A Fatality of Fatimids

A Headless Body Production

Venue: Lancaster County Convention Center.
Event: Historicon 2024
Theme: Africa, Round 2
Players: Phil Gardocki running Tuareg, list 210
               Joe DiCamillo running Fatimid Egyptian
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 15mm, 200 points per side.

The Forces:

The Tuaregs are a borrowed army and are led by Ibid, the Competent, Ad Hominem, the Competent and Ad Nauseam, the Ordinary.
14 Warriors on camels, Impetuous, 7 are Elite
6 Warriors sans camels. Impetuous
4 Scouts, Light Camel, Impact
2 Scouts, sans camels, javelin
Breakpoint...26
 

The Fatimids were led by 2 Brilliant and one Ordinary Commanders
6 Mamluks, Heavy Cavalry, Bow, Elite
2 Bedouins, Light Cavalry, Impact
3 Arabs, Light Cavalry, Javelin
4 Abid al-shira, Medium Spear, Bow
2 Abid al-shira, Heavy Spear, Support
1 Light Infantry, Bow
2 Daylami, Medium Sword, Impact, Support, Elite
Breakpoint...20

 Historicon, where a simple stroll to the gents can have you witness the storming of Omaha Beach.

With flames simulated by flickering LED's

 

Or the storming of Metropolis by a random Kaiju

Or an active river crossing...

by pike armed infantry

But that is not this game. This game is about some smelly camels 

The Fatimids win the initiative roll and elect to defend in the plains.

An overhead view of the board.  The Tuaregs are at the bottom.

On the Fatimid right is an Ordinary commander with a large force of light horse.  The center is a Brilliant commander with 6 Mamluks.

Their left is a strong force of foot, about half missile armed.

Ad Nausium lines up his forces to attack the field, way-over-there, while trying to avoid being flanked by the Fatimid light horse.

Ibid lines up to attack the Mamluks

The job of assaulting the infantry line falls on Ad Hominem

 Turn 1:

Ibid races across the board, his march stalls on a single ambush marker. 

Ad Nausium eagerly advances on to the Mamluks

Ad Hominum stalls at the gate. 

Agile and well commanded, the Fatimid light horse dances around the edge of Ad Nasausims line. (like that was ever going to work )

 

The Mamluks dressage their command into multiple positions.

The Fatimid foot's flank is secured by terrain, and by the Daylami investing the field.

Turn 2:

Ignoring the lights which he cannot do anything about, Ad Nausium advances on towards the field.

Ibid's forces charge down the line.  Winning 2 and losing 2. 

Ad Hominum's command was late getting started, giving the Fatimids a temporary advantage on the edges of Ibid's command.

Fatimid lights racing around in the rear.  Other than the Tuareg camp being exposed, they haven't been an inconvenience yet.

Mamluk reserves charge.  Other units begin to rout.  And this is only turn 2.

However the breaks are more beneficial to the Fatimids.

Turn 3:

Ad Nasium pushes into the field.  Unfortunately, there is nothing of value there. 

Ad Hominium's warriors charge at last.  One is routed on contact.  Other warriors close up the hole exposed by earlier breaks.

Fatimid light horse head into the rear of the Tuareg lines.

While their foot begin to turn the flank of Ad Hominiums line.

Bottom of the third, and the Tuareg count is at 18 of 26.

Time for a bio-break.

From one of the Warrior(tm) tables.

 

Great looking Arab cavalry

Turn 4:

Ad Nasium gets some of his foot into the combat.  But the Mamluks just run it down.

Chaos ensues in the mid field.  A Tuareg camel takes a Fatimid spear in the back.

The Tuareg count is now 21 of 26.  The Fatimids are at 11.

A largely unnoticed fight in the center of the board of lights on lights.

The Daylami charge from the rough.  Routing a Warrior on Camel.  That and another flank attack by foot for a point brings the Tuaregs to their break point of 26.  To 12 for the Fatimids.

What went wrong?  Two major things really.  One was the Tuareg foot command had next to nothing to fight.  Wasted points.  But the major failure was the lack of coordination between the two camel commands.  Had they charged together, there would have been a fair, but not great, chance of success.  But the center command had plentiful command points on turn 1, and seeing naught by cavalry in front of him, raced across the board.  While the right command rolled minimal command points and only advanced one march.

Not to blame to dice here.  But the plan should take that into account.  When the center command rolled his command points, decisions were made that did not include the idea that the right command would not be there.  

Piss poor execution.