Warmaster Battle Report

Greetings!

As much as I am enjoying revisiting my old Skaven models we should not forget that the main purpose of this blog is the wonderful game of Warmaster. And as we managed a quick game I thought I might present a selection of pictures from this entertaining little game.

We decided on an anarchic gametype where we had three sides of 1250 points that were all at war with each other. We have tried this before and it presents remarkably few problems while allowing for some serious murderous fighting :-).

There wont be a detailed report but I'll briefly write below each picture what was going on - especially on my flank where the most blood was shed (as bloody usual :-)).

Here the evil despot, the Grand Master of the Teutonian army, is clearly trying to terrify the young Ottoman Sultan by seeming as casual as possible while the Turkish horde keeps growing on the table.

The Ottoman Turks setup - using Carthagian troops (so thats not Hannibal but Suleiman the Magnificient :-)).

Army contained: 1x General, 1x Leader, 2x Shepharis and 1x Kapikula (Heavy Cavalry), 2x Janissaries, 2x Akincis, 5x Azabs, 6x Vassals, 1x Cannon and 1x Heavy Cannon (1250 and a break point of 10 (20 units).

Most flanks had some of the terribly bad infantry while the artillery was placed in the corner, Janissaries facing towards the river and the Heavy Cavalry held in reserve.

 The Teutonian forces - cleverly or cowardly (or perhaps a mixture of both) deployed far backwards to see what the opponents decided to do. Only the ArtilleryMaster seems eager to get into action. The rest is comprised of 1x Grand Master, 1x Magister, 3x Brother Knights, 2x Crusader Knights (five heavies ... auchie!) and 2x Light Horses, 2x Crossbowmen, 2x Spearmen (with pavisses).

The valiant and brave (Must add more adjectives later .-)) House of York, once again deployed in magnificent style - ready to defeat the evil opponents! (My army if you werent sure .-)).

1x King, 1x Leader, 3x MenAtArms Mounted, 4x Shire Longbowmen, with stakes, 4x Shire Bill, 6x Irish Warbands and 2x Peasants.

 After a couple of turns the Ottomans have entrenched themselves within the village and it's fields. The Yorkian Men-At-Arms move slowly foward to try and clear some of the useless Turkish infantry away...

 On the other flank the Shire defensive units have moved forward, but the Irish are still hanging back - drinking probably. The Infantry are not looking forward to receiving the charge of all the Heavy cavalry units in front of them - but for some reason the order to deploy stakes have yet to arrive...

 The Yorkian cavalry were unsuccessful and get caught by cheap infantry front and flank - but manage to sneak away - though heavily damaged. It does serve to open up the flank...

Teutonian indecision allows the Yorkian infantry to deploy stakes and to get Irish support from the nearby woods - ready to charge any horses that are thrown back by the impresssive defences...

 Ottoman and Yorkian Heavy Cavalry fighting. The Yorkians win by pure  numbers but here something weird happens as the Turks are pushed ff the field and thereby survives - very infuriating and the first time we have met the less than perfect rule of returning units from having been pushed of the board. We might need a houserule here :-).

 The Yorkian aggression is punished by the Turkish counter-charge, more or less crippling both sides cavalry units and leaving only stragglers surviving.

 More Nastyness...

 On the other flank a single Brotherhood Knight unit managed to charge (the central one was pushed back and lost a stand due to lucky longbowfire thereby making a combined charge almost impossible due to the sneaky Irish who had moved within 20cm but hidden behind the hill. What a sneak that Yorkian player must be! :-)). But it was thrown back and murdered by hundreds of angry infantrymen venting their fear on the expensive brotherhood knights.

 Chaotic cavalry fighting on the Yorkian/Turkish flank continues. Here the Yorkian have managed a charge in the flank of the newly rearrived Turks as well as some cheapo infantry mopping up.

 The survivors of the flank. The remaining Yorkian cavalry have decided that the huge Heavy Cannon is a more tempting target than another charge at the tough Kapikula. They, of course, utterly destroy the cannon.

 Last turn and the Teutonians massacre a lot of Yorkian Infantry but too little too late (although they quite enjoyed it, I am told. The Cavalry that is. The dead Infantry did certainly not enjoy it!)

Meanwhile on the other side of the battle the Teutonian Cavalry finally managed to break through the Turkish defences in the last turn. They have had a strong position, defending the river banks and throwing back the cavalry charges a few times. and managing confusion every other shooting phase. But finally the cavalry push them back and the Turkish line folds from both flanks as the Yorkians and Teutonians envelop the heathens.

A great game - a couple of anxious turns were we tried to decide what way to send our armies before it turned into mainly a cavalry battle as they were the only units to make it through the defensive gaps etc.

The final results were as follows:
Teutonian losses: 1xBrotherknights and ½ a unit of Light Horses: 180 (Bloody coward won!).
Yorkian Losses: 2½ Irish, 1Longbow, 1½ Bill and 2 MenAtArms: 475p.
Ottoman Turks Losses: 1 Kapikula, 2x Shepharis, 2xAkincis, 4Vassals, 3Azabs: 665 (and BROKEN!)

And even though the Ottomans have since tried to disprove the fact that they once again fled the field, they indeed did so - because even Skirmishers count towards break point - when they have an armour save (and Akincis save on a 6+.....).

Anyways - a bloody fun and, well, bloody game :-). It is a brilliant ruleset and with some comrades it always ensures a pleasant evening.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures,
Best regards,
Kasper