Renaissance Campaign - week 11

Just the one game this week as the Ottomans pushed deeper into Imperial territory. The scenario was capturing 3 objectives positioned symmetrically on the table. 

It was a very different Imperial army that took the the field on this occasion as the infantry were pared right back so that a large force of cuirassiers and demi-lancers could be used. The Ottomans fielded a pretty balanced force.

The Imperials massed all their horse on the west of the field, defending their own objective and threatening the central one. This left only a small force of infantry to contest the centre and some light cavalry to oppose the Ottomans objective. 

The Ottomans matched the Germans deployment by also having their horse in the West. They had a strong centre of infantry and more infantry holding their own objective. The plan was to hold their own, dominate the centre through weight of numbers and sacrifice the cavalry to keep the Imperials busy.    

The early turns saw the Turks press forward across the line seeking to compress the space the Imperials had. Some effective early artillery fire slowed the German infantry while the east flank Sekbhan units advanced to push the Imperial light horse back. 

The cavalry melee was more even than points suggested and whilst the Turks made little progress they did tie-down the Imperial horse for the whole of the game. In the meanwhile the Ottoman foot were able to capture the central objective while there was never a serious threat to their own. The result was an 8-4 win for the Ottomans and further German territory captured. 

We'll be running a game at the Cotswold Wargames Day using pretty much all the figures we have. see you there!

 KEITH'S WARGAMING BLOG: Cotswold Wargaming Day - Update (keefsblog.blogspot.com) 

Renassiance Campaign - week 10

 This week we were able to complete both battles for Turn 7. We played Kill - so simply destroy the enemy and have a 10% lead

Ottomans vs Imperials

The Imperials deployed with a large cavalry force in the east and all their infantry in the west. The Ottomans mirrored this deployment but with cheaper troops out numbered Germans. 

As both sides pushed forward with their cavalry the Ottomans were able to use their greater numbers to slowly establish an advantage in the east. On the west of the field the Germans advanced into the waiting Turks who poured fire into the brightly decked ranks.     

As night fell the Ottomans had a clear advantage over the Imperials and took the win.   

Ottomans vs Poles

On the second table the Polish adopted their usual aggressive posture with a largely mounted force spanning the full width of the board. The Ottomans were dug in on a low ridge with Janissaries deployed  to guard the flanks.  

The plucky Poles advanced rapidly on the Turks and took relatively light casualties from the shooting as their light horse absorbed the shots. The Ottomans then lunched a spoiling attack from their right, aiming to slow down the attack and allow some additional shooting.   

This proved decisive as some strong dice saw a single unit of Ottoman cavalry dispose of 2*Cossacks, 1*Winged Hussars and 1*Pancerani. With this single unit taking out about half the Polish assault troops the attack faltered and then disintegrated under heavy fire.    

So after 7 turns the Ottomans are clearly in the ascendancy having doubled the size of their foothold in the Polish / Imperial territory. 

Renaissance Campaign week 9

 We reverted to a pair of battles this week. Both games involved defence of an objective in your own half, capturing one in the opponents and a central tie-breaker.  

Turks vs Polish

A somewhat topsy-turvy affair this battle. A largely mounted Polish force confronted a more balanced Ottoman force, with the Turks adopting an initially defensive posture. 

Curiously the Polish massed the bulk of their force against the Turkish flank that lacked an objective. They launched a fierce attack that smashed the Ottoman units posted there, but this left their own objective only held by a light cavalry force.   

The Ottomans exploited the weakness of the defences around the Polish objective and were able to grab this with an assault form their own heavy horse. 

The result was as topsy-turvy as the battle - the Polish caused huge damage but the Ottomans managed to grab all the objectives for a strong win.  

Turks vs Imperials

In this battle the Germans deployed a strong infantry force looking to dominate the middle and guard their own objective. They pushed foreword an had the better position in the early game.   

Ottoman fire began to tell and broke one of the German squadrons in the centre, allowing Ottoman horse to pour though the hole and  begin spreading out behind the German lines.  

The Germans kept pushing forward but found themselves out numbered or at least challenged across all the objectives. A 7-5 win to the Ottomans. 

After 6 turns the Ottoman expansion continues with the Polish now under real pressure as they have lost about half their territory.