Albanians, Assemble

A Headless Body Production
Venue:   A Disclosed Location

Event:   Missing Cold Wars 
Player : Phil Gardocki
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 15mm, 200 points per side.

Since my last posting, there has been some interest with the Albanians.  I received two phone calls on the day of posting.  One opponent wanted to fight them, the other wanted to fight with them.  I hadn't cleaned up the table yet, so another fight was in order.  Besides, I thought of the catchy title, and had to find a use for it :)

The Forces:

Albanians

Commanded by George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, the Strategist, James May, the Competent, and Jeremy Clarkson, the Ordinary and Unreliable.  All commanders are Included, saving 9 points, and one is unreliable, for a total of 12 points saved.
16 Horsemen, Light Cavalry, Javelin, 6 elite
24 Light Infantry, various weapons

Breakpoint of 40
 

Nikephorous the younger, Brilliant, Pumaphorous, also Brilliant, and Adidasphorous, Ordinary

8 Tagmata, Heavy Cavalry, Impact, Bow, Elite

1 Huns, Light Cavalry, Bow

1 Trapezitoi, Light Cavalry Javelin

5 Skutatatoi, 1/2 Heavy Spearmen, 1/2 Bowmen

2 Psiloi, Light Infantry, Bow and Javelin

Breakpoint of18

The Board:
The Byzantines won the initiative and elected to defend in the plains.  The alternative was to attack in the mountains, as that is the only terrain available to the Albanians. 

The battle was halted to allow Kat Kong to pass through.

Adidasphorous takes the right side battle anchored to a plantation, with the Skutatoi.

Center and Left are taken by Nikephorous and Pumaphorous

 The center is dominated by a field covered hill.

Clarkson takes the left flank.

James May, the center.

Skanderbeg's horsemen on the right.

 Turn 1:

Out of hiding is a mass of Albanians with crossbow.

They race forward to occupy the plantation.

James May's troops invest the hill.

Skanderbeg spreads out on the right.

Byzantine Psiloi challenge the Albanians for the Plantation.

Byzantine Skutatoi advance and loose arrows.

While the Kataphractoi spread out to avoid encirclement. 

Turn 2:

Crossbowmen advance and take aim.

Players of other game systems complain about the flat terrain of ancients players.  And this is why it is flat.  We have to play on our terrain, everyone else has to maneuver around theirs.

Bowmen advance and loose arrows with some effect.

Some bowmen take the hill.

Javelins and arrows are traded on the right.

Byzantines largely hold and continue the volleys.  They have no need to close contact.

Kataphracts manage to enfilade the Albanian horsemen and trap one.

The remaining Tagmata give chase to the evading Albanian horsemen.

This game is turning out quite different from the Albanian verses Alexander the Great game of yesterday.  The Byzantines have more cavalry than Alexander did, and the Skutatoi can reach the Albanian lights with bows, and need not try to chase them down.

The Albanians have 9 points towards their breakpoint of 40
The Byzantines have 3 points towards his breakpoint of 18

 Turn 3:

Clarkson has an overwhelming advantage in numbers here, but lacks the command points to use them.

The entire front row of Albanian shooters are disordered, and so are recalled and replaced by the second rank.  The Skutatoi have found their distance and just keep shooting.

The Byzantines are very likely to run the Albanians off of the table, so Skanderbeg gets as many away as possible.

The rest of the horsemen return to the line and throw javelins.

I missed taking pictures of the Byzantine turn, so we are going to have to pick up the game at the top of the fourth.

Right here.

A visit to the "Tree of Woe"  The Byzantines have 3 points towards their break point.  The Albanians 12.

The Psiloi vacate the Plantation, but a shortage of command points is preventing the Albanians from capitalizing on it.

His flank covered, Nikephorous begins to circumnavigate the hill.  Skanderbeg spends his time trying to extricate his exposed horsemen from being run off.

He is focused on getting around the flank of the Kataphractoi.  They charge the Huns in masse, but the Huns prowess in hand to hand proves unequaled.

We will be making regular visits to the Tree of Woe.  The score is 14-1

Turn 5:

On the left, the Albanians look like they are getting their act together.

On the center hill, bowmen continue to harass the Byzantine lines.

Skanderbeg saw an opportunity to attack the flank of the Tagmata, previously disordered by javelins.  There is a charge both front and flank, but the Kataphractoi are both elite, armored, and supported, and run down their tormentors.

Nikephoros pulls away from the hill, to more focus on finishing off Skanderbeg's horsemen.

Pumaphorous chases a number of horsemen off of the edge of the board.

The score is 16-4

The score is 18-8

Turn 5:

The Albanians are taking a thumping, but are still a long way away from their breakpoint of 40.

Command control problems.  Clarkson can either try to bring up more troops, or, he get out of his own way.

The Albanian center is mostly disordered.

