Well, I'm back from Campaign and had a good time in my two games today.
In my first game, I lost 25-0 against another Avar army. This was almost entirely the result of truly appalling dice from me and amazingly excellent dice for my opponent after the first few turns. Sadly, I forgot to take pics until things started to go badly wrong...
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| The other Bulgar cavalry unit succeeded in blowing up at the first opportunity it got...this one, however, hung on for a very long time against superior opponents |
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| I'm sure I had more Avar cavalry than this a moment ago - they must have gone for a tea break or something... |
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| This melee went on for ages. It was the only place where my dice weren't awful - they were even winning with 1 dice against 4! |
My second game was a very different matter. I only lost 17-8 and got very close to winning by a similar amount. This time, my Avars were facing an Arab Conquest army - lots of superior spearmen, mostly in 8s.
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| The deployments |
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| After 2 turns of movement my Avar cavalry are making their archery tell |
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| However, my Bulgars aren't doing so well. But they're only meant to act as a roadblock and delay his left wing. Oh, and he's already broken one light horse unit. |
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| Yup, they're broken |
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| That's one lot of spearmen down and one fragged |
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| Bloody useless Bulgar LH can't shoot for toffee and get fragged. I really ought to run them away before they get charged... |
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| That'll be another three units of spearmen destroyed :) |
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| Guess what I forgot to do with those light horse... *squeak* |
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| I really wish I'd charged the Arab spearmen with my crap Slav medium foot - it would have helped the Bulgar cavalry a bit |
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| Slav spearmen join the fight, but maybe too late... |
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| The last of the Arab right wing as they die, die, die!At this point, we had both lost 10 attrition points out of 12. Now, if my last Bulgar cavalry can just hold on and the Slavs roll some good dice in melee I should be in with a chance of winning. |
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| Yes, well. The Bulgars broke leaving the way open for the Arabs to capture my camp |
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| Before I could destroy that 4-base spear unit |
Now, if only those Bulgars hadn't broken I'd have been shooting 7 dice at that 4-base spear unit and was lined up to charge him in the flank and rear in my turn. Oh well, such is life! At least I'd managed to kill two of his generals along the way.
That first game looked real tough, shame about the second but it was close
ReplyDeleteIan
The Dice Gods certainly didn't favour you on that first game. Just don't wind up like Big Lee did last year.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you well enough to get out to the club and game!
The curse has been passed on! Lol
DeleteEnjoyed that second battle report. So close!
ReplyDeleteBad luck in that first game, but sometimes the dice gods desert you and there is nothing you can do but smile and take it on the chin.
ReplyDelete@ Ian - the first game was tough, but mainly due to the dice! :)
ReplyDelete@ Anne - they certainly did desert me in the first game and right at the end of the last game. Then again, I've frequently had runs of bad dice and bounced back, so I shouldn't end up like Lee :)
@ Lee - not yet it hasn't - sorry! :)
@ David - thanks! It was really close. :)
@ Lee - cheers, there isn't much you can do about it other than let it pass and hope the trough doesn't last too long :)
Heya. Another female wargamer here who was also at Challenge last weekend. I can't believe I didn't see you! Were you just there on Sunday?
ReplyDeleteHi Ali,
DeleteYou probably did see me at Campaign - I came over to chat with Aunty Linda a couple of times. Tall, red hair in a pony tail, wearing a purple jumper on Sunday...
I arrived during game 3 on Saturday and played on Sunday. How did your Sassanids do?
Aha, I guess I did then and just didn't realise you were actually playing. I'll have to pay more attention next time. I got 10, 6, 11 and 7, which is a better average than I usually get, I think.
DeleteThat's better than I usually manage, and I was in the Division below. In 2012 I got 15 points over 5 games, in 2013 I got 29 points over 5 games. At Derby in 2013 I got 26 points over 4 games.
DeleteI'm not really a tournament gamer as you can see, but it's fun to do occasionally as part of a team.