Tim at the Nationals in 99
Game 1 - Friday Night - Some horrible Cm(S), Wb(F) & Cv (S) army (Christian Nubians - ed) The time at which this battle took place was perhaps the key element in it's outcome. This is not to say that "time of day" rules played a big part, but that I had been in the bar for about hours by the time it started, and so was well tanked up by then. The terrain was not ideal either, with my compulsory wood sat right in the middle of the table (green bit) and 3 gentle hills (yellow)
Me, well tanked up at the Nationals...
My Left flank ended up
being the decisive area of the game, with the Allied Crim
Tartar's Cv (S)/(O) and LH (S)/(F) plus the CinC's LH (O)
plus 4 Kn facing off against the Camel Corps - who nearly
- but not quite! - filled the gap between the wood and
the edge of the board.
At this point General Lager took command, and one
of the CinC's LH (O) decided it would be a great idea to
split the camels up by charging one right in the centre
of the line - in front of the Arab General - givingthe
Crim Cv time to wheel to the side of the table and bear
down on the LH extending the Arab flank. The CinC's
Knights (by the hill) do a little wheel, just to get
ready to break up the Arab advance. Of course, the LH(O)
managed a draw - despite being 4-0 down, and end up stuck
there!
Nightmare
dice followed for the Arabs, and the camels took off in
all directions at my army - suddenly the Crims find
themselves at risk of being flanked by Cm(S), and the
Teutons & Poles are forced into action as well. Cm(S)
hit the angled Knight line, and whilst they are at risk
of being pushed back into the LH vs Cm combat behind -
SURELY he can't survive again double
overlapped???? He Does! The Kn get a pushback, and
it's camelburgers on sticks all over the shop!!!
"You're going home as a vacuum-
packed ready meal in a Lithuanian Shopping Trolley"
The Crims are encouraged by this, and despite their poor
pip dice, decide to go for some flank action on the
Camels as well - "so what if we can't recoil either,
its only a game". They win, and the Camel Command is
racked and stacked.
Two turns later, when my Cv haven't had the pips to remount and pull out, and are being battered back over the brow of the hill by hordes of screaming Arab foot…..I start to sober up and realise that I have been playing like a total maniac.
Luckily there are some Auxilia lurking around to help the bowmen out, and they wade in to the warband and turn a few flanks. On the left, the rest of the Arab warband had decided it was far more sensible to rush through the other side of the wood and take on the Teutons…. In the open…..erm, nah.
Game over , 10-0!
Time for another well deserved pint
