The Dustbin . . .

[nyczar]

Quarter-Final Challenge

nyczar (Scots-Irish 50 BC-476 AD) v Macedonczyk (Arab Conquest 638-684 AD) PW rubicon.

PM sent

[harveylh]

Quarter-Final result

harveylh (Andalusian 756-1049 AD) defeats Morbio (Roman 197-284 AD with Arab 312 BC - 299 AD allies), 49-22

A very constrained map as there was a lake on one flank and rugged hills on the other. This was largely an infantry struggle though, in the end, some Andalusian lancers were the difference. Well played by the Romans and one Arab veteran spear passing multiple morale tests and keeping two Roman legion units in check for several turns was probably the difference.

[klayeckles]

quarter final result:
klayeckles (indogreek +indian) defeats CONSTANTINIX (Roman+Jewish) 62 to 50

Wow the indogreeks pull off another come from behind victory! The Roman general moved to his right to engage the numerous indian bowman and elephants that were attempting to work to the flank. the indian bowman tried to play a cat and mouse game , but the legions were too manouverable, catching a bowman. the general of the elephants forgot his orders and charged 4 elephants into the roman line to try and save the bowmen, and things decayed quickly for the indians as the bowmen quickly routed sending panic into the nearby elephants. Meanwhile the indian cavalry attempted to dance around the roman flanks, but were unable to find a weakness, and the indo greek phalynx ground up against the crack roman legions. Things were looking dire for the indians; their entire left flank almost gone, the center in a stalemate, and the wide flanking force lost and confused. A rag tag group of indian javelinmen found a gap and marched toward the roman rear, only to be surprised by jewish forces lying in wait in the woods to the roman rear. The romans were nearing victory, if they could crack the steady phalynx and one remaining elephant. but some of the less experienced romans broke against the elephant, allowing it to rampage into the roman rear. in quick succession the tiring romans, depleted fighting the indian horde, broke as more indian troops poured into the hole. In minutes it went from a glorious victory to a potential catastrophe. the remaining roman legions, pride of rome closed the gaps, called for the distant jewish troops and roman cavalry fending off the indian cavalry. but it arrived too late. the indians managed to find an open flank, exposing their own flanks in order to land a final blow.

Extremely well played by CONSTANTINIX...A pity his exceptional efforts were not rewarded--except for his name being put into the annuls of history!

[CONSTANTINIX]

Well narrated and even more well played ! I hope to see you again on the battlefield.

[Macedonczyk]

Round 4
Macedonczyk (Arab Conquest 638-684 AD) defeats Nyczar (Scots-Irish 50 BC-476 AD) 43:13

Hard game where terrain was good for Arab (no rough terrain in centre and hill + forest on wings which limit possibility of flank attack by chariots).
Scots has made some gambit attack uphill with medium foot on lancers to unlock road to my back for chariot but my lancers keep disrupt nearly all attacks. At the same time my veteran spearmans slowly win battle with other Scotts medium foot.

[nyczar]

Round 4
Macedonczyk (Arab Conquest 638-684 AD) defeats Nyczar (Scots-Irish 50 BC-476 AD) 43:13

Hard game where terrain was good for Arab (no rough terrain in centre and hill + forest on wings which limit possibility of flank attack by chariots).
Scots has made some gambit attack uphill with medium foot on lancers to unlock road to my back for chariot but my lancers keep disrupt nearly all attacks. At the same time my veteran spearmans slowly win battle with other Scotts medium foot.

Stymied by skill and offensive spears exposing the weakness of the Scot horde: low staying power and little armor... back to the drawing board... Good game well played.

[stockwellpete]

The semi-final draw for the 2020 KO Tournament will take place on Sunday at the usual time - 9pm (BST).

1. Macedonczyk (Arab Conquest 638-684 AD)
2. klayeckles (Indo-Greek 175 BC-10 AD with Indian 500BC-319 AD allies)
3. harveylh (Andalusian 756-1049 AD)
4. Questar17 (Pontic 110-85 BC)

[Questar17]

Quarter-Final:

Questar17 (Pontic 110-85 BC) beat Schweetness101 (Andalusian 756-1049 AD) 36:27 ended on nightfall

On very rough and mountainous terrain with deep stream in the middle both opponents preferred to use very cautious tactics, mainly challenging via lots of skirmishers
However every score point was valuable for both parties taking into how difficult was to gain them

Very challenging game till the end

Thank you for the game and see you soon

[Schweetness101]

Quarter-Final:

Questar17 (Pontic 110-85 BC) beat Schweetness101 (Andalusian 756-1049 AD) 36:27 ended on nightfall

On very rough and mountainous terrain with deep stream in the middle both opponents preferred to use very cautious tactics, mainly challenging via lots of skirmishers
However every score point was valuable for both parties taking into how difficult was to gain them

Very challenging game till the end

Thank you for the game and see you soon

GG Questar. here's a pic about mid game for those interested in what the terrain looked like:
https://i.imgur.com/cOEVLZo.jpg

[stockwellpete]

Semi-final preview
The two favourites harveylh and klayeckles made it though their quarter-final matches safely although ConstantinIX came very close to causing an upset, narrowly succumbing to klayeckles 62-50 in the end. The other two players in the draw have never played in the "A" divisions of the Digital League and both have done exceedingly well to reach this stage of the tournament. Macedonczyk has looked very secure throughout the tournament winning his matches with comfortable margins of 50-24, 26-0, 44-10 and 43-13 and looks to have a real chance of making the final, while Questar17, who must be considered the outsider to reach the final, had another close match in the last round narrowly outpointing Schweetness101 with his unfashionable Pontic army.

