A Gwŷr of Welsh

A Headless Body Production
Venue: An Undisclosed Community Center
Event: Our continuing series of battles themed on the Norman Conquest*.
Players: Phil Gardocki, Garth Parker running Normans
              The team of John, Bruce and Steve running Welsh
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 15mm, 300 points per side.

*Not the Britcom staring Penelope Keith

 The Forces:
Welsh, in the year 1070
The Welsh commanders, Rhys*, Lewellyn, Gryffud and Eric (Allied Viking) are all Competent
12 Warriors, Medium Swordsmen, 6 are Elite
4 Javelinmen
4 Light Infantry, Bow
6 Nobles, 1/2 Heavy Cavalry, 1/2 Medium
4 Light Cavalry, Javelin
2 Huscarls, Heavy Swordsmen, Armor, 2HW, Elite
3 Warriors, Heavy Swordsmen, Missile Support
3 Warriors, Heavy Swordsmen, Missile Support
2 Scouts, Light Infantry, Bow
Breakpoint of 40

The Normans, also in the year 1070
Commanded by William the Conqueror, née Bastard, a Strategist. Eustace, the Count of Boulonge, the Brilliant, Robert, the Count of Mortain, the Ordinary and Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux, yes, that Bayeux, the Ordinary.
12 Medium Knights, Impetuous, all Elite
10 Heavy Spearmen, 6 are Elite, 5 have Armor
4 Bow and Crossbow men.
Breakpoint 26

I don't think this is planned at all, but new armies are hitting the table, and the time frame is right for a series of battles in merry old England. Harold Hadrada won at Stamford Bridge, William the Bastard won at Hastings, and this one will be the Norman conquest of Wales, and upcoming soon will be Scotland.

**Pronounced Reese.  For my entire life I though it was pronounce as ryes, as in the bread.

Display Conventions: When you see a word bubble like "Ouch!" or "O y Poen!" or "Douleur!", 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.

Commanders are rated s for Strategist, b for Brilliant, c for Competent, o for Ordinary and u for Unreliable

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 Normans win the initiative and elect to attack in the plains. 

Deployment:

The Welsh selected both a gully and a plantation which covered their right flank. But William rolled a '6' on the terrain adjustment phase, and the gully disappeared.

One surprise for the Normans, the Welsh managed to hire a large contingent of Viking heavy foot.

The deployed Welsh haven't reached their minimum number of warriors, 9 for a 300 point game, of soft medium swordsmen. But it isn't hard to guess where they are.

The Normans originally were going to deploy the infantry in the center, knights on the wings, but at the last minute decide to just charge right down the middle.

The decision had less to do with strategy, but more to do with the clock. Trying to get a 300 point game, 5 players, in 3 hours, the Normans figure it was do or die.

The force of Welsh horsemen are faced by armored, elite spearmen, supported by bow. Not a good match-up for the Welsh.

The newly acquired Breton Spearmen have excellent shield patterns.

The knights are all well painted as well.

The view from the Welsh side of the board.

Turn 1:

Robert orders his spearmen to approach the plantation.

William and Eustace's knights advance as fast as abled. Eustace's have to hold up as they are at 4 UD's from the ambushes in the plantation.

The Bishop of Bayeux advances with his foot.

A general advance by the Welsh and their allies.

Their horse sends a single troop of scouts to slow down Bishop Odo's foot.

Turn 2:

Robert's spear reveals one of the ambushes. 3 Medium Sword and a Javelinman.

Eustace's knights canters to charge reach.

William's knights advance as well.

The Bishops troops do a rumble step forward, seeing the Welsh scouts off.

The Welsh take the initiative and pour out of the plantation. Robert's spearmen are taken back by this aggressive behavior, which is reflected by a series for poor die rolls.

The bravery did not extend to the swordsmen in the field. They adjust their lines, but only advance a little.

Eric's Huscarls did get the word on caution and charge forward! William's knights raise an eyebrow at this, set lances, and counter-charge! Most of the Viking warbands are disordered.

Not seeing any percentages in advancing, the Welsh horse bide their time.

