ADLG: Darryl Ascendant!

A Headless Body Production

Location:    Lancaster Host Convention Center
Event:        Historicon 2108
Venue:         L'Art de la Guerre 25mm Event, Round 1.
Players:      Phil Gardocki, List 178, Anglo-Irish
                    Chris Sikorski, Swiss.

Rules Set: L'Art de la Guerre, 200 points
Description: An ADLG battle report between Anglo Irish andthe Swiss

Anglo Irish:
Larry, the Competent with:
     2 Longbowmen, Stakes
     2 Galloglaich, Heavy Swordsmen, 2 Handed Weapon, Elite
     1 Foot Knight, Heavy Swordsmen, Heavy Armor, 2 Handed Weapon, Elite
     2 Kerns, Light Infantry, Javelin
     1 Irish Noble, Heavy Cavalry
His brother Darryl, the Competent with:
     2 Longbowmen, Stakes
     3 Galloglaich, Heavy Swordsmen, 2 Handed Weapon, Elite
     1 Foot Knight, Heavy Swordsmen, Heavy Armor, 2 Handed Weapon, Elite
     2 Kerns, Light Infantry, Javelin
His other brother Darryl, the Competent with:
     2 Longbowmen, Stakes
     1 Irish Noble, Heavy Cavalry
     1 Irish Horsemen, Light Cavalry, Javelin

Breakpoint 21

Vs:

Swiss:
Pike Elite times lots
Heavy Knight
Some crossbow armed Light Infantry and Horse.
Some Medium Swordsmen, 2 Handed Weapons.
Breakpoint, around 20

Before we get to the game.

I surrender.  I have been using the acronym LADG since I started, but have been overwhelmed by the consensus of using  ADLG.  When I researched the acronyms a couple years ago I was told the the ADLG was actually a typo that was just kept.  So I was stubborn about LADG.  But even the French are using it, so I give up.

A note about the running joke about Larry, Darryl and Darryl.  I had dinner with a number of readers of my blog, and several did not know the background of Larry, Darryl and Darryl.  They understood it was a pop culture reference somewhere, but not the origin.  Since 2 out of 6 didn't get the reference, that means hundreds of my readers don't get the joke.  They are from 1980's Newhart show.  Worth Youtubing a few episodes.

A complaint about the venue.  There was so much wrong that this would be like shooting fish in a barrel, so I'll just pick two.  The most important is the rework of the dealers area.  The front door is now as far away from the hotel as you can get.  It would be easier to park in the adjacent Tanger outlet parking lot, and climb the fence, then to trek through the hotel, then the parking lot, across the filled in mini-golf course, down the hill, then turn left around the copse of trees. This totally screwed the dealers as I am sure the foot traffic was minimal.  The other is the tip jar.  This is nothing new, but nothing says about a company, being so cheap, they can't pay our employees enough that they have to beg your clientele for tips.  The hotel was sold out, so that isn't the problem.  But I am not tipping someone who only hands me a prewrapped sandwich, a warm drink, and tells me that there are cups and ice somewhere behind me.

A note about the Monty Python figures.  You man notice figures from Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the mix below.  They are from Studio Miniatures, Medieval Mayhem collection.  Now that 25mm ADLG events are happening, I'll be adding more to the mix.

And now, our game:

Deployment:
The Swiss win the initiative and elect to attack in the mountains.
Larry selects the 3 steep hills*.  The Swiss take a coastal and a road.  Luck of the dice places all the steep hills on the side of the defenders.

The Swiss right flank is protected by a coastline.  The camp is unassailable with 5 haufe's of foot supported by crossbow.

A surprise to me was 3 units of Swiss Knights, also supported by crossbow.

The Swiss left with 6 haufe's of foot, 4 of them pike armed, supported by handguns.

Taking advantage of the coastal area, the Anglo-Irish place their camp, hidden behind a hill, and cunningly disguised as a small, insignificant, woodland creature. 

The far left is secured by coast, fortification, and hill.  Larry places his longbowmen on the hill, and his Galloglaich and knights in the plains below.

Larry's solid foot troops consist of Clan Jordan,  Sir Bedivere's knights, and Clan Ramsay.

The remaining plains are covered by Darryl's Galloglaich (not named in this film) and Sir Robin's (the Brave) knights and minstrels.  On the hill, a Patsey lays crushed by a random, catapulted cow.

