OPEN TOURNAMENT 2022 FINAL
GAUGAMELA
Game 1
Taliapharoah (Macedonian) 4 banners
BrentS (Persian) 7 banners
Game 2
Taliapharoah (Persian) 5 banners
BrentS (Macedonian) 7 banners
This is the second time Travis and I have met at this stage of the Open tournament and Travis won it last time in what I recall was a very tight set of battles. A great player and I was really happy to have the opportunity to play you again. Unfortunately I think this one was decided by the gods. Surprisingly Persia performed strongly in both battles.
Game 1
Macedon started with an Order Lights and proceeded to rampage / trample the Persian elephant twice, decimating all the units around and behind it, then killed the damaged chariots on the next card play. That looked very very bad for Darius. He responded with a Double Time to bolster and cover his crippled centre. The key moment came when Alexander risked standing against Darius’ Heavy Cav, relying on their innate resilience to survive and deal the death blow……but unfortunately for him the Companions were killed and he followed them to Tartaros on a 1 die leader check. The Macedonians responded strongly to kill the Heavy Cav and a Medium Infantry but more pain was in store for them……….the Persians Rallied and Craterus’ Medium Cav evaded an attack but he died on a double helmet leader check! With only Parmenio left the Macedonians Mounted Charged on their left and did some damage but Mazeus came back to cut off Macedonian retreat paths and take the final banners. Over in less than 30 minutes. A rare win for Persia, a freak result and I felt dirty and undeserving.
Game 2
This was much closer. The Macedonians tried to emulate the play in the previous battle, opening with a MFM but sadly no rampaging or trampling, and Darius advanced to drive the skirmishers back. Alex went for Darius and almost eliminated his Heavy Cav but the Comapanions were knocked down to 1 block and a retreat on battle back and then Darius fully Rallied his unit! Despite this Alex beat off a cavalry advance by Bessus on the Persian left but lost both his other Medium Cavs. I drew two Mounted Charges after this, which seemed like a cruel joke with me down to Light Cavs and one Companion (in the end they swung it, though). The battle took a strange turn with the 6 command Macedon forced back and 4 command Persia dictating the tempo, advancing on both flanks. Craterus switched it up by Double Timing into the Persian centre, taking out a chariot but suffering a strong counterattack with a Persian Clash of Shields and the intervention of Darius’ Heavy Cav and other chariot. 5-4 banner advantage to the Persians and I had a sinking feeling this was going to block count but their mounted advance had opened up their centre. Alexander Mounted Charged into the gaps with that 1 block Companion unit and two Light Cav, taking 3 banners for a dramatic finale.
Thanks Travis, as always, for some enjoyable and strongly contested games. Thanks Mark for setting up and running the tournament and for everyone who participated. I had a lot of fun and enjoyed some very challenging matches throughout.
Brent.
