Title

Title
Tally Ho!

Saturday 29 June 2019

The Wards of Agnih-Bhanu - the final game

The final game of the mini-campaign was the Push scenario where the armies get 2 VPs for each loot marker over the half way line and 1 VP for each in their own half. The Warns of Agnih counting as loot. Getting two of the wards to Agnih allowed you to take control of her.

I opted for a fairly conservative strategy and placed the tokens on my Rinosaurs and SkyRaiders on the left flank. This limited my chances of activating the fire elemental, but reduced the risk I would allow the Abyssals a chance to grab control of her. The Abyssals mirrored the strategy and placed most of their tokens on their own left with the Succubi.





The opening moves were fairly cagey as both sides indulged in a little shooting which caused little damage to the Abyssal Horsemen but did allow the Lizardmen Corsairs to remover the Abyssals fast chaff.



The Abyssals Horsemen then ploughed headlong into the SkyRaiders but were unable to break them and so got flank charged and wiped-out by the Rinosaurs.



A second wave of attacks cost the Abyssals their Archfiend but in combination with Molochs they routed a unit of Rinosaurs and captured a token. A devastating round of Abyssal shooting routing one of the Rinosaurs.


Battle was joined in the centre when the main lines clashed. The Lizards came off second best as they were out numbed, but bought vital time for the Corsairs to recaptured a token and move against the flanks of the main line.



The battle ended with the SkyRaiders swooping over the halfway line in the last turn to make it a 4-3 victory for the Lizardmen. Neither side in the end managed to active Agnih as the focus was firmly on winning.

The game featured another new unit - the Lower Abyssal horde. I'd originally planned to have the Lowers streaming away form the gate but the narrowness meant it would not be possible to get a decent looking number of models on the base so I went for a more conventional setup.  


 

Sunday 23 June 2019

A brace of Kings of War games

This week end I managed a couple of games with the Lizardmen - battle 3 of both the Tale of Two forts and The Wards of Agnih-Bhanu.

The Tale of Two Forts


The game was against The Herd and was Control - here the table is divided into 8 parts with points awarded for having the most troops in the zone. I chose to deploy with the bulk of my attacking units on my right and refuse the centre and right. The Herd looked to attack more centrally with fast flying units against my refused flank.



The Flying Circus

The Lizardmen pushed forward against the Herds left. The combats went well but the space was very congested so it took longer the breakdown the enemy than I had hoped.



On my right I was out-numbered and the faster Herd flyers / monsters cut into the Lizardmen lines. There was a very lucky moment where a key Herd unit was routed on a double-6 which stopped the whole flank collapsing.  The flank would fall in the end, but bought vital time for the rest of the army. The final score was 4-3 to the Lizardmen.

Notably the Basilean Paladins managed to get into the action for the first time helping with the routing of a couple of units of Herd troops.  Its also the first win over the Herd for the Lizardmen, pulling the campaign back to 2-1.

Hanging on by a thread

The Wards of  Agnih-Bhanu


The second battle was against the Abyssal troops. We fought Eliminate, where points are awarded for destroying the 3 most expensive units on the enemy side with fourth point for a campaign objective.  

I deployed in a tight formation the Ancients on Rinosaurs supported by the Crew of the Embers Dance and Skyriaders on the right. I went for a centre and left using the terrain to give a good defensive position.  



The Abyssal forces spread across the table with hard hitting units peppered amongst more shooty elements.



The Abyssals pushed forward cross the line looking to close the space and threaten the central objective. A vigorous attack disposed of the Skyraiders  (one of  my 3 scoring units) but I was able to counter attack with the Rinosaurs and destroy two scoring units (Arch Fiend and Abyssal Horsemen).




Centrally the Abyssals launched a strong attack with the Succubi that punched through after a couple of turns and threatened the left flank. This bought time though for the Rinosurs and Embers Dance to swing into the centre.   





The final turn saw my outnumbered left flank crumble under a strong Abyssal attack.


The final result was a win for the Lizardmen by 2 units to 1. I lost my Ward but was able to gain two more. As we enter the final battle the Lizardmen hold the Spear and Banner (Elite melee and Inspiring) and the Abyssals the Shield (+1 Regen).

The Crew of the Embers Dance proved useful as flankers and chaff killers but were not tested against heavier units.

Thursday 20 June 2019

KeyPoints 1813 - Battle 1 of the M&M campaign

The first game of our new campaign took place in the north of the map as both sides sought to gain control of a strategically important town (square 5)
The battlefield featured a central town with woods to the west and hills to the east. The campaign moves had led to an even battle on this occasion, with two infantry and one cavalry brigade a side.  A nice size as a couple of players were absent on other duties. 


Both sides deployed the bulk of their infantry centrally to assault the town. The French had most of their cavalry to the east of the town, whereas the Allies had most of theirs to the west.    



