Collaborative Campaign Year 6 and Year 7: Part 1

 Campaign Year 6, the Year of the Dormouse, according to the Martarian Calendar*, was the first game turn in which no moves or random events took place; a rare year of peace that has allowed the expanding empires of Picenia and Zigura a chance to recruit and train forces and consolidate their grip over the territories they have taken. (*Marta is the Earth-Mother Goddess worshipped by the Picenians) 

Here's the Map as it currently stands.

 Year 7, the Year of the Petulant Pony, was to be more active...

Mark has documented events in Luss (text and game photos copyright Mark Cordone)

Events in the North:

The year of the Dormouse saw the Picenians consolidate their hold on the new provinces of Northern and Southern Lussatia by founding a large number of villas and plantations. 

Meanwhile Hadwyn had to fend off a number of challenges following his defeat at the battle of Bibracate. 

During the course of the year Rionach was treated with the utmost kindness and respect.  Once her period of mourning was over Hadwyn began a formal courtship.  He was a handsome and charismatic leader and Rionach gradually found herself yielding to his suit.  On New Years Day of the year of the Petulant Pony the two were wed.

Meanwhile, A high king had arisen among the Thulians, savage barbarians dwelling in the frozen lands north of the mountains.  Their new king, Odalric, sent an embassy south to meet with Hadwyn......

An old French educational poster borrowed
from the Internet (early 20th Century)

The battle of Hasta

The game was played using the Dominion of the Spear rules and my initiative, random activation and rally rules.

The year of the Petulant Pony saw a major raid into Picenian occupied Luss by the Wend chieftain Adalwulf.  His force was composed of some 1000 warriors and 200 cavalry.  Around 600 Luss, half of whom were slingers and javelin men.  (4 foot, 1 cavalry and 1 archers, all regular).  After a successful raid that saw a number of Picenian villas and plantations thoroughly sacked they were on their way home laden with the spoils of their victories when the Tribune Caius Atinius caught up with them at the strategic crossroads near the town of Hasta.  He had managed to cobble together a force of three cohorts (1,2,5) of the 8th legion, some 1000 men in all.  In addition he had about 300 limitari archers, also experienced and reliable. The 2 local limitari cohorts, unreliable troops, totaling about 500 men 100:of whom were cavalry were also present.

On the 4th day of the 8th month of the year of the Petulant Pony the two armies deployed for battle.  In the right sector Caius placed his archers on the fields only significant hill.  In the center the 5th cohort and on the left the 2nd.  In reserve he had the 1st cohort and the 3rd and 6th limitari cohorts.

Adalwulf placed his slingers opposite the archers and Wend warbands in the center and to the left.  In reserve he had his cavalry and a Wend and Luss warband.

The merciless sun beat down on both armies as the Luss slingers were routed by the accurate shooting of the archers on the hill.  On the left, the Wend warband were wiped out by the veterans of the 2nd cohort.  Things had not started well for Adalwulf!

A pattern of attacks on the hill, each beaten off by a hail of arrows then began on the right.  It was to continue for the rest of the day without a significant result.  On the right reinforcements from Adalwulf's reserve renewed the fight with both units being spent in the combat.  Adalwulf rallied some of his warriors but Caius was unable to bring any of his men back into the fight. 

Adalwulf then launched his cavalry at the Picenian center, and both units were virtually wiped out as a result.  Caius then ordered the 3rd limitari cohort to fill the gap in the center, but they refused to advance.  On the left, attacked from the front and flank, the 1st cohort gave way. The 5th limitari cohort took their place, but the 3rd still refused to budge.  As a result the 5th met the same fate as the unfortunate first and the battle was lost.

Adalwulf returned in triumph having added a great deal of Picenian war gear to his booty.

***

Thanks once again to Mark for another wonderfully narrated DotS game. In the next post we head South to see how the Zigurans have fared in their latest attempt at subjugating Pylonia... 

Continuing War with the 4th Coalition: Eylau

 Having defeated the Prussians in our last Dominion of Napoleon Bonaparte game, the Emperor is disappointed to find that the Imperial Russian Army is still loitering in East Prussia...

For this game you'll have to imagine that the bare pine board is the snowy fields around Eylau. The town is now to the rear of the attacking French Army.

The Armies face each other on Day 2 of the battle

The fight starts off fairly evenly - the Russians
commit some unreliable infantry on their right

The French appear to get the upper hand, quickly
defeating the unreliables

The Russians' hold on: the Emperor unleashes Murat
and the cavalry

The Russian centre collapses!

but the frost-bitten French can't yet take advantage

Finally the day is won!

Like the real battle, this was a costly affair for both sides, and the cold weather doesn't help. Glory to the Emperor! On to the Battle of Friedland, and thank the Lord it'll be fought in June; Vive l'ete!

