After Action Report: HMGS PSW (Los Angeles) Field of Glory

[southbaybob]

We had 10 people play in a single Field of Glory game at the con. 6 of them were fairly new to the game. (I taught the rules at the beginning.) (It certainly helped that the game was right next to the vendors. Recruited a few people who happened to be in the process of purchasing the rules.)

This brings the total of interested people in Los Angeles to 25!

Battle modeled on Nicopolis 1396.

Ottoman Turks versus the French and Hungarian Crusaders. (1500 points on a side. Table size was 4’ by 12’. I provided the figures.)

The center of the Turkish line consisted of Janissaries and Azabs who were deployed behind stakes. The Turkish right contained mostly skirmishers (light cavalry and light infantry). The strong Turkish left contained light horse and most of the Turkish cavalry along with the Sultan’s household troops.

The French were on the Crusader left, the Hungarians on the right. (The French were mostly knights, average quality, along with some infantry: Genoese, Brigans and French crossbow.) The Hungarians had knights, not as many as the French and a number of Szeklers. The Szeklers are fairly potent light horse: superior, bow, light spear, swordsmen.

There was a lot of terrain in the center and the Crusader side of the board. The Turkish side was mostly empty.

The battle opened up with the Turkish infantry picking up their stakes and advancing. They wished to be further from the table edge.

The Crusaders advanced along their front.

The Turks then went to deploy their stakes in the more forward position. Unfortunately for the Turks the right Azab battle group did not make their complex movement test to place their stakes. The French by this time were nearly upon these Azabs.

The Turkish right flank did a fair job of skirmishing with the French knights. Turkish bow fire disrupted a knight unit, then with great alan the light horse charged these French knights. It was fairly even at first since the French had lost a base due to bow fire. Slowly though the French got the upper hand in this close combat.

The rest of the French left slowly pushed back the Turkish skirmishers.

The French infantry face the Janissaries and the rest of the Azabs. They were played skillfully and never came within shooting range of the Turkish infantry (deployed behind their stakes).

The Crusader right consisting of most of the Hungarian Szeklers were held up by Turkish light cavalry.

The right center consisting of the Hungarian knights made good progress against the Sultan’s cavalry.

The devastating blow by the Crusaders came from the French Brigans believe it or not. They routed off the Turkish Laylars. They then broke a Turkish Bedouin unit, which have previously failed it’s cohesion test from the breaking of the Laylars.

The game ended with the Turks retreating on all fronts with the exception of the Janissaries and the one Azab unit. These were holding fast behind their stakes, even though their flanks were not going to hold.

For those interested, Osprey has a book on Nicopolis 1396.

Cheers,
Bob

[korvus]

Where were the Wallachians?

Mircea the Old rode like the devil to be there with ten thousand men after all...

Sounds like fun though

:)

Cole