The Worlds in Rome 2022
Khurasanian vs Catalan Company
Game 1 Khurasanian vs Catalan Company
Game 2 Khurasanian vs Classical Indian
Game 3 Khurasanian vs 100YW English
Game 4 Khurasanian vs Later Byzantine
Game 5 Khurasanian vs Rajput Hindu Indian
Game 6 Khurasanian vs Catalan Company
With the Allen scalp (to be fair, not the hariest of trophies) tucked safely into my belt and secure in the knowledge that I had beaten Spains Greatest Current Wargamer and the International Rankings lLader that day already, the final round beckoned.
But only after a Caesar salad and a lunchtime beer in the glacially slow bar. Of course.
(You may scoff at the idea of a salad at a wargames weekend. But this one came with a bag of bread, loads of chicken and cheese, and I hoped it would also be quite quick, relatively speaking. It wasn't quick, but the carb loading did the business eventually anyway)
My opponent that afternoon in a game played on Table 4 (oooh - touching distance of the podium places!) would be another chance to defeat my nemesis from Round 1 - the Catalan Company
The lists for the Khurasanian and Catalan Company from this game, as well as all the other lists from the games at The Worlds in Rome can be seen here in the L'Art de la Guerre Wiki.
Wanting to prove I was not an idiot, and to gain revenge on my dice for their punishing non-delivery of pips in my first game, I had gone for the almost-all mounted list option which had so nearly worked in that game, and also had done for the Byzantines too
Unfortunately my opponent was not so obliging and failed to realise my plan depended on him also going for a lot of mounted troops and trying to play me at my own game on a billiard table.
Instead I found my highly mobile army trapped in a mountain pass between two very large, steep hills and facing something like double the amount of infantry Almughavars that had appeared in the first game
The flanks may have been blocked off, but it looked like the Army of Khorasan was still wider than that of the Catalans - and with 7 Lancers in its roster, it would be difficult for the Almughavars to charge home against too.
A vague plan as hastily assembled in the Caliphs tent, of forming up in a broad, shallow arc, looking to tempt the Catalans into an advance which would see them forced to put their flanks at risk of attack and overlap in the process
What's Going on Here Then?
This is not a great start - I already know the other list would have been much better. However, all is not lost, as it will still be very difficult for the Catalan infantry to attack and drive off my cavalry, as they lose all of their advantages if they are the ones to initiate combat by charging in first. I should therefore be able to face them off for some time, and my army has far more shooting capability too so, a prolonged standoff may work in my favour in some ways
A defensive, static plan with a mounted army is unusual, but hey, beggars in the mountains can't always be choosers
The centre of the Khurasanian army was made up of the slowest elements - Abid shooters and Infantry Spearmen.
This put by default cavalry on both wings, and allowed the A'bid to look like a softer target to draw in the Catalan attack.
Knowing they were the meat in the cavalry sandwich the A'bid started shooting furiously to try and do some damage to the dudes running at them with sticks and knives as the static pincer movement ground slowly into effect
With the Catalans still some way away, the Caliph surveyed his handiwork, and was as well satisfied as he could be that his men were making the best of the bad hand the terrain gods had decided to deal him that game
Catalans meet their end invading Asia (we can but hope)
The Catalan army advanced in a blur of motion (and tripod-free photography) towards the waiting host of Khurasanian and allied Abbasid warriors.
The Arabized Forces plan could not have been more obvious had it been written on the butt-cheeks of a camel and posted to the Town Hall in the centre of Barcelona - yet still the Almughavars and their contingent of Knights and Cavalry advanced
Suddenly, violently, and it would appear rather riskily the Almughavars on the Khurasani left charged forward and made it into contact with the A'bid Mix Spear/Bow combos.
This was not a good look - Elite Impact foot against Mediocre Spearmen, but it had at least disrupted the Catalan lines and the waves of Khurasani troops were sufficient in number that reserve units were even available to offer up help in the form of overlaps and support
What's Going on Here Then?
I'm kicking myself for letting this happen - I had underestimated the ability of the Almughavars to rush forward, slide across and get into contact with the A'Bid having assumed they would be forced to face down my Cavalry, leaving the A'bid and Spearmen opposite the enemy mounted force in the middle.
But, every Almughavar fighting in the centre is one who isn;t holding up my cavalry on the flank, so there are upsides too - as long as the A'bid don't crumble too quickly
Well, that was the idea anyway. But in reality the A'bid essentially evaporated almost instantly, leaving the Abbasids and Khorasani's scrabbling around for troops to plug the large gap that had just appeared in the middle of their carefully constructued defensive formation
The line of standoff still extended far into the distance where Ghulam cavalry shot relentlessly at seemingly archery-proof, always-rallying Almughavars all the way to the horizon
But, that line was now staring to be in danger itself - rapidly patching up the hole the A'bid had left became the most important thing in the battle for the men from Persio-Irano-Afghanistan
Suddenly, perhaps realising as one that they actually lacked shields, the Almughavars started taking serious damage from the showers of Ghulamic archery that had been falling steadily on them like rain back home in England
A hole in the middle of the line was one problem for sure, but the chance to run over a half-table-wide line of Almughavars was now becoming a real possibillity, and that surely would tip the game balance back towards the men of the black flag state?