Collaborative Campaign Year 5: Part 2

 For the second part of the action during the Year of the Fox, attention turns South again.

Martin Smith has kindly played and reported on the latest invasion of Pylonia by the Ziguran Empire... 

Battle on the Plain east of Raphan

In the High Temple of Zigura in Issisha, the High Priest of Taran has read the entrails and declared that the War God demands more territory should be taken for the empire. To that end the Ziguran Lord Balshezbu, Zatrab of the Magreeb, has been despatched westwards, and has invaded the province of Raphan, which contains the current capital city of Pylonia (after the recent loss of Nyos).

Balshezbu  leads a moderately sized army, and is content that his expeditionary force emphasises quality over quantity. At its heart is a body of Zigura’s finest heavy chariots, every man an expert archer, supported by Ziguran infantry archers from the regular army, and a body of mercenary armoured spearmen, these being Cyraenians from the nearer parts of the Pentapolis, under one Kratonas of Heralion. 

Additionally, to boost numbers, the Zatrab commands a number of Ziguran peasant bowmen and has also, against his better judgement, enlisted the aid of a rabble of fanatical camel-riding desert tribesmen from the interior, with a reputation for being ferocious but fickle, valuing pillage over prowess in battle.

To meet this existential threat to his homeland, God-King Hipohap XXXVI has hurriedly assembled all available Pylonian males at a muster outside of the city of Raphan, trusting command to General Hepu, Governor of that city and province.

Hepu leads the chariot-borne archer nobles of the Pylonian Standing Army, one unit of mercenaries, (Cyraenian armoured spearmen based at Raphan, under Mercenary Captain-General Imbrios), regular bowmen from the Raphan garrison, and four bodies of spearmen, provincial Pylonian levies.

Advancing eastwards along the shoreline before dawn, Governor Hepu arrays his forces with the regular archers covering the coast road, noble charioteers to their right and with the inland flank held by Pylonian levy spearmen, between his chariots and sand dunes. He holds in reserve the highly valued Cyraenian armoured spearmen, renowned throughout Pylonia for their stoutness in battle. These he plans will plug any gaps that appear, should the frontline units show signs of weakness. Also available to the general are three more bodies of levied troops, which he also keeps back in reserve, mostly from concern over their willingness to fight.

As the Sacred Sun breaks through the dust on the horizon, with hand-shielded eyes Hepu’s gaze falls upon a quickly advancing Ziguran force: Inland, somewhat behind the front, unmistakable with their glinting brazen shields, march slow moving Cyraenian spearmen in tight formation. Nearer still are a milling swarm of camel-riders, filling the centre of the enemy array, while to either side of the coast road trot the horses of the feared Ziguran heavy chariotry, massed into a dense and deadly block of horseflesh and archers.

From behind his own front line, Lord Balshezbu gives the order, and the Ziguran charioteers whip their horses forward, directly at the Pylonian regular bowmen covering the shoreward flank. As this animated mass of death and destruction rumbles towards them from out of the sunrise, despite years of training the archers’ resolve rapidly fails, and they break and run from their frightening opponents. Seeing the bowmen break, Hepu now calls upon his Cyraenian mercenaries to earn their pay, sending them left to block the jubilant advance of Zigura’s finest. The spears of the bronze-clad men lower, and a long, drawn out contest for the beachward flanks of both armies begins in earnest, from the surf to the coast-road, advantage going from one side to the other in a closely matched tussle between the best in their sphere.

Now the Zatrab takes a gamble. Having deployed the camel-mounted desert tribesmen in the centre, to preclude any escape south into the dunes, he commands them to attack. His hopes are raised as with wild cries the nomads immediately lurch forwards to attack those Pylonian charioteers opposite them……only to be dashed as the camel-riders are instantly scattered by the stinging volleys of arrows which meet them at close range. Racing past Balshezbu in flight, the desert dwellers head east. Their formless throng parts to skirt the more resolute Ziguran peasant archers, who move up to take their place before beginning an archery exchange with the Pylonian charioteers opposite, who fall back under pressure.

But where are Kratonas and the Heralionic spearmen of the King of Kings? Will these foreign mercenaries not earn their pay and prove their worth? Can Kratonas be trusted?

The southern flank has yet to be contested, when a climax is reached in the struggle between Pylonia’s  Cyraenians and the Ziguran nobility on the shore. Ordered for one more attack by Captain Imbrios, Pylonia’s battered and bruised men of bronze can take no more and begin to fall back in disorder. The Ziguran charioteers, opposite, are also spent and are unable to resist the advance of spear-wielding Pylonian levies who march up the coast road to face them.

