MT06 Crusades

Division 3 (Interglobal) 

Round 5
TTC - 8 banners (45 blocks)
lunacab - 5 banners (25 blocks)

The Crusader attack began with their knights charging the Seljuq camps, supported by some effective crossbow fire. However, Baldwin fell on the first turn to leading a charge into the Seljuq center camp. The Seljuqs worked quickly to get better troops forward and into their camps as the Crusaders worked to bring forward their line of infantry. Effective skirmishing by light bow cavalry against the weak Cruders' right led to an early 2-0 lead. 

A Foot Onslaught allowed the Crusaders to engage in a melee for the central camps. As Crusaders occupied two of the camps, an audacious Seljuq attack against the left cavalry wing failed to prove decisive, and Guy le-Chevreauil led a counter-charge that finished off cavalry units and left Temirek unhorsed and away from the battle. Both sides poured forces into the camp area, giving the Crusaders a 6-2 lead.

Finally, up 7-3, the Crusaders seized the remaining two camps but were unable to win the last banner before two of their attacking units fell, ending the battle at 8-5.

Cheers to my gentlemanly opponent lunacab - it was a pleasure working through the nuances that make Medieval a little more challenging than Anicents!

 

TTC wrote:

Division 3 (Interglobal) 

Round 5
TTC - 8 banners (45 blocks)
lunacab - 5 banners (25 blocks)


 

with the scoring, it is how many banners you took, and how many blocks you lost
So the above should read
TTC - 8 banners (25 blocks lost)
lunacab - 5 banners (45 blocks lost)

hope that makes sense

So about 2 and half weeks from the deadline, and a fair number of matches yet to be played. Some players have played no matches at all. 
Division 3 did start late, so there is some reason for them, but the other two Divisions should be close to done. Our 2 late starters in the US and Euro divisions have completed 5 & 4 matches respectively, despite starting later. Time to get a move on please.

Division 2 (Euro)
Round 3, 110 Harran - 7 May 1104

mk20336 (Turk)  6 banners won, 26 blocks lost
stephent (Crusader) 4 banners won, 26 blocks lost

That was a truly enjoyable and fun game. The river in the middle of the map is a pain - especially for those heavy mounted knights. I started slowly, with range fire which accelerated drastically once I got Darken the Sky card. Steve counterattacked on his right and bloody back-and-forth game started. In the end luck was with me as Clash of Shields allowed for the third Knight to be brought down as well as Bohemnod himself. Great scenario and great game!

Round 3 110 Harran - 7 May 1104
Mark McG (Saracen)  6 banners won, 24 blocks lost
gonzo (Crusader) 5 banners won, 27 blocks lost
A very near run thing for the Saracens. Saracens started well with a mounted charge, which did a fair amount of damage to Baldwin's cavalry without destroying anything. Baldwin then counterattacked, eliminating a Medium Cav. The Saracens then pushed in the centre, destroyed a Medium cav, and a Knight cav, and were subjected to two Ambush cards.. Joe played 3 Command cards before his 2nd turn!

Things got pretty hairy then, with both Saracen Heavy cavalry destroyed, Jekermish eliminated on a double leader check, and the score stood at 5-3 Crusaders way (the Saracens lucky to eliminate the Turcopoles with a flag result.)

From here I played very carefully, avoiding encirclement and crossbow fire on depleted units, and showering the Crusaders with arrows. One LBC across the river managed to bag 2 single block survivors, and Joscelin fled the field. After a huge number of arrows loosed on Baldwin's knights, managing one hit, they drew back, and withe score at 5-5, I went for the conclusion and managed to corner the Crossbowmen and finish the battle. 
 