The Abbasid allied general was urging his men forward on the opposite flank as well, as the Almughavars formation started to fragment into smaller and smaller elements as they tried to make something of the gap the loss of the A'bid had created
Only the prompt action of the Catalan leadership cadre, in personally moving one of their Knight units out to this flank, now prevented the Abbasid lancers from turning the flank of the entire Almughavar formation
With the prospects of success ebbing away on the Abbasid flank, the Khurasani Commander decided that the moment to sieze the initiative was now - that and an accumulation of un-rallied hits on the Almughavar block facing his own cavalry wing
As one the eclectic collection of desert-dwelling lancers and Turkic and Khorasani Ghulams surged forward into melee with the somewhat wobbling Almughavars. Time to test that new troop type's resilience when injured eh?
What's Going on Here Then?
This is half desparation and half a serious attempt to turn the tide of the game, which is running fast away from me as casualties mount in the centre and on the opposite flank. The Catalans are a bigger army than mine, with plenty of LH and LF who are even now escaping the combat zone so I will need to do a lot of damage to their combat troops to get close to breaking them .
The Almughavars have proved very resistant to shooting so far, but this one turn of multiple hits has given me the oppotunity to attack, perhaps not with an expectation of great succcess, but certainly with a legitimate hope of it
Pretty good indeed - lancers broke through the line as everywhere the supposed super-infantry from Barcelona absorbed hit after hit to teeter frighteningly close to instant oblivion under the weight of the Moslem horsemens charge
Rather sadly for the Khurasanians and Abbasids, the opposite was now happening on the opposite flank.
The arrival of the lone Knight had tipped the balance, chasing off enough Arabic cavalry to then allow the Amughavars time and space to start mopping up the demoralized Abbasid allied contingent
The Catalans however had problems of their own on the opposite flank, as the Almughavars there collapsed like a deck of yellow and red striped cards, leaving the onrushing Khurasanians in almost sole control of the battlefield.
With the Catalans own strike force of Cavalry and Knights now bogged down against the swamp-like opposition of the Arab Spearmen the way looked open for a sweeping flank move to overrun the Catalan centre !
Driving off enemy light horse, and mopping up the last bits of Almughavar resistance the Khurasanian Caliph was now master of this side of the table
He urded his men onwards, and attacks were soon being launched against the Catalan centre, as the Catalan knights and other horsemen struggled to break down the resolute Arab peasant spearmen to their front
Losses were mounting fast for the relatively smaller Khurasani forces however, but there seemed like a genuine opportunity to redress the balance from this position - if only they could work out what to do?
The Spearmen's resistance suddenly started to wobble dramatically, as the Catalans shrugged off the flank attacks from the somewhat exhaused Khurasani Caliphs forces - they had needed a swift result, but the resistance of the Don't Call Us Spanish horsemen was impressive in the extreme
The end however came with the final crushing of the Abbasid ally on the opposite flank - tipping the smaller Khurasani army to a solid and, for quite some time, well signposted defeat
So, yet again close but no podium for the Khurasanis, although I did get a special trophy for just writing a load of old nonsense on this website (which everyone seems for some reason to like!) which was really lovely to get from everyone at the event !
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 Khurasanian Commander
Aal tigithor now, whaat a sheem like for us ta fall at tha las hurdle like, when we wos so close to ganni n awhey wi a trophy from this holiday in tha sun
Ah must admit ah may need ta go to Barnard Castle an have me eeyes tested like, as ah did nay see it comin' like that this Catalan army woul dhave soo many of these Almughavar fellahs. If eet had been that same as tha first game I think ah would have won like, with berra pips and a berr bit o'look too
Peraps ah must think agin aboot a different Ah-rab army to use, ahs this is tha third time these Khoorasanians have come ooot - but mebbey not, as ah ahmost got a podium yet again.
Anyway, awhey Tha Lads and Roll On those Saudi Investment Fund new signings!
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
You are a most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality. The sheer hubris involved in this telling defeat staggers the imagination, and you deserved no more than you got, which was nothing
Like a three-inch fool you thought to win by playing well and avoiding a lottery, when at the tail end of a 3-day 6-game event with late nights and copious beer, a lottery was about all your mental capacity could manage to engage in.
Trying to prove that you could have won the first game with better dice by recreating that game against a different opponent with a differently composed army is just purest folly - the other list woudl have been a slam dunk winner here, with the fact the Almughavars are Spearmen with Inpact, not Swordsmen making even your Ghazis a dangerous opponent in the extreme.
A bigger army with more punch and width, and still enough mounted troops to work any flanks that were gifted to you would have been far better. I cannot believe that you managed to finish as the 2nd best Brit, nor that this nonsense of a website garnered you any sort of prize at all other than that for being the only player who's wit’s as thick as a Tewkesbury mustard.
In the final standings I ended up a creditable 12th, out of almost 70 players from all across the world - USA, Italy, UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal to name but a few (and all of those actually travelled from those places to play - not just some bloke who emigrated to Blighty a decade ago and can still put the accent on if needed!)
If I'd perhaps taken the other list to game 6 and ended up on the right end of the final game score I could even have snuck into 4th place - maybe even 3rd. But, it was not to be, however as it was the only 2 players to break my army came 4th and 5th overall, so that's worth a mention too.
A great weekend, a good result, some fantastic games - many thanks to our wonderful Italian hosts, and roll on the next one!
That's the end - so why not go back to the Match Reports Index and read some more reports?
You may also like....
Game 1 Khurasanian vs Catalan Company
Game 2 Khurasanian vs Classical Indian
Game 3 Khurasanian vs 100YW English
Game 4 Khurasanian vs Later Byzantine
Game 5 Khurasanian vs Rajput Hindu Indian
Game 6 Khurasanian vs Catalan Company
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