Warfare 2007 FOG Report (4) vs Later Medieval Scots
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:59 pm
Despatches from Warfare (4) – Medieval Russians vs Later Medieval Scots
For the opening reports, see Warfare 2007 FOG Report (1), (2) and (3).
Round 4 saw Prince Dimitry facing Alan Cutner’s Scots. Excellent! An army with knights AND masses of spearmen. Throw in some fearsome highlanders and you’ve got a recipe for an army that the Russian’s don’t want to face. Never mind. Here is the situation after the opening moves:
The haggis loving Scots are in the background, the pious Russians in the forground.
The terrain selection went well, and Prince Dimitry got a largely open table. As a result Alan deployed “in a corner” as he had little to counter the more mobile Russian army. It was clear from deployment that Alan intended a massive right wheel with his army.
The highlanders were on the Scot’s right wing. They were supported by spearmen. He had spearmen in his centre and, err, more spearmen on his left. Two units of knights were in reserve. The spearmen on the left were supported by some longbowmen.
Prince Dimitry decided to make a game of it by a concentrated attack against the Scot’s left. The plan was to attack the end unit of spears on Alan’s left wing with the Boyars; trying to disrupt it with shooting before charging in. The Russian spearmen would try and attack the longbow men, and the Cossacks and a supporting unit of Boyars and light foot would try and delay the Scots on the other wing. Thus:
The Cossacks set to. Here they are skirmishing on the Russian left against the highlanders:
Unfortunately, they had zero impact on the highlanders, who were completely unperturbed by guys on horses with furry hats. Gradually the Scot’s wheel pushed across the table, arcing towards the camp and the main Russian attack. Here is the view from the Scot's right wing:
The Scots are on the left.
On Prince Dimitry’s right things were getting hot. Alan threw a unit of Scots spears into both units of Russian spearmen. Brace yourself, Sergi:
The move looked desperate as Alan didn’t want the Russian spearmen getting into the longbow men, so he threw 8 bases of spears into 12 bases of Russian spears, with all other factors being equal.
However, the Scots had just been down at the pub finishing their 6th pint and spoiling for a fight. They proceeded to beat up the Russians in no uncertain terms. Eventually both units of Russian spearmen broke and headed off for an early sauna.
On the Russian far right the situation was no better. Without any spearmen to bother them the longbows started to shoot at the nearest Boyar unit. Unfortunately, longbows are good against mounted. Thus the boyar unit was forced to charge the longbows. It was a close fight – the boyars had far better factors but the longbows had twice the number. At one stage the cavalry were forced to break off and re-launch a charge. In the end quantity prevailed and the longbows were victorious
Against the spear unit anchoring the Scots left wing the boyars fared no better. They did little damage with shooting and lost the subsequent combat.
Meanwhile the Scots wheel was engaging the Russian centre and started to rout units. 22 -10 to Alan.
Post game analysis: This was the most frustrating game of the weekend for the Russians. The Scots is a tough army anyway, and I felt the marginal combats generally went the Scots’ way. Alan had a similar game in the previous game, and against Paul on Saturday I was in a situation where the marginal combats went my way. So I guess it all evens out.
This was my first comp with the Russians, so I’m starting to learn how to use the army. I used Ilkhanid Mongols at Britcon, who are drilled cavalry as opposed to the undrilled Russians. I was surprised how much difference there is between drilled and undrilled cavalry. A look at the movement chart shows little difference – drilled are better able to expand than undrilled – but in reality it means that for undrilled cavalry it can be a little hit-and-miss as to whether they shake out into skirmish line or not. In two games a unit of boyars struggled to deploy out into skirmish order against advancing knights, something which the Mongols have no problems with. It gives a nice differential between drilled and undrilled cavalry and means the extra points may be worth paying for – something not really present in DBM.
For the opening reports, see Warfare 2007 FOG Report (1), (2) and (3).
Round 4 saw Prince Dimitry facing Alan Cutner’s Scots. Excellent! An army with knights AND masses of spearmen. Throw in some fearsome highlanders and you’ve got a recipe for an army that the Russian’s don’t want to face. Never mind. Here is the situation after the opening moves:
The haggis loving Scots are in the background, the pious Russians in the forground.
The terrain selection went well, and Prince Dimitry got a largely open table. As a result Alan deployed “in a corner” as he had little to counter the more mobile Russian army. It was clear from deployment that Alan intended a massive right wheel with his army.
The highlanders were on the Scot’s right wing. They were supported by spearmen. He had spearmen in his centre and, err, more spearmen on his left. Two units of knights were in reserve. The spearmen on the left were supported by some longbowmen.
Prince Dimitry decided to make a game of it by a concentrated attack against the Scot’s left. The plan was to attack the end unit of spears on Alan’s left wing with the Boyars; trying to disrupt it with shooting before charging in. The Russian spearmen would try and attack the longbow men, and the Cossacks and a supporting unit of Boyars and light foot would try and delay the Scots on the other wing. Thus:
The Cossacks set to. Here they are skirmishing on the Russian left against the highlanders:
Unfortunately, they had zero impact on the highlanders, who were completely unperturbed by guys on horses with furry hats. Gradually the Scot’s wheel pushed across the table, arcing towards the camp and the main Russian attack. Here is the view from the Scot's right wing:
The Scots are on the left.
On Prince Dimitry’s right things were getting hot. Alan threw a unit of Scots spears into both units of Russian spearmen. Brace yourself, Sergi:
The move looked desperate as Alan didn’t want the Russian spearmen getting into the longbow men, so he threw 8 bases of spears into 12 bases of Russian spears, with all other factors being equal.
However, the Scots had just been down at the pub finishing their 6th pint and spoiling for a fight. They proceeded to beat up the Russians in no uncertain terms. Eventually both units of Russian spearmen broke and headed off for an early sauna.
On the Russian far right the situation was no better. Without any spearmen to bother them the longbows started to shoot at the nearest Boyar unit. Unfortunately, longbows are good against mounted. Thus the boyar unit was forced to charge the longbows. It was a close fight – the boyars had far better factors but the longbows had twice the number. At one stage the cavalry were forced to break off and re-launch a charge. In the end quantity prevailed and the longbows were victorious
Against the spear unit anchoring the Scots left wing the boyars fared no better. They did little damage with shooting and lost the subsequent combat.
Meanwhile the Scots wheel was engaging the Russian centre and started to rout units. 22 -10 to Alan.
Post game analysis: This was the most frustrating game of the weekend for the Russians. The Scots is a tough army anyway, and I felt the marginal combats generally went the Scots’ way. Alan had a similar game in the previous game, and against Paul on Saturday I was in a situation where the marginal combats went my way. So I guess it all evens out.
This was my first comp with the Russians, so I’m starting to learn how to use the army. I used Ilkhanid Mongols at Britcon, who are drilled cavalry as opposed to the undrilled Russians. I was surprised how much difference there is between drilled and undrilled cavalry. A look at the movement chart shows little difference – drilled are better able to expand than undrilled – but in reality it means that for undrilled cavalry it can be a little hit-and-miss as to whether they shake out into skirmish line or not. In two games a unit of boyars struggled to deploy out into skirmish order against advancing knights, something which the Mongols have no problems with. It gives a nice differential between drilled and undrilled cavalry and means the extra points may be worth paying for – something not really present in DBM.
