Warmaster Battle Report 19/01-2010

 Introduction

Greetings all!

We recently played another game using the rules of Warmaster and with the help of the free program, Battle Chronicler, we are pleased to be able to share it with you - and to get any comments and criticism that you might think of while reading the report.

The game was fought between a 1500p Carthago Army led by Per and two 750p armies - one led by Uffe chosen from the Teotonic Order army list (masquerading as Welsh nobility) and one led by Kasper and chosen from the Welsh Army list. The only special rule was that the Welsh Coalition army would be treated as one and would combine losses etc and fight as one.

The table was 150x200 cm, deployment was marked on a map in secret before the battle and we fought six eventful turns.

And please remember to click the maps and pictures to see them in a size where the details are more noticeable :-).

 

The Welsh Foot - Ready for action

Armies

Cathago ------- General: Per

  (1) General, Hannibal [150 points]
  (2) Leader, Hago [80 points]
  (3) Leader, Mago [80 points]
  (4)  Elephants [150 points]
  (5-6)  Heavy Cavalry [110 points]
  (7)  Light Horse [60 points]
  (8-11)  Numidians [40 points]
  (12-15)  Infantry [45 points]
  (16-19)  Skirmishers [30 points]
  (20-31)  Gallic Allies  [25 points]
  Total: 1500 points Break Point: 10
  -

Welsh Liberation Army --------------------- Generals: Uffe and Kasper

  (1) General, Grand Master Tristan de Caernarfon [125 points]
  (2) Brother Knights, Brothers of Brecon Hills [145 points]
  (3-4) Crusader Knights, Knights of Goodrich [135 points]
  (5-7) Light Horses, Riders of Garreg Cennen [70 points]

  (8) Leader, Owain ap Gruffydd,  [80 points]
  (9) Irish Chieftain, Mathgamain mac Cennétig,  [50 points]
  (10) Irish Mercenaries [45 points]
  (11-12) Welsh Archers [40 points]
  (13-26) Welsh Foot  [35 points]
  Total: 1495 points Break Point 12

Deployment

The Carthago army was pretty thinly spread trying to cover the entire field. A brigade of cheap Gaellic Allies defended each flank while the center was held by a unit of elephants, two heavy cavalry units and the regular infantry. The numidian skirmishing cavalry was deployed together on the african right flank while another Warband brigade was deployed behind the small city.

The Welsh army had all the cavalry behind the large hill and a big imposing horde of warbands deployed as centrally as possible.
The welsh battleplan was to send in the warbands and cause as much havoc as possible, destroy any skirmishers with the superb light horses and sweep the field in the final turns with the Brother and Crusader Knights. As we saw the thin red line we decided to concentrate on the three infantry briagdes on the welsh right flank - hoping that their destruction would bring us a certain victory.

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

 

Welsh Deployment

 

The Army of Africa - the thin dark line - with their confident general Per 

and a secret helper in hiding.

Carthago Turn 1

The first turn went to Carthago but little movement happened as only a single brigade dared to move forward  (28-31) the rest of the army was plagued by poorly written orders.

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

Wales Turn 1

More focused were the movements of the welsh - all the cavalry moved forward towards the center of the battle field, flanked by two brigades of warbands - racing to try and occupy the small hill in front of them. (10 , 13-15, 20-23) On the right a further two brigades ran forward (16-19, 24-26) while only the archers seemed a bit confused as to their role in the battle (11-12).

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

 

The Welsh army plows forward, trying to take advantage of the thinly spread opposition

Carthago Turn 2
More movement this time from the africans, as a brigade of Gaellic Allies moved forward on each side, one reaching the safety of a small town (24-27) while the other prepared for a long march (20-23). In the center a brigade of two infantry units (14-15) and two skirmishers (18-19) moved rapidly forward and just barely seized the center hill, backed by a single cavalry unit of Light horses (7).

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

Wales Turn 2

Few orders were passed as most of the turns energy was used by the central brigade (10, 13-15) who rushed forward onto the central hill, chasing of the two African skirmishing units (18-19) and establishing a foothold on the isolated terrain piece. The Welsh generals had decided to sacrifice as many units as it took to occupy and deny  the Africans this important hill and hoped that an attack would be more costly to the regular and more expensive infantry than the cheap Welsh foot while the second brigade (20-23) were eager to join the fray as soon as possible.