Nikephorous pauses to reorder his lines.  He can do that and still shoot.

The same with Pumaphorous

The score is 24-8

Put another way, the Albanians are just over the half way point, while the Byzantines are just under.

Turn 6:

All take cover as Kat Kong returns.

The Albanians keep bringing up Javelinmen to fight, and the Byzantines keep disordering them with bow fire.

Jeremy Clarkson's guards take a hit.

The Skuts split up their battleline, each covering a portion of the line.

The Kataphrats are now free to circle around, and trap enough Albanians to win.

The score is 28-8

Turn 7:

Clarkson manages to pull his horsemen out of bow reach.  But the Skutatoi have a target rich environment.

The Kataphractoi catch another horsemen and with desultory ease, run them down.

The last Psiloi is destroyed., and most of the Skutatoi are disordered.

At this point I started running out of green, single hit markers.  Since no unit in the Albanian army can take two hits without being destroyed, any marker is a single hit.

A disadvantage of the Albanians, is they can NEVER, take a fortified camp.

Superior bowfire begins to clear the hill.  Many Albanian archers are now in the jaws of the Byzantine trap.

Two brave horsemen nip at the heels of the Byzantine Tagmata.  Their numbers are now matched by the Kataphracts.

But the score is still close, 29-13.

Turn 7:
The clock is winding down.  Can the Byzantines collect 11 points for the win?

The Albanian left is a fragmented mess.  I think the term is "Combat Ineffective"  Also, they are unlikely to destroy any Skutatoi, and so cannot get any more points here.

The Tagmata are still picking up hits from missile fire.  But they only have to touch the Light Infantry to destroy them.

The last organized Albanian horse have decided to retire.

Somewhere off panel, the Albanian camp has been taken.

As the clock runs down, the score is 39-13. A winning draw for the Byzantines

So what went wrong with the Albanians?  One problem was the command control issues on the left flank.  The command started broken up in two parts, and rapidly became 4, then 5.  This was just too much for an ordinary commander to deal with.

Another problem is the Albanians lack the ability to "Seal the Deal."  And pick off enemy wounded.  Half the Byzantines on board are disordered, but were in no real danger of being eliminated.  Ditto for the Albanians, but everyone of them was a single point away from being destroyed.

An Assemblage of Albanians

A Headless Body Production
Venue:   A Disclosed Location

Event:   Missing Cold Wars 
Player : Phil Gardocki
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 15mm, 200 points per side.

Coronavirus has taken it's toll, and I decided not to attend Cold Wars.  My partner, Bob, agreed.  Before that though, he was trying to convince me to run Albanians, List 250, for the team tournament.  His arguments fell on deaf ears, as I already had the Byzantines packed and in the car.  But his arguments were intriguing. 

The Forces:

Albanians

Commanded by George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, the Strategist, James May, the Competent, and Jeremy Clarkson, the Ordinary and Unreliable.  All commanders are Included.
If you have never seen "Top Gear", then all the jokes are going to fall flat.  Just ignore them.
16 Horsemen, Light Cavalry, Javelin, 6 elite
24 Light Infantry, various weapons

Breakpoint of 40
 

Alexander the Great. a Strategist, Selucus, the Brilliant and Garshasp, the Ordinary

5 Companions and Persians, Heavy Cavalry Impact, Elite

6 Taxis Pikemen

2 Agrianians, Light Infantry Javelin

2 Cretens, Light Infantry Bow

2 Persian Guards, Bowmen, Pavise, Elite

2 Hippakontistai, Light Cavalry Javelin

Breakpoint of 20

Why Albanians?  As you can see, the Albanians can have a break point of 40. But also, their only terrain is mountains, offering plenty of places Light Infantry can actually fight in.  Finally,  they are allowed a Strategist, which offers an additional ambush site, and adjustment of terrain.  So, their terrain pick is two steep and wooded, hills, two woods, and a brush.  Alexander chose a road and a tiny brush.

The Board:

The Albanians are too confusing, with them being cobbled together from about 6 different armies, and so I glued dice on the stands.  The white sixes is for elite, the blue dice is for commanders plus.  This is the Strategist,  George Kastrioti Skanderbeg.

Alexander takes position to the right of the phalanx.

Selucus takes the center with the phalanx.

Garshasp has a small command of elite bowmen, and is well suited to holding a position on the wooded hill.

James May has all the Light Infantry Bow.

George Kastrioti Skanderbeg has most of the horsemen

Jeremy Clarkson has the other light foot, a mix of crossbow, javelins, and firearms.

With an army of all lights, I won't be needing these!

I decided to not include the commanders with elite horsemen.  This army only has 3 build points for commanders, and I don't want them tied up in combat.  But I do want the elites to fight.

 Turn 1:

The Greek Hippakontistai race to the woods and reveal the ambush.

