Round 4

rjvonline could you please contact me as when you are available to play our match

Thank you,

John

Brent, I agree that an initial Gallic mounted charge is liable to be devastating with expected loss of the Roman light infantry and possible loss of the medium cavalry on bonus combat. This could be ameliorated by moving the chariots back one hex. If only two units can attack the Roman left then expected block loss is just less than three with counterattacking chances on the next turn. I enjoyed playing both sides and really should have won with the Romans, admittedly only having to face an Order 2 Units Right on the first turn. If the Gauls attack immediately they seem to struggle to get Britomaris involved, whereas Metellus is fairly able to reach either flank with a single move and he has a very strong central force of five line infantry.

TTK (Barb) 6:5 Cavie (Rome)
 

Game 1
Player 1 (Gallic) gotigerssc - 6 banners
Player 2 (Roman) Viridovilas - 3 banners

Game 1
Player 1 (Gallic) Viridovilas - 6 banners
Player 2 (Roman) gotigerssc - 2 banners

In both battles the Gallic army easily overwhelmed Roman legions. Once warriors got the momentum, the medium infantries couldn't stand the Barbarian charge

 

 

Match 1

John S (Gallic) # banners 6

rjvonline (Roman) # banners 0

I open by hitting the Roman right and killing off the MC there. The Romans pull back into their center. A few turns later I use MOUNTED CHARGE on the Roman left. My attacks do not go well as we trade block hits five to five. I hope hoped to at least kill off the MC there. Luckily my weakened mounted units evade successfully and in my next turn hit the weak Roman left and kill off three units. One of my 2 block MC evades twice from 4d attacks and only loses one block. My mounted units have shot their bolts with only 1 block each left. I pull them back and they play no additional part in the battle. Several turns later I make a stab at the win with my BLUE TROOPS card. But the battles there leave me with 2 one block WI. I was very lucky not losing both. In the end game one survived a 3d attack and its BB killed off an AI. That unit then bagged a 1 block LI to end the contest.

 

Match 2

rjvonline (Gallic) # banners 6

John S (Roman) # banners 1

Renaud starts with MOUNTED CHARGE against my right and does much better than my charge in game 1. As he kills off my MC and AI while only losing 1 block. He then advances on my right and I try and bag a unit there with no success. Soon I have lost a MC, AI and LI and trail 0 to 5. I have drawn DOUBLE TIME but wonder if I will get a chance to use it. A WI has a 4d attack on an unsupported Mi but only gets 2 hits and my BB gets 2 hits. My DOUBLE TIME bags one weakened WI and I have one banner for my troubles. An AI attacks one of MI and gets three hits and a WI finishes it off and it is over.

 

Mark-McG wrote:

BrentS wrote:

…..but I just don’t think it’s the right scenario for competitive play.

Brent.

won't argue about scenario design, but my experience as aTD is that unbalanced scenarios actually work pretty well to thin the herd at the top. If you can win against the odds for 3 points, then the creme rises

I do not mind such scenarios as they are certainly a challenge. That being said..... 

A tough scenario for the Romans for sure. A 26 to 5 edge in games in favor of the Gauls so far with half of their wins by 4 banners or more. The Romans need a chance to readjust their lines. If they cannot before any powerful Gallic attacks hit their flanks, then they probably are in trouble.    

Note: For clarity, Left and Right refer to the sides of the battlefield, not the commanders point of view.

Marco (Roman) 6
PCScipio42 (Gallic) 4

The Gallic began with center movement to form their line. The Romans immediately shifted their line left, away from the WARS on the Right. Gallic mounted units on the Left came forward, pushing back the MC and light units there, but the Romans again shifted their entire line left, driving them back. The Roman formation was now contained entirely in the Left and Center. Both sides now commenced a series of missile fire exchanges and maneuvering. Eventually the Gallic Left Mounted units were driven back by missile fire, but their leader Britomaris lead an attack on the Roman center which proved to be costly at three Banners. Leader Metellus counterattacked, but ultimately lost his life to Britomaris in his own counterattack which netted him 4 Banners in a single turn, and taking the Gallic lead 4-3. The Romans carried on, rushing MC on the Left to finish an MC and drive the LBC off the board, then with MI in the center to destroy Britomaris’ MI for the final Banner.