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

 

The Welsh surge forward

  

The bloody battle for the central hill begins

Carthago Turn 3

Again the African army was hampered by illeterate unit leaders, this time even Hannibal forgot why he was supposed to be such a brilliant general (and lost his special bonus). The only real movement was the concentration of archery units (7, 18-19) in the center who shot at the Irish mercenaries (10) with little result.

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

Wales Turn 3

More action this turn as the Welsh moved in for the kill. The Crussader Knights (3-4) swept towards the isolated brigade (28-31) while in front of them footsoldiers died on the bloody hill. Two Welsh Foot units (14-15) tried to push the regular infantry (14-15) off the hill with catastrophic results - one was entirely destroyed while the other was it self pushed far back (14) causing only a few injuries to the African soldiers. The Irish Mercenries had charged the two units of skirmishers (18-19) who bravely chose to stand and fight, though unsuccesful with an entire unit destroyed (19). The Mercenries eyed the Elephants behind the skirmishers and nervously calculated the distance and hoped they would be safe from a countercharge. Another unit of Foot (13) had charged the Light cavalry unit (7) in a battle which cost each unit a single stand - and the Welsh foot fell back onto the hill and just behind the African Infantry (14).

The hill was still dominated by the Africans but at least the Welsh generals had managed to remove most of the infantrys support and were hoping that the Infantry would soon be killed by numbers alone.

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

 

The Hanged Man Hill-Mill - famous for its funky smelling flour

More blood is spilt on the hill

Carthago Turn 4

Turn 4 saw little movement again on the African side, despite all three leaders trying as hard as they could to get the unit leaders to read the orders, especially the Numidians failure to do so was infuriating. What did move was the Gaellic Allies (28-31) who tried to defend their flanks from the approaching Welsh Foot and to incite the Crusader Knights (3-4) away from the center of the field. Two skirmisher units (16-17) managed to move forward (16-17) while two more regular Infantry units (12-13) moved forward to try and get into a fight with the Irish Mercenries (10). These killed the remaining skirmishers (18) in combat and fell back towards their own lines, having taken serious damage.

In the more important central battle the African Infantry (14-15) killed the last Welsh Foot in front of them (14) on the hill  and although both units were by now damaged, they were almost alone now.

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

Wales Turn 4

After the Irish Mercenaries (10) fled from the Africans charges were announced both in the center and on the right flank. Two Welsh Foot units (20-21) and one unit of Crusader Knights (3) charged the stubborn Infantry there (14-15). Another unit (13) once again charged the Light Horses (7)  and were blessed with lucky hits and destroyed all the horses before falling back to safety.

On the flank the small brigade of Welsh Foot (24-25) just managed to contact their opponents (30-31) but were in the resulting battle decisively beaten back. In the center the Welsh fared better and finally the last Africans were thrown of the hill, leaving the Welsh in charge of the bloody piece of terrain. Whatever heathens of old were buried beneath would be merrily drinking the blood that seeped through the ground.

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

 

By sacrificing hundreds of welsh footmen the arfricans are slowly driven from the hill 

The Clash of Titans or more correctly; the clash of sacrificial warbands on the flank.

Carthago Turn 5

Again only few units moved on the African side - two units of Skirmishers (16-17) moved forward to avenge their comrades and finish of the Irish Mercenaries (10), but their slingshots failed to do so. Meanwhile the larger brigade of Gaellic Allies (24-27) tried a flank charge on the inviting enemy units but blundered and fell back onto the village.

The only positive actions were the decimation of Welsh Foot (24-25) by the Gaellic Allies on the flank (30-31). Unfortunately a single stand managed to survive and just held back the enemy for the Welsh countercharge.

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

Countless Gaellic Allies and Welsh Footsoldiers die unnoticed on the battles flank

Wales Turn 5

Little Action across the field as most orders were too hastily written for them to be read by fearful unit leaders and although many charges were tried all failed (The Light Horses (5-7) wanted tor id the field of Skirmishers (16-17) while the Crusader Knights (3) and Foot (21) wanted to teach the Gaellic Allies (24-27) a lesson before the returned to the village. Only the flank was succesful where four units of Welsh Foot (16-19) ripped through the opposing Gaellic Allies (28-31), ignoring their own many casulties and pushed the rest up against the far ends of the Battle field.

