A Noration of Normans

A Headless Body Production
Venue: An undisclosed, but local, Community Center
Event: Wednesday Game Knight
Armies: Sicilians vs Normans
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 15mm, 200 points per side.

The local group wanted to just have a clash of steel.  Garth's Normans had been gathering dust, and my Sicilians were still recovering from their severe bruising last year.  I think they ran 2 wins and 15 losses.

 

The Forces:

The Normans are commanded by the overwhelmingly Competent, Eustace of Balagne.  The equally Competent Count of Montain, Robert.  And Alan Fergent, Count of Brittany, who is Ordinary.
10 Impetuous Knights, Elite
6 Norman Heavy Spearmen
2 Norman Bowmen
2 Norman Light Infantry, Crossbow
1 Norman Light Infantry, Bow
Breakpoint of 21

The Sicilians are led by Frederick II, the third of his name, a Strategist, Darrell, the Competent, and Darrell, the Ordinary
8 Impetuous Knights, Elite
3 Knights, Impact
2 Saracen Light Cavalry, Bow
2 Saracen Light Cavalry, Javelin
3 Sicilian Crossbowmen
3 Saracen Bowmen, Bow
2 Saracen Medium Swordsmen
Breakpoint of 23

Display Conventions: When you see a jagged word bubble like "Ouch!", "Merde!", "Merda!", or "القرف!",  this implies a disorder from missiles. Letters in parenthesis represent some value change for the specific unit. For commanders it is s for strategist, b for Brilliant, c for Competent and o for Ordinary, u for unreliable. For troops it is e for Elite, and m for Mediocre. Other abbreviations, Hvy Heavy, XB Crossbow, LB, Longbow, Jav Javelin, 2HW 2 Handed Weapons, B Bow, Kn Knight, HKn Heavy Knight, HC Heavy Cavalry, Md Medium, Sgt Sergeants, LC Light Cavalry, Chr Chariot, Cat Cataphract, Pa Pavise, LI, Light Infantry, HG Hand Gun, FKn Foot Knight, Hvy Spear, Heavy Spearmen.

Inappropriately capitalized words are used to highlight terms that are specific to the game. For example Brilliant, Competent and Ordinary have specific game values for the commanders.

"XX" implies a unit killed in that location on that turn.

The Board:

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

Just an overhead shot of the field.  For Wed Knight, the game is more about just slamming together and rolling dice.  The Normans have an advantage in foot troops, while the Sicilians the advantage in knights and light horse.

Turn 1:

The first move is to send the Sicilian Crossbowmen into the plantation and see what is in there.

And surprise!  Norman Bowmen!

So the plan to send the Saracen light horse through and around the flanks of the spearmen just went pants.

Frederick's knights advance just one move.  He is looking for a gap between the Norman battles that can be exploited.

On the right, Darrel is hoping to exploit his numeric advantage in knights.

 

A note here.  The road is not a road, but a river, which no one brought.  It was rolled as "rough."

 

A plan went from bad to worse.  The Sicilians lights are caught while fleeing by the Norman bowmen.

The Norman main lines of battle advance cautiously. 

Turn 2:

Saracen Light Cavalry adroitly get out of the way of the Norman Bowmen.

Their Javelin armed peers advance to harass the Norman spear.

Frederick advances and slides his knights.  The Saracen swordsmen split to cover the flank of Darrel's battle.

Which lowers their lances and prepares to charge.

Spearmen run off the Saracen horsemen.

While the knights clash.  The results are dead even.  1 and 1 and tie.

Darrel's knights do not fare as well, losing 3 out of 5.

Typical for our Wed. Knight games.  Bottom of the second and all but 3 knights are hacking on each other.
 

Turn 3:

The underpaid Saracen horse are earning every oncia.  

To take the pressure off of the mercenary brother knights, Saracen swordsmen charge the hanging Norman knights. They were successful, but paid a heavy price.

The other Saracen swordsmen also have an assist with the Sicilian Knights.  

In the middle of the 3rd, the score is 12 of 23 for the Sicilians.

To just 9 of 21 for the Normans.  If the light crossbowmen had not been caught by the bowman in an evade, the Sicilians would be winning.

Speaking of bowman, one was dispersed by Saracen arrows.

 

The Bowmen are under the command of Alan Fergent, the Count of Brittany, who is rated as "Ordinary." They have been out of command once they left the Plantation, and have not gotten orders to turn and shoot back at the Saracen horse.

