FoG Renaissance Early Renaissance - Last Charge of the Gendarmes in Roll_Call 2012
Early Ottoman Turkish vs Tatar
Game 1 Early Ottoman Turkish vs Early Caroline Imperialist
Game 2 Early Ottoman Turkish vs Tatar
Game 3 Early Ottoman Turkish vs Irish
Game 4 Early Ottoman Turkish vs Caroline Imperialist
The lists for the Early Ottoman Turkish and Tatar from this game, as well as all the other lists from the games at Roll_Call can be seen here in the FoGR Wiki.
FoG Renaissance Rules hint - People called Alastair are very, very hard to beat.
Sitting pretty in 2nd place, with 24 of a possible 25 points, the Ottoman war machine rolls onwards. This time its opponents are the dastardly Tatars, a rather different proposition to the pedestrian-rich Caroline Imperialists.
Philip and Fernando discuss the Tatars in another episode from Madaxeman.com TV.
The terrain has not fallen as well either, with almost nothing of use in the Ottoman half of the board. There is nothing on which to anchor the Wall, and the Janissaries have no rough ground to hide in either. A large enclosure sits in the Tatar's forward right zone, tempting if only there was a way of teleporting the Janissaries into it....
The Ottomans are spread across the table, and the Tatars mass horse on their right and steam forward across the enclosed field, which only slows them momentarily as they rush towards the Ottoman lines, with some rather unfeasible-sounding dragoons leading the way
The Tatars have already started to give up their left flank and shift forces to the right, allowing the Ottoman horse massed on that side to move forwards and swing around in pursuit
The Tatars have advanced so far on their right that there might actually be a chance for the Janissaries to make a dash for the enclosed field and get there before the Tatars can react - that would cut off the reinforcements coming across the table, and put pressure on the rear of the tatar attack on the Ottoman right. The halber-armed Voynuks are also pretty solid in the open, so the Ottoman infantry start to move forward on their complex mission
The peasants are revolting behind the Wall
But if the peasants are revolting, the Tatar horsemen are Cheesy - they find a 1-element wide gap in the interlocking fields of fire of the Ottoman artillery parks and line themselves up in it, safe from the massed artillery through careful use of trigonometry and a military-grade GPS system
There are simply gazillions of armoured, superior units of Tatars - the Ottomans are starting to understand what being a proper cavalry army entails...
On the Ottoman right the Turkish cavalry are attempting to sweep away a rather irritating number of the ubiquitous Tatar dragoons who are impeding their pursuit of the Tatar redeployment
The Tatar dragoons shooting is proving deadly... markers spring up on some of the Ottoman units
Some of the Tatars have stayed behind to fight!
Battle is joined !
Over on the left, the advance by the Janissaries appears to have caught the Tatars off guard, and forces them to divert some of their forces to deal with the Ottomans. There is a chance that the lone unit of Tatar horsemen may be targetted by massive amounts of Ottoman firepower - and the Ottomans have a mounted unit pinning it to it's front as well. Weight of numbers is being brought to bear..
But weight of numbers counts for naught if the Ottoman Cavalry cannot at least survive some shooting! They lose a base, and this makes them decide that going into skirmish formation is the best option - and they evade the tatar charge, dropping back a base in the process to get past their own foot. The Tatars have driven a huge hole in the Ottoman flank, without even having to resort to actual combat - much to the surprise of several flavours of infantry on either side of the evading Ottomans.
Undeterred, the Ottomans attempt the weight of numbers game again as they start to gang up on the Tatar unit which they have engaged earlier
The Tatar's are now definately reacting to the Ottomans - the flrce they were hoping to redeploy all the way across the table has moved to intercept the Voynuks and Janissaries - the Tatar's are being brought to battle by the Ottoman foot.
The Tatar's are running riot on the Ottoman left flank, and the Ottoman unit which evaded has little choice now but to turn and stand as the better quality, better armoured and more numerous Tatar horse charge toward them
The advantages of quality, armour and numbers are all clearly demonstrated as the melee lasts but a few seconds...