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

 

General Uffe

 

General Per - trying to will his unmoving elephants forward by pure willpower

Carhago Turn 6

In their final turn the Numidians (8-11) and their neighbouring Allies (20-23) briefly woke from their slumber but too little too late. The rest of the army continued their sedated lack of fighting with a brigade of Gaellic Allies once again failing their charge (24-27). While all this was happening the last remnants on the left flank (28-29) was wiped out by the Welsh Foot (17-19), the remains of which consolidated towards the center of the field.

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

Wales Turn 6

 Last and decisive turn for the Welsh - now was the time to kill and drive the invadign Africans from the field. On the left the Archers (11-12) decided that they were safe and moved forwards and by their only barrage of the game managed to confuse the Infantry in front of them (13). The Light Horses (5-6) charged into the Skirmishers (16-17) quickly killing them all and advanced into the now confused infantry (13). Unfortunately these African Infantry proved to be too strong for the fancy horses and even though they were confused managed to throw the Light Horses back.

On the other side all available units screamed for blood and charged the poor and now very isolated Gaellic Allies (24-27). Two units of Crusader Knights (3-4) and two units of Welsh Foot (16, 26) managed to contact the foe and proceeded to slaughter two units (26-27) and severely damage the rest for little damage in return.

All the succes must have momentarily confused the Welsh generals as they also ordered a single unit of Welsh Foot (21) to charge into the terrirying line of cavalry and elephants in front of them (4-6). (Note; this charge was only meant to ruin the brigades integrity and to see more blood be spilt, but as the resulting combat and advances proved this silly charge could have cost us the battle). The infantry managed to kill some of the Heavy Cavalry but were decidedly cut down allowing the Elephants (4) to charge into the side of the nearby Crusader Knights (3) (as this combat was still ongoing and two rounds had been fought the elephants could not fight that round (thank god!) but did look very scary on the flank of the expensive cavalry). One unit of Heavy cavaly attacked into the flank of the Light horses and although causing a few casualties was not able to kill the entire unit before the armies were forced by darkness to end the battle.

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

End

Casualties:

Welsh Army:

5 x Welsh Foot (175)

5 x ½ Welsh Foot (100)

1 x ½ Light Horse (35)

1 x Irish Mercenaries (45)

Total: 355 and 7,5 units out of a Break Point of 12

Carthago Casualties:

4 x Skirmishers (120)

1 x Light Horse (60)

6 x Gaellic Allies (125)

2 x Infantry (90)

Total 395 and 9 units out of a Break Point of 10

 

Map key: 

Carthago Red: 1 General Hannibal 2-3 Leaders 4 Elephants, 5-6 Heavy Cavalry, 7 Light Cavalry

8-11 Numidians, 12-15 Infantry, 16-19 Skirmishers, 20-31 Gaellic Warbands

Wales Dark Blue: 1 General, 2 Brother Knights, 3-4 Crusader Knights, 5-7 Light Horses

Wales Light Blue: 8 Leader, 9 Irish Chieftain, 10 Irish Mercenaries, 11-12 Archers, 13-26 Welsh Foot

 

Final positions at the end of a bloody battle

Comments

From our point of view (the Welsh side) the battle was half won by the end of the deployment phase as the African army seemed too spread out. Unfortunately the battle for the hill (infantry are always a pleasure to defend with in terrain) was maybe too costly and the initial lack of success on the right flank against the isolated Gaellic Allies almost cost us the battle. The last charge in the last turn by the Welsh Foot against the main battle line of Heavy Cavalry and Elephants will never be mentioned again - what a mistake :-).

Also this was another game where one side had all the luck in manouvering (Wales) while the other was viciously lucky in combat (Carthago), but as such I think the luck was reasonably balanced on both sides. What was decisive was also that one third of the African forces were never in battle - especially the costly cavalry and elephants never had a chance to make their presence felt (until the stupid charge which from now on, really, will never be mentioned again). The same was the case for the Brother Knights, but at least these expensive units kept each other in check, neither side daring to send them in too soon and both sides felt the need to keep something in reserve to countercharge.

Also it should probably be said that the African army would probably have delivered a decisive countercharge if the game had gone on for a turn or more, but wether this would have been enough is now a moot point.

MVP on the Welsh side should definitely go to the Irish Mercenaries who managed to kill enough points to make their sacrifice worthwhile and it felt like they themselves tied up an enitre flank for a couple of turns. MVP on the African side should probably go to the two units of Infantry who held the hill against almost eight Welsh Foot units and a unit of Crusader Knights.

