The European Serin On Tour - Part 3
Open Period ADLG at The Worlds in Spain 2025
Khurasanian vs Mongol Empire
Game 1 Khurasanian vs Ghaznavid
Game 2 Khurasanian vs Ottoman Empire
Game 3 Khurasanian vs Mongol Empire
Game 4 Khurasanian vs Wars of the Roses
Game 5 Khurasanian vs Mongol Empire
Game 6 Khurasanian vs French Ordonnance
Or, for our many foreign readers ..
** Game 1 Khurasanian vs Ghaznavid - In Spanish! **
** Game 2 Khurasanian vs Ottoman Empire - In German! **
** Game 3 Khurasanian vs Mongol Empire - In Portuguese! **
** Game 4 Khurasanian vs War of The Roses - In Spanish! **
** Game 4 Khurasanian vs Mongol Empire - In Spanish! **
** Game 4 Khurasanian vs French Ordonnance - In Australian! **
By now we are deep into the campaign, and the mighty Khurasanian empire heads out into the Steppes, or perhaps sits tight in it's own little homelands and finds itself facing the might of the Mongol Empire!
Yes, another horsey army to deal with, almost certainly with a lack of that supposedly solid infantry core which my mix of Dailami, elephants and Ghazi-style fanatic warriors was sort of optimized to deal with in short order.
Instead this would need to be another game of catching cavalry, placing great emphasis on the securing of the correct terrain and also the accuracy of the (checks notes) two archers I'd brought along for exactly that purpose.
The Imperial Mongol Empire army is of course fully tooled up with lots of good quality horse archers, but what sets it apart from the rest of the many Mongol armies in the book of lists is a couple of possible options.
First up, and almost mandatory is 4 double-armed Elite Khans Guard Impact & Bow Heavy Cavalry, giving punch and firepower in quality and quantity.
It does also have the option to add some pure Impact cavalry in the shape of Khitans, but this is rarely seen.
Far more common - again almost mandatory - are the 4 Expendable Levy, some cheap mobile terrain pieces which the opponent has to deal with, but who's loss counts for naught to the cynical Mongol army break point
Finally there is some heavy artillery, a toy which is tempting to take, but which can anchor the army in one spot - not usually a win for the mobile Mongols
Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, in this game I lost the Initiative roll and as a result the Mongols elected to attack the Khurasanians in the usually terrain-free Steppe.
As defender there are some terrain elements in Steppe I could look to use to narrow the table down, or even with luck to hide some of my cavalry-hating troop types in rough terrain (or even ambush) but they would be far and few between.
The lists for the Khurasanian and Mongol Empire from this game, as well as all the other lists from the games at The Worlds in Spain can be seen here in the L'Art de la Guerre Wiki.
So, with that in mind, and the Mongols due to move first, it's on with the business..
In its Imperial phase, following the vast conquests under Genghis Khan and his successors, the Mongol army remained an exceptionally disciplined, mobile, and terrifying force. Renowned for their use of horse archers, strategic feigned retreats, and superior logistics, the Mongols revolutionized warfare across Eurasia.
Their armies could move with astonishing speed, communicate across long distances using relay stations, and outmanoeuvre much larger and more traditional foes with ease.
A single Mongol horseman typically managed multiple mounts, allowing for near-constant movement - imagine a medieval cavalry with the stamina of a Tour de France peloton and the tactical brain of a chess grandmaster.
It looks like I managed to get two large bits of brush down in reasonably central positions, plus a couple of gentle hills (one with brush), which is not too bad a result for Steppe terrain for an army with all of my Medium Foot.
But, there was still a large open plain right down the middle of the table, into which a huge line of mostly Medium Elite Mongol cavalry were all poised to surge forward toward my rather refused deployment of Elephants and Ghazi in the middle, flanked by Cavalry on the right
The Dailami, lacking Support, were already looking eagerly at the terrain on my left to their front
On my left the Mongols sprung an immediate ambush, which got two of their rather anachronistic Greek and Roman Cavalry units rather further up the field than the Dailami really wanted to see before they had moved themselves.
L'Art de la Guerre hint - Looking at the deployment in the previous picture, I now suspect that this may well have been a mistake on my part not to pick up the fact that an attacker can't deploy non-light troops in an ambush further forward than the "5MU" line, which these two cavalry appear in hindsight to have done.
But anyway, perhaps the surprise of seeing a Republican Roman Equites and an Alexandrian Companion emerging from behind a hill on my flank was enough to put me off from remembering all of the granular detail of the rules?
