Round 5 - Gonzo Joe vs JR in JR11 Falkirk (Stage 2)
Gonzo Joe (Government) - 5 banners won, 27 blocks lost
JR (Jacobite) - 6 banners won, 22 blocks lost
Wow, what a crazy game. Joe sensed a coming storm and opened with a low-powered card to slide his left-most forces a bit toward his right, while some cavalry occupied the village on the Government left. I in turn played Steal a March to advance ten units on my center and right. Joe performed some light musketry before I unleashed At the Quick Step, for a further eight units, coming into contact all along the line. Losses were moderate but we were now fully engaged.
Despite my advantage in numbers, Joe drew first blood, eliminating a frisky Highlander unit, and used his cav to keep my right flank at bay. Joe hit me with Inspired Leadership Right along with the very cool Cavalry Strike & Run to tidy his line and pick off some Scotsmen, but I returned the favor with Counter-Attack; a battle-back cost me a unit of Regulars but I saw off two Government Regulars as well.
King & Country served Joe well, eliminating another Highlander, but I played *another* Counter-Attack, eliminating a Cavalry unit pinned against the boardedge but missing its accompanying leader. The banner count was 3-3 but my card-cupboard was starting to look bare.
Joe dressed his lines, actually advancing a one-step cav to give it a chance to evade. I replied with Forward, and was able to eliminate the cav (but not its leader) with ranged fire, and killed off a Regular with no room for retreat (though again, its leader survived). I was now up 5-3.
Joe used Cavalry Charge to order a leader-led Highlander forward to eliminate a one-stepper, and moved on to inflict a couple more losses - as Joe said, not bad for horseless cavalry. We then reached a weird point - Joe *finally* played a Scout, and killed off a two-step Highlander for his fifth banner. Our reading of the rules said the Time Pressure banner due Joe from Scout applied at the end of the turn, so the fact he killed a unit with it prevented him from scoring his sixth and final banner.
I was pretty desperate at this point, with just Advance Right, Advance Left, and Line Volley in my hand. The right flank was useless, and my left flank was away from the action but I was able to use Advance Left to get two Lowlander units within long range of Joe's troops. His forward-most boys were all down a pip or two so he didn't dare withdraw for fear of the scenario special rule demanding a Rally roll for retrograde movement. He used Forward and Infantry Ranged Bonus to knock a step off one of my Lowlanders. Down to my last card, I used Line Volley against a three-step unit. By another special rule, Volley bonuses didn't apply due to heavy rain. My first shot was three dice - two Infantry symbols. Down to my last roll, a 3-step Lowlander rolling a single die...Infantry! That killed the unit for my sixth and final banner. If my math is right, I had about a 1.5% chance of winning on the last card - Joe was robbed.
This is a strange but interesting scenario. I think I played a good hand poorly, and was bailed out by my dice in the end. Also, we forgot to deduct a die for movement for about half the game, a mistake which favored me, in my opinion. Joe did well with so-so cards; if that Scout had shown up a turn earlier, the win would've been his. It was an enjoyable, tense game, but I don't think the better player won.
