[custom scenario] Rise of the Elephant Kings

[StuccoFresco]

Hello to all, this is an AAR for a fictional scenario I created. I have planned to create an entire campaign (or more than one) set in a fictional world just to experiment with modding, warfare eras and whatnot. I am currently recreating the struggle for power in the Raj subcontinent, which is obviously a stand-in for the real-world Indian subcontinent. In this campaign I will show how the contenders, divided among Northern Kingdoms and Southern Kingdoms, will evolve their tactics and equipment in order to overcome their rivals and (temporarily) establish an hegemonic rule over the land (or a part of it).

The campaign at the moment features only this scenario, but I will make more since the bulk of the work has already been done: I've already created all the units of all "eras" and their graphics, all the flags, and learned to script descriptions for everything, as well as battlemap pop-ups. I've yet to dabble in AI scripting, but honestly the AI seems to do a damn fine job in pitched battles, so maybe I can skip it entirely for now.

I'll first post the ingame description of the battle:

"The Southern Kingdom of Rajput has warred with its neighbours for decades, while paying tributes to the Northern Kingdom of Ladakh. The Northerners have used their superior cavalry to submit a number of Southern Kingdoms to their will, but in the last decade the training of Elephants have been met with resounding success, permitting the employement of those massive animals in battle with a satisfactory degree of reliability.

It's time for the Elephant Kingdoms to rise.

You, Raja Keshav Das of the Southern Kingdom of Rajput, have finally launched a challenge to your sovereign lord Bhagan of the Northern Kingdom of Ladakh. Your Elephants will be your ace in the sleeve against the superior Ladakh cavalry, expecially their dreaded Mysore Guard, that has crushed every opposition until now. Normally, the Northerners wait until the infantry combat starts before charging in with their cavalry. You should wait for their move, and then counterattack with the elephants. Enemy cavalry is present in great numbers on your right flank too, but there is some difficult terrain that can slow them down and allow your elephants to counter them.

The Northerners are quite confident in the victory, so much that they publicly hanged our emissaries. Let them advance: there is some rough patch of terrain that can be exploited against their cavalry."

[StuccoFresco]

First turns are spent positioning my units in the center, trying to match the enemy's formation that is seemingly shifting his Mysore Guard (heavy gendarmes) around. The checkerboard formation should allow my elephants to both disrupt any cavalry that tries to charge my lines and set up counterattacks against it. I park my Longbowmen in a couple rough ground patches and shoot at the advancing enemy. The Northerners ride forward with their Mansadbar Irregulars (light cavalry), but their charges against my lines are ineffective thanks to the rough ground. Their infantry soon follows, and by turn 5 the central melee is in full swing.



The left flank was neglected by both armies because of a large forest that covered my left flank: Northern Mansadbar Irregulars have moved toward the centre and only a single Cavalry unit from both sides are facing. In Turn 5, however, the enemy Mansadbar Horsemen (impact cavalry) seems to move to threaten the flank of my infantry, so I decide to send my own Poligar Cavalry (same type) against it. The Mansadbar have a slight discipline advantage, but I should at least keep them occupied long enough.

On the right flank I initially managed to beat back a couple Irregulars and a Mansadbar cavalry, but then a surprise flank charge by another Mansadbar Horsemen unit routed one of my own Poligar Cavalry unit. Meanwhile, probably due to my elephants roaming behind them, a Poligar Cavalry and a Poligar Raiders (light cavalry) are failing to route a single Irregular unit... Another Irregular managed instead to rout another of my Raiders unit. Northern cavalry is no joke, but I now have finally positioned my elephants to pull off a couple charges that could change the outcome. I also snuck a Raider unit behind the enemy cavalry, so I can wreak some havoc now.

In the middle, the melee sees my units winning on the left-center and losing in the right-center, where the enemy Nawab's own Guard (heavy weapon determined foot) have charged one of my massive Poligar Infantry unit, crushing it to bits thanks to the fact that a botched positioning had left them without an escape route. My own Rajah's guard (same type) is trying to outflank the enemy center.

[StuccoFresco]

During Turn 6 disaster strikes my lines: an enemy infantry block charges and routes one of the Elephants unit! At the same time, an enemy Irregular unit finally routes the Longbowmen in the center, but instead of smashing into the waiting spears of my infantry just behind, it manages to worm its way around and pass through my lines. Without my elephants disorganizing the massed enemy cavalry in the middle, I may suffer a breakthrough. I quickly divert the Rajah's guard toward the center and charge another Mysore Guard unit with another Elephant unit.

On the right flank, the enemy Irregulars are still holding the line, frustrating my efforts, but at least the combined assault of Elephants and Poligar Cavalry routs an enemy Mansadbar Horsemen unit. I will try to move the now-free Elephants toward the center of the battlefield.



I lose the battle during Ladakh's Turn 7: a bad move has left the side of an Elephants' units open to an infantry charge, that promptly send them fleeing. This frees a Mysore Guard unit from their Zone of Control, and allow it to flank-charge my Rajah's Guard that was preparing a flank charge on its own. The Mysore Guard tramples my general's elite soldiers and routs them. The entire center-right of my army is going to be destroyed.



I try to salvage the situation with some infantry action in the middle, but with my center completely collapsed, the Northerners are able to pull off several flank-charges into my ranks and reach the victory threshold.

[StuccoFresco]

All in all, I really enjoyed this battle: the units performed within expectations (except maybe the elephants: too prone to flee maybe, and the Longbowmen didn't seem to profit from their above-average discipline). I lost because of a couple very poor movements in the center-right, that allowed a cascade of flank-charges that costed me the battle. I like that the AI was smart and quick enough to capitalize on that errors, really shoved those errors down my throat.

Mention of honor to the Mansadbar Irregulars: those light lancers proved to be really durable even when charged by the heavier Poligar Cavalry, and didn't flee against the Elephants. Mysore Guards proved brutal, but as long as I managed to keep the Elephants near them, they were manageable and thus the tactic was working as intended.

Placing the archers in the middle has been... controversial. While they absorbed the enemy Irregulars' charges very well, they failed to rack up kills with their bows. I have to rethink their positioning, maybe. I noticed the infantry doesn't get disordered in rough terrain, so I'll park it there for extra protection against cavalry. I'll also try to keep my cavalry and right-flank elephants closer to the center of the battlefield.

[SnuggleBunnies]

Interesting. Though, if there are no firearm troops involved, why not just load up some Indian armies in FoGII?

[StuccoFresco]

I don't have FoG and I want to show the progress of warfare so I need a starting scenario that explains why firearms were introduced in this area: to counter elephants!