Field of Glory Renaissance in Devizes 2011
Day 2, and after a decent curry and a rather more quiet evening than we were used to in Devizes, the morning drew fresh and bright - we faced off against the Samurai!
The Samurai lists can be seen here. (Any videos in these reports are all pretty short - well under a minute)
The Samurai were all armoured superior spearmen, so tough in combat but unable to shoot. They also filled the table from side to side ... so, our game plan therefore was pretty simple - sit back, shoot as many times as possible with our two artillery pieces and then take it on the chin as the Samurai charged home.
Wall to wall, the Samurai started on their start line....
Our Dragoons were the obvious troops to try and slow down the Samurai advance, and they were sent forward to do exactly that - buyin more time for the artillery to do their work
This involved a number of evades....
The Samurai were Dixon figures, and the quality of their painting became increasingly obvious as they approached
Fierce shooting knocked a couple of holed in the Samurai ranks as thir inexorable advance continued.
Multiple evades meant some inevitably were a touch close for comfort
With the Dragoons now safely out of the way, the French main line took a deep breath and waited..
Oh - there were some cavalry involved. On both flanks, Samurai on horses thought about taking on French line cavalry
As the French opened fire the world started to suffer a shortage of dice...
The planet shook as the two lines of troops clashed
At impact, the French were a POA up - so the Samurai needed 5's..
After the first round, the French had suffered a couple of cohesion drops on the left, but the Samurai were losing bases along the line, and were very wobbly already on the French right
The French left was where cohesion was worst - but their generals were encouraging the troops as best they could in the face of the Japanese onslaught
The Samurai attack crumbled and quickly came unstuck on the French right..
Dice were rolled in bucketloads as the French gained the upper hand across the line
Loads of Fighting!!!!
The French simply didn't have enough infantry to match up all the Samurai foot, calling the French mounted into action against Spearmen - hoping their superior quality would tell
Lots more fighting....
Fighting from closer angles...
Finally, the Frenchies ran out of men, and suffered a hole in their line - what a happy moment for the Samurai!
But in the main the Samurai were being beaten back, allowing the French to begin to advance - mainly to prevent Samurai from being rallied
The French mounted were mixing it against Samurai infantry, with the Line cavalry almost killed off, but the Elite Maison du Roi continuing to chop away at the enemy - who were now close to autobreak themselves...
Swinging over to the right, another Line Cavalry vs Infantry batle was going more quickly in favour of the French
As the battle carried on, the French started to suffer attrition against the bigger and better quality Samurai units
Even the Dragoons were being pressed into action to try and shore up a surprisingly struggling French line
Back to the left, and the Maison du Roi strike a decisive blow .... routing a unit of spearmen
As they pursue, the Samurai providing rear support suddenly become a target of the jubilant French Elites..
Crash! The Samurai go disrupted at impact!
The French centre looks increasingly unlikely to score the winning blows
But on the right, French Line Cavalry step up to the plate to try and score the key goal..
The battle has now broken down into several desparate struggles...
Maison du Roi start to win as they fragment their opponents...
The Dragoons are barely hanging on !
Which French flank cavalry unit will win first?
Its the one on the right!!!!
Thats all folks! A big win for the French
Post Match Summary
Hoorah! Forsooth! What brilliance...!
The use of Dragoons was brilliant, and my men fought manfully, although of course my brilliant leadership and tactical flexibility was what enabled them to fight with such confidence
And the end result showed that had France decided to invade Japan, the world could have been saved the evil that is Sushi, as all of Japan would have been eating steak and frites for the past 200 years
Although, the prospect of fusion food with raw croissants and blowfish pancakes might be something the world wants to avoid
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
What piffle and tosh. Never mind Sushi, you talk greasily and your lips grow foul
You reek as a sacrifice. Where air comes out, air comes in, there's none abroad so unwholesome as that you vent when you claim a plan of genius - how on earth anyone with self respect can run a plan that does not involve moveing at all...?
Even for someone with as little imagination as you, this is truly pathetic. You cannot claim credit for this victory, my aged mother could have deployed and fought with just as much success - it would have been your fault had you lost however.
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