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Thursday, September 5, 2019

Nikephorian Byzantine versus War of the Roses Yorkists - THE FINAL

This was the grand final game of my club's Basic Impetus League competition.  Would my Byzantine's prevail over Dave's English?  They have in the past, so I was feeling confident...

 In a bad omen, I was out scouted and had to set up first.  
Worse, the terrain very much favoured the English defensive posture.
But then I knew where he would be setting up :-)

From left to right there is a wooded hill, impassable lake and a walled field (difficult terrain).

 The English Longbow is better than the Byzantine short bow at long range,
so it was imperative that my army closed as quickly as possible.
Even though the enemy's flanks were secure, 
on the first turn I pushed out my cavalry on both wings.

 Turn two and my right has engaged the enemy.

 Turn three and the long range enemy longbow fire has disordered my infantry.
They have also pushed back my skirmishers in what might have been a reckless charge...

 Turn four and I'm down two units and accumulating losses on my infantry.
:-(

 Turn five and my general leads his elite cavalry to victory against the enemy's left.
That evens things up a bit.

 Turn six sees a clash of arms and the Byzantine's repulse of the English Men-at-Arms!
(There was a lot of deadly rolls of 6s for cohesion tests on both sides).
In a lucky move my cavalry shot up the English longbow.

 Turn seven and the other English Men-at-Arms unit charges,
with less than stellar results.

 Turn eight and I pull my cavalry back and hope my infantry can hold (and shoot!)

 Turn nine and both sides lose another unit.
However the Byzantine's are still basically fresh, 
while over half the enemy are significantly depleted,
so much so that the loss of one more unit will see the English break.

Turn ten.
Victory!

2 comments:

  1. Oh, well done, sir! That looks to have been one tough battle, especially in the face of superior archery - a foe worthy of your metal.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. And thanks again for making the army possible. They have done you proud.

      Big question: can they repeat their success for next year's competition? (FY19/20)

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