The Forum

Battle One

For this 4 player game this Romano British army was deliberately chosen to compete with the Teutonic order – the cavalry, horse archers and chariots would hopefully provide vital mobility and enough shooters to trouble the Teutonic Knights. The Teutonic army had the better class of troops but had five fewer units and 1 less general.

Romano British Army list
2x Chariots @ 14 points 28
4x Cavalry @ 12 points 48
2x Horse archers @ 11 points 22
4 x Archers @ 7 points 28
3 x Spears @ 9 points 27
3 x Peasants @ 3 points 9
4 x Warriors @ 8 points 32
4 x Generals @ 10 points 40

22 units + 4 Generals Total 234 points
Teutonic Order Army List
4 x Teutonic Knights @ 16 points 64
4 x Mounted Crossbow @ 12 points 48
5 x Spears @ 11 points 55
4 x Crossbow @ 9 points 36
3 x generals @ 10 points 30

17 units + 3 Generals Total 233 points
Karl was given the noble task of choosing the terrain layout and he scattered 3 and 4 hex wooded areas across the board with a few clusters of hills in between. Dave and I had the Teutonic Order and Tony and Steve the Romano British. We won the die roll for choice of table edge and first move but we did deploy first, which meant that our opponents new the position our heavy knights and deployed accordingly.
In the first couple of moves our initial plan of switching our knights from our left of to our right behind the cover of our advancing infantry soon fell apart, and we ended up sending them straight forward. This gave Steve the opportunity to engage Dave’s infantry on our right with the British cavalry and horse archers without fear of being charged by our heavy mob! As a result a battle for control of the left hand wood sucked – in units from both sides and the casualties mounted.
In the left of centre I had managed to pin the British archers and peasants into a wood using the shooting from my mounted crossbows and succeeded in keeping one of Tony’s generals disrupted.
My three units of Teutonic knights were kept busy dealing with units of lesser mortals for a few game turns, but failed to mount a mass game winning charge because of the lack of space to manoeuvre between two areas of woodland. At the same time the British cavalry and chariots were occupying the largest open area of the field which gave them the flexibility to respond to our pretty uncoordinated attacks. Dave and I were demonstrating the general ship skills of Laurel and Hardy with the result that our ‘quality’ was more than matched by the British quantity!
The maelstrom in the centre of the field and on the left had whittled both armies down to the point where there was now more room between the wooded areas to force through an attack. However, the combined effects of shooting and hand-to-hand combat results forced mounted knights to recoil back into the central woodland to fight disrupted, and Teutonic infantry to advance to their doom from right-hand woodland where they were surrounded by British cavalry and chariots. The Brits had lost 10 out of 22 units and the Teutonics 8 out of 17 – this one was going to the wire!
The final act was a combat between a unit of Teutonic knights plus a general and a British unit of chariots, two infantry stands plus a general ; 14 +2D6 verses 13 + 2D6 respectively. The ‘A’ class knights had the advantage and, guess what, Dave managed to roll snake eyes! Steve rolled a 5 & 6 winning by 8. Result; Teutonic knights and general dead, total losses over 50% and victory to the Romano Brits! Huzzah!

Battle Two

After the defeat of the Teutonic Order the previous week they were certainly out for revenge – the same armies would face each other and this time Andre would layout the terrain. As he selected and placed each hill wood and road, we noble commanders of the Brits could see that if we could win the di roll for choice of table edge there was a chance, if perhaps a slim one, for another British victory. Sure enough, we got the choice of table edge and in doing so could use the terrain to our advantage. There was no open ground for the four units of Teutonic Knights to charge through and the small 2 and 3 hex gaps between the numerous areas of woodland would give good cover to the archers and could trap the heavy knights.
Opening moves saw the Romano British archers quickly advance into the woods with the warriors and spearmen in support. The 2 units of chariots staked their claim to the clear hexes between the woods with the cavalry in support. The peasants were kept back out of the way! In response the Teutonics made a general advance with the infantry keeping their knights well to the rear. The mounted crossbows were unable to find any easy targets because of the cover afforded by the woodland and so it was left to the Tuetonic spears to engage the British infantry in the woods. The Brits may have lacked quality but they were able to bring their greater numbers into the fight which quickly developed into a confusion of disrupted recoiling and fleeing units.
Because the terrain had broken up the initial assault of the Teutonic infantry, the mounted crossbows were drawn into the hand-to-hand fighting in support, and following-up there recoiling opponents into the woods caused them to fight disrupted. The Brits pushed 3 of their 4 generals into the melee and were just about holding their own. Their chariots, and cavalry charged into the fight between the woods, this tipped the balance of the fight in favour of the Brits. Still the 4 units of Teutonic knights did not commit to the fight – there was no space in which these ’kettle heads’ could steamroller their way through.
The casualty trays were filling up rapidly for both sides as recoiling and fleeing units were removed from play, unable to carry out these compulsory moves due to the zones of control exercised by enemy units. This chaos had played into the hands of the Romano British army in that it had not had to fight its tough opponent head–on, and still the Teutonic knights were not committed to the fight. One key confrontation between two opposing general lead units resulted in the loss of 1 of the three Teutonic generals – this was decisive blow which started the repulse and general disintegration of their infantry. Two units of knights were finally committed to the fight but it was too late – defeat was already close at hand. The one remaining unit of British chariots and two cavalry units charged into a final attack on what remained of the Teutonic centre and by the end of the hand-to-hand combat phase more than 60% of the army was lost and victory once again to the Romano Brits!

Battle Three

After two defeats to the Romano British the Teutonic Order were definitely out for revenge or at least redemption! The terrain, especially the for areas had played a very important role in both the British wins – the Teutonic heavy horse had not had the opportunity to charge their opponents across open terrain and instead had been pulled into fighting in and between woodland and lost, twice! Therefore, for this third game, the terrain layout was crucial. By chance, Sally had called into the club meeting so we gave her task while we five players looked on. The resulting board layout had plenty of open ground in the centre with most of the hills and woodland towards the edges of the table.
Steve, Dave and I, the Brits, lost the die roll for choice of table edge and in doing so faced the daunting prospect fighting the Teutonics across very open terrain. We also lost the die roll and had to deploy our army first. Could things get any worse? Oh yes they could, and they would!
Our cavalry and two units of chariots, which formed our left wing, were faced with a line of mounted Teutonic crossbows with the dreaded knights waiting behind them ready to charge. This would surely come as soon as the crossbows had ‘softened-up’ our cavalry a bit! We kept our spears, our best units, in the centre and spread our archers in a shooting line in front. Our peasants were kept well out of the way behind our left wing; they had performed really well, in the woods, in both previous games but this open field would render them as much use as a chocolate teapot!

The game opened with a shooting match and it wasn’t long before the C class British bows were beginning to become disrupted and recoiling from the shooting line. The B class Teutonic crossbows shot well and our entire line soon began to become disorganised. This provided the opportunity for the Teutonics to advance, their heavy knights still waiting to charge like a giant left hook! The shooting match lost, we tried to engage with units of our fast moving warrior hordes and chariots, but with their shooting line still intact they failed to make sufficient contact with their opponents.
The charge of the Teutonic knights went in against our cavalry – not an even contest! We had committed two generals to this cavalry confrontation but our cavalry and one remaining chariot unit soon succumbed. The advance against the British centre showed some stubborn resistance but with both wings losing units rapidly, defeat came very quickly.
And so it came to pass that after two glorious victories for the Romano Brits, and two humiliating defeats for the Teutonic Order, the charge of the Teutonic Knights finally brought redemption!