Nikephoros (the early years) vs. Alfred the Great

A Headless Body Production

Hey, it worked in Braveheart, or was that Swiss Family Robinson?

Venue:   Walts Man Cave

Event:   Prep for Barrage 2019
Players: Phil Gardocki playing Nikephorian
               Mike Kennedy playing Anglo-Saxon
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 200 points per side.
Theme: Prep for Barrage 2019


The Forces:

Nikephorian Byzantine

Nikephoros, the Brilliant, Adidasphoros, the Brilliant and Pumaphoros, the ordinary, and somewhat unreliable.

      4 Thematic Kataphractoi, Medium Cavalry Impact

      4 Petchnegs, Light Cavalry, Bow

      1 Turkomons, Light Cavalry, Bow, Elite

      2 Varangians, Heavy Swordsmen 2HW, Armor, Elite

      8 Skutatoi, ½ Heavy Spearmen ½ Bowmen

      4 Light Infantry, Bows and Javelins

Breakpoint of 24

Anglo-Saxon

Alfred the Great a Strategist, two other commanders whose names are lost in the mists of time.

Alfred brings a mix of troops, mostly Great Fyrd, Heavy Spearmen, Mediocre, but with a mix of ordinaries, and a couple of armored elites. 

Break point 28 (oh my!)

The Byzantines win the initiative and elect to attack in the plains.

The Board:

I know most of the Anglo-Saxons are "Mediocre", but so are my Skutatoi in hand to hand!

The right battle group.  All heavy spearmen.  The units with the colorful shields are better than mediocre, one is armored elite.

For Anglo-Saxons, your choices are mostly "Hirdsmen", Select Fyrd, or Great Fyrd.  I think the term "Great" does not mean "We are Great", but like "The Greater Tri-State Area".  As "Select's" are Ordinary, and "Great's" are Mediocre. 

The over use of superlatives in advertising is not a recent invention.

Alfred goes to the field with a double wide battle.  These are mostly ordinary, some elites wit armor.

The Anglo-Saxons already outnumber the Byzantines, but wait, there's more!

Adidasphoros commands the end of the line.  Outnumbered 2.5 to 1, his job is to die slowly, a task he is less than happy with.

Nikephoros directly commands his Varangian Guards.

Pumaphoros has revealed only is lights.  Hidden the gully are Thematic (National Guard) lancers.

Adidasphoros decides he is not playing this game, and immediately goes unresponsive to his orders.

Heedless of his lack of flank support, Nikephoros advances, sliding right.  Only swift, decisive action can win the day.

Pumaphoros agrees, calling out his lancers from their place of hiding.

Turkomons and Petchnegs advance quickly.

Their arrows disordering the pathetic Saxon archers deployed against them.

Lets take a moment to view a much less exciting, but far more colorful game from across the Euphrates river.

Marching in perfect unison, the nameless Saxon commander calls a halt at 1 mm beyond the 4UD distance from the nearest Byzantine skirmisher.

Which is more amazing since the metric system won't even exist for about 600 years, the UD only exists in fantasy warfare, And the Anglo-Saxons won't acknowledge it anyway when it does exist!

Thus, Alfred earns his moniker, and a legend is born.

In a rare display of superior archery, the Anglo-Saxon flank support is dispersed to the four winds.

 Turn 2:

Nikephoros sends two messengers to the intransigent Adidasphoros, "Loquere ad manum" was the only response.

It is easier to turn an iceberg than a horde, Nikephoros continues to vector in on the Saxon left flank.

The lights race into the Saxon rear, while the lancers line up their targets.

The Saxon line continues to advance, Adidasphoros will now have to respond.

For the main body has already encountered the enemy.

The Saxon's cant their line to avoid it being flanked by other than lights.

And now, for something completely different, the view from the other side!

This image has been stolen, without permission, from Bob's LADG Facebook page.

Stolen, but not unattributed! If only in mouse print.

Turn 3:

Byzantine shooting proves excellent.

Nikephoros's Skutatoi's hold the line, but his Varangians put in a lackluster performance.

Pumaphoros is having a difficult decision on how to attack the Select Fyrd. 