The main body of Mongols, many of whom had chosen to turn up in fancy dress and so looked rather like Arabized cavalry of some sort or another, had steamed forward in a big solid line to open their shooting accounts against anything in my army that they could latch onto and see
The first lucky recipients appeared to be the two blocks of Infantry spearmen, happy to be a bulwark facing off against the enemy cavalry but not so happy to be relentlessly targeted by the enemy's mounted archery school.
Beneath the Mongol Empire's troops fearsome reputation for military efficiency lay a secret weapon far more potent than any arrow or spear: the collective stench of the Mongol horde. Raised on fermented mare's milk, or airag, and boasting an approach to personal hygiene best described as "culturally minimalist," Mongol warriors developed a unique and pungent aroma.
The Mongol wingmen didn't like this possibility of being charged by the Khurasanian pedestrians, perhaps scared of the potential ignominy, and turned and fell back as the spearmen stepped forward sharply and aggressively.
With the Dailami now safely ensconced in the terrain on my left, this was suddenly looking like an opportunity to close up on a line composed mostly of Medium Cavalry, and engage them with my mix of Heavy Cavalry and infantry archers, leveraging the protection of the Elephants to keep the Mongols honest (and away from my vulnerable Medium Foot)
The pattern was repeated several times, with the Mongols always choosing to fall back in the face of rigorous Khurasanian charge and shoot tactics.
Eventually this brought the line of non-fighting battle within sight of the rear edge of the Mongol deployment zone, and into an area of the table populated by the Impressed Levy hostages and war prisoners, all of whom seemed to be presenting themselves as well armed Indian Heavy Infantry with swords, spears and shields for some reason?
The Mongol's renown olfactory onslaughts often had unintended tactical consequences. Some sources claim entire enemy units retreated prematurely upon catching wind - quite literally - of an approaching Mongol vanguard.
Even their own horses occasionally seemed uneasy, though historians debate whether this was due to the milk, the sweat, or the sheer cumulative power of battlefield flatulence in a tightly packed saddle-to-saddle formation.
The mongol formation was by now almost as incoherent as their use of Romans & Macedonian cavalry to depict the Khans Guard and Heavy Elite horse archer units in their line up.
But, in pressing forward relentlessly the Khurasanians were now also starting to look less than well organised too, with a variety of units having shifted far from their original starting positions
In particular the mass of densely packed Khurasani Heavy Spearmen now required the almost full-time attention of a Brilliant Commander to stay with them and boost their morale in order to retain them as a viable fighting force on the battlefield as they came under repeated showers of accurate Mongol archery
Within a typical Mongol encampment this situation was no better, and would lead to many incidents where commanders allegedly held briefings upwind, and new recruits were said to be "hardened" not through combat drills, but by surviving their first group tent experience during summer.
The effects on morale were rather (ahem) mixed.
While the Mongol warriors themselves seemed blissfully unbothered, their enemies were treated to a multisensory prelude to invasion that demoralized long before the arrows flew.
Over on the far left, Alexander's Companions had finally made it past the edge of the rough terrain (and the Dailami archers) and were threatening to make a mad charge towards my camp.
This was the time for the Kurdish Lancer in the Dailami command to stand up and do his duty, taking on some of the most well known and feared Essex Miniatures Classical Era figures of all time in an Impact on Impact combat for which the reward would be immortality of death and a loss of the camp.
Battle Of Zab River 750 AD
As the back edge of the Mongol board hove ever closer into view, the Steppe-dwellers ((of course I am temporarily discounting the Khurasanians from that category, even though we do have Steppe as a terrain option, so in this contest I obviously mean the Mongols, duh!) started to reform their eclectic line of Mongols, Ghulams, Romans and Greek Successor horsemen back into a solid wall of shooters.
The Khurasanians meanwhile were by now somewhat disjoined and spending much time unplugging Mongol arrows from various items of clothing and exposed body parts.
Effective rallying by the Khans men, allied to ineffective shooting on the part of the Khurasanian horsemen was starting to tip the scales - finally - and the prospect of pushing the whole arny off the back of the table was increasingly difficult for even the most avid Khurasani fantasist to believe in.
In their military and olfactory legacy the Mongol military machine entered into legend as one which didn't just crush empires - it also overwhelmed noses.
Historians grew to recognise that their lightning-speed conquests might be partly explained by superior tactics, but that the universal human instinct to run from whatever was coming over the next ridge, breathing through one's sleeve was also a huge factor as well.
Ta-Dah! At least the baggage was now reasonably safe, as the heroic Kurdish lancer, aided by the hand to hand prowess of the Dailami archers had against all odds somehow managed to stop Alexander's finest in their tracks!