 

In the center, one of Frederick's impetuous knights is flanked and destroyed.  Most of the rest of his line of battle are cracking.

Even with supporting swordsmen, the green pinioned knights are being disordered.

On the right, Darrel's knights are slightly ahead in the casualty counts.

Turn 4:

The Sicilians are now only 5 away from demoralization.

The Normans are a more comfortable 13 away.

Saracen horse return with fresh javelins, and score a hit on a spear.

Frederick's personal knights rout a Norman knight.

On the right, a disaster for the Normans.  3 troops of knights are routed!

Taking the score to 19 of 23 to 16 of 21.  

 

Norman spear press on.

And in the center battle, the spear join the fray.  Frederick's mercenary knights are destroyed.

The remaining Norman knights take advantage of the exposed flanks of the victorious Sicilian knights.

Bringing the Sicilians to just 2 away from their break point.

With a successful rally, the Normans are now 6 away from their break point.

 

Turn 6:

The Saracen's do not give up.

Hoping for a flank shot, the green pinioned knights charge, but roll short on the chase.

The Saracen swordsmen are about 10 mm too short to hitting the Normans in the rear.

 

Another Sicilian knight is routed.  But a fresh troop is available.

The Sicilians are just one away from breaking.

The Normans are a comfortable 6 away.

Alan Fergent is not close enough to order his bowmen.  They turn and a lose arrows for the final point.

The harassing Saracen javelin armed horse is run off the board for 2 more points.

Norman knights take a Sicilian Knight in the flank for a 4th point.

While on the right hand battle, yet another Sicilian troop is routed for a 5th and the win!

 Superior Elan of the Normans truly won out on every battle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Arabis of Arabs

A Headless Body Production
Venue: An Undisclosed Basement
Event: Wednesday Game Knight
Players: Phil Gardocki, Eric Turner running Konstantinan Byzantine
               Steve Turn, John Forscythe running the freshly printed and painted Tuaregs  
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 15mm, 200 points per side.

The Forces:

The Byzantines are led by the Brilliant Constantine, but not that one, and the equally Brilliant Spartacus, but not that one either.  Along the way they hired Conscriptus Ordinarious Africanus, the Younger.
2 Tagmata Kavalorii, Heavy cavalry impact/½ bow, Elite
6 Theme Kavalorii, Heavy cavalry impact/½ bow  
4 Petchnegs , Light cavalry bow  
2 Turks, Light cavalry bow, Elite
4 Skutatoi, 1/2 Heavy Spearmen, 1/2 Bow
2 Varangians, Heavy Swordsmen, 2HW
Breakpoint of 20 

 

The Tuaregs are led by مؤخرة كريهة الرائحة,  أيها اللقيط, and نجس
12 Warriors, Medium Camel, Impetuous, mostly Elite
4 Scouts, Light Camel, Impact
5 Warriors, Medium Sword, Impetuous
6 Light Infantry, Javelin
Breakpoint of 27

Display Conventions: When you see a jagged word bubble like "Ouch!", "!أوتش!", or "!Ωχ!",  this implies a disorder from missiles. Letters in parenthesis represent some value change for the specific unit. For commanders it is s for strategist, b for Brilliant, c for Competent and o for Ordinary, u for unreliable. For troops it is e for Elite, and m for Mediocre. Other abbreviations, Hvy Heavy, XB Crossbow, LB, Longbow, Jav Javelin, 2HW 2 Handed Weapons, B Bow, Kn Knight, HKn Heavy Knight, HC Heavy Cavalry, Md Medium, Sgt Sergeants, LC Light Cavalry, Chr Chariot, Cat Cataphract, Pa Pavise, LI, Light Infantry, HG Hand Gun, FKn Foot Knight, Hvy Spear, Heavy Spearmen.

Inappropriately capitalized words are used to highlight terms that are specific to the game. For example Brilliant, Competent and Ordinary have specific game values for the commanders.

"XX" implies a unit killed in that location on that turn.

The Board:

The wily Tuaregs met their match against a foe what coined the word, "byzantine."  They endeavored to lure the Byzantine expeditionary force into the desert, but no such luck.  The Byzantines won the initiative and elected to defend in the plains.  

 Deployment

The Tuaregs are deployed at the top.  Their mounted forces on the flanks, while their foot will deal with the rough ground in the center.

 

The Byzantine forces are split evenly on the left and right.  Their third command cannot be seen.

 

Turn 1:

 

The usual advance for the Tuaregs.

