Sp(O) and Bw(X), which had been fighting various Palmyran archers and Arab swordsmen, killed three Bw(I) elements to break the centre Palmyran command and with it the enemy army. Another 10-0 win.
My four games garnered 31 points which would have been enough to win the competition. However, I didn’t count my Saturday games with a different army so our final score was 27 points (Russ having scored 7 on Saturday with the Babylonians), giving us third place.
Venta Silurum, 5/6 April 2008
Paul Apreda’s new competition in the DBM SW Doubles League, Venta Silurum, went with a swing. There were 16 teams (five of them single players for various reasons), and a good mix of armies ranging from Akkadian through Early Vietnamese and Khitan-Liao to Later Hungarian.
Russ King and I took Gauls, Fast Warband version. Our C-in-C’s command had Cv(O), Wb(F) and Psiloi; a second large command had Cv(O) and Wb(F), an ally had smaller numbers of the same and the Gaesati consisted of 20 Wb(S). A large army with a lot of shock power but rather brittle and distinctly unmanoeuvrable.
Our first game was against another Gallic host commanded by Duncan Robinson – presumably we were the Aedui and the Arverni. Duncan had only three commands, two of mainly massed Wb(O) and one with lots of cavalry and Hordes. We obviously wanted rough going, but unfortunately we invaded and our three small bits of RGo didn’t land anywhere useful. There was however a tempting-looking area of marsh opposite our left wing, and lots of woods on the other flank.
We tied up the right wing successfully with the C-in-C’s chariots and psiloi, while our ally-general’s warband rushed into the marsh and impetuously charged out at the flank of the enemy cavalry. This was combined with a frontal attack by our cavalry, and proved successful; the smallest enemy command broke. The main action in the centre comprised two masses of warband, Fast and Superior on our side and Ordinary with a couple of Superior on the other; plenty of carnage, but our Gaesati let us down and, surprisingly, were the first to break. They were followed by the C-in-C’s command so we lost 1-9. An enjoyable punch-up which could have gone either way.
Next we faced Graham Philpott and Steve Tromans with Swedish Leidang. I’d played this lot before and knew that they had a command of mainly Bd(O), one of mainly Ax(O) and another with 10 Fast Knights plus lots more Ax(O) which normally flank-marched. They also had a large fortified camp. The terrain placed lots of rough going on our side of the table, with their side mainly open. Our Wb(S) faced the fort, manned by Bd(O) and Bw(O), while two of our warband commands faced nothing at all on our right and centre. The enemy Ax(O) command set up behind more huscarls to the left of the fort, and rapidly marched in column to turn our left flank. The knights were evidently flank-marching.
We let all our Wb(F) go impetuous right away and they raced at double speed towards the fort, while we moved all our cavalry to confront the expected flank march on our left. The Swedish knights arrived on turn 4, leaving their infantry off table, and took on superior numbers of Gallic cavalry. Several of them died, but they rode down numerous cavalry. Meanwhile our warband assaulted the fort, without success – only the Gaesati general actually broke in, and lots of Wb(F) died (strangely, mainly against the defending bowmen rather than the huscarls). Accumulated losses to Wb(F) and cavalry broke first the allied command and then the C-in-C’s. 0-10 defeat.
On Sunday Russ was called away to stand in for a player who’d unexpectedly not made it, so I played solo. My first opponent was Nick Coles with a Spartan army (Later Hoplite Greek). Nick had had terrible matchups on Saturday, first Akkadians with wall-to-wall pikes and then Galatians with wall-to-wall warband, so he was less than thrilled to meet yet more warband. He’d learned from experience, though, and set up in a corner with his hoplites at various angles. It booted not – the warband raced across the table (excellent PIPs) and pretty much sorted themselves out and wrought havoc. Wb(F) easily beat Thracian Ax(S) and some Sp(O), while the Gaesati tackled the Spartan Sp(S) and punched several holes on impact. One hole was plugged by the Spartan C-in-C, who killed two Wb(S) but was then attacked and cut down by two more. The Spartans collapsed for a 10-0 win to me. The bright spot for Nick was the performance of his 6 Bw(I), who shot dead 5 Cv(O) elements leaving my C-in-C’s command two elements from breaking.
The last game was against Paul Apreda with Seleucids – a 36-element pike command, including 12 Pk(S), one of various mounted troops (cataphracts, cavalry, light horse and Fast Knights) and psiloi, and a third of elephants and supporting light troops. Paul invaded and launched an all-out attack, with the phalanx immediately advancing to 200 paces from the Gaesati and a block of Wb(F). The supporting cataphracts and cavalry, however, had to stop after spotting some of my Psiloi hiding in a handy area of rough going. Paul then sent his own Psiloi against mine: Gallic Ps(S), supported by a bunch of Wb(F) rushing up from behind, made short work of Seleucid Ps(O) and before long ten Ps(O) had gone down. The Gaesati cut down 4 Pk(O) elements on impact, but then their general was on the wrong end of a 6-1 and died. I saved the command, but the fanatics evidently thought they were demoralised because they slew no more pikemen, took more losses and broke. Their Wb(F) comrades, though, did much better and the pike command was soon teetering.
On my right the elephants trampled one cavalry element but I managed to pull the rest back while threatening the enemy flank with warband coming through rough going, while over on the left wing more warband caught some Galatian mercenary cavalry in the flank and killed them. The battle was decided when Wb(F) slew 4 two-deep Pk elements to break the pike command and with it the Seleucid army for a 9-1 win.