[stockwellpete]

Semi-final results start here

[stockwellpete]

Semi-final matches start here

[stockwellpete]

Semi-final draw
1. Questar17 (Pontic 110-85 BC) v klayeckles (Indo-Greek 175 BC-10 AD with Indian 500BC-319 AD allies)
2. Macedonczyk (Arab Conquest 638-684 AD) v harveylh (Andalusian 756-1049 AD)

Matches to be completed by 9pm (BST) Sunday 7th June

[harveylh]

Semi-final

harveylh (Andalusian 756-1049 AD) challenges Macedonczyk (Arab Conquest 638-684 AD), pw mace, pm sent

[klayeckles]

Semi final
klayeckles (indoGreek, indian) vs Questar (pontic 110) pw indian pm sent

[stockwellpete]

Both semi-finals are under way now.

[Macedonczyk]

Macedonczyk (Arab Conquest 638-684 AD) defeats Harveylh (Andalusian 756-1049 AD) 55:19

Map: Mainly plains with a big hill in the middle.
Link to screen with map and moves:
http://imgur.com/a/q383ENk

Plan: Since I could be first only on the right side of the hill, I set all the forces except 3 lancers, camelem and 2 massed arches on the right side.
The center was to conquer a piece of the hill, right wing(the strongest) to deal with the enemy as soon as possible (or push his horses outside the map) and attack the hill from the side (maybe together with the center). The left wing was only to defend itself and retreat. As a result the front would turn 90stp and I would be on the hill.

Implementation: The enemy had some other plans. Probably he wanted to drag me to the hill and encircle so there was no problem with getting up the hill. Because turning the front 90stp made it harder to encricle I did not change my plan. And the fight started mainly on my right wing, skirmished and my lancer quickly routed one horse and disrupted lancer, rest retreat. The left wing (especially as the opponent strengthened his by 2 more horses ordered an evacuation to the hill. The center slowly turned left. I didn't want to attack there because the opponent had an advantage in numbers of units and had a lot of defensive spearman so he waited too. Waiting also had one disadvantage - my 2 veteran spearman suffered heavily from skirmishes. My skirmishes at that time were busy with attacking other skirmishes especially LH on the right wing. Although at some point I was leading 18:0 (most of them were skirmishes + 1H) I wasn't sure if the tactic of removing the skirmishes at the cost of punching my veteran spearman is right. Fortunately my right wing was moving faster than my opponent's right wing and I was able to attack the center from flank first. Additionally one of my lancers from the right wing turned back to help the left wing and very fortunately attacked 2 horses of the opponent. At peak it reached a score of 36:0 but then on my left wing flank attack started and I lost quickly about 15pts there. In centre I lost a Cnc from autobreak in mele (the one that had been heavily shouted earlier) but the lucky rest passed the cohesion test.

It was a very interesting and tough game (my hardest in KO) which if I wasn't lucky or the attack on my flank started 1 or 2 turns earlier I could lost.

[stockwellpete]

Semi-finals
1. klayeckles (Indo-Greek 175 BC-10 AD with Indian 500BC-319 AD allies) beat Questar17 (Pontic 110-85 BC) 53-26
2. Macedonczyk (Arab Conquest 638-684 AD) beat harveylh (Andalusian 756-1049 AD) 55-19

[harveylh]

It was a very interesting and tough game (my hardest in KO) which if I wasn't lucky or the attack on my flank started 1 or 2 turns earlier I could lost.

It was a very tough game. Macedonczyk made no significant mistakes and considering I had twice as much cavalry as him trying to turn both his flanks, that is outstanding. He had the hill which he used well and that slowed me down 2 turns. And then his lancer from his right-wing arrived in time to take out two of my light spear cavalry. My last chance occurred when I did kill his C-in-C but the five or six units in range all passed their cohesion tests. Well played by Macedonczyk.

Considering the potential matchups, I fully expect his Arab Conquest Army to be the new KO champion.

Harvey

[klayeckles]

klayeckles (indo-greek+ indian) defeats Questar17(pontic) 53:26

a fun battle that was close until the last turn where a third of his army broke in a massive chain reaction...a broken unit and a dead leader, resulting in a rampaging elephant etc etc. well played and a worthy semi-final match.
Can the hodge-podge olio mixer that is the indo-greeks stand up against perhaps the most feared "super-army" in FOG??? The betting and odds makers, start your predictions here (harveylh has already put his money on the Arabs) we shall see...looking forward to the challenge!

current line... 1.5 to 1 for the Arabs.

klay