Fezia Invades Patra - The Battle
Today the battle commenced but the invading Fezians had to face a bigger army.
Patran catapults
Patrans advance to drive the Fezians away from the Patran temples of The Comet and Isis. (The gap is counted as open ground and crossable)
Fezian archers
The fence stopped a rock from the catapult.
Fezian matchlock men move towards the temple of the Comet.
Fezian plate armoured mounted archers
Plate armoured and lance armed Fezian cavalry
Fezians advance far up on the Eastern front.
In the background Patran light archers, including auxiliaries from a far South land, move up.
The Patrans strengthen the Eastern front as Fezian cavalry moves up.
Patrans advance in the centre.
Fezian matchlock men climb the temple.
The catapult deals repeated death to the advancing Fezian cavalry.
Fezian archers take defensive position.
The Patran war elephants slowly advance on the Western front.
A strong Patran force also advances on the Western front.
Patran light infantry charge the enemy cavalry but are defeated by their superior armour.
Fezian chain mail armoured spear men and yellow fanatics advance up the road.
Fezian cavalry drive back Patrans but there is only one left soon to fall.
Patran light archers search for a target as the Fezian mounted archers move forward and are protected by the temple.
Patran heavy cavalry advance.
The last Fezian cavalryman still waves the flag before he perishes.
The rest of the Fezian cavalry on the Eastern flank charge.
Fezian archers trade shots with Patran archers and some mounted Fezian archers sneak around the forest.
meanwhile Fezian archers and matchlock men on top of the temple decimate the enemy cavalry. Unused to fire arms the demoralised Patran cavalry retreats.
Patrans attack the Fezian cavalry on the eastern side of the field.
The Fezian spear men make short work of enemy light archers.
The Patran cavalry rallies.
A unit of Fezian mounted archers is overwhelmed by two Patran units.
The heavy Patran foot, after initial resistance wipes out a un it of Fzian archers.
Patran cavalry advancing into the Fezian zone are charged by the Fezian general and bodyguard. Although outnumbered the general is a mighty warrior and better armoured. He and his bodyguard wipe them out.
The Yellow fanatics charge the Patran general and his bodyguard bvut are driven bak. yet then the Fezian spear men joun in and the Patran holites move up to also join the fray.
The Fezians win the melee and kill the general!
Meanwhile, on the Western front, the Patran mounted archers took pot shots at the enemy elephant causing it some wounds. The Patrans, led by the chariot drive the Fezians to turn and retreat. Eventually the Patran archers block off the mounted archers retreat and shoot them down as well as the foot archers.
But as the news of the death of the Patran general spreads through the army it retreats!
GAME MECHANICS
As mentioned in an earlier post the armies were chosen by dice roll. The Fezians also had the type of leader chosen by dice roll. As it happened I got the Fezian King who has high leadership, plate armour, three wounds and three attacks! That made it tempting to put him and his two man bodyguard into battle. This did occur towards the end of the game and they stopped a small unit of mounted DSG Romans in their tracks and wiped them out! He also had high battlefield skill which meant I was able to make Mat re-roll for first set up of units to no avail). The same occurred for rolling for first move and successfully.
To avoid crowding out the battlefield we each chose a few units to place on the board to start with. I had arranged groups of two or three units for each army and to be chosen from. After that we brought everything on in reserve starting in move two. So initially one required a 6 on a D6, a 5+ from move three and so on. Fortunately for my Fezian army these dice rolls favoured them to start with and the Patran war elephants, for example came on late and didn't get to charge anyone.
Catapults actually shoot plastic rocks (or shoot dice when all rocks have been lost). These catapults originally came in cheapo bags of plastic knights that were copies of Timpo Action Pack. They were not given horses or other animals to move them so remained in place. Mat positioned one strategically facing my left flank and the other two were in the centre. Interestingly, the wall my archers were behind stopped a rock. This was quite realistic really. They were realistic too because one would not want to use them when on'e own troops were close to the enemy! Last time we used them I had catapults hits causing D6 casualties or whatever was covered by a template. I decided this was too much like cannon (although we could say they had flammable substances) This time I made it D3 casualties plus one, giving minimum casualties of one and maximum of four. This occurred when a unit was hit or the rock landed within an inch of a unit.