A particular mention should be made as to the Warband rule - this is really working perfectly, really giving the feeling of invincible units when succesful and crappy quickly disappearing ones when luck doesnt favour them. Great fun!

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the Report,

best regards,

Kasper.

One for the tank lovers out there...

Hello - was stumbling along the internet when I found this and thought all you WWII tank aficionados might enjoy it :-):

I know nothing of the subject and just hope it is not a fake..

Best regards,

Kasper.

Battle report from 19/01-10

So as planned we fought a battle the other evening using the Warmaster Ancient rules. The battle was hard fought, very close and as always extremely bloody. Especially a hill in the center must have been drenched by the blood of countless infantry men who died trying to seize it from the enemy.

The armies were as follows but I think it would be fun to have any guesses as to who won (the report will not be finished before sometime next week as I have a short seminar coming up and need to finish a paper...). The best guess will be saluted!

The Cathagian army 1500 points:
1 x Hannibal 150
2 x Leaders 160
1 x Elephants 150
2 x Heavy Cavalry 220
1 x Light Cavalry 60
4 x Infantry 180
12 x Warbands 300
4 x Skirmishing Infantry 120
4 x Skirmishing Cavalry (Numidians) 160
Total of 1500 points and with a break point of 10


The army of Wales (2x 750 points)
The Black Walesians (using the Teuton Brotherhood army list):
1 x General 125
1 x Brother Knights 145
2 x Crusader Knights 270
3 x Light Horses 210
The Backbone of Wales (using the Army of Wales list):
1 x Leader 80
1 x Irish Chieftain 50
2 x Archers 80
1 x Irish Mercenaries 45
14 x Welsh Foot 490
Total: 1495 and a break point at 12

And the battlefield:

Best regards and I promise the battle report will be up as soon as possible.

Dipping 10mm miniatures?

Hello all - I need your opinions and experience!
With the increasing amount of people who are turning to the "darkside" and dipping their miniatures instead of the old fashioned (and lengthy) process of painstakingly painting each detail I have become tempted to try it out.
Not for the first time either - it seems every six months I'll go to the Army Painter Homepage and imagine what could be, and in the end be put of by both the many things one would have to buy to begin dipping and from the lack of examples of 10mm dipped (or splashed as would probably be a better approach to 10mm).

So have anyone tried dipping or splashing Army Painter Shades on 10mm miniatures? If so - what results were achieved, what shades were good/bad etc - please share!

Best regards,
Kasper

Warmaster Battle Report - 1250 points

Greetings all!
We were fortunate enough recently to have an interesting battle which we decided to try and recreate for your (and our own pleasure) using a new (free) program called Battle Chronicler. Any and all comments are appreciated both regarding the battle itself and the use of Chronicler.

The Battle was fought using the rules of Warmaster and was between The Black Teutonians of Wales vs. a Carthaginian Civil War Army (probably no such thing in the real world but it was made to compete against another players carthaginian army and as such must have been part of a civil war. We each had 1250 points with the min/max of a normal 1000p army.

The armies, by chance turned out to be a classic example of Quality versus Quantity, with huge numbers of warbands on the one side and a few of the best cavalry units available on the other.

Remember to click the maps to magnify them if they appear too small....and yes those africans do look a lot like medieval troops, thats just to fool the enemy .-)

First the two armies:
The Black Teutonians of Wales
General, Grand Master Tristan de Caernarfon
135 points
Leader, Magister Thomas Moore
80 points

Brother Knights, Knights of Brecon Hills
145 points
Brother Knights, Knights of the Virgin Lake
145 points
Crusader Knights, Knights of the Blessed Virgin
135 points
Light Horses, Snowdonian Riders
70 points
Light Horses, Riders of the Grail
70 points
Light Horses, Riders of the Cross
70 points
Light Horses, Riders of the Trinity
70 points
Light Horses, Riders of Syracusa
70 points
Crossbowmen, Archers from Laphroig
60 points
Crossbowmen, Archers from Gragganmore
60 points
Spearmen, Freemen of Cardiff
50 points
Spearmen, Hungry Horses
50 points
Subject Infantry, Footsoldiers of the Left
20 points
Subject Infantry, Footsoldiers of the Right
20 points
Total: 1250 points

And the Carthaginian Civil War Army (sans fancy names...)