Marco (Gallic) 6
PCScipio42 (Roman) 1

Battle began with Roman missile fire while the Gallic initially tried to hide their WARs, but finally drew all their forces towards the center. Then Britomaris made an unusual move to leave his MI and attach to a WAR, followed by a DoubleTime of all four WARS on the Center and Right against the Roman right, taking a Banner. The Romans LineCommanded their MI into position and took a Banner of their own. Britomaris again attacked with his WARs, killing an MI and Metellus himself with his HI, to take the score to 4-1. The following Roman counterattack failed to a lucky First Strike, and the Gallic quickly finished the game on the following turn. Thanks PCScipio42 for two good games!

Match 1

Player 1 (Gallic)  # banners won: 6

Player 2 (Roman)  # banners won: 3

During the course of the game, Rome's fire was more effective, whereas Gallic had some very successful evades. Gallic engaged Roman left flank with mounted attack that weakened both sides and yielded a score 2-1 Rome. The two lines engaged in the center with blocks lost but no units destroyed.
Gallic moved a strong contingent with leader towards his left using Double Time, setting up an effective attack on Roman right flank.
Gallic pushed the attack on that flank with a second Line Command which put the score at 3-2 Gallic.  A desperation Mounted Charge by Rome with a weakened MC ended up killing the MC: score 4-2 Gallic.

A desperation Double Time allowed Rome to take out a weakened MC on the Rome left (4-3 Gallic) and put his heavy with leader and a Medium up against the flanking Gallic force that had destroyed Rome's right. Unfortunately for Rome, the leadered H vs the leadered M did not go his way. the M battle back TOOK OUT 4 BLOCKS AND THE LEADER, winning the game 6-3 Gallic.

Rome had a chance to win before that epic battle back, but not today. Very dramatic finish.

 

Match 2

Player 2 (Gallic)  # banners won: 6

Player 1 (Roman)  # banners won: 3

Gallic started with a 3-unit mounted attack on Rome's left. The first battle of the game wiped out a Roman MC. Soon after, Rome lost an A, and an L was weakened. Score 2-0 Gallic, and Rome's left was exposed.  Rome shored up his left with Line Command; Gallic retreated.

On the right, both sides traded totally ineffective ranged/cc/bb for a few turns. Then a Gallic lone W pinned a Roman MC and wiped him out. Rome then killed the W with a Double Time: score 3-1 Gallic. At this point, Gallic had a long continuous line, whereas Rome had two compacted groups of foot units.

Rome went after a 1-block MC on the left, who quickly retreated out of range, making the left irrelevant from then on.

Both sides traded a bit of fire. Rome advanced on the right, putting a pinned M in range of 3 Gallic lights, at which point Gallic played Darken the Sky and killed the M: score 4-1 Gallic. Rome advanced to CC on the right, led by his H with Metellus. He wiped out an A and weakened a W: score 4-2 Gallic. Gallic responded with Clash of Shields. Rome played an excellent First Strike when that weakened W went after Metellus/H and killed the W. But the H was killed on the next CoS attack and Metellus evaded to an M: score 5-3 Gallic.

Gallic ended the game by moving an A and W plus Britomaris (finally!) against Metellus/M and killing the M: final score 6-3 Gallic.

That first successful mounted attack put Gallic in a strong position the entire game.

 
 

unfortunately, due to my schedule, I could not find time for the second game

It's  my technical defeat

TTK vs Caive

Match 1

Polonus100 (Gallic) 6 banners won

EZPickins (Roman) 3 banners won

 
Match 2

EZPickins (Gallic) 3 banners won

Polonus100 (Roman) 6 banners won