Most of the Select Fyrd are Mediocre, but get a native +1 plus impact, and the Byzantine Thematics are only ordinary, and mediums.  Rather than go down the whole line with that disadvantage, Pumaphoros decides to just go for the end unit, which is already disordered by Turkomen arrows, and he has both flank and rear support, and leads the charge personally.  In the end, all this effort results in a tie.

Despite going unresponsive, Adidasphoros is accomplishing his mission.  For 4 turns, the entire Anglo right, and half their center hasn't engaged Nikephoros's command.

But it would be nice if he was a bit closer to the battlelines :(

The race is on, who will cave first, the Byzantine center, or the Saxon left.

 Turn 4:

Arrows are cheap, and so are Anglo-Saxon's

Both sides have an exposed flank, but the Varangians are just a bit faster.

Pumaphoros's Thematic's are fully committed. Several opportunities were missed here because he lead the charge initially and his command points are suffering.  But over all, things are going well.

The Anglo-Saxons have 11 points towards their demoralization level of 28
The Byzantines 9 points towards their demoralization level of 24
OK, things are not going as well as thought.

Well, he's not wrong.

The target has shifted, but there are plenty of arrows for all!

Nikephoros personally leads his Varangians into combat.  Just missing destroying a Saxon Fyrd.

Pumaphoros also destroys a Fyrd.  But just in time, units from the center command arrive.

The Anglo-Saxons have 13 points towards their demoralization level of 28
The Byzantines 11 points towards their demoralization level of 24

Turn 5:

Adidasphoros cannot save the fall of his flank, and is a turn too late to save the center.

The Saxon left is cracking, but doesn't break

The Anglo-Saxons have 19 points towards their demoralization level of 28
The Byzantines 19 points towards their demoralization level of 24

Turn 6:

Nikephoros's Varangians are having a banner day, as in they keep following the banner.  They have destroyed two Fyrd, and the flank of a third is in reach.

Now if only there was anyone around to see it.

Other than the Saxons of course.

If you are keeping count, this one unit has destroyed 3 units, and disordered two more.
Historically, the Varangian Guards were paid very well, a gold piece a year.  A princely sum.  One of their captains, Harrold Hadrada, bought a kingdom with his wages.

The Skutatoi were paid in copper, and are destroying their weight in Saxons.  Now if only there weren't so many of them.

Adidasphoros has arrived!

The Byzantine cavalry is spent, their lights have been run off, but the infantry are fighting the remnants of the Saxon left, which refuses to die!

The Anglo-Saxons have 23 points towards their demoralization level of 28
The Byzantines 20 points towards their demoralization level of 24

The Saxons need 4 points to pull a win here.  It is the bottom of the sixth.

The Byzantine camp is now exposed and can be captured next turn.

The Anglo-Saxons have 24 points towards their demoralization level of 28
The Byzantines 21 points towards their demoralization level of 24

In a classic case of over reach, Nikephoros's Varangians have been caught and slaughtered.  Nikephoros slips through the cracks and escapes to the waiting line of Skutatoi.

The Anglo-Saxons have 24 points towards their demoralization level of 28
The Byzantines 22 points towards their demoralization level of 24

A Skutatoi takes on two Fyrd for 3 hits, and a Psiloi is pelted with Javelins for two more disordered and the win for the Alfred the Great's Anglo-Saxons!

There was a lot that went right here for the Byzantines but what went wrong was subtle but decisive. 

Clearly there were favorable exchange rates on both sides, but the Byzantines had several exceptional units.  

The main mistake was placing the Thematic cavalry in ambush. The extra distance they needed to cover, and moving through the gully and the field afterwards was the distance they needed to to gain the exposed left flank of the Anglo-Saxon Fyrd.  This lead to the cavalry charge on the flank, supported only by lights in the rear element and committing the general to the fight to make a good go of it.  The fight was eventually won, but too late as reinforcements arrived to bolster the position.  This lead to further engagement at unfavorable odds and the defeat of 3 of 4 cavalry.  

This also caused a lack of command points, giving the Saxons opportunities to run off the Petchnegs, and they ran ran three off the board. Looking at the final map, The left flank was still looking as an eventual win for the Byzantines.