The elephants were given 20 wounds each and four attacks with two extra attacks on a charge. (Human figures generally got one attack each from base to base and rank behind plus two ranks overlapping on either side). If the elephant had got down to less than half wounds then they required a leadership test. If it was failed a table was consulted for a dice roll to see how they reacted. Results included going berserk in a random direction, leaving the battlefield or continuing as normal. there was also a chance of death of the mahout. On each hit a dice roll was made for his death which occurred on a 12 on a D12. He also would get an armour save. This was to make sure the elephant was not neutralised too soon. If the mahout did die a similar table to the wounds reduction was consulted but with an added result where the beast would defend its master's body and not move from that spot. (I got this idea from Warhammer beasts and riders rule).
Scaling the temple required a full move per level (assuming scaling ladders or some other mechanism (standing on shoulders?) The matchlock men took a while to get there but then did good service as their weapons neutralized the heavy cavalry and infantry armour. As gunpowder weapons were unknown to the Patrans any unit fired at had to also take a leadership test and if failed it would retreat a full move and continue to do so unless rallied. This occurred with a unit of mounted Supreme Greeks.
If a leader died a table was consulted for results. The worst result was complete retreat or surrender. other results were no further forward movement until a new leader was chosen in x amount of moves. As it happened Mat's general was charged by my yellow fanatics and then my mailed spearmen, leading to his death (despite Patran heavy infantry trying to rescue him). Mat's table result was that his army had to retreat for three moves. As a couple of units were close to board edge this meant they were off the battlefield!
BATTLE PROGRESS
The Fezians had successes early in the game and pushed up the board on my left (or Eastern front). Then they met stiff resistance. The Patran lights were minced through after initial resistance but then Mat brought up heavy infantry and cavalry. On my centre left the Partan cavalry were checked by my matchlocks and bows.
But the Patran advance in the centre and my right flank (ore Western front outnumbered my forces that seriously declined under bow fire. My mounted archers pinging at the enemy elephant was of little real value and then as they fled some very annoyed elephants and a chariot they were trapped by advancing bowmen in the centre cutting off retreat.
The death of the Patran general was a game changer and would have led to a Fezian victory except for the mechanism of game length. generally our games are set for 12 moves and then we roll a dice to see if the game continues and do so for each subsequent move. The game thus went for 13 moves. The victory conditions set for the game were control of table quarters. A quarter must be empty of enemy forces to claim it otherwise it is contested. Even though Patran forces were retreating they still had troops present in three table quarters and controlled two quarters whereas I controlled one with the other in contention. Arguable because the Patrans were retreating but the letter of the law was Patra won.
LESSONS
Usually I make my mounted archer units around 14 figures but this time they were only 12. In a shooting exchange with a unit of 24 foot archers they were under-classed. They actually did minimal damage with their bows, something of concern for the next game, as you will find out.
Plate armoured units make a mess of anything else but eventually will be whittled down without enough backup.
Matchlocks are handy to have against armour, especially when they are safely positioned on top of a building!
Catapults might shoot only every second move and be notoriously inaccurate but don't count on them missing and don't count on the attackers passing their leadership test to attack! One of my plat armoured horseman units failed the leadership test twice. of course the last catapult shot was made at something like 10 cm which reminds me to amend the rules that at 2o cm the attackers are 'under the guns'.
Spearmen units with three ranks fighting were effective and also good at stopping cavalry frontal charges.
Patran catapults
Fezian foot and mounted archers on the right flank
But as the news of the death of the Patran general spreads through the army it retreats!
GAME MECHANICS
As mentioned in an earlier post the armies were chosen by dice roll. The Fezians also had the type of leader chosen by dice roll. As it happened I got the Fezian King who has high leadership, plate armour, three wounds and three attacks! That made it tempting to put him and his two man bodyguard into battle. This did occur towards the end of the game and they stopped a small unit of mounted DSG Romans in their tracks and wiped them out! He also had high battlefield skill which meant I was able to make Mat re-roll for first set up of units to no avail). The same occurred for rolling for first move and successfully.
To avoid crowding out the battlefield we each chose a few units to place on the board to start with. I had arranged groups of two or three units for each army and to be chosen from. After that we brought everything on in reserve starting in move two. So initially one required a 6 on a D6, a 5+ from move three and so on. Fortunately for my Fezian army these dice rolls favoured them to start with and the Patran war elephants, for example came on late and didn't get to charge anyone.