Turn 2:
I missed photos of the first turn.  But since it is Pike marching across the board against heavy foot that is not marching at all, it is probably for the best.

Longbowmen take up position atop a steep hill and begin their work.

One Swiss light horse takes flight after being shot.  Kern Ramsay taunts the Swiss knights.

An ambush is revealed, more longbow on a hill.

Irish light horse retire, while Swiss crossbow pick up a few hits.

A nameless unit, but future MVP of the field, of Kerns leave the safety of the hill to taunt both ax and gun.

The longbow have stakes, so are not afraid to leave the hill in front of the knights.

So far, the Swiss have been doing the advancing into many flights of arrows.  The Swiss skirmishers bearing the brunt of the shots.  I was surprised that Chris was trying to force the Anglo-Irish left.  It is a narrow path and full of obstructions.

Turn 3:

The Swiss right continues to force the Irish left.  Darryl decides his horsemen can do nothing and begins to redeploy them elsewhere.  The Longbow on the left may be cleared by Swiss ax, but it is not going to be a fast process.

In the center, the Swiss knights decide that skirmisher cover works both ways.  They move to within a red hair of Kern Ramsay and stop.

On the Swiss left is where the heaviest blow will fall.  The nameless, but future MVP, Kern is charged, and dutifully flees Swiss halberds. 

Longbow continue to let fly.  Arrows are a penny a sheaf.  The field is now looking more like a wheat field, in need of harvest, than a plain.

Larry is distracted and has only 1 command point to spend.  He opts for a rally attempt on the hill vice recalling Kern Ramsay.  In the end, he accomplishes nothing.

Another sheaf of arrows spent, and a skirmisher falls.

The Swiss have 5 points towards their demoralization level of 20.
The Anglo-Irish have 2 points towards their demoralization level of 21.
Turn 4:

Pike pull forward and compress.  Halberdiers maneuver out of arc of being shot.

The grand charge!  On the hill, one unit of longbow is scattered by halberdiers, the other becomes engaged.  Knights charge, Sir Bedivere's knights are hard pressed, but Clan's Jordan and Ramsay hold firm.

Down the line it goes, two Swiss haufe's of pike are hit, to one of the Galloglaichs.

Darryl spends another wasted command point on rallying the Irish light horse.

Another longbow on the hill is destroyed.  But Clan Ramsay destroys a knight in turn.

When will I learn.  If you have a terrain advantage, use it.

The scrum continues on the right. One of Darryl's Galloglaichs is destroyed.

The Swiss have 9 points towards their demoralization level of 20.
The Anglo-Irish have 10 points towards their demoralization level of 21.
Turn 5:

Swiss charge the fortifications, which cause the Irish horse to flee off the board.

Sir Bedivere's foot knights are destroyed. 

So too, another of Darryl's Galloglaichs.

On the far right hill, it looks like the final nails are being driven into the Irish coffin.  Halberdiers assault the hill, damaging a longbow, and catching a fleeing kern in the rear.

Time is running out, but I don't have to lose all the troops on the hill.  Darryl orders retreat of his non engaged units.

Clan Ramsay turns the flank of a haufe of pike and it is destroyed.

On the hill, The long bow, supported by both sides, pulls a win.  The caught Kerns, rolls the spots off the dice and destroy the halberdiers.

In an attempt to rescue Sir Robin's knights, Clan Ramsay pursues into another haufe of pike.

The Swiss have 10 points towards their demoralization level of 20.
The Anglo-Irish have 13 points towards their demoralization level of 21.
Turn 6:

The fight for the hill continues in earnest.  The Longbowmen are +2 for height and support, the Halberdiers are only a zero.

On the Irish left, another longbow falls, the last is disordered by the rout.

Kerns and their Irish wolfhounds fight it out against halberdiers, and pull a tie.  But another Swiss knight falls.  The last knight can either recall or advance to get out of trouble.  They charge, chasing Kern Ramsay off the board.

Now we have a true heap of forces here.  Everybody has someone on their flank.

The Irish have won the fight for this hill.

Disordered and outnumbered 4-1, the last longbow on the left hill turns to take a stand.

Darryl joins his nobles in a frontal charge against the last Swiss knight.  Clan Jordan takes the knight in the rear completing the knight sandwich.  Sir Robin's knights destroy another pike unit, and conform to fit their flankers.

On the left hill, the Irish try to recover their disorder, but fail.