King "I'm the real deal" Hannibal
Command 10/9
150 points
Leader, Hasdrubal
Command 8
80 points
Leader, Mago
Command 8
80 points
2x Heavy Cavalry, Heavy Cavalry
110 points
2x Skirmish Cavalry, Numidians
40 points
2x Infantry, Infantry
45 points
2x Skirmishers
30 points
20x Gallic Allies
25 points
Total: 1250 points

Turn 1: Cathago


Deployment was pretty straight forward (and sketched onto a map before the battle). The Carthaginians had their skirmishers on each flank, five full warbands protecting the normal infantry and the heavy cavalry in the centre. The Teutonians had their infantry on each flank while the heavy and "light" cavalry was the centre, able to quickly deploy elsewhere if necesary.

During their turn the africans carefully went forward, eyeing the scary modern cavalry across the fields. The numidians went carefully down one flank, trying to look imposing.



The field of battle, looking at the african forces


A pair of happy gamers prepare to fight to the death - such intense professionalism! :-)


The Numidian flank
Turn 1: Teutonians



The Walesian holy knights showed no fear as they took full advantage of their special and magnificent leadership in the first round and all surged forward. That is all, except the cowardly subject infantry who choose to hide in a forest for the rest of the battle, having served to up the breaking point of the more capable knights. The Infantry took positions on a hill and in one of the centre villages while half the "light" cavalry flew down the right side.

The Teutonian (and yes they are indeed very black) line of battle

Turn 2: Cathago



A huge band of Gallic Allies took a defensive position in the hills on the carthagian left flank supported by the foot skirmishers. Their mission was to keep the light cavalry from bothering the rest of the army for as long as possible. On the other flank a similar move brought a small army of barbarians into the vacant village.
In the centre another brutish army was sent in to lure the cavalry forward and some even managed by sheer lust for war to attack and force the opposing infantry to fall back further into their village silencing their crossbows for a while.

The barbarian hordes prepare to kill some knights...

Turn 2: Teutonians



Apart from the light cavalry surging ever forward on one flank the rest of the army either failed to move or held their horses ready to charge but no orders to do so was given, maybe the sheer numbers of frenzied barbarians across the field took the fight out of the brave knights?

Turn 3: Carthago



The leaders of the horde were unnerved by the lack of movement on the opposing side and all failed to issue a single order leaving especially their left flank vulnerable to the inevitable charge. Only a few desperate slingshots managed to confuse a large part of the light cavalry on that side, saving the infantry from the worst of the coming attack.

Turn 3: Teutonians



Deciding on action instead of inaction the Brotherhood gave the signal to attack and knights flew forward across the field. Although not always with great results; the light cavalry was forced to withdraw back after a hard fought battle that ended in a bloody draw. The Crusader knights had little trouble removing an unit of Gallic Allies from the field along with a few of their friends but when the time came to withdraw their horses were apparently stuck in the now bloody mud and the only managed a short fallback, leaving them in easy reach of much of the onlooking barbarian horde.
The Brother Knights had little bother in riding around the corner of the village, slaughtering the footsoldiers found there and even managed to show the undisciplined Crusader knights how to fall back, returning and redressing the line next to the other unit.

The victorious but isolated Crusader Knights

Turn 4: Carthago


Although it had been bloody the sacrifice would prove to be worth it - the Crusaders were stuck in the middle of the field and from all angles warbands fell on the poor knights who were all promptly killed and gutted by the bloodlusting horde. Unfortunately one warband got a wee bit too bloodmad and decided to charge into the well dressed line of Brotherhood knights and their light cavalry neighbours. This proved disatrous and the Brotherhood knights followed their success with another attack which also wiped out another warband - even positioning themselves for another charge next turn. Both sides held their breath to see just how many untrained infantry units these panzer tanks could mow down. But at the same time they were lured further and further into the waiting maw of axewielding doom.

Further fighting was happening on the flank where the foot skirmishers had managed to charge the light cavalry and were promptly followed by more warband units - and although forced to let the horses run away they had inflicted several lucky (and costly) fatalities amongst the enemy.

The Crusader Knights are overwhelmed by the hordes


The Light Cavalry are caught unprepared by skirmishers and warband

Turn 4 Teutonians



Another turn of violence was the Teutonian answer to their predicament. While the infantry began to advance the light cavalry surprised all by charging around the village into the peaceful Numidians, making short work of one unit and pressing the remains of another far backwards.