Well, maybe Alexanders Companions had been halted, but the Mongols light horse archers were different gravy - especially those armed with javelins which functioned as bows, all whilst cosplaying as Thessalian Light Cavalry.
A volley of archery and the Kurdish horsemen were removed from play - as the Dailami bowmen had sequestered all of their commanders PiPs in order to flee the scene in shame out to the right of the frame, seeking to do what they could at a later date to limit the exposure of the Khurasan camp to possible Mongol predations.
In the centre the Mongols repeated reliance on retreat, return, shoot and repeat was starting to come up against the very real possibility of evading off table, and as a result small pockets of actual hand to hand combat started to break out between the rather exhausted Khurasanian defenders and the fallen-back Mongol supposed attackers.
On the side-lines, the Indian Levy Slaves and Hostages were somehow being driven forward towards the flanks of the over-extended Khurasani army, the unarmed hapless peasants presence transfixing the confused Arabians in place
L'Art de la Guerre hint - Expendable Levy can't charge anyone, in fact they can't even move into a support position. But, they do still exert a ZoC on enemy troops - which is rather irritating, especially when they are used as they have been here, in penny packets rather than in a solid block.
This isn't a way of using the Levy that I've really seen before, and I'm not sure it feels entirely right from a rules perspective that troops who can't initiate combat still exert a ZoC on enemy units.
With time running out, the Mongolo-Thessalians, fresh from their victory against the Kurds and Dailami bowmen, snuck sneakily towards the table edge, lining themselves up for a run at the Bedouin-style camp tents.
But, with archers on foot and horseback now in play against them, and the clock ticking down apace the history-changing likelihood of the philosophers of Ancient Greece having to learn Arabic in order to read through a stolen copy of the Koran started to seem rather distant yet agian
As both armies slumped close to defeat and exhaustion, the Indian Warrior Captured Levies were now causing huge irritation to both flanks of the Khurasanian attack, bogging down any chance of further forward impetus
Romans and Greeks evaded nervously away from the elephant corps, stopping just short of the abyss of the back edge of the table in yet another feigned flight in response to repeated Khurasanian charges
The Khurasani army had taken a real battering from archery, coming close to shattering under the sheer weight or fire, but the Mongol/Macedonian/Roman alliance had repeatedly proved unwilling or unable to stand and fight in their efforts to eke out a risk-free victory
The Result is a draw, with both armies having needed to rally their troops many times, and even so both still ending up only a handful of units away from breaking
Click here for the report of the next game in this competition, or read on for the post match summaries from Sheikh Yabouti of the Khurasanian Royal Court, in his own words which have been transcribed the morning after the battle, as the Sheikh sits in a wicker peacock throne beside a smouldering brazier filled with sage, sandalwood, and something that might be banana peel, his eyes glassy, his beard adorned with feathers and fragments of war. There is also another episode of legendary expert analysis from Hannibal
Post Match Summary from the Khurasanian Commander
My brothers… my beautiful, baffled brothers. What was that that just occurredy? No, seriously - what was that?
We began with such intent, such groove. The horns blew, the drums throbbed, and the Khurasani host surged forth like a tidal wave of well-moisturised destiny. In front of us: the Mongols. Supposedly fearsome, legendarily ruthless. But what did they do? They… drifted. Floated backwards. Always just out of reach. Like an ex-lover in a dream sequence scored by early Pink Floyd.
Their archers, man - they just never stopped. Like, who brings that many arrows? They must’ve had entire wheat silos filled with them. Our men kept pushing, chasing, sweating, chanting - but every time we thought we’d pinned them down, they skated back to the edge of the world.
I don’t mean metaphorically - I saw the edge. There was a cliff, and a blinking neon sign that said "Here Be Narrative Collapse." I swear it.
But then - oh man, then - the weirdness really started.
First: the flanks. We’d committed so heavily to the centre, like all good celestial offensive alignments require, when suddenly there’s… movement on the sides. Except not cavalry. Not soldiers. Prisoners. Slaves. Hostages. Children. Women with pots on their heads. I swear one group was led by a goat wearing chainmail.
They just started marching at us. Not in a disciplined military sense, but with this terrifying, hypnotic unity - like they’d been convinced this was all part of a very important theatrical performance. Who does that? Who weaponises civilians like a flash mob? The Khan, that’s who - a man who apparently read The Art of War backwards, upside down, while high on fermented yak yoghurt.
But I haven’t even told you the strangest part. Maybe it was exhaustion. Maybe it was the mushrooms in that experimental Ben & Jerry’s flavour - “Psychedelic Pistachio Mind-Bloom Swirl." But I saw things. Roman Equites. I mean proper, 2nd-century AD, shiny brass cuirasses, polished caligae, the lot. And just when I thought my brain had melted through my sandals, Alexander’s Companions came charging out of a copse of trees. Macedonian plumes. Xyston lances. One of them winked at me!