With a shortage of command points, the warriors on foot advance a bit more slowly.

Ditto the camels on their left

Their bows freshly rosined, the Byzantine archery finds their mark, again and again.

Not to be outdone, the Turks rake the approaching skirmishers.

A little less accurate, the Spartacus's horse bow disorder the advancing Tuareg scouts. 

Turn 2:

Last week these figures were just printer filament.

The camel scout whip around the flank of the Tagmata.  3 troops advance to close range.  2 disordered camels are held back on the hopes of rallying their formations.

The warriors on foot approach with plans to attack the hill.

On their left, the camels approach to bow reach, while their scouts run off the Petchneg light horse.

The Tagmata run one of the scouts off the the board.  The rest of the Theme Kavalorii hold and continue to loose arrows.

Tuareg light foot manage to disorder the Skutatoi on the hill.

Spartacus sets the trap for the approaching camels.

 

At the bottom of the 2nd, the score is 11 to 1.

 

Of  Conscriptus Africanus's command, nothing is seen.

Turn 3:

With a great ululation, the Tuareg warriors charge.  The Byzantines perform a well practiced retreat.

The Byzantine foot however have no such skills, and watch as the Tuareg foot flood around their positions.

Spartacus issues a counter charge order against the Tuareg camelry.  One troop is destroyed on impact, another is disordered, it's flanks exposed to the Skutatoi.

The score is now 12 of 27 to 3 of 18 (currently)

Constantine's Theme Kavalorii charges one troop of camels, supported by his Tagmata in the flank

While Constantine himself pushes his Varangians forward, flanking the Tuareg warriors on foot.

Now if only the Skutatoi can hold out!

Spartacus's trundle forward, taking out one troop of camels, then in pursuit, another!

The Tuareg player morale is waning.  The score is now 18 to 5.

Constantine is now questioning his judgement in paying Conscriptus 1/2 up front.  But it is only 2 troops of Petchnegs.  So not a lot invested there.

 

Turn 4:

On the left, the remaining Tuaregs face their Byzantine opponents.  One charges, running the Turks off the map.

The Skutatoi on the hill are wrapped and routed.

Both Tuareg scouts see an opportunity to cause mayhem.

 

Off panel is a successful rally by the Tuaregs.  And the Byzantine camp is looted, setting the score at 17 to 9.

Constantine's Kavalorii seem to have their battle well in hand.

His Varangians narrowly miss destroying warband.

While Spartacus's foot prepare to receive a charge.

Spartacus's Tagmata is routed.  His Theme's turn to challenge the remaining troops on camels.

Putting the score at 18 to 11

 

The Byzantines had an enormous early advantage, but are now stalled around 18.

 Turn 5:

A series of less than optimal die rolls has stalled Constantine's clean up of the Tuareg right.

But the Varangians destroy one warrior on foot, disordering another.

Another ululation from both left and right.  As Tuaregs encircle Constantine's forces.

So what seemed well in hand, now has the Byzantines just 2 away from demoralization.

The Byzantines need 7 to win, and try to push.  But fortune favored the camels, as a succession of 1's drives them into retreat.

Spartacus's final blows however were successful.  Destroying one warband, double disordering another, while also catching and destroying a camel scout.  

The final score is 24 to 18 for a win by the new kids on the block.

 

What went wrong?

By the bottom of turn 2,  the Byzantine archery was luckier than they deserved. 11 hits.  Sure the camels are mediums with a protection of zero, but the Theme cavalry were shooting mediocre, and 8 of the camels were elite.  

 

Then there the Byzantines had turned the flank on each of the 3 Tuareg corps, causing havoc on the front lines.

 

Then they stalled.  just barely scraping a point a bound.  

 

Meanwhile, the flank march, just two light horse, never rolled over a 2 to come on.  But that two points proved decisive.  

 

On the last bound, Constantine's forces rolled 4 1's in a row.  Causing a rout and an disorder for the game.

If 2 of those rolls were just a 2, the game would have continued to the bottom of the 5th.  On Spartacus's side, 3 more points was  almost guaranteed, with a 4th possible, for demoralization of the Tuaregs.

 

As to the flank march, I prefer them to be "on board" and hidden, but the terrain did not allow for that.  The odds of not showing up by turn 5 are  .67*.5*.5*.5 or 8.3%.  

 

Best summed up in the poem, "Seti on the Flank", reprinted with permission by the author, Tom Mcmillian