Turn 3:

Roberts heavy foot are failing under pressure.

Eustace's knights are unconcerned by the Welsh foot behind their flank, and charge.

The Viking allies are failing fast.

Bishop Odo's spear plodder on.

Rhy's warriors have totally crushed Roberts spear, and are looking to clean up the remains.

But their victory is not enough to compensate for their losses in the center.

The Welsh horse tentatively push forward.

On the sideline, the Norman losses are 11 of 26

The Welsh are at 21 of 40.

Turn 4:

Robert has only one unit not at risk of being destroyed. He calls it back, see upper right arrows, to face the Welsh horde.

Eustace's knights are cleaning up their opponents.

While William is down to a single warband of Viking sword.

The problem here is the knights are both slow, with a movement of 3 UD's, and Unmaneuverable, and cannot redeploy easily to deal with the flanks.

The score is Normans 12...

To 27...

Rhy's forces surround the last Norman crossbowman, which miraculously holds its ground, destroy a Breton spear, and send raiders off towards the Norman camp.

Their center battles destroyed, the Welsh are limited to distracting and delaying the Norman knights with a few light foot.

On the far flank, the Welsh horse break off.

Turn 5:

Robert, Count of Mortain, middle right, awaits the onslaught with his only remaining force of spear.

Eustace, the Count of Boulogne, sends a troop of knights to support the beleaguered count.  While his personal knights chase off the Welsh light foot.

The Bishop of Bayeux advances, keeping the pressure on the Welsh horse.

Rhys organizes his men in a quick fashion, and they pour onto the Norman flank.

The Welsh horsemen continue to pull back

A raiding warband double times it towards the Norman camp.

They have lost a lot, but at 28 of 40, but there is plenty of gas left in the Welsh tank.

The Normans are at 15 of 26. Even with the camp being sacked, they will be at a comfortable 21.

Turn 6:

Roberts flank is turned, but help is on the way. Eustace disengages a knight from the front line, and has another in charging the head of the column of Welshmen. Another knight, tired but willing, is approaching.

Williams and the Bishops forces hope to trap the Welsh horsemen in a pocket.

The view from above. Roberts last spear holds. The head of the Welsh column is routed by knights, their fleeing survivors disordering their compatriots behind.

The Welsh horse are way too agile. It looks like they will evade the Norman trap.

Turn Last:

The clock is running down, so this will be the last turn.

With a successful rally of his remaining spear, and pursuing knights, it looks like the Count of Mortain will be saved.

And while the Welsh horse are largely intact, we believe they will be pushed off the board in a turn or two.

The Norman-American camp falls.

Taking the Norman count to 21

The Welsh payed a heavy price at 37.

So what went wrong?

For the Welsh, luck failed them at a critical moment at very the beginning, they wanted to place a coastline and a village, both of which failed to materialize. What they got was a plantation and a gully, only to have the Normans remove the gully on the adjustment phase. 

If even one of those had been kept, the game would have been very different. As it would have forced the knights to attack on a narrower frontage. And the vikings, all heavy sword, some with missile support, could have held for a bit longer while the mass of swordsmen could deal with the spearmen with superior numbers. Remember, the knights may have been neigh on invincible in this game, but the spearmen were not, and the break point of the Normans was just 26 compared to 40. And even when the Vikings were defeated, at 18 points, is less than half the overall Welsh demoralization level.

But luck did turn the other way. When the Welsh surged out of the plantation, the Norman spearmen all muffed their rolls, and were put on their heels quickly, and then destroyed in short order. 

And while it seems like the vikings made a mistake in charging the knights on turn 2, giving up their missile support advantage, they did gain the overlap advantage for that turn. It was not enough of an advantage as it turned out. But I'll also note, only 3 of the viking swordsmen had missile support, so not a total loss there. If they had not charged, the Normans would have charged the Welsh medium foot first, holding back William's command, and the vikings would have been flanked before contact.

On the Norman side, they had almost no flexibility in their list. They are great anti cavalry with their knights, and their spear are also good anti cavalry. But the list could have benefited with some lights. With just one light horse per knight command, Eustace s force could have raced for the Welsh camp and sealed the deal with 6 more points.