The Companions double march to charge reach.

Selucus's pike triple march to 4 UD's

And down the line, the Macedonians march forward without fear.

James May rolls two command points, and so moves forward in a block.

The plan was to separate the lines to reduce the chances of both being run over. 

Skanderbeg's horsemen advance to javelin range.

Clarkson also rolls a single command point.  An ambush is revealed, Javelin armed lights march out of the woods, and into the gully.

Turn 2:

Hippakontistai are recalled, but the Companion's charge, running off the light bowmen.

The Phalanx advance into the Albanian horsemen.  The first line evades through their supports, leaving the winded pike in javelin range.

One Hippakontistai is disbursed by crossbow.

The Scythians also charge, catching their Albanian tormentor. This could lead to the entrapment of the half the Albanian horse line.

Fortune favors the Albanians, as a 6-2 die roll ends as 5-4 win for the crossbow.

James May's foot return for more shooting.  The Persian horsemen are disordered.

As are half the pike.

The Scythians are flanked and destroyed.  Albanian javelinmen charge out of the gully into bowmen on the hill and are rebuffed for their foolishness.

The Albanians have 5 points towards their breakpoint of 40
Alexander is 9 points towards his breakpoint of 20

Turn 3:

The Companions charge again, and roll up on their variable movement.  The Albanians roll low and are caught in mass.

The Companions pursue, catching another hapless bowmen.

And in one strike, the score changes dramatically!
The Albanians have 17 points towards their breakpoint of 40
Alexander has 9 points towards his breakpoint of 20

The Phalanx continues to march forward, and surprisingly, the Albanian horse stands!  Half the fights are even, against disordered pike.  The end result picture was missed, so we'll get to them at the bottom of the turn.

Garshasp and Clarkson's forces are just shooting it out.  Mainly because both are ordinary in quality, and are rolling 1's for command points.  Garshasp is focused on not being flanked, while Clarkson is trying to flank the pike.

Skanderbeg rolls maximum command points.  And uses them to full advantage.  His second rank turns about face and charges the rear of the companions, while his front ranks execute break-offs from the pike.

In the center, both sides are wounded, but still in the fight.

On the hill, volleys are exchanged.

The dead are piling up in the shadow of the Tree of Woe.

The Albanians have 26 points towards their breakpoint of 40
Alexander has 11 points towards his breakpoint of 20

Turn 4:

The Companions also about face, and turn on their tormentors.

Selucus is not allowing his pike to take a breather and orders an advance.  "You can rest when you are dead!"

Garshasp rallies one unit, but two more become disordered.

The dead continue to pile up at the Tree of Woe.

The Albanians have 32 points towards their breakpoint of 40
Alexander has 14 points towards his breakpoint of 20

James May, finds himself bereft of supporting forces.  He decides to go down fighting and chases a Companion.

Clarkson's horsemen charge the rear of the Selucus's Phalanx, and in a set of good die rolls, destroy them.

Both sides are 4 away from their break points, 36-16

One of the thoughts behind running the Albanians was, you can't take 40 points in 2.5 hours.  This score was achieved in under 2 hours.

Turn 5:

To the far left, the last Hippakontistai is dispersed.

James May is chased off the board, there he shares a bottle of slivovitz with friends.

Skanderbeg has had a good run.  Taking the Companions in the flank, and slaying one.  But it is over now.  He is faced by elite armored horsemen and their supports, and then he is hit in the flank by pike.

But good die rolls forgive a lot of ills, and a second Companion is destroyed.

It is for the Phalanx to win the game.  The unstoppable juggernaut advances onto the Albanian camp.  Nothing in the Albanian inventory can stop them.

In case you forgot.  More of the same here.

Under the Tree of Woe, the count is 36 - 18

Leaderless, the left flank of the Albanians vanish into the woods.

Skanderbeg breaks off.  The remains of his forces are walking wounded.

Out of the dust charges Clarkson.  Striking again into the rear of the Phalanx.  The remains of Skanderbeg's command join him in the charge.

Clarkson's forces also put pressure on the hill.  The Cretan archers, which has proven resilient so far, fall.  Garshasp's flank is turned!

And with those minor victories, the game is over, the score is 38-20, an Albanian win!

Done in 2 hours, and that included a 20 minute phone call with Bob.  The write up took longer than the game.

I wouldn't have thought an army consisting entirely of lights could be proven viable.  Alexanders Greeks were half way to demoralized before first contact was made.  Then it was a matter of unfavorable trade-offs, of about 4-1 to drag the Macedonian army to it's break point.

There were some moments where luck favored the Albanians.  I tallied them up, and the Albanians had 3 "Luck Events" where they should have lost to some extent, but instead pulled a dramatic win.  And in one case it was decisive, and would have swung the point score to a 42-19 win for  Alexander.

The Greeks had 1 only such event.