As a background task I've been finishing some units for use in a forthcoming Saga campaign. I've now completed most of what's needed and I'm adding a few mercenary units. These chaps are ancient Iberians from Victrix.
This week we played the second part of turn 3, with the Ottomans attacking into Imperial territory. The scenario was Attrition, meaning it was all about kills.
It was clear this would be head-on clash with both sides deploying their infantry on the eastern side of the field and their horse on the more open west. The Ottomans had a small numerical advantage.
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| Imperial shot hiding in a village |
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| Sekban mercenary infantry |
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| Ottoman heavies |
Both sides advanced their cavalry towards a large melee, while the Turks hung back a little with their foot to gain maximum advantage from their guns. Things began pretty evenly with the mass cavalry attacks but the Ottomans enjoyed an edge in the infantry shooting as they chipped away at the Imperial pike & shot.
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| The big clash |
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| Some well dug-in Ottomans |
Historically the Ottomans have not enjoyed much luck with their mounted and this proved the case again in this battle. Some below average rolling from the Turks and good rolls from the Germans gave them a clear upper hand in the west of the field.
The Turks blushes were spared somewhat by the resolve of their infantry who had a narrow edge over the Imperial units in the east. The end result was a narrow victory (70 points from 1600) for the Germans, meaning the Turks were beaten back in their invasion attempt.
We decided after the game that in Attrition you would need a 10% winning margin in future. This would not have affected the strategic result as a draw would still have sent the attacking Ottomans scurrying back.
So with two failed assaults turn 3 saw no changes in the strategic position.
After a short isolation-force break we are back this week with the Polish attacking into the hard of the Ottoman-held territory (province 3). This week was an objective scenario with 3 supply caches to capture and hold.
The Polish deployed with the mas of their cavalry in the centre and towards the east end of the board. Their infantry guarding the objective on the west side. So the gamble was that the cavalry would break through and be able to grab the objectives there.
The Ottomans had a larger force numerically and so deployed a blocking force against the Polish horse and looked to move through the centre to hit the flanks of the Polish infantry.
Things went pretty well for the Ottomans on this occasion in the early game - they were losing troops but tying-in the Polish while their heavy cavalry pushed through a gap in the Polish lines and turned inwards to attack the infantry contesting the objectives.
Mid-late game the Poles fought back to capture the objective on the Turks side of the board. The game ended with both sides taking the objective in the opponents half and the tie-breaking centre contested, so our first draw of the campaign.
As the game was a draw, the Polish had to withdraw.
Frustratingly we could not meet for our usual game this week and so moved back to online for a week - this means some WWI aerial instead of the renaissance campaign. I did manage something in-person though as I was tempted by the resident Warhammer 40K expert into a quick game.
A simple thrash involving some Custodians (space Praetorians) vs Necrons (Terminators). The former and good in combat and the later at shooting plus they respawn when killed, well sometimes.
Its a complicated game with large numbers of unit and army special abilities which really define the play. I suspect the Necrons went easy on me as a beginner.
