A Song for the Song

A Headless Body Production
Venue: An Undisclosed Basement
Event: Wednesday Night
Players: Phil Gardocki running Goryeo Korean
               Steve Turn running Sung, Chinese
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 15mm, 200 points per side.

Steve has been out to sea for most of 2024, and while out, he printed and painted a new army.

The Forces:
Song Chinese
劳累过度 the brilliant, 工资过低, the ordinary and included, and their ally,  功保, the ordinary and included.
4 Heavy Cavalry, Impact, Elite
4 Medium Cavalry, Bow
15 or so various pole-arms, bows, crossbows and implements of destruction
2 Light Infantry, Bow
1 Herd of Stampeding Cattle
Breakpoint of 22

Korean (list 223)
The Koreans are commanded by the brilliant Kim-Larry, his brilliant brother Kim-Darryl, and his somewhat ordinary other brother, Kim-Darryl.
8 Heavy Cavalry, Impact, 2 elite
6 Light Cavalry, Bow
2 1/2 Heavy Spear, 1/2 Crossbow
2 War Wagons with Crossbow
2 Crossbowmen
2 Light Infantry, Bow
Breakpoint of 22

Display Conventions: When you see a jagged word bubble like "Ouch!" or "哎哟!" or "아야!",  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:

 

There was a marsh in the Chinese deployment that was drained over night.  Sneaky Koreans!  The Field on the left had a fierce battle with farm implements, first being plowed this way, then tilled back.

The Song had the advantage here as they brought a whole herd of cattle to the fight.

工资过低 deploys with just four troops of horse.

Kim-Darryl takes the center with war wagons and supporting shooters.

That is exactly my response.  I was busy picking out my next command not noticing what Steve was putting out.  17 units.  So we will name this commander Bi-Xi...

Kim-Larry takes the right flank.

 

功保, the ally, ordinary and included, cannot be seen.

 

Kim-Darryl, the brilliant one, not the other one, takes the left with 4 lancers and supporting troops.

 

Turn 1:

Kim-Larry has a paucity of command points, and advances slowly.

The same with Kim-Darryl. 

Though, on reflection, Kim-Darryl's advance was too aggressive.

Kim-Darryl's horse command scouts out the field.

劳累过度 sends some of his force to cover the flanks.

He advances his polearmsmen towards Kim-Darryl's war wagons.

工资过低 advances his horse, bolstered by bow and polearmsmen from the center.

Turn 2:

The Koreans charge off the Chinese skirmishers.

The War wagons were advanced too far, and Kim-Darryl's attention span too limited. So when they turn, they are already in charge reach of the Chinese horde.

And they didn't get to go to "battle ready."

On the right, the Korean cavalry set up for next bounds charge.

 

功保 continues to be a no show.

The Song archers turn and lose arrows.  The herd of cattle, tail fronds afire, stampede the elite Korean horse.

The mass of pole arms charge the war-wagons.  Whose hard wood hulls resist the flailing axes.

The Chinese set up to receive the next bound's charge.

Turn 3:

The main of the Korean horse charge, running down one unit of pole-arms.  Their troop of skirmishers herd the cattle for tonight's barbecue.

The Chinese begin to find the week points in the wagons.

The first charge of Kim-Larry falters.  But they now have the commander, 工资过低, engaged.

The commander on the round base is just for aesthetics.  The actual commander is the blue chip.

 

One bowmen runs off a light horse, another conforms to cover their last polearmsmen. 

One War Wagon is dissembled. 

The Chinese put on the pressure.

功保 is nowhere to be found.

Turn 4:
 

Pressed badly, one troop of Korean horse fails.

Due to an severe lack of judgement, the second war wagon was allowed to fall.

I could have turned the Korean spear for a hit on the left most Chinese polearms-men.  But instead I brought in the light horse to act as support.  Probably neither would have saved the War Wagon, but at least the spear would not be flanked.  

The Chinese left flank is crumbling.

But the price was high.  The Koreans are at 19 of 22

While the Chinese are at just 11 of 21 currently on the board.

The Chinese manage to turn the flank of a Korean heavy cavalry. 

Korean foot is flanked.  The remaining Chinese march unopposed towards the camp.

The Koreans rout 2 units, including the 工资过低!.  But have taken losses as well bringing their demoralization level to 22 for the break.

The Chinese have plenty of time now to try and find the lost 功保.

So what went wrong?

This seemed my game to lose, and lose it I did!.  On the left, the charge into the mediums.  A couple of off die rolls, but it was really early committing of the commander.   He charged with support, and lost the first battle, won the second, but now was engaged when he needed the command points.  There were several units he could have brought up to ZOC the bowmen that eventually flank charge a horse.  His Elites never got back into the fight after the cattle stampede, and his one supporting foot got flanked instead.

 

In the center, I doubled moved the war wagons, when I should have just advance them once, and sent the lights forward to skirmish while the wagons made ready for battle.  They would not have won anyway, but it would have put off their loss for at least two more turns.  Which was decisive.

 

On the right, the one elite unit rolled a 1/6 on contact, and eventually died.  But the rest worked OK, eventually picking up the Chinese commander, and probably at that point should have cleaned up that flank.  Enough points for a win.