LORDS OF KHURASAN circa 1000

[lydianed]

Saffarids (lydianed) 23/35 bt. Seljuks (ScipioAsinus) (41/39)

Seljuks advanced in mass towards a line of Ghilman supported by MF. The Saffarid right bent up and around and was able to close in behind the Seljuk rear to devastating effect. Seljuk Bedouin Cav fared badly against Saffarid Ghilman and MF. The gap allowed the Saffarids to claim the turkish camp. The weight of the Seljuks was on the Saffarid centre and left wing which finally broke in the last round but after a long and bloody struggle.

[solly]

Two games was ended:
Solly (Daylami buyds) 21/36 vs Fogman (Abbassids) 46/37
Solly (Daylami buyds) 20/36 vs Lydianed (Saffarids) 36/35

Some general considerations:
MF are more performant than HF for the mobility;
light troups are useful only to prevent the enemy double move;
cavalry must be well armoured, if no the second turn after a charge is too dangerous;
cavalry must escape or retain? . . . this is the questions!

It's difficult to write for me (apologies to all for my bad english!) and sometime to understand.

I'm very curious to see the retourn challenge.

Salutations, ciao to all!

[ScipioAsinus]

Seljuks (ScipioAsinus) 26/35 vs Ghaznavids (uheng1997) 34/31

The Seljuks were divided in two wings; Turcomans on the left outflanked and detroyed a small Ghilman wing, while my right wing ( Ghilman and 3 bedouin lancers) barely held against the main strike force of the Ghaznavids.

Lessons learned:
8 LF archers is way too much.
Turcomans Cavalry archers might be a better choice than bedouin lancers if they have some space to manoeuver.
Infantry could have been useful (but there are only 3 Dailami in the list).

[uheng1997]

Seljuks (ScipioAsinus) 26/35 vs Ghaznavids (uheng1997) 34/31

Small force of Ghaznavid armored cavalry overwhelmed by more numerous Turkish protected cavalry on the right flank. This was supposed to be a holding action on the right, but I turned it into a quickly ending melee. if i had just kept to the plan of delaying on this flank the better cavalry could have given time for the main force on the left to defeat the Turkish right.

Ghaznavid left a mixed force of cavalry and infantry did well against the remaining Turks. Just needed some more time! From a tactical perspective Superior Impact MF backing up a line of Cavalry has worked fairly well.

Cheers

[lydianed]

Saffarids (lydianed) 30/35 vs. Ghaznavids (Uheng1997) 35/31

Saffarids loaded the left wing with Ghilman and broke the Ghaznavid cavalry on the right quickly but the story was reversed on the Saffarid right where lancers and Ghilman overwhelmed the saffarids. As in previous games he who broke largest and quickest was able to gain the upper hand which was the saffarids on this occasion. Despite some fierce fighting between MF supported by cavalry on both sides in the centre of the field - again a line of woods and ponds - the ghaznavids were unable to exploit their breakthrough. In a race of who can sack the camp first the saffarids won by a neck. A really tight and enjoyable game where I'm pleased to say the dice did not produce crazy results.

[fogman]

Two games was ended:
Solly (Daylami buyds) 21/36 vs Fogman (Abbassids) 46/37

Major failure on impact on the part of bedouin lancers which resulted in their quick destruction and a chain reaction of cohesion failures along the entire line. protected lancers are a gamble against superior armoured enemy and need to be handled very carefully.

So far after 6 days: 19 games ended out of 28. our newbie uheng1997 is holding his ground admirably. you'll be a good player very soon dude. we are able to make good progress because the games are usually not over 10 turns (evenly matched armies tend to seek out each other quickly rather than endlessly jockeying for position), players have kept their pledge to play everyday and we just have too much fun to delay! at this rate we may be able to start the mirror games mid-week. and I already have the next tournament ready!

