A Wailing of Hebrews*

A Headless Body Production
Venue:   A Double Header at Al's

Event:    Prep for USTT 2020 
Players: Phil Gardocki running Celts
               Al Kaplan running Ancient Hebrew
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 15mm, 200 points per side.
Theme: Biblical

Nothing like an early off day for a bit of mayhem.  In practice for the USTT, Al and I will be doing a double header.  First Period 4 (Medieval) and then Period 1 (Biblical).

You have to love L'Art de la Guerre with a 2 and a half hour time limit that makes it possible.

The Forces:
The Celts, commanded by Ordinailx, Competenx and Competenex II
14 Warriors, Medium Swordsmen, Impetuous
6 Slingers, Light Infantry Sling
6 Horsemen, MEdium Cavalry, Elite
2 Scouts, Light Cavalry Javelin
2 Levy, Mediocre

Breakpoint of 30
 

Ancient Hebrew

4 Heavy Chariots, Impact some Elite
1 Light Chariot, Bow
lots Jewish Warriors, Medium Swordsmen

2 Philistine Mercenaries, Heavy Spearmen
Breakpoint of 22

The Board:

To the left is a plantation and a field.

In the center, 7 chariots, well screened by lights.

On the right, another field, and 6 units of foot, 4 mediums and 2 heavies.

The third command is not seen.  And there are way too many points for it to be an in the ambush.

Competenx I has a force of 7 units of warriors and 3 slingers.

Ordinailx is in the center with an identical command.

Competenx II is stuffed on the right flank with 8 units of horse.

Turn 1:
So there is a flank march running.  But I think I am going to ignore it.  All my cavalry can evade, so a panic move should only be inconvenient.  And if it occurs at the right time, it could be beneficial.

Competenx I only makes one march move.  He is not in a hurry to meet the chariots, as that is a 2-0 match-up.

Ordinailx moves as far as the ambush marker allows.

Competenx II forms a column to bypass the field.

The creaking wood announces the advance of the chariot forces. 

Jewish warriors invest the field.  The Philistine Mercenaries redeploy in the rear to catch the flanking Celt cavalry.

The Hebrew third command rolls a 3 and is still not seen.

Turn 2:

Competenx I recalls his lights. 

The strength of the Celt army is it's size, 30 units.  So there is no sense sacrificing 6 points for what may only be a single hit on a Hebrew light.

Ordinailx trips an ambush, which delays his advance into the field.

Competenx II continues up the side of the field

An ambush is revealed!  I think they are Gibborim Warriors, elite swordsmen.

No flank march!  Wonderful.

The Jewish Warriors cant their line slightly to avoid flank charges.

Turn 3:

Both sides are advancing and sliding, going for a support edge on the flank.  The Chariots are doing it better.

Ordinailx also advances and slides, looking for both flank support, and cavalry charges.

4 chariots vector in on Competenx I's line.  Their lights shooting proves deadly.

Two chariots charge the left side of the Ordinailx's line.  Running over man and beast.

The Ancient Hebrews have 1 point towards their breakpoint of 22
The Celts have 4 points towards their breakpoint of 30

Turn 4:

Competenx I holds the line.

Ordinailx orders an impetuous down the line.  The dice are kind, and wins 4 out of 4.

Competenx II has a critical shortage of command points, and decides to improve his position instead of engaging the heavy spears.

It is now the Hebrews turn to cause death and destruction.  Winning 3 of 4 charges.

They parse off a chariot, which runs over another warrior, pursuing down the line.

They lose their flanking hinge warrior, exposing the Philistines to a flank charge as well.  But the rest of their warriors, manage to hold the line.

The Ancient Hebrews have 6 point towards their breakpoint of 22
The Celts have 10 points towards their breakpoint of 30

Turn 5:
The Celts are dying fast, already a third of the way to their break point.
But there are still possibilities. 

Abandoning the lines engaged with the chariots, the impetuous troops charge the Hebrew warriors.  The screams and howls fail to impress these seasoned soldiers, as they skillfully vivisect the line.

Re: That was awful.

And while the Hebrew line on the right is totally penetrated and flanked, IT STILL STANDS, holding up troops that are needed elsewhere.

And as a bonus, Ordinailx was nailed, leaving the command uncommanded.

The only upside is the Hebrew camp is in charge reach.

Competenx I's command is down to the nubbins.  A whole clan traded for a single chariot.

With help from a chariot, one Hebrew Warrior pursues his opponent.  The Philistines still are holding up the entirety of Competenx II's cavalry command.

To be fair here, command points have been thin here, but what can you expect for only having 2 points for generals.  In this case, Competenx II could have flank charged the Philistine OR gotten the Light Horse in charge reach of the camp.

The Ancient Hebrews have 10 point towards their breakpoint of 22
The Celts have 24 points towards their breakpoint of 30

The pile of Celt dead

Turn 6:

This battle continues.  (boring)

The center Celt command has no command points to spend.  But one Philistine has fallen

The Hebrew's are now looking for fresh targets.

Their Warriors in the field take a Celt in the flank and destroy it.

The Ancient Hebrews have 16 points towards their breakpoint of 22
The Celts have 28 points towards their breakpoint of 30

Turn 7:
The Hebrew camp has fallen, but getting 6 more points seem impossible.

A victorious Celt warband pursues his opponent.

The Ancient Hebrews have 17 points towards their breakpoint of 22
The Celts have 28 points towards their breakpoint of 30

Another warband charges with cavalry support, but fails to disorder his foe.  The Philistines, surrounded continue to hold their position.

With that, we called it.  Al could easily picked up 2 points and possibly 4 without any trouble, at a risk of only losing 2 in the process.

What went wrong?

My hipshot is, Celts suck.  I took them to NJ Con, and took second to last place, last place being someone that only played 2 games.

But, philosophically, that is probably not true, it is that they do not line up with my play style.   Re: You ain't playing them right.

Army composition.  I like the strong cavalry wing of this army, and use it with Germans and Gauls to good effect.  But here, there was too much cavalry, and most of it didn't get into combat.  I might have been better served by more warbands as a second wave.

The command points is a killer for the Celt army.  I didn't have a problem holding back or charging, but just turning and getting the cavalry to do more than two things was a killer.  Once again, if the cavalry can't turn or engage, then why have it?

The Hebrew army is very well suited to handle the Celts.  The Celt impetuous charge is de-fanged by chariots and swordsmen, and so is virtually useless.

*Original title was A Wailing by the Hebrews, but that was just too much foreshadowing.