The helpless (and hopeless) Numidians are mown down by the more talented medieval type
On the other side the now rather sorry remains of the mirrored light cavalry once again tried to hammer their way through the infantry ensconced on the hill but were again (with even greater luck) thrown back down, with heavy casualties on both sides.
Both flanks were bleeding but that was nothing compared to the massacre in the centre where two full units of Brotherhood knights, apparently the best cavalry of all time, risked it all and flew through barbarians chopping heads of left and right. When the mist of blood settled a massacre had taken place leaving the knights almost unhurt in the centre of the field, their horses wading through seas of blood.

The Brother Knights plow through the warband line, killing footsoldiers left and right
Turn 5: Carthago



Throwing the remaining reserves into the fight the barbarians surged forward on all flanks. The Light Cavalry who were chopping the Numidians up were surprised by a long and rather unbarbarian manouvre that led to wave of barbarians charging the locked cavalry, killing suprisingly many of them and pushing the rest away from the hopelessly outclassed and now all dead african cavalry.
Another wave of charges saw the remaining Light Cavalry getting caught by the infantry on the other flank and while both sides were heavily damaged the cavalry were finally removed from the field, leaving only one very exposed unit.
In the centre now was the time to decide the battle and the Carthagians threw their Heavy Cavalry reserves into the tempting target of Brotherhood knights waiting in the abattoir. they were supported by infantry on both flanks and victory seemed inevitable - unfortunately the Teutonians managed by fighting like demons to kill enough of their enemy to force a lull in the comabt where all withdrew to gather their breath for another round. The charge of the heavy cavalry had not been as decisive nor as destructive as the africans had hoped and prayed for leaving the heavily armoured teutons in the center.


Turn 5: Teutonians


The Teutonian general decided to let his god sort out the battle and ordered a general charge across the field.
The remaining Brother Knights crashed into the african Heavy Cavalry wiping out one unit before falling back again, though not as effective an attack as hoped nor as far as prayed for - again leaving tasty knights stranded within charge range of too many barbarians.
On each flank the remaining Light Cavalry units also charged, trying to whittle down the damaged barbarian units to make things more even but during the fighting they themselves took far the heaviest toll.


The situation after the first couple of combat rounds in the centre, both sides having taken heavy losses..

Turn 6: Carthago


All that remained for the bloodied barbarians was to kill the seemingly invincible knights in front of them - and rallying their last reserves all available units threw themselves at them. With mad Gaellic fightings on all sides and Heavy Cavalry units to their front the Holy Brotherhood was finally forced to succomb to reality and the last knot was untied by brutal axeblows, leaving not a single knight alive on the field.
The Teutonian infantry quickly fled, leaving the Africans victorious and in charge of the field.

The end. The superknights have evaporated and left the barbarian hordes in charge of the abattoir!

Result:
Teutonian losses:
2x Brother Knights
1x Crusader Knights
5x Light Cavalry
755 points and Broken (breakpoint 7)

Cathago losses:
5x Warbands
1x Heavy Cavalry
2x Numidians
1x half Heavy Cavalry
2x half warbands
2x half Skirmishers
425 points (breakpoint 12)

Afterthoughts
This was a very interesting battle - the armies were as different as possible with some of the best troops on one side and their complete opposite on the other. Both sides took heavy casualties but while the barbarians just soaked them up and threw new units into the fight (carefully withdrawing damaged units) the Teutonians just didn't have enough to keep the flood from overwhelming them. The terrain helped defend the barbarian flanks while the light cavalry might have better used for outflanking the central warbands but then again they would have been counter charged quickly having nowhere to go between the massed warbands. They couldnt get to a flank and couldnt throw the infantry back from their hilly defences and in the end failed to evade effectively and decided to try and take a few more barbarian units with them. (Note; after having made this report I looked closer at the photos and they show that I've made a mistake - the attack on their right flank was done by only two Light Cavalry units, one stayed in the center and attacked with the Brother knights - my fault, but the result was the same :-))
The Teutonian infantry never arrived to make a difference due to low priority and failed command rolls but we both felt that if they had it would probably not have helped their mounted friends much.

Although many barbarian units had lost a stand or two and five had been destroyed we were both very surprised at how small a dent the cavalry managed to make in the huge army and we will be trying this out again to see if it was the work of lady Fortuna (the luck seemed to be average on both sides though) or if the superknights really are best countered by massed cheap troops.

Best regards, and I hope you enjoyed reading this report! (and please let me know if you did so :-)).






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The Report by Kasper is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.