A couple of light foot per spear command would have served to absorb early missile fire as well, and be used to trip the ambushes, instead of the spear and bowmen getting to close to do the job.

The cost of 6 lights would have been two spear and one knight. And would have served to bump the Norman demoralization level to 29 points.

A Cartload of Carthaginians

A Headless Body Production

Venue: Upper Providence Meeting House
Event: Wednesday Night
Theme: Punic Wars
Players: Phil Gardocki running Romans
              Bruce Potter, Garth Parker running Carthaginians
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 15mm, 300 points per side.

After a serious drubbing last week*, Hannibal is back.  His previous loss has caused him to lose confidence, and is now regarded as only "Competent".  He is commanding a new force mix.  Gone are the mediocre elephants and mediums, both cavalry and sword.  Replaced by all heavy horse, and close ordered foot.

The axiom still applies, that Generals are always preparing to fight the last war.  So it is that Optimus and Secundus fired their Greek contingents, expanded their cavalry, but left their other commands mostly intact.

The Forces:
The Carthaginians.  
Led by real historical personalities, Hannibal, the Competent, Hamilcar, the Brilliant, Hanno, the Competent and Hasdrubal, the Competent.
6 African Spearmen, Heavy Spear, Armor, Elite
7 Spanish Light Infantry Javelin
9 Gallic Warriors, Heavy Swordsmen, Impact
3 Companion Warriors, Heavy Swordsmen, Impact, Armor
2 Numidians, Light Cavalry, Javelin
6 Spanish Horse Heavy Cavalry, Nada
Breakpoint...33

 

The Romans, List (53)

Led by the Consoles (elected in 217BC) Optimus in Classis, the Brilliant, commanding the Legione Quinta, Secundi Optimus in Classis, also Brilliant, commanding the Legione Sexta, Imo Classis, the Competent, as the Master of Horse and Quarta Classis, the Ordinary, and Unreliable.

10 Hastati   Heavy swordsmen armour impact, 2 Elite
2 Triarii   Heavy spearmen armour  Elite
4 Velites   Light infantry, Javelin
6 Horsemen   Heavy cavalry
2 Numidians  Light Horse, Javelin
6 Aetolians   Javelinmen
2 Peltasts   Light Infantry, Javelin
Breakpoint 33

 

Playing 300 points have some differences in setup.  The board is bigger.  The terrain min/max size is bigger, but not the coastal area.  Commanders cost more.  +1 command point per army, which is new with V4.  Camps cost more, and count more towards the demoralization level if sacked.  Deployment zones are altered.  Main concept is the deployment zone is deeper, but the starting distance between opposing forces is the same.  Lights deploy 3 from the center, main battle troops 5 from the center.

 

And least important, the  official spread sheet from France for big army building has two commands named "Corps III".  To fix, On the top Ribbon, click on the Review button, or whatever it is called, then find the button for Unprotect Sheet.  It is in the "Protect" group on Office 365, but may be called "Changes" in other versions.

Display Conventions: When you see a word bubble like "Ouch!", "Heus!" 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.

Commanders are rated s for Strategist, b for Brilliant, c for Competent, o for Ordinary and u for Unreliable

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:

Hannibal, with an initiative of 3, wins the toss and elects to attack in the plains

Deployment: 

Hamilcar takes the right with a strong force of horse.  Hasdrubal takes center right with a large force of Gallic warriors.

Hannibal is center left, with the elite, and armored, African spear-men.  To his left, another horde of Gallic Warriors.

Facing the Spanish horse is Imo ("Last") Classis.  His force of horse is exactly identical to his Punic counterparts across the field.

Optimus and Secundi, "If it ain't broke" Classis have the exact same forces as last game.  Each with one elite cohort of Hastati/Princepes and 4 others, backed by Triarii.

The last Roman command cannot be seen.

Turn 1:

I'm getting tired of annotating separate photos of each in every command that are just pushing straight forward.  The Carthaginians all step off and advance.

