Slitherine

guadalete

umayyad (fogman) 31/32
wisigoth (allendeuce) 54/52

fogman 10.4
allendeuce 9.7

close call as the umayyad infantry was able to close in on the wisigothic infantry in the nick of time.

TALAS

Mcfcivo(tang) 73/73

vs.

Huskie (abbasids) 50/73

Guadalete

Londo (Goths) 36/52 - allendeuce (Umayyads) 32/32

Notwithstanding his unfortunate speech impediment, King Wodewic of the Wisigoths fought bravely against a vicious delay marker for several turns, until it finally slew him! The Goths were saved by taking most of the left-flank lancers out of the path of the monstrous Arab cavalry, and over to the opposite flank where they could engage less-deadly Berbers. Thanks for the game Jim!

Guadalete

DRAW

Huskie (Umayyads) 27/32

vs.

Iandavidsmith (Visigoths) 34/52

Battle results:
Solachon
Romans (Edmund) 60/80 vs Sasanians (Londo) 81/80
Edmund 10.1
Londo 7.5
The Romans centre held its own whilst their cavalry won on both wings, whilst the Persians felt their lack of armour, apart from their cataphracts who fought well. The game ended with the Huns starting to turn in the back of the enemy centre.

Thanks for the game Londo.

Talas
Abbasids (Edmund) 67/73 vs Tang (Fogman) 73/73
Edmund 10.0
allendeuce 9.2
If the Abbasids can avoid too many casualties in the infantry slog the game lasts longer giving time for the fleeing troops to complete their point gathering and start to return! This game tipped one way and then another several times, making it a particularly interesting scenario. Eventually the Abbasids assembled a great mass of cavalry, which the Tang just about held back with careful use of their remaining cavalry. In the end, the Tang front line was worn down, giving them a narrow victory on points.

Thanks for a great game Fogman in both design and play.

ROUND 23: BROTHERLY STRIFE

At the dawn of the 9th century, the two most powerful empires in the ‘known world’ were that of the Carolingians and that of the Abbasids. But succession struggles were brewing. The Muslim world was torn first, in 811, by the struggle between the brothers Al Amin and Al Ma’mum that would contribute to the re-emergence of Persian polities in Eastern Iran -Tahirids, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, and the definitive end to the Arab age of Islam. Thirty years later, in Western Europe, the three grandsons of Charlemagne -Lothair, Louis and Charles, engaged in a conflict that was to determine the direction of European History until modern times, notably the rivalry between Valois and Habsburg, between France and Germany.

RAYY 811
Ali ibn Isa led the Abbasid army out of Baghdad in the spring of 811 to subdue the caliph Al-Amin’s half-brother, the ruler of Khurasan Al-Ma’mum. The latter, needing to buy time to gather his troops, sent ahead Tahir ibn Husayn with a small but elite Khurasanian mobile force. At Rayy, near present day Tehran, Tahir decided to confront the much larger army of Ali. With his wings buckling under heavy pressure, his only chance was a surprise assault on the enemy centre in the hope of killing Ali. Spearheaded by the elite Khwarazmian horsemen, he succeeded spectacularly. Tahir’s great victory heralded a new age of Persian revival in the eastern part of the Muslim world.

FONTENOY 841
Lothair, Charlemagne’s eldest grandson and titular emperor, sought to unify the empire under his sole rule, to the detriment of his brothers, Charles (of West Francia) and Louis (of East Francia). He intended to use his central position to defeat them one after the other but failed to prevent their armies from uniting at Fontenoy. Ensued the largest battle in the West in centuries and for centuries to come as contingents from all over the empire were involved. Lothair’s failure to defeat his brothers broke up the empire forever. Most of his lands were eventually absorbed into those of the political descendants of Louis and together those lands went on to constitute the medieval Holy Roman Empire while to the west, the kingdom of France slowly emerged as a powerful rival. As for the Carolingians, they went extinct in the 10th century.

-------------

Challenges forthcoming.