Finally, Kratonas and his mercenaries reach the southern part of the battle line, engaging and driving off the Pylonians before them…but too late. With the retreat of the Ziguran chariotry and the flight of the desert tribes, the weakened Ziguran line begins to falter and break, first on the shoreward flank and then in the centre, where Pylonian levies press forward, scattering Ziguran archers before them.

Kratonas thus finds his right flank badly exposed, and with the last remaining viable force under his command, begins a slow and measured retreat, maintaining order and praying for nightfall. It will be a long march back to Zigura, harried all the way by exultant Pylonians.

***

What an Epic! The shifting sands of Pylonia have once again produced a battle fit to include Charlton Heston and Kirk Douglas! Thank you, Martin for the wonderful report and visuals. 

Ziguran expansion has been halted, at least temporarily, and the God King Hipohap can put his feet up on a eunuch and rest easily.

Collaborative Campaign Year 5: Part 1

 Game Year 5 (Year of the Fox): Notes from the Campaign Diary

War continues in Luss between the invading army of Picenia and the Luss tribes and their new found allies, the Wend.

Zigura has invaded Pylonia with a view to grabbing more territory from the weakened King Hipohap.

We start Year 5 with the further fighting in Luss. Mark Cordone has once again taken up the story...

The Battle of Bibracte

Prologue:  Multiflavus was under a great deal of pressure to bring the war to an end.   To date years of conflict had not yielded a decisive result.  For each two steps forward there seemed to be one step back, and a number of Picenian armies had been destroyed.  To many in the Senate, and increasing numbers of the public it seemed the cost was way too high.  With each passing day the peace party was gaining ground, and Senator Galenus and General Multiflavus knew that without a decisive result this year they would lose power.

I have been using One Hour Wargames to generate battlefields and influence my scenarios, for this game I rolled #17.  This is an encounter battle and I thought it would be interesting to try it out with the Dominion of the Spear rules.  I rolled for initiative each turn, with each side having the number rolled for the units arriving each turn.  For turn one both sides had their cavalry present.

Determined to achieve final victory, Multiflavus marched north in the spring of the year of the Fox with his victorious army from the year before.  (1+3 legions, disciplined, 5+6 legions and his cavalry, all regulars.). Opposing him the allied army was essentially the same as the one that was victorious at the battle of Marmar (2 Luss infantry and one cavalry and one each Wend infantry and cavalry all regulars.  In addition a unit of Wend war dogs, ferocious but unreliable melee cavalry, were present.)   This time King Hadwyn of the Angrivari was present and in overall command.

Multiflavus began his campaign with a methodical advance, laying waste to the countryside as he went, seeking to force a decisive battle.  The allies assembled their united host and took the field to stop him.  On the 13th day of the Sixth month of the year of the Fox the cavalry van guards of the two armies met near the town of Bibracte. It was a windy day with occasional light showers when the opposing cavalry forces spotted each other.  The Picenians won the race to the high ground which dominated the field and held it against a furious assault by the allied horsemen who outnumbered them 2:1.

Multiflavus's better disciplined troops arrived first.  3rd legion quickly came up on the right and took the Wend cavalry trying to out flank the Picenian horse on the hill in the flank and routed them.  The rest of the Allied army then arrived, except the dogs and Rionach and her escort who lagged slightly behind.  An indecisive infantry combat then broke out on the left.

Multiflavus then unleashed his cavalry who routed the Luss horse in the center.  As Rionach and the rest of his army arrived Hadwyn sent his Wend infantry to attack 3rd legion on the right then left the field in an unsuccessful attempt to rally his Wend cavalry.  His foot fared no better and were routed in turn by the veterans of the third legion.

Augwys, temporarily in command, ordered the Luss foot on the left to advance, but no decisive result was achieved as he moved the last allied reserve, the war dogs, forward to shore up the right sector.

3rd legion made short work of them as Hadwyn returned to the field and ordered a renewed attack on the left in a desperate attempt to stave off defeat.  However, after heavy fighting the 1st legion prevailed and the allied army disintegrated.
No quarter was given during the pursuit as Multiflavus was determined to end all resistance once and for all.

Aftermath:  Hadwyn, and his bodyguard managed to escape the carnage and return to hid strongholds in the mountains.  In the process he also 'rescued' Rionach and took her with him.  Her uncle, Augwys, was conveniently killed in the rout.
Multiflavus had yet another triumph, and to the great surprise of many relinquished his powers of imperium and dictatorship immediately afterwards and retired to his seaside estates to resume the family tradition of producing very high quality blended wines.

***

Thanks to Mark for another cracking battle report - the Luss appear to have collapsed completely. Will they emerge in a rebellion against their new overlords? Will Picenia seek new territory for its growing empire? Time (and further gaming) will tell.