Fezian Forces Search The Silver Horde Land For Princess Jasmine

 Fezian forces travelled from the frontier fort and into Silver Horde territory. There they encountered two units of Mongol cavalry, one being light, the other being heavy. Then, praise the Moon God, the Fezians could see a young woman riding the same horse as one of the Mongols! (A foul rumor spread that not only was it Princess Jasmine but that she was appeared to be cooperating and giving no resistance to her kidnappers, even that she was in love with one of her captors)

  The Mongols decided that they would fight to the last man and long enough for the captive to be taken away from the Fezians. They were vastly outnumbered so the Mongols led a merry chase and shot their arrows on the run, often as Parthian or sidelong shots. This way they did not give their lives lightly. Eventually, though, they were hemmed in by multiple enemy units and died to the last man. 

  However, the unit with Jasmine sent the princess with one of their number away from the field of battle and towards the Mongol capital. The unit of Fezian plate cavalry continued the pursuit of the princess and left the other Mongols for the rest of the army to deal with.

THE ARMIES

Fezia

General Haisaan

Hero Quanar

1 Plate Cavalry

2 Mounted Light Bow

2 Light Infantry with bows

Wagons

Silver Horde

Light Archers

Heavy Archers

Captive Princess Jasmine

  The Fezian general and the hero were in the thick of battle which finished off the Mongols.

   Below: a shot of the table with my work bench in the background, even messier than usual as boxes of units from the previous battle are temporarily lobbed there. Right: Fezian forces arrive in Mongol land.

The Mongols underestimated how fast Fezians could run and are caught by infuriated enemy infantry,. (Actually, this was a bit iffy as our rule is infantry cannot go into melee with cavalry unless it has moved only a half move or less or if it is cornered. But in any case the Mongols had ended their move too close to the enemy.

  Keen eyes may have noticed below, not only that the Mongols are closely pursued by Fezian archers but that something strange was happening on the rocks! A bear was about to attack a man in strange blue garb and silver helmet. (Nearby are some tethered camels). The man turned and pointed a silver handgun at the beast. A green ray of light shot from the weapon and neatly sliced the bear's head in half. What this strange onlooker was doing there is a mystery.

  Left photo, Mongol column with Princess Jasmine. Right: The Fezian general and his archers catch one of the Mongol units. His prowess with a scimitar are legendary and he hacks into the enemy.

                                     Below: Mongols earlier, at the start of the engagement.

   Another long shot of the table, The board covering the gap has been removed for ease of access. The brown book is Mat's record book of his units and deployment.

The final act as the last of the Mongols are eradicated by combined Fezian forces. No thought of surrender entered the Mongols' heads,

Conclusion: The Mongols were wiped out except for the lone rider with princess. We will have to determine if the pursuing Fezian cavalry catch up. No other Mongols are in the immediate vacinity.

 Casualties were similar on both sides but the Fezians lost no complete units.

FLAGS
Basically they are mostly fictitious but the black and white Moon flag is based on an ancient Middle Eastern one. The Fezians have many similarities to Ottomans and other Muslim powers except they are adherents of the Moon God!

A NOTE ON ORGANISATION
I played the part of the Mongols. The numbers of Mongols were determined by dice roll and, fortunately for Mat, the numbers were low. We also rolled earlier to see if the Mongols would surrender the princess. Then we rolled to see if she was present with this small force - she was.

NEXT MAP MOVE is move 12. Events include 1/ Bogavanians (and possibly some Fezians) on Dinosaur Island encountering a couple of brontosaurus. Generally the plant eaters are peaceful but never assume anything with gigantic beasts. The survivors of the recent whale ramming first saw them. The rest of the expedition heard the dinosaurs and came to investigate.

  2/ Resolution to kidnapped princess episode?

 3/ Stellan army still elusive on Stellar Island.

 4/ On Skull Island King Kong was moving towards the Beerstein forces but stopped to graze on       whatever gigantic apes usually eat. However, a tribe of stone age people is now advancing on the Beersteiners. They are the adult male inhabitants of one of three villages. There was some thought that the primitives might regard the newcomers as gods but only Kong was their god. Although the  natives have not been seen close up it may be that they are Homo sapiens rather than other branches of the human family tree.

CHANCE ELEMENT

Also a roll on the nearly 150 chance possibility is due half way through the map move 12. At the end of that move we dice roll to see if the campaign continues.

OTHER THOUGHTS

It is likely that Mat committed more expeditionary forces and also larger numbers in the Islands campaign. The Beersteiner land had any garrisons and a strong capital defence but so far these forces have not been called on.