Battle files

Rayy 811 Fontenoy 841

Result

TALAS 751

Iandavidsmth (Abbasid) 65/76 win over Allendeuce (Tang) 73/73

Iandavidsmth : 10 pts
Allendeuce : 8.5 pts

Close game,
Ian

Hi fogman and everyone

I am dropping out of the tournament. I have one more result to post. Afterward, I will no longer be participating. Thank you all for the wonderful few months that it has been.

All the best, happy wargaming!

Guadalete

(umayyads) Edmund_Blackadder vs 20/32

huskie (visigoths) 57/52

This is my last game. Thank you ALL for the wonderful time in the tournament.

Best of luck, happy wargaming

Thanks for the game Huskie. Hope to catch you in a friendly game sometime.
To save fogman getting his calculator out that is 6.3 for Huskie and 11.0 for EB

Hi FM

Please read private message.

Cheers

Eric

Talas

Londo (ABBA fans) 54/73 - Ian (Orange Cordial enthusiasts) 75/73

I didn't like the idea of attacking the Tang infantry line head-on across the broken ground. (Fogman, does it represent field fortifications?) And particularly I couldn't see a role for the Abbasid cavalry doing so.

So Ziyad and most of his cavalry went off to the right, behind the Soghdians. The Abbasid infantry paused their advance for a while, until the Tang cavalry had been broken and the Abbasid horse was sweeping round behind the Tang foot.

Thanks for the game Ian.

Londo wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 5:49 pm Talas

Londo (ABBA fans) 54/73 - Ian (Orange Cordial enthusiasts) 75/73

I didn't like the idea of attacking the Tang infantry line head-on across the broken ground. (Fogman, does it represent field fortifications?) And particularly I couldn't see a role for the Abbasid cavalry doing so.

So Ziyad and most of his cavalry went off to the right, behind the Soghdians. The Abbasid infantry paused their advance for a while, until the Tang cavalry had been broken and the Abbasid horse was sweeping round behind the Tang foot.

Thanks for the game Ian.

I think it is perfectly sensible for the Abbasids to attack the Tang infantry line. It’s what the Sogdian archers are there for, to soften it up. The rough terrain is to enhance the Tang medium infantry capabilities. It could have been field fortifications, we don’t know, but I wanted a certain toughness in that line.

More Talas

Londo (Tang) 33/73 - mcfcivo (Abbasids) 73/73

This is what I had feared in the reverse game. The Abbasids launched an immediate full-scale assault along the Tang line. Although they routed some of the Tang foot, the Abbasids took such heavy casualties that the battle was over before the masses of Sogdian and Karluk cavalry could swarm through the Tang flank.

Admittedly, the dice gave me a lot of help! Thanks for the game Andy.

I’ll post the challenges this weekend. I work in education and with the covid thing it’s been wild.
In the meantime, i have uploaded version 2 of Rayy. The first move in that scenario is really crucial, so try out different avenues of attack playing solo.

RAYY 811 v2 (be sure to play version 2)

ABBASIDS vs KHURASANIANS
Edmund vs Fogman
Londo vs Edmund
Fogman vs Allendeuce
Iandavidsmith vs Mcfcivo
Mcfcivo vs Londo
Allendeuce vs Iandavidsmith

----------------------------------

FONTENOY 841

LOTHAIR vs LOUIS&CHARLES
Edmund vs Allendeuce
Londo vs Iandavidsmith
Fogman vs Londo
Iandavidsmith vs Fogman
Mcfcivo vs Edmund
Allendeuce vs Mcfcivo

------------------------------
First named issues challenge. No fog of war, no double moves.

Challenges

Rayy v2
Abbasids (fogman) vs Khurasanians (allendeuce)
pw: allen

Fontenoy
Lothair (fogman) vs Louis & Charles (londo)
pw: londo

Ok challenges up for

Rayy - Londo pw londo
and
Fontenoy Richard pw rich

cheers,

Andy.

allendeuce has posted challenges for mcfcivo and iandavidsmith. please check mail for passwords.