Feudal and Dark Ages in BHGS_Challenge_2015/I 2015
Feudal German vs Later Crusader
Game 1 Feudal German vs Samurai
Game 2 Feudal German vs Feudal Irish
Game 3 Feudal German vs Later Crusader
Game 4 Feudal German vs Feudal English
Game 5 Feudal German vs Vikings
Game 3 - with all of the round 2 games having been completed in well under the regulation 3.5 hours we all decided to start a little earlier and so the risk of potentially playing late into the evening was replaced by the risk of finishing early and spending too much time down the pub.
The lists for the Feudal German and Later Crusader from this game, as well as all the other lists from the games at the BHGS Challenge 2015 can be seen here in the L'Art de la Guerre Wiki.
Pictures of Crusader-style Troops from my Ancients Photo Directory
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In another heavy metal medieval clash, this time my Germans were facing Crusaders. Would the Brother Knights in my army feel pangs of betrayal, would the halberdiers find some spearmen to chew into… all would be revealed in Match Report #3!
The table was again pretty textbook as neither side was over-keen on having lots of terrain. The Crusaders had a wall of knights spread across the board, with spearmen and infantry protecting their left flank whilst the Germans just had a line of stuff matching off against them. Bravely, possibly foolishly, the German crossbowmen were positioned in the middle of the line, ready to test the theory that crossbows can stop a mounted charge. Or, have a practice at being speedbumps.
With garlic bread on offer in the canteen at the venue, striped shirts all round and a heavy dose of red wine being lashed around, the Germans opened the batting with a classic ADLG "L'Attacque du Fromagerie"… one of the German LH used its excessive movement to zip behind 2 units of Crusader LH, preventing them evading from the German Knights and cavalry in front of them at the end of the line! This would be 2 easy elements for the Germans before the real battle had been joined.
Make your own Crusader Castle
Ker-Boom - the Crusaders went down quickly, unable to run away from the charge of the far heavier German horsemen
The two lines were steaming towards each other at a rate of knots - the Germans had a pretty even Knight on Knight matchup in the near distance, whereas off in the mists of far-away the line of heavy duty infantry were pushing up as quickly as they could to try and close in on the Crusader Spearmen and get their well engineered German halberds into action. The Vikings were almost certainly right at the far end, matching off against Crusader bowmen and hoping to stop Crusader horse from getting past them and round the German right flank. The story of the battle was developing as if it were being told in a tapestry woven from the threads of Frigg's monstrous grandmother!
With no shooting skirmishers, the German Pikemen could at last stand bravely towards the front line - they would be a factor up against the enemy spearmen, and positioned next to the halberdiers it would be a nasty combo for the armoured Crusader spearmen to deal with
Knights - tough to get past
The tricksy Crusaders were intent on getting past the Vikings (Viking Oaths), but the Norsemen were having none of it - an attempted flank charge by the Vikings on the Crusaders however ended in ignominy as the Crusaders shrugged off the attack and beat back the Viking foot!
Seen from the Viking end of the line, the battle was exactly as Phillippe L'Barquerre intended - two solid lines of troops smashing into each other all along the line. The dice gods were invoked by all sides…
The initial clashes between the knights were brutal - all sides lost cohesion points, but the Crusaders were considering themselves slight winners as they had blown a hole in the Crusader line at first contact - despite losing more of the other combats. Things were finely poised..
For the infantry battle the outcomes were much the same - more hits on the Teutonic foot, but a hole punched through by one of the pikemen, who had elected to follow up into the gap where in a turn or so's time he would be able to spin onto the flank of one of the enemy units to try and widen the gap further
L'Art de la Guerre hint - You can only follow up if you destroy enemy in your own turn, which means there is always another bound of fighting to survive before you are able to turn onto the flank of the troops you have broken through. You have to have you own past the front ends of an opponent to hit them in the flank - being level isn't good enough
The Knight battle continued - most of the Germans held firm for another round, but the Crusaders had broken through near the German crossbowmen, who's plan of shooting their opponents down and avoiding combat was looking fairly sketchy. At the other end of the line the Crusaders had also lost another base as the German knights broke through the end of their line.
L'Art de la Guerre hint - Rules Hint - Turning onto the flank of an enemy who is already engaged to the front is pretty devastating, as it drops their attack strength to zero (usually from +1) and gives your frontal attacker a +1 as well.
Things were now starting to fray very quickly all along the battlefront of Barquerresque combat, as bases evaporated, creating overlaps and opportunities for flank turning almost everywhere. But the Crusaders were taking much more of the damage, and soon aggregate losses took them over the edge and into total defeat!
The Germans had won again - penalties not required! The Result is a 94-16 win for the Germans.
Click here for the report of the next game in this competition, or read on for the post match summaries from the Generals involved, as well as another episode of legendary expert analysis from Hannibal
Post Match Summary from the Feudal German Commander
The German juggernaut is now starting to build up a head of steam I feel , and whilst the tournament is barely now half way through and as we say in Germany, "Don't worry about eggs that haven't been laid yet", I am starting to feel the stirrings of some well founded confidence.
The army is beginning to function as more than the sum of its' parts, and even though some of those parts are not especially inspiring, as we say in Germany "Crooked logs also make straight fires". The opposition here did not have as many tools in their toolbox as we did today, and that was what made the difference in the end.
The battle did not have room for great manoeuvres or inspiring sweeping moves but neither side saw its' advantage in so doing and as we say in Germany, "You have to take things the way they come". I also managed to sneak in some French cheese, which was satisfying even if it would have been better (obviously) if it had been smoked and flavoured with ham.
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
I fear for you sire, going back to your Teutonic castle and boasting to your lady of a successful campaign in which 2 games from 3 have been won. Wise men say that should all despair that hath revolted wives, then a tenth of mankind would hang themselves, and your wife will surely revolt when having been told the positive news from mid-competition you surely return to her tomorrow with a tale of defeat and 2 wins out of 5.
This army of yours is unsubtle, and the best that can be said for it is that it can form a coherent line- it is not shaped for sportive tricks, nor made to court an amorous looking glass in its' dirt-clothed lack of beauty, as e'en the noble knights are pretty unspectacular in their painting.
Defeat makes you unbearable, but as I am finding now succe4ss makes you more unbearable still. I hope and pray therefore that boils and plagues plaster you over, that you may be abhorred farther than seen and one infect another against the wind a mile.
You lead an army comprised of the souls of geese that bear the shapes of men, and such a beast can do no more than hoot in victory, and hoot and fly south in defeat. Let us see which direction the next game takes you
Click here for the report of the next game in this competition
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Game 1 Feudal German vs Samurai
Game 2 Feudal German vs Feudal Irish
Game 3 Feudal German vs Later Crusader
Game 4 Feudal German vs Feudal English
Game 5 Feudal German vs Vikings
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