Saturday 2 August 2014

Pride Before a Fall

"He's a devil, you know," the Brother said matter of factually.
"Who?" the commander of the White Company asked.
"General Pereira," the Brother Knight Commander replied.
Sir Geoffrey smiled. "Was he a devil when he was a Brother Knight?"
"That is a story for another time," said the Commander. "Look alive, we move out."
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Across the field Pereira rode up to the unit of mounted men. 
"Hero," he asked. "Is the plan clear?"
The Hero shook his head. "Yes. I and my men would prefer to fight on horseback, but I understand."
As Hero and his men dismounted the elephants lumbered forward.
"Any questions, before I go?" Pereria asked.
"Only one," the Hero said with a smile."Do these beast always smell so bad?"
As Pereira turned and rode back to the cataphracts, Kiana the Witch, smiled and bowed slightly. I hope she's ready, he thought.
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The terrain favored the Treyine Army. This was the third time rolling for terrain as the previous two were no good for a cavalry army like Mirish. For a "C" type army like Treyine it was perfect with a hill to shoot from and secure flanks of rocky terrain and woods. The only approach was down the center third of the battlefield and directly towards the hill.

Maybe Pereria is a devil as luck was with him The 1d6 die roll had the Treyine Army using the Encircle the Flank Battle Tactics. This meant the center would roll forward and engage Mirish with bow fire as the knights smashed into the Mirish left flank. 

Except, I know the strength and weaknesses of the Brethren. When approached by a melee unit starting outside of 4" and moving into 4" the Enemy Threat test is taken. Pass 2d6 - Mounted will charge. And they did, right into the elephants and Hero. The elephants wreck havoc with cavalry and the Hero AC of 8 can absorb lots of casualties. Which meant the knights would retire as they couldn't rout the Hero and elephant. The Crystal Light of Yakub increased the Mirish morale by 1 and the Spear of St. lindorf did the same for Treyine. 

Once they fell back the Mirish Casters fired Blast spells on individual units. Without any enemy Casters to intervene they only had to score the same number of successes as the target, and they always were rolling more d6. This played havoc with the White Company Knights.

With the cavalry gone, the Treyine infantry didn't stand much of a chance against the numerous and fast moving Mirish cavalry. Better to cut the losses instead of having a major defeat.

Treyine losses were 4 Rep 4 archers, 1 Arquebusiers, and 1 N Tropilium Archers.  With 10 faster moving pursuers it wasn't hard to score casualties. As the lowest point units suffer the most, the Brethren Knights and White Company were spared.

If Treyine would have rolled better tactics things would have been different.


9 comments:

  1. Treyine morale falters and goes down by 1. Treyine's opponents all cheer. The wars will continue next season.

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  2. Nice use of the Elephants and hero to draw out the cavalry. Although cavalry is awesome, it is not invincible. Charging into people who are ready for rarely comes off well.

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  3. And in other news, the weakening of the Treyine army has led some of its mercenaries to consider a more settled career. All bar the White Company have left Treyine employ and set up on their own in the territories formerly controlled by Zog-Rot. Brother Schwester of the Brethren has been elected to lead this new alliance.

    I just remembered the dangers of employing mercenaries after realising how little of the native Treyine army survived, so I rolled this evening. Treyine really is in the soup now!

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  4. Seriously? Never could trust the Brethren. So when do the peace envoys arrive? One more season, yes?
    It'll be a Blast!

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    1. That's true, you really can't trust those Red Sun goody two shoes types at all. I expect a contingent of peace envoys from Mirish imminently. They will police the actions in Treyine. I have decided to bring together the remnants of Hykar and the Brethren in this new nation, if it takes root. Barbax Gutripper and Brother Cedric will work hand in hand to bring the Red Sun out from behind the clouds of war. I'll get a variant army list posted at some point before the winter turn.

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    2. The Emperor of Mirish thinks you're confused. Treyine will be sending peace envoys. Bwahaahahah!

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    3. Ah, no, I thought peace envoys was the Mirish expression for peacekeepers. I thought Mirish would be taking its place on the global political scene as arbiter of disputes and keeper of the peace by crushing all those that raise a ruckus. :)

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  5. Is this the beginning of the end of the Pax Treyiniana?

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    1. I fear this is the case, Sean. Sadly Treyine is beset on all sides by the vicious curs of barbarism. Its only hope may be to surrender and spend time rebuilding during the peace.

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