[solly]

My last two games:

Solly (Daylami buyds) 21/36 vs ScipioAsinus (Seljuk Turk) 40/39
About 1/4 of best turk cavalry attack some MF in a little hill and adiacent field camp;
I loose some of this, but I have a supremacy in centre.
Well armoured MF complete the work

Solly (Daylami buyds) 37/36 vs Iandavidsmith (Abbassids) 28/29
In a very open terrain, I use too much of my troups in a wing attack.
My right wing was in difficult situation and my centre in numerical inferiority.
My prefer strategy, this time against me! (Alexander magnus docet!)
Ian play a fine tactis and I loose: for one point! . . . grrr

The retourn match for all the revenges!

P.S. wellcome to uheng, all the others are medium veterans: every new player is a new friend in this community!

We meet from some day: ciao

[lascar]

Lascar ( Ghaznavids ) 30/31 vs uheng1997 (Ghaznavids) 31/31

Not a lot of fancy maneuvering involved just two Ghanzanvid armies clashing in a swirling fight that went right down to the wire.
Close games like this are the most enjoyable.

[lascar]

Lascar (Ghaznavids) 28/30 vs Iandavidsmith (Abbassids) 29/29 Another very close and enjoyable game. Win or lose close games are
the most enjoyable.

[fogman]

only 5 games left, 4 involving ian, and they all must be close to the finish line; mine will probably be over in the next two turns. thinking ahead, you all should start recruiting your armies for the second round. remember you're playing the armies of your opponents from round 1 and they play yours.

lascar, since you don't have swords and scimitars and can't access the seljuk turks, you can pick another army when you play scipioasinus.

[iandavidsmith]

all my games are in play at the moment , my disaster
game with you should be over very soon

Cheers
Ian

[lydianed]

only 5 games left, 4 involving ian, and they all must be close to the finish line; mine will probably be over in the next two turns. thinking ahead, you all should start recruiting your armies for the second round. remember you're playing the armies of your opponents from round 1 and they play yours.

lascar, since you don't have swords and scimitars and can't access the seljuk turks, you can pick another army when you play scipioasinus.

In preparation for the mirror games are we allowed to alter the army composition from round 1?

[fogman]

you are not using your army from round 1. for example you had saffarids against my later abbasids, in round 2 you will use later abbasids and I will play with your saffarids. so you have to build new armies.

[lydianed]

Right. had everyone else got that and its just me being the doofus?

[fogman]

Right. had everyone else got that and its just me being the doofus?

people who played in 'lords of the steppe' knew. the rest does know now.

[fogman]

fogman (later abbasids) 12/37 vs iandavidsmith (renegade abbasids) 30/29

the rebel infantry was posted on a forested hill in the centre while their cavalry advanced on the wings, one huge mass of about 12-14 ghilman on one side, and about 7 lancers on the other. but the wings were too far apart and the entire abbasid cavalry were able to concentrate on the ghilman and destroy them before the lancers were able to come through the delaying screen.

[iandavidsmith]

fogman (later abbasids) 12/37 vs iandavidsmith (renegade abbasids) 30/29

the rebel infantry was posted on a forested hill in the centre while their cavalry advanced on the wings, one huge mass of about 12-14 ghilman on one side, and about 7 lancers on the other. but the wings were too far apart and the entire abbasid cavalry were able to concentrate on the ghilman and destroy them before the lancers were able to come through the delaying screen.

That's a nice way of saying your opponent completely cocked up the initial placement of his troops
lol

[uheng1997]

Right. had everyone else got that and its just me being the doofus?

people who played in 'lords of the steppe' knew. the rest does know now.

Okay so being the newbie here (fellow doofus with lydianed)......does this mean that everyone will be playing against me as Ghaznavids and I will be playing the Abbasids/Dlaimi/Khurasanians etc based on what the other person played in the first round? I do not have Swords and Scimitars for the Turks.

And thanks to everyone for the kind words. Hopefully i'll have a better showing in round 2.

Chris

[fogman]

that's correct. as with lascar you can choose another army when you play scipioasinus (the original turk).

[mschund]

Saminid (mschund) 21/35 vs Abbasid (iandavidsmith) 32/29

With a strongly anchored left flank in the mountains, the Saminids were able initially break the Abbassid left flank. A subsequent shift of Abbassid forces from their center and reserve to deal with the loss of their left flank stabilized their left flank at the expense of their weakened. The final break came at Abbassid center where the Saminids broke through again and this time there were no reserves to stop them.