MT06 Crusades

Indeed you are correct about that post.

As always we have a quibble over semantics. One could conceive of a rushed and harried retreat after a lost battle being less likely to succeed than an ordered evasion from an advancing enemy, hence the difference in terrain effects in each situation. Normal battle dice to me are those which are intrinsic to the unit itself without any modifiers. It’s certainly ambiguous.

Interglobal division final -  Hab

Game 1

Lunacab (Saracens)      7 (27)
David I     (Crusaders)   4 (31)

Game 2

David I     (Saracens)      7 (23)
Lunacab.  (Crusaders)    4 (30)

Turks won both encounters by getting amongst the infantry with medium cavalry & largely avoiding engagement with the knights. The wafer thin difference in blocks was due to the rather rude arrow which Fulcoy took in the eye from a scouting horse archer on the very first turn of game 1. Obviously could have gone either way at multiple junctures, especially if Fulcoy had managed to exit in game 2 as he v. nearly did. 

Logs to follow. 

Congrats David, your first championship I believe.

 

Never even came close! But I think most of us Intergobal johnny come latelies were playing Medieval for the first time, a case of “first among equals”. It was great fun and we very much appreciate your work in setting it all up.

US Final JR vs Mark, Hab - 14 August 1119

Game 1
JR (Artuqid Turks) -   Banners won: 7   Blocks Lost: 34
Mark  (Crusaders)  -   Banners won: 6   Blocks Lost: 30

I opened the first leg of our final with Darken the Sky but netted only one hit even with a Battle Bonus.  Mark pulled his Medium Cav back and rolled left to see if Robert of Fulcoy could cut his way through for a two-banner exit.  He made a heroic effort but after overrunning a Light Cav unit, Robert's Heavy Knights were cut down and Robert himself died after falling back to some Med Cav.  

 
The end of Robert's run

I had a host of center cards so after feinting left (Mark's right) I hit the middle.  It was a relentless grind with even losses but Mark was winning overall thanks to great work by his Crossbowmen.  However, he stalled out at 6-5, playing back-to-back Scouts in search of something useful.  Mark just couldn't finish off a couple very weak units, and my Light Bow Cav just scampered away from his Knights.

 
Hard to pin down

After a good run, my own cards had run dry, forcing me to resort to Foot Onslaught to activate Il-Ghazi and his Heavy Cav.  Il-Ghazi overran a one-step Crossbow unit and carried on to kill a two-step Crusader Heavy Knight for the win.

 
Il-Ghazi follows through  

This was a very tense, fun match.  I had good cards throughout and a bit of luck even when I didn't have much to work with.  Mark landed heavy punches Crusader-style but a couple late-game combat whiffs were costly,.  Great game, setting the stage for round two.
 

Just posted the second half of my report and had the upload denied and deleted because it 'resembled a hacker attack'.  Seems to be an automated response to something but I will try to resubmit later.

JR
 

US Final JR vs Mark, Hab - 14 August 1119

Game 2
Mark (Artuqid Turks) -   Banners won: 6   Blocks Lost: 33
JR  (Crusaders)         -   Banners won: 7   Blocks Lost: 24

Mark outdid my opening by kicking off the return match with Line Command, garnering two hits with 20 ranged fire dice.  I trapped a Light Cav on the right got a cheap leader kill to grab a quick 3-1 lead before we settled in for a slugfest.

 
Hot Med on Med action

Mark's ranged fire dice were terrible but the sheer volume gradually got him back into the game and we traded the lead back and forth.  I made it 6-5 thanks to a deadly combination of Darken the Skies and Crossbows, wiping out a full strength Heavy Cav unit.  Mark still had one more good shot at closing me out, however.

 
Quarrelsome Crusaders

Toktagin led a Mounted Charge into the center of my line.  After a Medium Bow Cav unit softened up some Crossbowmen, Toktagin finished them off with his Heavies and carried on into two more steps of Crossbows just behind.  However, Mark couldn't quite finish me off, leaving me with one step and a chance.

 
One pip short

Leadership Center Section and the Mounted Charge leadership action allowed me to bring three Heavy Knights into contact with Toktagin, surrounding him thanks to interpenetration.  That was just too much killing power to survive, and Toktagin's Heavy Cav succumbed for my final banner. 

 
Baldwin wraps it up

This final was a hoot - two closely fought, fun games.  The scenario strikes me as pretty balanced.  I already had a healthy respect for Crossbows, but boy howdy, they are lethal and offer a nice counterpoint to the mass of Turkish firepower.  As always, it was a pleasure to play Mark, who took time out of his holiday to line up a match.  Thanks again for setting it all up!



 

Congrats to JR, two very tight games. Collectively a masterclass in why not to play the Rally card, and why Turk archer horsemen should wear glasses.

Congrats, David!

Euro/Others Final Hab G1
Steve Turks. 7 banners taken, 26 blocks lost
Michal Crusaders. 5 banners taken, 30 blocks lost
This was a fast and furious battle. The Crusaders opened on their left, with my Turks using the LC to screen the exit. My Turks then attacked the Crusader infantry in the centre, the Crusader right cavalry rode to their rescue, and then were attacked in turn by my Turkish left cavalry. The Knights then charged forward into a weakness, a gap between the Turkish right and centre, but were foiled by poor dice against good dice, with the Turkish cavalry clinching the win in a narrow and, for both sides, a bloody end.

Euro/Others Final Hab G2
Michal Turks. 3 banners taken, 30 blocks lost
Steve Crusaders. 7 banners taken, 22 blocks lost
Initial devastatingly accurate bowshots quickly killed most of Fulcoy’s knights, who retreated and led me to give up on a plans for them to exit. Great crossbow shooting was then sadly nullified by a great Turkish rally. Then the Turks charged the Crusader infantry (2-0), with a Knight counter-charge against them, along the left/centre, evening the score (2-2). The Turks used leadership to Darken the Sky, and a Crusader counter-attack was used for a further charge (we decided that the counter-attack applies to the card, not the inspired action use of the card – I hope that is correct? Thanks to Michal for allowing it), that broke through the left /centre (2-4). The Turks replied with LC swarm (not sure I’ve seen this used yet), killing Baldwin’s knights (3-4). But my Crusaders were able to charge for a third time, including coming around behind the swarming LC, gaining three more banners (3-7). It was lucky for me, because another Turkish turn would have netted several banners from scattered, weakened and exhausted Crusaders. 

Thanks to Michal for a pair of tough games. I had great cards and dice – always needed against a player of his calibre!