Round: 1
Scenario: River Coa
Game 1:
French: Eric Yorkston (boredbeyondbelief)
Allies: John Dietrich (ezpickins)
Winner: John Dietrich (ezpickins)
Score: French 5 - Allies 6
Game2:
French: John Dietrich (ezpickins)
Allies: Eric Yorkston (boredbeyondbelief)
Winner: Eric Yorkston (boredbeyondbelief)
Score: French 1 - Allies 6
The first game was a close battle that could have been won by either side. This is mostly due to John just not seeming to be able to draw enough center cards. On the first turn the British has their line unsuccessfully fire at the French. The French responded by moving foward on all 3 fronts; advancing in the center and left flank and having their cavalry engage with the British units north of the town. One unit squared up - which ended up severely hampering the British's response options. The British center also took multiple hits and their line broke.
The French managed to storm the ramparts and eliminated two units. The French were battling toward the bridge, hoping to cut off the British avenue for escape. Instead of running toward the bridge, the British right flank retook the ramparts, eliminating the French unit that had overrun them. As the battle for the fort raged on, both sides lost troops, but when the British units looked ready to be eliminated, they were often forced to retreat intead - and two light units with one block each escaped to the bridge by timely flag roles on the part of the French. The battle was fought near that top edge with the British also trying to put some pressure with a counter-attack on their left flank. This did manage to eliminate a unit, but things looked dicy for them. Two British leaders had their units defeated but survived to slink away and retire from the battlefield unscathed. With the British only needing one more banner, the French finally blocked off the bridge, but the British counter-attack was starting to pay serious dividends. They had taken the battle to the French! An Elan played in turn 13 finally gave the British enough concentrated firepower to capture the last banner and win the battle.
In game two, the British took a different strategy: yield as much ground as possible and exit troops as quickly as possible. But the cards didn't help the British and troops started clogging near the bridge. The French assaulted the Center. then assaulted the right (causing the British to square up both troops which managed to drive off both light cavalries). On Turn 3, the British managed to evacuate their first unit of Portugese light troops and had the second on the bridge ready to retire. But a bayonette charge evened the score as a rifle unit fell and the French line managed to take the ramparts. The losses the French line units took to gain the fort would prove costly. A British attack from their right flank re-took the fort eliminating both the line unit and General Loison in the process. The French pressed their attack but again got the worse of it, having a line unit fall to the horse artillary on the hill battling back. With the British only needing to exit one troop to gain victory, the French readied their bayonettes and brought three units to attack the British light unit holding down the fort. A fourth French light unit moved behind the British to cut off any escape. But the light unit held! (only 2 hits on 11 dice rolled!) In a last ditch effort, the remaining French unit rolled a die trying to take down General Sydney on the bridge. Although a hit was scored, the general didn't fall. The French unit was eliminated in the battle back. Victory for the Brits!
The first game was a marathon taking 13 turns and clocking in just under 2 hours (we had some mic issues to fix too). The second game lasted just 6 turns and was played in under 30 minutes! I enjoyed playing with John and hope to meet him across that table again soon!
Game 1:
Game 2:
