MT2 Final Game 2: Epic Adrianople C3i20
Travis (Roman) 16 banners, 62 blocks lost
Gonzo (Goth) 13 banners, 64 blocks lost
Every bit as close as the numbers appear to indicate. Another great game where my opponent had to deal with me having outstanding options with cards and fantastic rolls, and he still almost pulled it out regardless.After last game, my plan with the Romans was to go all-out toward the center objectives. (Knowing that most late-era Roman soldiers had Germanic roots, I consistently encouraged them to fight their hardest in the center so they could capture the “lagers”) My hope was that their cultural affinity for beer would allow them to outrun the Gothic wings which begin the game packed together at the map’s edge, and are difficult and costly in terms of orders to mobilize.
As Fritigonzo noted early, I was consistently blessed with cards that could order units in the center and keep maximum pressure on the laagers. After some initial moves and ranged skirmishing, I was able to press an advantage on the right edge of the laagers, which would be a desperate back and forth struggle for the remainder of the game, and the focal point of the battle in my opinion. For every move one of us made, the other was able to respond, and my lone Warrior earned his post battle lagers with his ability to scatter light units on evades, menace the laager line, and chase down units at maps edge whilst dodging slings and arrows of the Gothic ranged attacks.
A pivotal moment was when a well-planned assault by Gonzigern was punished by a lack of any hits in consecutive rolls, which was the opening the Romans to play a Clash card, eliminate units, and take two laagers out for a 7-0 lead. That foothold was crucial to my plan, but in my excitement I had lacked strategic vision as my right wasn’t moving fast enough towards the center, and Gonzatheus had steadily brought up units to make an assault on my densely packed right flank, which had little space to maneuver. Fortunately, even though I would in my opinion lose the fights on both flanks, I was able to continually either threaten action on the flanks and/or respond to his concentrations on my wings.
This narration doesn’t do this battle justice, because the next few turns involved several excellent moves by my opponent, who made me pay for my sluggish inability to concentrate units to the center. Although I was able to move the rest of my center infantry to the laager line, Gonztheus and Gonzphrax were able to gradually whittle away my strength on the flanks, and hold their own in the center despite another Clash card played by the Romans. The center remained a savage struggle over the laagers, but some desperate 3-card plays by Gonzo scattered the Roman right and threatened the Roman cavalry on the left at the perfect time, and amazingly allowed the Goths to claw their way back from 0-7 to 8-9, but ultimately, the Roman dice were able to exact a high price in some well-planned Gothic moves and push back the Goth right, blunt the Goth left, and continue to pound the center with what units remained in the fight.
Though I was within a whisker of gaining a camp hex, Gonzigern was too tenacious, and instead, the game was decided by attrition rather than audacious maneuvering. A sure sign of the desperation of both sides is that I believe we ended the game with hands of 3 and 5, after starting with 7 apiece! A great risk-reward dynamic in EPICs that I have come to appreciate, though I was a little slow to pick up on initially.