31st July 2003

Here are the latest batch of games which took place at the club on Thursday 31st July 2003.

Game: Ancients in 25mm
Rules: Warhammer Ancient Battles

System was WHAB, with the premise being a clash between a Muslim (Egyptian? I think they were Saladin-era Egyptians, but I couldn't swear to it) force and a Christian one along a marshy stretch
of coastline.

The battle opened with a thunderous charge by the Christian commander, his loyal knights, and the fanatical warriors of the religious orders which swept away the Muslim left. The Muslim commander rushed into the gap to prevent the Crusaders rolling up his flank and engaged the knights of the Templars and Hospitallers in a running battle which culminated in the ragtag survivors of the Templars fleeing, more worried about preventing their sacred banner, the Beauceant, from falling into infidel hands than about winning the battle.

In the centre of the field, meanwhile, the King, the surviving members of his retinue, and a unit of sergeants who had been sitting around waiting for the call to action spurred their horses forward and began the task of demolishing the infantry of the Muslim centre. They smashed into the ranks of the infantry levy, driving them from the field. The sergeants then continued their headlong rush and destroyed the Muslim
general. Meanwhile, on the extreme left of the Muslim line, a unit of Turkish horse archers engaged their opposite numbers, the Crusader Turcopoles, in an archery duel which ended in a Latin victory. Casualties were heavy on both sides.

An easy victory for the Crusaders, it might seem. But on the left of the Latin line, two units of infantry had been detailed to prevent an outflanking action by the Saracens. Against these the Muslim commander
sent his veteran Royal Mamluqs and a unit of Arab horsemen. The Arabs sent their opponents streaming across the field in disarray before crashing into the flank of the Christian crossbowmen, who had been
making a valiant stand against the few Mamluqs who had survived their withering hail of bolts. Suddenly attacked in the flank, the crossbowmen panicked and fled. The Mamluqs rode among them, slashing and stabbing. It wasn't pretty. The Mamluqs were all but wiped out, but the Arabs were now loose in the Christian rear.

Overall, the game was still a victory for the Crusaders -- at the end of play they still had sufficient forces to demolish the Arabs and the surviving infantry -- but the success of the flank attack made it not as
clear cut as it might have been.

 

Game: Ancientsin 15mm
Rules: DBA

Lots of Ancients this week, this time with DBA. A couple of us are of on holiday soon (not together!), and to keep our respectice brats amused during the long (TV-less) evenings, we've sorted out some DBA armies to use...so we thought we'd better brush up on the rules.

Four armies were on offer, Early Imperial Rome, Early Visigoth, Sassanid Persion and Early German. Several games were played, won and lost. A fun time was had by all.

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