Field of Glory Renaissance in Oxford Doubles Year
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First game down, and then we face off against the Dagestani Horsemen of Khan Harley,which you can learn all about in this next video
The lists from this and all the other games at Oxford Doubles can be seen here.
The geomentric pattern of the terrain had split the Dagestaniain deployment area into two, and they had respondedby massing all their mounted on one wing - their left, our right. Our response was simple and brutal - all our mounted also went there too,to create a decisive immediately crunch, de-skilling the game as much as possible and trusting to our better armed and equipped Poles to win the day in short order.
It seemed like a great plan -The Dagestani's had even placed some loose formation pedestrians in our way to give the Hussars some practice before the main impact
Subtle it ain't
As the Austrian artillery fired ineffectually,the Dagestan horsemen bunched up ready for a decisive clash
Even more horseflesh pressed forward as the Austrians brought up yet more cavalry
Elsewhere a thin line of Austrian and Polish infantry was pushing forward against hardly any meaningful opposition.
Pretty much eveything was teed up nicely
The Austrians even had rear support in the form of the otherwise useless Carabiniers
The rest of the Dagestani army shuffled around aimlessley as the Austrian foote advanced
Or, in the case of the Dragoons, retired in face of superior enemy firepower
Shooting from the skirmish screen hd thinned the Polish ranks, with a Hussar and a Pancerni both being shot off. Oh well
The battle started badly, with the Hussars disrupted
The Poles fought back gamely in melee however, but the Dagestani Cavalry refused to lose bases or become disrupted even where they were losing
The battle settled down to a slugfest - not especially Polish in nature or spirit...
Elsewhere it was not so much a battle, as an exercise in sweeping up leaves in a gale.
he other flank saw the Austrians turn on the Dagestani skirmishers, seeking to pin them into a trap
The horse borne melee dragged on, with a poor round of combat for the Poles and Austrians
Realising things were not going so well, the entire Polish and Austrian line broke off, hoping to use their advantage at Impact to better advantagenext time...
By now the Hussars were down to only 50% strength, as were the Pancerni. The Dagestani's had lost no-one at all
The Cavalry of Dagestan charged home against the brittle Pancerni unit,leaving the Hussars to deal with later
The inevitable happened - the Pancerni broke, and the Hussars also saw their morale shattered further as their supporting troops fled the field.
The only saving grace was as the Pancerni fell just short of breaking through the Polish light horse as they routed
The rest of the Dagestani line slams home
Things look colourful, but also quite bad....
Amazingly, the Hussars survive, and decide to yet again break off - only the Austrian Cuirassiers are still remaining in the line of battle
And they decide to remain there further, as they crush their opponents and strike a blow for Teutonic efficiency with a stunning comeback victory
The Last Stand of the Hussars - surely this time .... ?
At last, Austrian foote also get some foot one foot action
Suddenly a large weight of responsibility falls on the slender shoulders of the sole Austrian Carabinier unit - Average, Unarmoured, and with no impact capability they face off a ravening horde of lunatic steppe horsemen
The Dagestanis infantry cheat and somehow anage to hold firm against the Austrian charge.
The excitement of the chase has unnerved the Average Austrian Cuirassiers, and under attack from all sides they lose a base and break ! That'spretty much teh whole plan in taters then...
Foote on Foote slogging action
Yes, Yes! A Breakthrough as the Dagestani foote suffer cohesion and base losses !!
As the Carabiniers hang on gamely, the Austrian Gunners start to anticipate a future hauling their guns all the way back to Dagestan
On the left, the failure of the Austrian foote to achieve a quick breakthrough is slowing up the entire "trap them" plan, and the Austrian Dragoons are forced to fall back
The Carabiniers don't last that long
Dagestanis roam freely across the Austrian right flank
The dagestanis infantry steadfastly refuse to die....
It's now "time for the guns to change sides o'clock"
Whilst all this excitement has been going on, Austrian infantry move forward in the centre, intent on at least recording a touchdown into the dagestani end zone
The Austrian Dragoons have been forced back onto their own baseline by the advancing Dagestani's, but at least the Austrians have now finally killed off the sole unit of foote they have managed to find to fight
Austrian and Polish foote co-operate to try and take down a monster dagestani infantry unit hiding in a field
Told you so....
The Dagestani horse are now in full cry, and surround an Austrian foote unit. Form Square anyone ?
Fleeing like curs, the Austrian Dragoons try and avoid capture and enslavement at the hands of the mounted steppe warriors
Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.
The Dagestani foote are also rolling well today - damn!
A perfect roll for the test to form Square. 8 needed, 6 rolled, + 2 for the general, -1 for Disrupted. FAIL!!!
Nothing is working as the Dagestani swordsmen cut a swathe through the Austrians frilly cuffs
The end. Not even the ignominy of forming square this time
The Result is a horriffic defeat
Post Match Summary
Hurensohn! Das ist eine terrible result for the Polski-Deuteche horsebornekreigmaschineneneneneplan.
My efficiency in setting up a well engineered situation was extreme, but then the man-fabric of the troops on the terrain failed to reach the required standard in any meaningful way.
Und then, the Steppenwarriorhorsecowards simply ran away from our infantry at all times.
There is a lack of respect on the part of the enemy for the proper process of tabletopbattlefightingtechnic, and a lack of morale on the part of our allies when it comes to wearing feathers and fighting like lions. Most dissappointing
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
You talk about lack of respect, about low morale..... you will find that it all goes hand in hand with impending defeat.
The problem is that the Dagestani horse are better. I know it. You know it. The men know it. You General Stransky seem somewhat in the dark however.
You were leading your army into a cul-de-sac from which it had not the slightest chance of escaping - betting it all on the roll of sme dice.
Where was the plan to use your troops to their best advantage? How did you intend to force the enemy to try and take on your Pike and Shotte units with their horsemen? Nowhere, that's where that plan was, Nowhere. A deserved loss indeed.
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