MT02 Results

the Personal Messaging is now turned on, as is the Play History. I've tested the PM and it works, but unsure about the personal play history

Round 4 Marcianopolis

gotigerssc (Goth) 5 banners, 11 blocks lost
dukeadam (Roman) 2 banners, 21 blocks lost

Closer than the score indicates as I had two cavalry units down to one block each. Goths started the battle by attacking with cavalry using 2 Mounted Charges. From there they slowly picked away with light units and the occasional medium cavalry attack until the full strength warriors finally made their way into the fray. Fritigen himself led a warrior unit over broken ground to destroy two auxilia units on the final turn. Tough match for the Romans! Thanks to Adam for a great match.

Round 1 Utis River
Mark McG (Huns): 9 banners, 18 blocks lost
JR (Byzantines): 2 banners, 40 blocks lost

Having played this scenario before, and generally aware of the value of Heavy Cavalry, I got my cavalry out as quickly as I could, raising havoc on the Byzantine foot. All 9 banners I took were foot, 4 of which were the hapless Auxilia. I am increasingly of the view that Auxilia are mostly worthless, and should score as such.

So the game play pretty much consisted of my Heavy cavalry running amuck in the Byzantine centre, losing 1 HC. When I ran out of cavalry card options, the Warriors came up to support, and I lost one of those as well. Otherwise it was just a slaughter of the Byzantine foot, though they had their moments.

Thanks to JR for putting up with a hard lesson on the importance of running the auxilia away in good spirits

Kudos to Mark on an epic slaughter. I had one brief, shining moment where I rolled all swords and reds in an HC vs HBC tussle but other than that it was a hellscape of Byzantine infantry running for their lives. Good fun - nice sprawling scenario that demands a bit more thought than I put into the initial movements.

Round 3 Catalonian Fields Roman right
Jrtracy Roman 3 banners 32 blocks lost
gonzoj Huns 7 banners 25 blocks lost

Turn one Alan HBC on Roman left closes but only does 3 hits to Aux. Huns surround and roll double leader hit and mult banners. Hun MBC crippled and Aux killed. Both sides pull back to range fire on that flank. Next, Hun Warriors use Foot onslaught to surround and kill Roman LC in hills. Roman Warriors come up and engage in fiercly contested hill battle, but Hun ambush card made big difference. Killed 2 warriors and a 1 pt Hun warrior chased and killed leader on back row. It took 3 attacks by Roman HC to finally kill wounded Warrior. Skirmishing now on Roman left. Huns able to kill Warrior before Roman HC could make a difference.
Thanks to JR for fun game, luck just wasn't with him today.

Round 3 Catalaunian Fields Roman right

Jrtracy Roman 3 banners 32 blocks lost
gonzoj Huns 7 banners 25 blocks lost

Fun game with Gonzo today - I opened on the left but rode into trouble as the Huns were able to trap and kill my HBC and leader. I inflicted some sharp hits but Joe was able to scamper away before I could close for kills.

We then fought on the opposite flank with several rounds of give and take. The hills and woods limited dice thrown so it was a drawn out fight. A timely Ambush won the hill battle for the Huns. One Hunnic Warrior went absolutely berserk, killing two units before chasing down Thorismund at the edge of the map and putting him to the sword. My heavy cavalry arrived to finish off the warriors, but they were the true heroes of the day.

Down several banners and without a useful card, I just did what I could with ranged fire, hoping to get lucky. I whittled the Huns down substantially but Joe pulled the vulnerable units so I didn't collect more banners. He finally wrapped things up with multiple attacks against a full strength Warrior that didn't have the sense to flee after the first attack.

Well played game by Gonzo - congrats and good luck!

Round 4 CCA VV01 Marcianopolis (377 AD)

Michal K (Goths) 5 banners, 10 units lost
jrtracy (Romans) 0 banners, 16 units lost

That one is always a tough thing for Romans. It started with two Light Cavalries on both wings. Then we closed on each other, exchanging a lot of range fire. In the end the Medium barbarian units charged twice, crushing Rome defenses - but not before valiant fight of their leader!

Thanks to JR for arranging the game on short notice and for the fighting spirit despite the odds.

Semifinal Game 1

Travis (Alemanni): 12 banners 34 blocks lost
dukeadam (Romans): 6 banners, 46 blocks lost

(Argentoratum is a special battle for me personally, as it was my first user-created scenario submission [non-epic version], so I enjoyed the chance to play this one as an Epic battle....which was my first ever foray into the Epic world. I can totally see the attraction to the format, especially as a social in-person game, with sub-commanders, etc.)

First and foremost, Adam was a very gracious teacher, as I had multiple questions about what to do. He began the match with a line command that endangered the lead elements of the Germans, but the Germanic dice were extremely fortunate all game long, and soon thereafter the barbarians were able to blunt the advance and score a couple quick banners by playing my own Line Command, which activated 30 (!) units!

The battle soon progressed to a 5-2 advantage for the Alemanni, but with several German units exposed and in danger. The Romans bravely pressed their advantage, but amazing dice rolls from an isolated Aux unit killed a MC and Julian the Apostate himself, which was the first major turning point. The 2nd was the next turn, when the mounted arm of the Alemanni charged their Roman counterparts and gained the perfect dice to eliminate four units, which put the hard-pressed Romans at a massive disadvantage. After another Roman assault the following turn gained 3 banners, the final unit was eliminated for the barbarian victory.

A very fortunate result for the brave barbarians.

Semifinal Game 2/2

Gonzo (Alemanni): 6 banners 56 blocks lost
mk20336 (Romans): 12 banners, 31 blocks lost

This was my second game with Joe. In my first, calamitous, attempt with Alemanni I was crushed 1-12 (my worst defeat ever, but hard to do anything with abysmal hand through the most of game).

The time has come to see if those Romans are really so over-powered. Having nothing to lose (I really did not assume there will be other result then Joe advancing to finals) I moved quickly forward on all front. A carefully planned attacks on barbarian LCs allowed me to avoid the ambush. The double time in center helped to break the line. Only on the left, in forest, not much action was happening.

The Romans definitely have an edge in that game. The cavalry, assisted by heavy infantry from center, was slowly but steadily grinding Almans to dust. There were of course losses - when you play bold, things happen - but in the end the Imperial army victory was not in doubt.

Thanks to Joe for two enjoyable games!

Adam (Alemanni): 6 banners 51 blocks lost
Travis (Romans): 12 banners, 25 blocks lost

In this scenario, it would seem that the odds are against the Alemanni from the start. During this match, the odds were multiplied by excellent Roman cards and even better dice.

Beginning with a mounted charge to assail the barbarian left, the Romans were able to gain a quick two banner lead. That advantage grew to 6-1 when the dice failed a well-planned Alemanni counter attack, and the Roman cavalry were able to press home their advantage further. The barbarians were able to take advantage of poor Roman decisions to close it to 6-5, but again the dice favored the Apostate, who almost single-handedly did the rest of the damage in the center section, blunting a barbarian attack then leading the infantry to victory.

Enjoyable, but this one would have been very different with equitable dice.