The Ottomans are being slowly ground down on the opposite flank as well... things are starting to slip away from the Ottoman army..
Even where the Tatars have nothing other than their "surely this cant be historical" dragoons, the Ottoman cavalry are seemingly unable to run down the relatively defenceless pseudo-pedestrians - who escape into the woods, leaving behind a trail of markers and lost bases in their wake
I have no idea what this is, but it is mightily cool
Things are getting desparate, as the Ottomans resort to breaking off with their Sipahis to try and hang on a little longer against the Tatar horsemen.
Despite being "somewhat close to" the Voynuks, and "almost in" the ploughed field, a unit of Azab gunners are unable to do much more than provide a minor speed bump for yet another one of the countless units of Tatar Superior cavalry who are roaming freely across the field of battle.
The Voynuks also are beginning to see how simply "not being Medium Foot" doesn't really cut it as a strategy in it's own right when faced with so many mobile opponents.
The Ottoman gunners start to see a future in Tatar service as an appealing career choice as the routing Ottoman Azabs (in yellow) generously carry a Tatar cavalry unit back towards their own lines at double speed by routing in each turn
Even the peasants can see a scenario in which they might actually have to fight....
And that scenario moves from the hypothetical to the theoretical in short order as the Sipahis lose bases and cohesion at a rate of knots
Those Voynuks are tough cookies - although relative to the rest of the Ottoman army, that is not exactly high praise..
The Tatar's begin to plan a new extension to the barracks housing their existing artillery park...
Hoping merely to delay the inevitable, the Revolting Peasants clamber over the Wall and move away from the Tatar horsemen in their rear
The Voynuks are broken.... at least there is a chance for the Ottomans to wreak some revenge, as they have set up several flank attacks for the routers to draw the pursuing Tatar's into.
At least some of the Janissaries are putting up a proper fight
And that's great, as it will allow them to lose by being charged in the rear by Tatar cavalry, rather than just losing frontally to Tatar cavalry...
The trap is sprung!
And in an almost inevitable outcome, the net result of a flank charge by a Superior Janissary unit into the flank of the tatar horsemen who are fighting in 2 directions, is a DISR marker for the Janissaries...
The Result is a grim and total defeat, 24-1.
Click here for the report of the next game in this competition, or read on for the post match summaries from the Generals involved, as well as another episode of legendary expert analysis from Hannibal
Post Match Summary from the Early Ottoman Turkish Commander
Ah well, Ah suppose fightin' the Keeng O'Horse wi me own Horse is na'er gonna gan and be an easy day oot
Ah think Ah did quite well fre the forst horf o the game but affta then it started te fall apart an Ah wez on me kawasaki motorbike as soon as Ah could be fre a sharp trip hyem
Ah also think Ah wez a little unlucky wi the lack of success me aan cavalry had on the reet wing, an yee dee need a lot of luck when playing this fellow
At least Ahm still on horf the total points fre the weekend, so Ahm in mid tyebble - a canny good playce te be gannin into tomorrows games
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
How did this fool ever get given control of an army? It is as if four of his five wits went halting off, and now is the whole man governed with just one!
Playing someone who knows how to manoeuver horse,and no terrain. A half hearted attempt to try and occupy some rough going that you were never going to get to first in a million years. And had you managed somehow - presumably by cheating - to get there,what next? Your men would have sat like lemons on the deck of an aircraft carrier whilst the Tatars steamed around and lobbed bricks at you from afar.
You split your forces, lost the tactical initiative,were unable to respond,failed to press an attack against weaker forces on your right and left all of your infantry out to dry an dbe picked off piecemeal
This performance had no saving grace at all. You were lucky to get one point
Click here for the report of the next game in this competition
That's the end - so why not go back to the Match Reports Index and read some more reports?
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Game 1 Early Ottoman Turkish vs Early Caroline Imperialist
Game 2 Early Ottoman Turkish vs Tatar
Game 3 Early Ottoman Turkish vs Irish
Game 4 Early Ottoman Turkish vs Caroline Imperialist
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