The Polish Swansong.

A Headless Body Production

Venue:  Ferrell Fire Company Hall, Monroeville, NJ 
Event:    Kozcon 
Players: Phil Gardocki running Medieval Polish
                  Kevin Swanson running  Florentine Condotta
                 
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 200 points per side.
Theme: Open, no restrictions
Scale: 25mm


The Forces:

   Medieval Polish: Commanders  Larry (Ordinary and Unreliable), Darrel (Brilliant), and Darrel (Brilliant).
      4 Winged Hussars, Heavy Knight, Impetuous, elite
      2 Heavy Cavalry, Impact.
      4 Medium Cavalry, Crossbow
      2 Tartars, Light Cavalry, Bow elite.
      2 Lithuanians, Light Cavalry, Javelin
      2 War Wagons, Crossbow
      2 Heavy Spearmen, 1/2 Crossbow
      1 Light Infantry, Firearm, elite
Breakpoint...20

The Florentines are proud and wish the world to admire their greatness and present their army to one and all!  They are led by Niccolo de Tolentino, the Competent, Micheletto Attendolo, the also Competent, and Rudolfo Raisuli, the Ordinary.

     10 Men-At-Arms  Heavy Knight, Impact
      2 Light Cavalry, Crossbow
      2 Hungarian Light Cavalry, bow 
      2 English Longbow, stakes, elite
      1 Light Infantry, Firearm, elite
      2 Militia Crossbowmen, Light Infantry
     2 Militia, Levy
 
Breakpoint 21
 

KozCon is held in memory of our good friend and avid gamer Dave Kozlow who passed away in 2012.  If you've ever had the opportunity to play in one of his many games at HMGS events you know that he was not only a great person but also a notable credit to our hobby.  In light of Dave's five year battle with cancer ALL proceeds from KozCon are donated to the American Cancer Society.

The Board:

The board is fairly unadorned.  A coastal zone adorns the Polish left flank.  On their far right, and largely out of play, is a plantation and a field.

Deployment: 

Truth be told, I lost this game on deployment.  The Poles placed their Knight/Cavalry Commands on the left and center and the War Wagon command on the right.  The thought was to protect the right, and charge into the Florentine camp and win the game.  The problem is, the Florentine's have more knights, significantly more, and I knew that.  What I did was gave up any mobility advantage I had.

Niccolo de Tolentino deploys in front of the Florentine camp with 4 Knights, Longbow, Light Horse and Handgunners.

On the Florentine Left is Micheletto Attendolo, with his 4 Knights, Longbow, Militia Crossbow.  Squeezed in between them is Rudolfo Raisuli and his 2 Knights.

The Polish have fortifications, so the Florentine's dismount a couple of their Light Horse.

On the Polish left is Darrel, with 2 Knights, 2 Medium Cavalry Crossbow, Heavy Horse and Light Horse.

The Polish center has  Darrel, with 2 Knights, 2 Medium Cavalry Crossbow, Heavy Horse and Light Horse.

The Polish right is held by Larry, 2 War Wagons and 2 Heavy Spearmen, half Crossbow.

Turn 1:

Darrel urges his troops forward with a double advance.

While his brother Darrel advances at a trot.

And before a packed field consisting of two Florentine Light Foot units Larry orchestrates a drill team maneuver with his war wagons. 

Early shooting is in favor of the Florentines.

Early shooting in the center has no results.

Turn 2:

Darrel sees an opportunity for ta cheap shot, and sends his Medium Cavalry against the Light Medium Longbow.  But the dice favored the English.

The English mercenaries on the Florentine left also score a hit.

Turn 3:

Niccolo de Tolentino orders a general charge.  Darrel advances to the front.  The Knight on Knight fights are inconclusive, but the Polish Heavy Cavalry score 2 hits against their opposing Men at Arms.

In the center, things go pear shaped for the Poles. Two units lost.  Only the Winged Hussars hold.

Larry sets up his second wagon, but it is out of range of the English Longbow..

Turn 4:

I rapidly ran out of dead horse figures, substituting infantry in their stead.  Polish Heavy Cavalry finish off their opposing Men at Arms, while Darrel's Winged Hussars and destroys theirs as well.

His brother Darrel also leads his Hussars to total victory!

Larry's War Wagons take a shot and further disorder another Men at Arms.

So far, Polish luck is amazing.  3 Men at Arms are destroyed, another has two hits.
But that still means there are 6 Men at Arms left against 4 Winged Hussars.

Turn 5:

The Florentines have 7 points towards their demoralization level of 21.
The Polish have 10 points towards their demoralization level of 20.

Florentine Knights turn the flank of a Winged Hussar, and destroy it.

Then pursue into the Heavy Cavalry's flank.

Micheletto Attendolo directs his knights like a maestro, creating a Winged Hussar sandwich.    The other knights, need no direction, and just slay their Hussar.

I don't even know why Larry is here.

These Hussars know they are going to receive a charge in the rear, but take out the Longbowmen anyway.

The Florentines have 11 points towards their demoralization level of 21.
The Polish have 16 points towards their demoralization level of 20.

Darrel hopes some missile shots will help with the score.

While Larry's command, manages to shoot down a knight.

There was hope the last Hussar would at least stand.

But it was a vain hope.

Between the destruction of the last Winged Hussar, and some final missile shots, the Florentine Condotta hit the Polish threshold of 20.

What went wrong?  The Poles gave up what maneuvering advantage they had by compressing on the left side of the board.  Placing the War Wagons there would have forced the Florentine Condotta to go else where.  

Even in an open field, the Florentine Condotta would have been tough.  10 Heavy Knights against 4.  The Condotta also had ample skirmishers to screen their Knights against the Polish Crossbow.