The Roman horse decide to refuse the flank.  The ambush on the hill is unveiled.  It's a horde of javelin men.  Looking for elephants that are not there...  What is there is impact heavy sword. 

Turn 2:

Again, a complete advance down the line for the Carthaginians.

 

What Hannibal's plan lacks in subtlety, it makes up for with predictability.

 

Since the cavalry on cavalry fight is literally just dice offs, The Romans didn't need to force the melee by advancing on round 1.  But now they are advancing to keep the overlaps off of the center legions.

Despite the bolstering of the Carthaginian line from last game, it is in the center where the Romans have some advantage.  In 3 cases it's armor v no armor.

Or against the African spear, it's impact v spear for a +1 on contact.  But they have elite down the line as compared to only 2 elites in the Roman line.

On the Roman right, the Aetolians advance.  Both lightly armored, and armed, they advance to throwing range, knowing they can escape to the shrubbery festooned hill.

Turn 3:

The Spanish lights charge with enthusiasm.  The mercenary Numidians are too slow to react, and are caught and dispersed.

The Spanish heavy horse charge and are met.  In a perfect match for the force mix, the dice break exactly even.

Each side has two units taking one cohesion hit, and one unit taking two.

Legio Quinta receives a charge by Gallic Warriors.  All with impact, half with armor.  The Roman line begins to creak.

Legio Sextus fares a little better. 

Shouting a mighty ululation, the gauls do not charge, but race across the field. Quarta's Aetolians evade, but thinking they have left their attackers behind, pause on the relative safety of the vineyard on the hill.  But the Gauls did on slow, but actually sped up.  Catching the Aetolians as they stopped to catch their breath.

 

How bad is it?  The Gallic warriors are +2 vs LMI, +1 for Impact, +1 for rear, and -1 for rough, a total of +3.

The Aetolians are +0 against heavy sword, or facing the wrong way, it doesn't matter.  No javelin.  -1 for disordered while caught evading, but  for a few, +1 for up hill.  So either -1 or zero, depending.  

The result is predictable.  One Aetolian survived contact. 

At the top of turn 3, the Romans are already at 21 of 33 towards their breakpoint.

The Carthaginians are at 9.

Again, the horse commands break practically even.  Each with a troop being dispersed.

The Gauls rout a cohort.

Legio Sextus puts preassure on the African spear.  Quartus orders is remaining units to skirmish in front of the Gallic warriors.

The Roman demoralization level grows quickly.  From 21 at the top of the 3rd to 26 at the bottom.

But they are not going quietly in the night.  The Carthaginian count rises from 9 to 15.

Turn 4:

That was an exciting turn. 

Spanish lights attack Roman heavy horse in the rear.  But two more Spanish heavy horse are routed.

Two cohorts of Legio Quinta is routed.

Legio Sextus loses it's left most cohort, while it's Triarii has it's flank turned.

Fresh from their overwhelming victory, the Gauls assemble to attack the flank of Legio Sextus.

They don't need many for a total rout.  Only 3.

Despite suffering major setbacks, the Romans are making the Carthaginians fight for their win.  They are sitting at 22 of 33.

Imo's horse are winded, but have turned the flank of their Spanish counterparts.

On troop of Roman horse flanks a Gallic armored warrior.

The scrum in front of Legio Sextus is still inconclusive. 

Quartus's light troops continue to harass the Gauls.  But there is only so many they can ZOC at one time.

The miracle is the Romans are still in the game.  Their score is 31 of 33.

But the Carthaginian score only increments by one.

Turn 5:

Imo joins the fight, and is nearly killed.

Two Gallic Warriors are routed, but also a cohort of Legio Quinta.

More ululations, the Gauls manage both a flank and a rear charge on Legio Sexta. 

Taking the Romans paste their demoralization level of 33.

While Hannibal's troops sit at 23 of 33.  A comfortable win.

*A big red asterisk needs to be applied to that Roman victory.  It turns out due to a copy/paste error, the list was illegal.  I won't boor you with the details.  The points were valid, but not the troops.