Romano British v Saxon Game 3

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Paul K
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Romano British v Saxon Game 3

Post by Paul K »

Having corrected my maths in regard to this Romano British v Saxon encounter, which saw the Brits ‘beefed-up’ with an additional general, unit of cavalry, chariots and warrior horde to closely match the Saxon 256 point total it was time for a re-match!
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The dice dictated that Tony, James and Dave command the Brits and Chris, Tim and myself the Saxons. After the two British defeats the previous week they were definitely out for revenge! However, the Saxons won the dice roll for choice of table edge and second deployment which put us in a promising starting position with a very useful 8 hex escarpment securing the left wing of our battle line.
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Opening moves saw both armies close on the centre line of the table. Tim’s Saxon hordes secured the aforementioned 8 hex escarpment thereby confronting Dave’s British spear units with a well defended steep sided slope. I slowly advanced 3 units of Saxon huscarls leading units of the greater fyrd warriors forward. Meanwhile Chris took possession of the area of woodland on the Saxon left straddling the road with his Saxon select fyrd units.
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The extra cavalry and chariot units had endowed the Romano British army with increased mobility than in the previous games and we Saxons hoped to pin these fast moving opponents as quickly as we could. We certainly had the early terrain advantage to do so, but we were very vulnerable to the British ballista and more numerous archer units in the open centre of the battlefield where our 2 units of missile troops would be severely ‘out-gunned.’
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A few tactical moves into the game and Tony had committed 3 units of British cavalry and one of the two units of British chariots to attack the extreme right of our line beyond the woodland held by Chris’s select fyrd units. This provided the opportunity for me to further advance the Saxon huscarl units and 2 generals in the centre with the aim of separating the two halves of the British army and hopefully prevent Tony from doubling back with his cavalry towards the centre of the field.
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All was going well for this Saxon central advance until James launched his hordes of British warriors and a unit of chariots against my advancing huscarls. Of the 3 resulting hand-to-hand combats the combat factors favoured our Saxons in 2 of the 3. Despite this and with the help of some pretty awful dice rolls on my part we lost all 3! This resulted in the loss of 2 generals, 2 units of Saxon huscarls and a unit of select fyrd. A crushing blow but with the Saxons still enjoying terrain advantages the Brits still found it challenging to follow-up this local victory as the woodland areas prevented the British cavalry and chariots from inflicting further punishment. Tim’s Saxon hordes still securely held their escarpment on our left and Chris’s select fyrd units held against Tony’s cavalry and chariots on our right.
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James’s Brits and my Saxons in the centre then engaged in a brutal battle which saw the losses on both sides quickly mount. Tim brought units of Saxon warriors across to support my weakened centre but was then harassed in the more open ground by effective shooting from Dave’s missile troops. Chris managed to hold the woodland taking out 2 units of British cavalry but not without cost and the central melee of units resulted in some key ‘must win’ combats for both sides. Again, it was I that let down the Saxons. My inability to inflict the much needed combat results even when the factors were soundly in my favour before the dice were rolled, was ultimately our undoing.
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A unit of British chariots accompanied by a general was going through units of Saxon warriors like a giant scythe! It didn’t matter how many units we through against it, against the odds it won every combat, scattering the remnants of our fleeing warriors towards our table edge. The final dice roll of the game summed-up our efforts rather well – the chariot unit rolled a double 6 and our depleted and disrupted select fyrd unit rolled a 3! Game over.
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Game Analysis

I think the Saxon battle plan was sound – attack the centre, separate the two halves of British army and pin Tony’s cavalry and chariots on the right. With our distinct terrain advantage this should have worked well, but with my units smashed backwards in the centre this plan soon fell apart. Tim and Chris played their parts well on either flank and tried to come to my rescue, but this battle of attrition was already lost!
Kind regards
Paul

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