Catapults actually shoot plastic rocks (or shoot dice when all rocks have been lost). These catapults originally came in cheapo bags of plastic knights that were copies of Timpo Action Pack. They were not given horses or other animals to move them so remained in place. Mat positioned one strategically facing my left flank and the other two were in the centre. Interestingly, the wall my archers were behind stopped a rock. This was quite realistic really. They were realistic too because one would not want to use them when on'e own troops were close to the enemy! Last time we used them I had catapults hits causing D6 casualties or whatever was covered by a template. I decided this was too much like cannon (although we could say they had flammable substances) This time I made it D3 casualties plus one, giving minimum casualties of one and maximum of four. This occurred when a unit was hit or the rock landed within an inch of a unit.
The elephants were given 20 wounds each and four attacks with two extra attacks on a charge. (Human figures generally got one attack each from base to base and rank behind plus two ranks overlapping on either side). If the elephant had got down to less than half wounds then they required a leadership test. If it was failed a table was consulted for a dice roll to see how they reacted. Results included going berserk in a random direction, leaving the battlefield or continuing as normal. there was also a chance of death of the mahout. On each hit a dice roll was made for his death which occurred on a 12 on a D12. He also would get an armour save. This was to make sure the elephant was not neutralised too soon. If the mahout did die a similar table to the wounds reduction was consulted but with an added result where the beast would defend its master's body and not move from that spot. (I got this idea from Warhammer beasts and riders rule).
Scaling the temple required a full move per level (assuming scaling ladders or some other mechanism (standing on shoulders?) The matchlock men took a while to get there but then did good service as their weapons neutralized the heavy cavalry and infantry armour. As gunpowder weapons were unknown to the Patrans any unit fired at had to also take a leadership test and if failed it would retreat a full move and continue to do so unless rallied. This occurred with a unit of mounted Supreme Greeks.
If a leader died a table was consulted for results. The worst result was complete retreat or surrender. other results were no further forward movement until a new leader was chosen in x amount of moves. As it happened Mat's general was charged by my yellow fanatics and then my mailed spearmen, leading to his death (despite Patran heavy infantry trying to rescue him). Mat's table result was that his army had to retreat for three moves. As a couple of units were close to board edge this meant they were off the battlefield!
BATTLE PROGRESS
The Fezians had successes early in the game and pushed up the board on my left (or Eastern front). Then they met stiff resistance. The Patran lights were minced through after initial resistance but then Mat brought up heavy infantry and cavalry. On my centre left the Partan cavalry were checked by my matchlocks and bows.
But the Patran advance in the centre and my right flank (ore Western front outnumbered my forces that seriously declined under bow fire. My mounted archers pinging at the enemy elephant was of little real value and then as they fled some very annoyed elephants and a chariot they were trapped by advancing bowmen in the centre cutting off retreat.
The death of the Patran general was a game changer and would have led to a Fezian victory except for the mechanism of game length. generally our games are set for 12 moves and then we roll a dice to see if the game continues and do so for each subsequent move. The game thus went for 13 moves. The victory conditions set for the game were control of table quarters. A quarter must be empty of enemy forces to claim it otherwise it is contested. Even though Patran forces were retreating they still had troops present in three table quarters and controlled two quarters whereas I controlled one with the other in contention. Arguable because the Patrans were retreating but the letter of the law was Patra won.
LESSONS
Usually I make my mounted archer units around 14 figures but this time they were only 12. In a shooting exchange with a unit of 24 foot archers they were under-classed. They actually did minimal damage with their bows, something of concern for the next game, as you will find out.
Plate armoured units make a mess of anything else but eventually will be whittled down without enough backup.
Matchlocks are handy to have against armour, especially when they are safely positioned on top of a building!
Catapults might shoot only every second move and be notoriously inaccurate but don't count on them missing and don't count on the attackers passing their leadership test to attack! One of my plat armoured horseman units failed the leadership test twice. of course the last catapult shot was made at something like 10 cm which reminds me to amend the rules that at 2o cm the attackers are 'under the guns'.
Spearmen units with three ranks fighting were effective and also good at stopping cavalry frontal charges.
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