It was an excellent weekend all round, with a friendly atmosphere and no problems despite the unexpectedly snowy weather. I hope Paul runs it again next year.
Godendag, 26/27 January 2008
Russ King and I took Pre-Feudal Scots; the C-in-C was Macbeth, depicted with three witches and a cauldron. His command had a large block of Ax(X) spearmen supported by 9 LH(O) and assorted psiloi; one sub-general had more of the same, the other sub (a Warband element) had Ax(X), psiloi and the 8 Wb(S), and a Galwegian ally had 32 Wb(F). A big army, 128 elements, relying on size to make up for the lack of quality (it was dwarfed by a 200-element Early Libyan army, though).
In the first game we faced Nigel Poole’s Low Countries army with massed Pk(I). The terrain was unkind, leaving us very little helpful rough going, so we sent the Galwegians on a flank march. Nigel had a single-element command of just a Kn(O) general, and three pike blocks with some supporting crossbowmen, psiloi and Kn(I). We caught the single general and killed him, then our Wb(S) mashed a pike command but took serious losses among the supporting Ax(X); the Wb attacked more Pk(I) and a run of 6-1, 5-1, 6-2 destroyed 6 Wb and broke that command. Our C-in-C’s Ax(X) were whittled down by yet more pikemen, the Galwegians failed to appear and then Macbeth’s command broke. Lost 2-8, but a cracking game lasting less than two hours.
On Saturday afternoon we played a Serbian Empire army led by two new opponents (so there are still some about). The Serbs had only about 12 Kn(S), in two small commands, and two large infantry commands, one a Bosnian ally. We got the deployment right and our Wb(S) raced towards assorted Bw, Bd and Ax(O) while the Galwegians assaulted a steep hill held by Ps(O). The Bosnians were unreliable, which didn’t matter much as we attacked them anyway. The Bosnian archers were no match for the Wb(S), the Galwegians swept the psiloi aside and the Bosnian command was quickly broken. The Wb(S) then turned on the adjoining Serb infantry, who were engaged against Ax(X), and started mangling them too. Meanwhile the Serbian knights eventually charged a mass of Ax(X) and exchanged 3 Kn(S) for 10 Ax(X), leaving Macbeth’s command close to breaking – but then the Wb(S) finished off the Serb infantry (slaughtering the reserve Hd(F) after breaking through) and the Serbs broke for a 10-0 win to us.
The third game was against Mark Clarke and Dino Monticoli’s Scythians. We knew they had a large hoplite ally, so placed our warband facing the hoplites’ likeliest positions. Dino had been studying the army list in Book 3, but was still taken by surprise – seeing me deploying mounted huscarls opposite his Sp(O), he asked if they were Kn(F) and was disconcerted to be informed that they were mounted Wb(S). A large Scythian command flank-marched and was signalled on the second turn – some Ax(O) and a lot of LH(F), but they were handicapped by low PIPs after arriving and were contained by our LH(O). On the other flank a big LH command was faced by Macbeth’s Ax and Ps in convenient rough going and couldn’t achieve much. In the centre the 30 hoplites were assailed by 9 Wb(S) and 32 Wb(F). They killed four Wb(S) in the first two combats, but then our die-rolling improved and the hoplites went down in masses. The remnants fled and the Galwegian Wb(F) ran riot, racing in all directions and splitting up the LH(F) trying to contain them. They and the Ax(X) trapped and killed quite a few LH, so that by the last bound we needed two and half elements to break the Scythian army. We arranged combats against three trapped LH, killed two but failed with the third. Timed out at 6-4, just half an element from 10-0.
Finally we defended Scotland against a Portuguese invasion led by two young players, David Cutner and Frank Hopkins. David, Alan Cutner’s son, is a chip off the old block and plays with considerable skill – they’d won both Saturday games 9-1. The Portuguese were of course vastly outnumbered and the terrain fell kindly for us, with a line of rough areas for most of our front line. Our light horse threatened to envelop the enemy right flank and were faced by an English allied command; the Bw(S) pressed on to shoot up our Ax(X) and the 5 Kn(I) including general boldly faced our 9 LH(O). In three rounds of combat we lost only one LH and killed all 5 Kn(I), breaking the English command. The Portuguese, with LH running free behind their line, sent their three groups of knights into our line (deep formations of Ax(X) and Wb), supported by an attack with Ax(O) against our centre which was held mainly by psiloi. The knights had some success but were overwhelmed by numbers (the Galwegians, who’d been unreliable until the English broke, performing heroically again). The French Kn(S) slew 6 Ax(X) but were all killed and that command also lost some Auxilia and broke; with a few losses elsewhere that made half the Portuguese army. Won 10-0.
28 points got us a pleasing 4th place and all four games were exciting and bloody. An excellent weekend.
Russ comments:
- John is being hard on himself in not mentioning the awful PIPs he suffered in the first game which meant he could not get the C-in-C’s command away from the Pk/Bd attack.
- Equally he is being generous to me in not pointing out we would have won 10-0 against Dino and Mark if I had hit a Ps in the flank; 2-1 up and no recoil could have given us the 0.5 EE needed (although we would not have deserved such a clear victory as their flank attack had poor PIPs throughout after the initial 6 to arrive).
- French Kn(S) in the Portuguese army? I’ve fought them a few times and never realised they were not home-grown. I also lost 2 LH to the English Kts but out of 9 and having killed 5 of them who’s counting!