MT05 Gothic War

Round 2 Battle of Mugellum 542 AD

gdnuke (Goths) 6 banners won and 15 figures lost
Streetfighter (Byzantines) 2 banners won and 25 figures lost

Good, fun game to close out the tourney. It helped that the Goths outnumbered the Byzantines in units if not leaders, and that the Goths had 5 cards to 4. The quality of the cards was good for the Goths too. Line commands and Inspired Leadership cards helped the Goths to first get into attack position and then launch the cavalry and Totila's warriors against the weaker infantry in the Byzantine center. Totila died on a 2lc when his warriors were hit by a light bowman, but a Byzantine leader also went down to a 1lc after a mounted charge. The remaining leader and Totila's old warrior unit made a desperate attack all the way to the Byzantine board edge, eliminating a light bowman and an auxilia to end the scenario. 
I have to admit that the cards and the dice were with me in this scenario. That is a tough combination to overcome, but Ben gave it a good try. A good opponent who I would play again anytime.
Thanks to Mark for setting up this tourney. I got a chance to play a game that gets too few plays and really enjoyed it. I got to play a bunch of good guys, some new to me and some old hands from the "Great War" tourney. Good times, and good luck to the guys who make the "playoffs." Hit me up if you want a game sometime.

Round 2: Javelinthrower vs. rams1984

Javelinthrower (Goth) 6 banners won, 26 blocks lost
rams1984 (Byzantine) 4 banners won, 28 block lost

The battle started with a surprising Byzantine mounted assault on the forest-covered bowmen and aux units of Goth. Back and forth during the following turns yielded no banners, but roughed up units. That's when the Goths finally got center cards and launched a series of warrior counter-attacks, chasing wounded cavalry to the back ranks and finishing both MBC units. Now overextended, Goth Warriors engaged in a very prolonged battle, and after many turns were spent, by this time delivering 5 banners against 2. Now the forces of both sides were spent and disorganised, and so the flanks had to be moved into a fighting position. Getting through or around the forests was hard for Goth, so before they could finally finish the battle with on overwhelming assault they lost two more units.

A promising begging for Goth turned into a surprisingly close last-minute win. a good game!

 

Round 4
jrtracy (Goth) - 5 banners; 23 blocks lost
gotigerssc (Byzantine) - 6 banners; 22 blocks lost

This one had a ton of momentum swings and I was just fortunate enough to survive. JR first started the fight on my left where he took out an auxilia unit with his heavy but was promptly ambushed and lost the heavy unit AND the leader. Fighting then shifted to the center where he advanced down the hill with his warrior units and things went back and forth with me playing two mounted charges and him effectively using a foot onslaught to nearly win the game. He slipped in behind me with the warrior units and claimed two of my cav units and a leader on one turn. My next turn tied it up at 5-5. It then got even more interesting when JR played a rally card to heal one of his warrior units back to full strength and attacked my 1 figure medium unit. Even with the battle bonus my medium unit lived. On the bonus CC against another unit he lost 1 figure from his warrior, which turned out to be important. On my final turn I played Cry Havoc and totally whiffed as I was only able to order two light units (+1 that could only move). So I cut off the retreat for his 3 figure warrior and placed my light bow unit next to my heavy cav that had a leader. My roll with 4 dice produced three hits - leader symbol, flag, and medium symbol - for the win. Always fun playing JR!

 

Round 3. Javelinthrower vs. Alex

Javelinthrower (Goth) 6 banners won, 11 blocks lost
Alex (Byzantine) 2 banners won, 26 block lost

A very strange game indeed. In the first hand Goths had 2 Mounted Charges and 1 Ambush, with the second coming soon after. So they were forced by the cards to play boldly. Both sides seemed to have corresponding cards for left|right flanks, so immediately skirmishes began. Byz. were lucky with shots, but after the first charge lost the first aux unit. Soon, carnage followed. At the end only two out of the 4 left-flank cavalry fist remained, having literally cut a swath through the enemy ranks. An amazing experience. The only thing to regret is that none of the Ambush cards were played.

If JR won his last game, I would face the only opponent who bested me. Instead, I will be facing Geoff (who suffered his only loss vs me) in the playoffs - interesting. He is my weekly C & C Ancients opponent (we are currently on expansion 3). We also did an entire playthrough of the C & C Medieval scenarios. So, we know each other well. Stayed tuned. 

Round 2
EZPickins (Goth) 5 banners; 21 figures lost
gotigerssc (Byzantine) 6 banners; 28 figures lost

I got off to a quick start on my left with cav attacking the aux units in the woods and then claiming another med cav on that side. Goths took a lot of ranged shots at my LB with their LB from the woods and just couldn't buy a hit until the very end. He worked is warriors down into attack range and they went to work pretty hard on my line to the point of near victory. Fortunately, I had one last turn for a foot onslaught and was able to surround his 3 figure warrior unit w/leader and eliminate both for the win. Had I missed on that attack, I would have certainly lost on the next turn with a lot of wounded units. Thanks to John for an exciting game.

 

Round 4

mk20336 (Goth) 6 banners won, 14 blocks lost
Alex (Byzantine) 2 banners won, 27 blocks lost

When approaching this scenario, I knew that to be still in play for potential play-offs I have to win. Playing under pressure is not always good thing 😊When you look at this scenario, you see overall more numerous Goth forces in well-fortified position. But there is a drawback here – Romans can pick the defenders with much more numerous archers. So, you do not have much choice, but – just as history – descent with your Goths and fight in open terrain, against cavalry and infantry.And that is what I had to do and did in our game. First on right, then on left, disregarding causalities and risks, barbarians were attacking. The onslaught was so relentless that even the better equipped Roman cavalry was not able to be everywhere. In the end the Romans sustained such losses that they routed.

Thanks to Alex for the game!

 

This one is becoming one of the most competitive Mini Tournaments, sepecially for the non-US group. May be we should do an Open Tournament for the Medevial this year instead of  (or together with), the Ancients. I am very interested to hear all your thoughts on the Medevial System. Is it good enough for an Open Tournament ? 

toganalper wrote:

This one is becoming one of the most competitive Mini Tournaments, sepecially for the non-US group. May be we should do an Open Tournament for the Medevial this year instead of  (or together with), the Ancients. I am very interested to hear all your thoughts on the Medevial System. Is it good enough for an Open Tournament ? 


 

I would be interested in seeing this as an OT event and would be willing to play in Ancients as well if both were offered as OTs. I really like the inspired action options available to players and perhaps the expansion for Medieval will be out in time to include scenarios from that source.

Round 5 - GI02 Battle of Taginae 552 AD
RiverWanderer (Goth) 6 banners; 18 blocks lost
Alex (Byzantine) 4 banners; 28 blocks lost

A slow start with both sides taking small probing and manoeuvre actions. With the Goths nervous of ranged attacks, the battle developed in the centre until closing to contact on the Byzantine right. Eventually the Byzantines had manoeuvred enough to launch two Mounted Charges in succession and Goth lines starts to look threadbare and vulnerable. However, the Byzantines also had some depleted units that had scurried to the rear. A Rally turned the battle, allowing a cavalry pursuit and drawing the Goths ahead, though at a price. Fortunately for the Goths, dice just about came good to take the battle's final banner.

This was an exciting game where both sides found their cards a challenge and most attacks came at a risk; other than the 2 Mounted Charges, tactic, first strike & ambush cards were more or less missing in action. The spectator row of Goth auxilia applauded their side's win.

Thanks to Alex for a great game.