Field of Glory Renaissance in Britcon 2011 - The Last Game
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The lists from this and all the other games at Britcon can be seen here. (Any videos in these reports are all pretty short - well under a minute)
The final game, a chance for redemption, or sub par performance?
This time it was clearly all going to be down to luck, as the two armies were both Louis XIV French. Some more clever analysts might imagine that with two identical armies, the only thing that would separate them would be the skill of their respective leaders, but I was more pragmatic than that....
The Enemy Louis' deployed in a defensive formation - a big long line that would struggle to advance swiftly. As usual, I had gone for the faster moving chequerboard setup. The two armies had subtle differences - I had more Superior units of foote, and less Horse, and my opponent had some Light Foote - but other than that it was as similar as one might expect.
The game opened up with my guns opening up ineffectually on the enemy Horse as they rushed forward
A piece of terrain had caused the enemy horse to bunch up - but they were clearly set on a swift decisive engagement,so I also poured my own Horse forward,hoping to catch the enemy in a bit of a traffic jam where their greater numbers would struggle to be brought to bear.
Combat started immediately,and immediately went badly for me - the unit on the extreme right lost a base and a cohesion level, and worse still the enemy French had managed to find enough space to get all their Horse into play - even the Elite Guardes!
Things were tough, but my Horse dug deep and hung on in there with a solid round of combat in melee....and the Enemy Horse on the right started to lose cohesion and went DISR with a small green marker
Base losses were already a major headache as the unit on my extreme left was now down to just 2 bases after a number of unlucky rolls.
They then added insult to injury by going fragmented. The game had hardly started and my left flank was in tatters - but at the same time, the enemy Horse on the right lost a base and went to broken - they were off!!
Maybe swings and roundabouts would need to be invented in Renaissance France in order to create the approriate context for an aphorism to describe the state of the battle?
Inevitably, the left hand unit of my Horse broke and fled
Whilst all this had happened, my Foote were only inching across the field. But already the course of battle was clear -I needed to use my Superior units and slight advantage in numbers to overwhelm the French line before the enemy's Horse could come back from crushing my mounted flank - time to press on for France and The King (well, my version of him anyway). The routing enemy horse unit were busy being asked to come back by a rather concerned French General as they routed past teh unconcerned enemy Guns
My second Horse unit were now struggling against the Elite enemy Horse and had picked up a DISR marker, but they were at least hanging on long enough to allow some spare Foote to turn and maybe enter the fray.
The Guardes Horse on the opposing side were pressing home their advantage - my only remaining Horse unit went Fragmented
This is more like it - the enemy cowering in fear as the Swiss Guard and the French Guard home in on them, puzzling when to form a coherent line of their own as they advanced
That's the end of my left flank....
Enemy Horse stream past my rather concerned Gun Battery
Gaming as Barker intended it - two lines of infantry charging into each other !
Over on the right, my Dragoons started to exchange shots with some rather undecided Carabiniers - not sure if they were proper Horse or actually over excited mounted infantry...
A massive melee was about to ensure - all before the enemy Horse could roll up my left flank. Something was going according to plan
The left flank was a bit of a dogs breakfast though,with enemy Horse roaming around at will, and skirmishing sharpshooters picking on my lone Foote unit as the Guns awaited their usual fate of being captured by enemy horse.
The Superior Guard units opened up at musket range on the standard peasant stock in the opposing lines. Would a combination of Superiority, Better Uniforms and having 4 Musketeers per base allow us to win through?
Things were rather tougher for the Dragoons, who drew the short straw of being a musket ball magnet to help some of their proper infantry colleagues get ito combat relatively unscathed. At least the Dragoons could now slip away ....
The Guns change hands, and the Pike and Shotte formation starts tolose heart in the face of incoming musketry from all angles
A Mixed bag as the two lines close. The enemy have suffered some serious collapses in morale,with yellor FRAG markers sprouting everywhere - but the red-coated Swiss are down to 4 bases and so are at risk of autobreak in any form of prolonged combat
Likewise on my right, a DISR unit faces one with a base less, and a 3-strong Cavalry unit takes fire from 2 Dragoons
The French Guardes go in, and the enemy line collapses and breaks at the sight of the first charge !!
My army is now sweeping forward majestically and coherently as the enemy suddenly finds a huge hole in their lines - just as the once-routing enemy Horse unit comes back into the picture.
Things meanwhile are looking bad for the lone foote unit on my left,as surrounded they take the last refuse of fools - Square formation. Unlikely to save them now they are FRAGGED though...
Poofe! Charged from all sides and with nowhere to rout, they are gone....
The enemy are now only down to 3 units of Foote, as my forces pile forwards. Maybe there is time to win the game yet?
Oh NO! A catastrophe as a unit of Dragoons rolls short in an evade and is caught by a near-broken Carabinier unit!
The sundial ticks down and the enemy Maison do Roi Guarde look at sacking my camp to win the game...
At the end of the line, another Guard Foote unit suddenly finds itself the target of a circling pack of Horse and skirmishers
This is a decisive struggle - two fragile formations of Foote locked in a battle to decide who's army will win and who will lose...
French Guard try to record a killer blow on the still DISR enemy Line horse - one hit causes a test on the three-strong unit. The game is in the balance...
Dragoons try to avenge their colleagues by again looking for that one lucky hit to break the Carabins
But, it is all for naught, as the Swiss Guard lose a further base and break - taking my army with them
The Result is yet another 19-6 defeat. And with that I slope off to catch an early train and head back home, exhausted but still satisfied with 6 highly excellent games
Post Match Summary
Oh well - we knew this one would be luck based. And luck based it was
We had plenty of chances to win it, but in the end my army lacked the strength in the midfield to cope with a war of attrition - possibly if I can get a couple of new units signed in the close season things might be better for me next time
The enjoyment factor throughout was fantastic though, with all 6 battles being gung-ho affairs with me believing I had real chances to win in every single one had thing spanned out differently
I really can't wait to be out of the box again for another competition - roll on the next one!
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
You lisp and wear strange suits,but for sure this doth not make of you a competent General. Yet again you commit troops into a battle where your best bet is an evens chance - and as soon as the Guardes Horse were in play,you are almost bound to lose such was the inequality of the matchup on your left
And a war of attription with Foote is all well and good, but I think this game has proved more than most that you need a BALANCED army,as your Foote were unable to capitalise on their victories in the line - but the enemy Horse, winning early and decisively, came back to wreak havoc,even those who returned from fleeing in rout were of use
Simply put, your army worked OK at 900 points, but you had too few Horse and too many expensive foote in this version at 800 AP to make a decent fist of the games you played.
Next time we expect to see a different set of toys, with less fair and more balance. Horse you can use and they have some left to exploit gaps with, and Foote who can slog it out as well as win with elan. Otherwise I will be forced to conclude that your means are very slender, and your waste is great when it comes to the art of Generalism
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