Both sides quickly occupied opposite ends of then town and began a firefight that would last for the majority of the game. In the west the French Cuirassiers were compelled to charge their Russian opposite numbers despite the presence of some Hanoverian hussars lurking on their flank.  


They made short work of the Russians but were themselves taken in the flank - things look bad for the French heavies.

Cavalry melee to the east of the town 


In the centre the Russians probed towards the town while the French dragoons pushed forward to engage more Russian horse.

Russians try to flank the west of the town

The west flank 

Despite being at a significant disadvantage the brave Cuirassiers beat off the Hussars and routed their second unit of Allied horse. A welcome if unexpected outcome for the French.


Around the town both sides were reluctant to risk an advance and so settled into a long-range exchange of musket and artillery fire. Within the town fire was especially intense and both sides began to see loses mount to the point where reinforcements would be needed.


Stand off to the east of the town


Freed from their pursuit, the victorious Cuirassiers rounded the Allies right flank and forced the Hanoverians into square. Lacking infantry support they could not press the advantage but they had halted the Allied attack developing in the east.

Cuirassiers flank the Allied line


As night fell the game was declared a draw with both sides holding half the town. It was a moral victory for the French though as the Allies had suffered greater losses, especially amongst their cavalry with two regiments all but wiped-out.

The stars of the show 


 

Saturday 15 June 2019

1813 Key Points - Mukest & Marshalls Napoleonic Camapign

Our newest campaign is set in Germany during 1813 and is a chance for folks to field some of the Napoleonic's they've been collecting. The campaign rules are below and a few shots of the practice game. We're once again using M&M from Hinton Hunt.


The Key Points Campaign Rules




Introduction



Some military campaigns involved grand sweeps across large tracks of open country, but much more typical was seeking to dominate several key strategic features connected by a barely usable road network. This campaign depicts the later and pits French vs Allies in 1813.      



Victory and Defeat



The aim of the campaign is to capture the enemy’s regional capital with a force of at least 3 brigades.



Maps and Movement



Both sides write orders for 2 moves at a time and then play these through. If a battle occurs in the first turn then the orders for turn 2 may be amended. Orders are as follows:

·         Attack – Advance one node and attack any enemy you encounter.

·         Move – Advance one node but fall-back before attacking enemy.

·         Hold – Defend the current position.

·         Screen – Halt, falling back if attacked.



Where both sides would meet on a connecting node, and both are attacking, then dice to see who falls back and defends (1D6, +1 for 50% more cavalry, +2 for 100% more). A single unit may move 2 nodes on a 5,6 (D6) if you hold the cross roads, dicing after orders are written.



Moves will be emailed to the umpire by close-of-play on Friday and responses will be sent by COP on Sunday in time for the Monday game. 



Forces



Both sides have the following units available

·         7 * infantry brigades of 4*infantry, 2*skirmisher companies & 2*field batteries.

·         3 * cavalry brigades of 2*heavy cav, 1*light cav, and 1*horse battery

·         An artillery reserve of 2*heavy batteries.

·         A reserve cavalry brigade of 2*light cav, 2*heavy cav and 1*horse battery.

·         A reserve infantry brigade of 4*A class infantry



Up to 4 divisions may be formed from these units.with a division needing at least 3 brigades and a maximum of 5. Across the whole army 20% of the units may be designated as A class, so 3 cavalry and 6 infantry in addition to the reserve infantry.



Battles and Key Points





In an encounter both sides deploy behind screens or from a map. If one side is defending then they deploy first but will have advantageous terrain. There are no draws unless it was an encounter. The defender wins unless driven off or the objective captured.



·         River Crossing: There is a village with two river crossings and a chance to find a ford (D6/turn per section finding on a 6). If you defend the far-bank then the river counts as held by you. If you defend your own bank then it counts as contested and a draw allows the attacker to remain. If it's an encounter then dice to see who arrived first as they have the choice (+2 if you have more cavalry)   

·         Strategic Crossroads: Hold the crossroads and rout the enemy to count as held.

·         Fortified Position: Hold the fort to count as holding the square.

·         A strategically positioned farm complex: Hold the farms to count as the winner. Each farm counts as two BUA zones, each can be defended by a single battalion plus attached gun. Each may only be assaulted by two attackers at once. 

·         A town (acting as a supply depot): Hold the town to count as the winner. The town counts as six BUAs as above.



Post-battle Actions



Both sides roll to recover troops after the battle, so long as they hold their regional capital.

1
40% of losses replaced
2
45% -“-
3
50% -“-
4
55% -“-
5
65% -“-
6
75% -“-

  +1 if you hold a farm or the crossroads and +2 if you hold the town


The Game

I like a decent sized game so we went for 15 units a side on a 10 foot table.




Early honours went to the French, whose cavalry routed a goodly chunk of the German forces on the table.  




The Russian infantry fought back strongly though and made some good dents into the French lines.




The late game was pretty even with the Hanoverian forces largely disinterested on-lookers.