Now, I thought I was hallucinating. But then my vizier leaned over and whispered, ‘Sire… is that Parmenion?’ I don’t even know how he knows Parmenion. But we both saw it. I think. Maybe. I don’t know anymore.
Some claim - the ones with more sobriety than spirituality - that the Khan’s guard had dressed up, playing mind games, taking on the guises of history’s finest. If so, I say: what kind of twisted cosplay is this? You dress your elites as Roman cavalry to freak out your enemy commander during a key engagement? I mean, sure, it worked, but it's also just... surreal dude, totally surreal!
So, we didn’t lose. But we didn’t win, either. The battle ended in twilight, with our men sprawled across the plain gasping for air and the Mongols still gently retreating, firing arrows with the emotional energy of someone sighing while painting watercolours.
In conclusion: I have no idea what happened. I’m not even sure where we are. But I’m requesting the immediate banning of all Mongol armies, historical impersonators, and dairy-based psychedelics from future campaigns.
Also, if anyone finds my camel - the one with the painted toenails and the necklace made of bells -tell him I’m sorry. I tried to be the general the universe needed. But sometimes the universe is wearing a toga and speaking Latin, and honestly, I just can’t compete with that.
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
Ah, Sheikh Yabouti. The Sultan of Stagnation. The Ayatollah of Almost. Once more, thou dust-scented balladeer of indecision, thou hast contrived to snatch mediocrity from the jaws of opportunity!
Let me speak plainly, for no incense-clouded fog nor swirl of psychedelic Ben & Jerry’s flavours can disguise the truth: you began the battle already retreating. Your army, instead of taking the field with purpose and fury, began halfway to the baggage train. I’ve seen more forward momentum from a sleeping war elephant
You were facing Mongols, not ghosts. Their plan was written in letters large enough for even one of your tie-dyed camp followers to read: skirmish, screen, delay. And what did you do? You let them.
You allowed their human shield - a pathetic assembly of hostages and unfortunates - to loiter in your path like a poorly cast extra in one of your endless psychedelic rock operas. You had Dailami axe-men and Arab light horse capable of brushing them aside with barely a flick of the wrist, yet you stood there dithering as if unsure whether to charge or recite poetry.
And then - oh, the ignominy - you let yourself be outwaited. The Mongols fell back to the edge of the world, their bows plinking like an off-key zither, and you plodded after them like a philosopher late for tea. Aggression, Yabouti. It wins battles - not flower garlands and dreamcatchers.
And what of the so-called "Greek and Roman" horse? What fevered date-syrup hallucination made you hesitate before those imposters? I've crushed the actual Greek and Roman cavalry, boy. Macedonian Companions? Equites? They were real once - and they lost. Badly. These Mongol masqueraders weren’t even convincing cosplay. Yet you gazed at them as if Alexander himself had returned astride Bucephalus to ruin your chakras.
Had I been in command - and gods know I weep that I was not - there would have been no dawdling, no dreamy hesitation. The hostage screen would have been swept away like autumn leaves before a charge, the pseudo-Romans broken like cheap amphorae, and the Mongols crushed against the edge of the world with nowhere left to run but into oblivion.
Instead, you offered up this draw, and have the gall to call it a vision-guided success. Bah! Thou art a camel-bothering fortune-cookie of a general, full of riddles and wind, but lacking the one thing that matters: victory.
Thou mystic of mediocrity! Thou sultan of squandered initiative! Go now, and let thy troops listen once again to sitars and delusion, while the rest of us remember what war is meant to be, and we shall all pray that you too remember in time for the next game!
Click here for the report of the next game in this competition
You may also like....
Game 1 Khurasanian vs Ghaznavid
Game 2 Khurasanian vs Ottoman Empire
Game 3 Khurasanian vs Mongol Empire
Game 4 Khurasanian vs Wars of the Roses
Game 5 Khurasanian vs Mongol Empire
Game 6 Khurasanian vs French Ordonnance
Or, for our many foreign readers ..
** Game 1 Khurasanian vs Ghaznavid - In Spanish! **
** Game 2 Khurasanian vs Ottoman Empire - In German! **
** Game 3 Khurasanian vs Mongol Empire - In Portuguese! **
** Game 4 Khurasanian vs War of The Roses - In Spanish! **
** Game 4 Khurasanian vs Mongol Empire - In Spanish! **
** Game 4 Khurasanian vs French Ordonnance - In Australian! **
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