And suddenly it was over, with the Irish having an explicable win.
The Swiss have 20 points towards their demoralization level of 20.
The Anglo-Irish have 17 points towards their demoralization level of 21.

What went right: 

Terrain placement.  Getting all the steep hills was a god send.  This narrowed the frontage of the plains to a manageable area.  The longbow were relatively safe on the hills.

What went wrong:
Getting off the hills to take a cheap shot.  This gave Chris the opportunity to take one hill acquiring 7 points towards my demoralization level.  

In the plains between the hills, it was in the Swiss advantage, but there was some luck on the side of the Irish that turned the tide.  The Irish lost 3 heavy foot units, trading them for 2 knights and 2 pike. 

MVP goes to a Light Infantry Kern, who single handedly defeated a Swiss Halberdier after being caught in an evade.  I found a couple of broken axes in my box and glued them to the stand as an award.

Traveller plug:
=====================================================================

This is not ALDG related, but I think I have enough credibility with you to diverge for a bit of crass consumerism.

Many of you know that I have a business relationship with the company, Lost Battalion Games.  This has been on and off for the last decade.  I want to announce their latest game on their Daring Play site that I personally have had development time with, Traveller Ascension, Imperial Warrant.  The game is being demonstrated at Origins so I am no longer required to be silent about it.  The short of it is, this is a great game!  I have not had this much fun playing a new game since the world was young. 

It is during the expansion period of the Third Imperium.   You represent a faction of Nobles and Corporations that have an Imperial Warrant to expand the Imperium.  From a world on the edge of imperial space, you focus your resources of wealth, Diplomats, Shadow Agents, Scouts, Starships and Troops.

Your goal is simple.  Bring developed worlds, lost in the 1,000 years of the long night, back into the Imperium.  But there is a catch.  The Emperor requires that this be an honorable endeavor.  He is interested in planets that can stand on their own, and not a empire of slaves.  So your efforts must be one on improving the lot of the lost planets, not one military conquest.

To start, you lay out the sub sector of stars.  Each star has a system that connects  to six other points of the map.  You explore the stars via a combination of scouts, which discover the quality of the world present, rated A-D.  Then you send in a Shadow Agent to conduct "Planetfall".  This determines the major societies present, tech level and resources.  Finally you make official contact with a Diplomat, and make arrangements for a Legation.  Once official contact is made, you can initiate a series of trade deals and system improvements until the time is ripe to bring the system into the Imperium.

Note: The below pictures are from the Beta test version. 

Mid game, a partially filled out map.  Bottom left is the entry port for one of the Noble/Corporate entities.  Upper right is the entry port for the other.

Meanwhile, your opponent is sending in Assassins, Pirates, Starships and Troops to prevent this from happening.  Or worse, bringing the star system into the Imperium under his Corporate/Noble banner instead of yours.

Play starts with each player drawing 8 cards.  These cards determine which resources can be used for the next 6 rounds.  They can be Military, Diplomacy, Shadow, Science, Economic or Movement.  Each only allows specific actions that can be applied.  Cards also have events that can be played in lieu of your normal actions, and some can be played in reaction to other events on the board.

Furthermore, certain corporations have the ability to focus more in some Tasks over others.  Mostly only two task types can be performed per turn.  So on the board above, this player had 3 Military cards, so his corporation must have a military focus.

The game comes with a number of playing pieces.  Representing your Agents, Fleets, and Legations.  Each unit is different, in that some Agents will perform some tasks better than others.  But be ineffective in still other tasks.

Shown above are "Bars" representing trade a power.  The Legations Embassy, Factory and Military Base.  The black and white card is for one of the scout ships.  Each ship is different.  A deck of secrets.  What is in there?  Your Diplomats and Shadow Agents will have to adventure for them.  The black and white pieces are sliders to place on you pieces to identify them. 

 The game runs 10 turns which takes from 2-2.5 hours.

*Update on a rules clarification.  One side cannot select 3 of the dominant terrain type for a region.  This is the result of a translation from French to English.  The rules states no player can "chose" two identical terrain features.  But the defender has a mandatory piece, which is not a choice. So it is thought that since it is not a choice, the defender can pick 2 pieces of the same type as the mandatory.  

However, this is not how it was intended to be in the original french, and has been clarified by updates to the game.  So, no player may have more then 2 of the same types of terrain.

Officially licensed by Marc Miller, the creator of Traveller.