About Me

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London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
A mythical beast - a female wargamer! I got back into wargaming in the summer of 2011 after a very, very long break and haven't looked back since. I must admit that I seem to be more of a painter/collector than a gamer, but do hope to correct that at some point in the near future. My gaming interests span the ages, from the "Biblical" era all the way through to the far future. I enjoy games of all sizes, from a handful of figures up to major battles (see my megalomaniacally sized Choson Korean and Russian Seven Years War armies).

Tuesday 1 October 2013

"Derby" Tournament List and Results

I've decided to start posting the AARs tomorrow, as I thought it would be good to show what my army list was, my results and some thoughts on them having used them in the tournament. It will also give me time to work through the photos to select the ones I want to post and to resize them.

You may recall that I was taking a Sea Peoples army. This was the composition:

4 x Troop Commander
1 x 4 Heavy Chariots (HCh, Superior, Undrilled, Light Spear)
2 x 6 Retinue Swordsmen (MF, Superior, Undrilled, Armoured, Impact Foot/Swordsmen)
1 x 6 Retinue Swordsmen (MF, Superior, Undrilled, Protected, Impact Foot/Swordsmen)
6 x 8 Swordsmen (MF, Average, Undrilled, Protected, Impact Foot/Swordsmen)
2 x 6 Skirmishers (LF, Average, Undrilled, Unprotected, Javelin, Light Spear)
794 points
12 BGs
PBI = 0

Obviously the ideal would be to use the superior troops as the main attacking force, with the average swordsmen taking on another part of the enemy army.

There are a number of weaknesses with this army:
It is vulnerable to cohesion drops and base losses from shooting on the way in - I could mitigate the effects by keeping generals and rear support units within range to give a +2 on the CT rolls
With only 2 x 6 light foot it would be difficult to screen the battle troops from enemy fire and slow down enemy advances on the flanks. The lack of shooting ability also limits the opportunity to soften up the enemy before I charge in.
I would have to rely on winning the impacts as I would likely to be down in the melee phase
A lot of my opposition would have chariots which would just love to take on my medium foot in the open, so I would need to get a lot of terrain down, but hopefully where I want it and not where my enemy does.
All the troops are undrilled, so manoeuvring them when close to the enemy (and sometimes when not close) would be very difficult).


My Results

Game 1
Guillaume Fremont (France B, lovely guy and a great opponent)
Sea Peoples
25-0 loss
Position: joint 11th (out of 12)

Game 2
Peter Card (State Your Team, great opponent)
Middle or Early Neo-Assyrian
11-9 win(ning draw)
Position for round: joint 5th
Position overall: 11th

Game 3
Rich B (Impalers)
Old Kingdom Egyptian
14-6 loss
Position for round: 8th
Position overall: 11th

Game 4
Bob Medcraft (Oxford, fantastic opponent and we had a good laugh)
Later Mycenean or Trojan (Achaian - Agamemnon, Nestor, Achilles and the rest of the boys)
16-9 loss
Position for round: 7th
Position overall: 11th


Afterthoughts on the Army

The army list I used wasn't my original plan, but one suggested by my team mate Gordon. I'd originally planned to take an inspired commander to give me the bonuses for cohesion and complex move tests. I was less worried about gaining initiative as all the terrain types available would have suitable terrain for my troops. He would also allow my to move my main strike force together as a battle line, with my sub-commanders moving the other troops.

I mentioned earlier my concern about the lack of skirmishers to screen my army. My original list had more of them and with hindsight I would have been better off if I had taken them and dropped some of the average swordsmen.

I could probably have also used another battle group of heavy chariots.

If I was to take a Sea Peoples army to another tournament (assuming 800 points), I would probably go with one of the following lists:

Inspired Commander, 2 x Troop Commander
2 x 4 Heavy Chariots
2 x 6 Retinue Swordsmen (Armoured)
1 x 6 Retinue Swordsmen (Protected - to provide rear support for the armoured guys or the heavy chariots)
4 x 8 Swordsmen
1 x 8 and 2 x 6 Skirmishers
796 points, 12 BGs, PBI = +2

or

4 x Troop Commander
2 x 4 Heavy Chariots
2 x 8 Retinue Swordsmen (Armoured)
4 x 8 Swordsmen
4 x 6 Skirmishers
796 points, 12 BGs, PBI = 0


However, my in-period preference would be to take an army with mainly drilled troops, with some archers and light chariots.


12 comments:

  1. I can't pretend to understand all of this, but I can appreciate the amount of knowledge you must possess to be game at this level. Looking forward to tomorrows pics!

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  2. Shame FoG isn't available; sounds like an interesting read. Got FoG Renaissance (or whatever it's called) and think it's a bit pallid to other rules, but the original FoG seems to have a good following.

    And the good news is now you know who to try to duck in the next tournament! ;O)

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  3. Well done you. If I even tried to fight so many games in two days I would be completely drained and a withered husk on the floor. So I take my hat of to you and with luck be able to at least nod and wave to you at SELWG> Best wishes Clint

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  4. Well I think we can all work out now who is the butt-munch you mentioned yesterday (perhaps he'd been impaled the night before?). Better luck next time.

    Regards,
    Matt

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  5. I did a lot of competition DBM in the past but couldnt take to FOG. Liked your blog so much I might even think about competition gaming again. Glad you are so positive to think about re listing you army. I have a 15mm mycenean greek army and loved gaming with it

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  6. That is a good thing about tourneys against various armies - you can really reflect on options for your own army in the future. Best, Dean

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  7. Look forward to tomorrows pics. I love reading about peoples gaming thoughts very interesting Tamsin :D

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  8. By all accounts you mostly had a good time,

    Ian

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  9. @ Anne - it takes a little while to pick up on how different troop types and army compositions work, but once you've learned the basics it becomes quite easy to transfer the knowledge to other armies and even periods.

    @ Gary - the trouble is the only way I'll get to avoid him is to either become a top-ranking player or make sure I lose all my games very badly :(
    FoG is available, but only direct from Slitherine I think. Their marketing of the V2 has frankly been a disaster and could well see the game die off in time as no new players will be coming along.

    @ Clint - it is tiring doing 4 (or 5) games in a weekend. I should be at SELWG, so you'd better be wearing a hat in order to tip it!

    @ Matt - I thought I'd made it incredibly obscure. How did you guess?

    @ Andrew - it will certainly be useful if I ever field a Sea Peoples army again, but what are the chances of that do you think?

    @ Scotsgrey - I guess, like all rules, it's a "Marmite" thing - you love it or hate it. I got into FoG because that's what most people at the club play.

    @ Dean - tournaments are definitely a good way of learning how an army handles and as a way of really learning the rules.

    @ Simon - I probably won't get to post the first AAR tonight. I left work a bit late, journey home was longer than usual and I'm knackered.

    @ Fran - whatever makes you think that?

    @ Ian - I did have a great time (with the exception of 3 1/2 hours on Sunday)

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    Replies
    1. "@ Gary - the trouble is the only way I'll get to avoid him is to either become a top-ranking player or make sure I lose all my games very badly :("

      Oh I dunno. I know people who know people - if you get my drift . . . ;O)

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