Division 2 (Euro)
Round 2, 109 2nd Ramla - 17 May 1102

mk20336 (Fatamid)  6 banners won, 14 blocks lost
rams1984 (Crusader) 2 banners won, 18 blocks lost

That is one of probably the quickest scenarios in the expansion. Few crusaders - too few to win by simply killing all the units, you need to get to the leaders. And so it was here - two quick attacks from Rams at me Medium Infantry units without support of leader and then a Forward card followed by Mounted charge. Still, much closer game than the result dictates (look at blocks lost).
Thanks to Rams for flexibility in scheduling the game!
 

Division 3 (Interglobal) 

Round 3
Jarib       - 3 banners (27 blocks lost)
Lunacab - 6 banners (19 blocks lost)

The Turks launched a cavalry attack against Baldwin and Joscelin, killing two units. However, they couldn’t break Joscelin’s resistance, who ultimately brought down Soqman. In a follow-up attack that initially looked promising, the Turks performed even worse and suffered heavy cavalry losses.While the left Crusader flank held firm, the right flank began to move. The battle turned chaotic—several units were left with no retreat, yet somehow avoided elimination. The Turks then withdrew on their left flank, crossed the river, and managed that side from a distance. Capitalizing on a failed Crusader counterattack on the opposite flank, they eliminated several foot units—Baldwin II among them.What a crazy game! We were still learning the rules as we played, but it was so much fun. Huge thanks to Jarib for such a fantastic afternoon!

 

  

 

Round 3 - Harran

hussar04 (Suljuq) - 5 banners and 31 blocks lost
gotigerssc (Crusaders) - 6 banners and 23 blocks lost

Lots of action on my left flank and in the center as I was able to maneuver three of the cavalry units that started on the baseline into the fray. Flags played a big part as it saved some units and eventually doomed others trapped on the baseline. Really tight game throughout and we both rolled for the win at different points with me being just lucky enough to come out ahead. Joscelin did not survive the fight but Baldwin was the luckiest (daring? brave?) of all the leaders as it felt like his life was constantly at risk. Thanks to Rick for a fun match.

 

Mark-McG wrote:

TTC wrote:

Division 3 (Interglobal) 

Round 5
TTC - 8 banners (45 blocks)
lunacab - 5 banners (25 blocks)



 

with the scoring, it is how many banners you took, and how many blocks you lost
So the above should read
TTC - 8 banners (25 blocks lost)
lunacab - 5 banners (45 blocks lost)

hope that makes sense
 

Ahhhh... well it makes sense now that you've explained it to me. And now that I actually read the instructions for this tournament.

In that case, you'll need to reverse the results on blocks lost for my game against scipio1zama, as I made the same mistake in that tournament.

Anyway, I am accustomed to the C&C Ancients format; in my first match, after our game, I told my opponent that I was ready to switch sides for our second game. He quickly corrected me and explained that I was only playing one side...

1st Ramla

Renaud, 6 banners, 18 blocks lost
George, 3 banners, 26 blocks lost

The crusaders opened with an advance in the center, hitting the 3 MI without leader support, but a combination of Ambush, few blues, and several flags left all MI alive, though diminished, and the Crusaders soon lost 2 knight units and Carpinel on a 2d6 leader check while the Fatimids finally lost 2 MI. George seemed to miss a center card to exploit and attacked on his left, reducing a Crusader MI to 1. After redressing their lines and getting that MI out of harm's way, the Crusaders launched an inspired Mounted Charge with only 2 knight units, one at full strength led by Baldwin and the other a 3-block survivor of the initial attack. This charge could have nabbed 4 units and a leader, but "only" nabbed 3, while forcing one knight unit to retreat 4 hexes and leaving Baldwin with only 2 blocks. This created the conditions for an inspired action on the Fatimid left that had an AB unit shoot 2 hits at the retreated knights, and had both a 4-block HC and 4-block MC attack Baldwin, while supported by a leader. The HC rolled first, taking 1 block off Baldwin, but on the inspired battle back the knights rolled 4 flags, and the HC, unable to retreat, was eliminated. That was my one lucky die roll of the game, and it did the trick [wipes sweat from brow]

Always a pleasure to play with George.