Mark Buetow
United States
Du Quoin
Illinois
Best game company ever?
GMT Games, of course!
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Campaign Info
Here's our Four Player Campaign
Me: The Men of Hawkshold
Rachel: The Lizardmen
Risdon: The Undead
Marc: The Umenzi Tribesmen
Standings after Round 2:
Risdon: 8 VPs
Rachel and Marc: 6 VPs
Me: 4 VPs
Chapter 1
The Beat of Drums and the Thunder of the Fell Beast
Timbers came crashing down. The buzz of saws was heard among the men of the logging camp. It was then that the peasants began running into the camp: "The Umenzi are coming! And they bring with them a fell beast!" King Marko's spies had heard of the underground exploits of the Umenzi and the fell war elephants they had bred. But now they had come upon their borders. "Where away?" cried some sawyers as they dropped their tools and grabbed their large swords. "From across the River Running," the trembling peasants cried. Not long after, the King's messenger rode forth calling the King's mean to muster and meet the force of tribesmen.
With my newly purchased Logging Camp, I could now recruit regular units. Marc had built a Mine and thus could recruit Elite units. Our field of batter was the River Running which ran the width of our field. In the center was a bridge though at this season the river itself was only shallow water.
We mustered our forces and faced off. In the center, back, was his war elephant along with a cadre of priest, some warriors and Atlatamen. Three units were in front and the elephant and two units on either flank behind. I arrayed my two units of Swordsmen to close across the river on either side of the bridge. My Great Swordsmen would hold just this side of the bridge. Two units of light cavalry, positioned on my wings would head toward flanking spots and then seek units to flank with their charge. In the rear, two companies of bowmen stood ready to advance and rain arrows upon the enemy.
The scenario was total warfare.
The commander surveyed the massing hordes across the river. He ran to and fro along the frontlines shouting encouraging words I gave courage to just about all my units after two turns. The Umenzi stood, beating their shields, shouting with blood-curdling cries. The roaring trumpet and stamping of the great war elephant caused the men to steel themselves for the onslaught. The men were sent forth! The cavalry on the wings rushed across the river and took up positions on the flanks of the enemy, waiting for the right moment to charge.
The great swordsmen held fast, waiting to see what would happen on the bridge. The swordsmen on the right and left ran across the shallow stream, their footsteps splashing. The Umenzi front line also charged forward but suddenly held fast just on their side of the river, ready to absorb the charge of my men. The bowmen edged forward and then let fly against the elephant, their rain of arrows pricking the beast but mostly just deflecting from its thick hide.
Marc chose to hold his ground with his back three units and his front three came to the river to let me come at them. I pondered whether to use my light cavalry to hit the flanks of his forward units or else wait for an opportunity to to hit the rear units which were holding. I chose to wait because I surmised that if the cavalry flanked his front units, the rear units would be able to flank them and they don't take many hits!
The right hand swordsmen engaged and began a heated battle with the warriors. On the left of the bridge, the other company of swordsmen were taking the worst of it against the atlatamen. Not only had they been hit by javelins, the javelineers in the center were also firing at them. Seeing the distress of their comrades in the water, the great swordsmen trundled forth toward the bridge, to engage the javelineers.
The terrifying screams of the Umenzi chilled the hearts of the swordsmen on the left who suddenly broke ranks and ran! But with a bold and firm hand from their commander they rallied and turned once again to face their enemy!
The swordsmen on the left were in serious trouble. Yet they held on and fought it out. Once the great swordsmen were on the bridge, the javelineers shifted to my left but not in time to be rushed by the great swordsmen. Somehow the swordsmen survived and destroyed the atlatamen when they routed even after they had been routed. With only two hits left to take, they finished off the atlatamen and went onward.
Now was the moment for the cavalry. With the atlatamen broken and the javelineers being shredded by my great swordsmen, the cavalry made their charges! On the left they thundered forward and smashed into the side of the chanting priest, dealing out vicious damage. The priests shrieked with fear and tried to flee, but were cut down as they ran! The cavalry dealt them serious damage and finished them off during the route free attack!
On my right, the band of warriors on the elephants left suddenly turn and ran toward the cavalry on the right. The cavalry of Hawkshold charged into them and were cut down fiercely. Multiple hits reduced the light cav almost instantly! The men battle fiercely but soon were destroyed.
The great swordsmen slashed through the last of the javilneers. On the right side of the bridge, the warriors were whittled down by the other swordsmen. But they were no match for the fresh warriors running at them after having dispatched their cavalry. By now, the thundering and ponderous steps of the war elephant could be heard as it moved toward the bridge. The light cavalry, seizing their opportunity, thundered toward the elephant's rear. On the right, the brave men were falling to the tribesmen.
With a trumpeting roar and javelins raining down from the basket on the elephants back, the mighty beast suddenly turned around and faced the oncoming horsemen. With nothing to do but demonstrate their bravery, they charged into the face of the deadly beast. Men were plucked from their horses by javelins as they rode in and finally, like a broom dusting a cottage floor, the great tusks of the beast swept the cavalry away, leaving nothing bu the broken bodies of men and horses. Then the elephant swung around again.
With a final shout of bravery and "For Hawkshold and King Marko!" those tough swordsmen, still with two hits left, rushed into the elephant. But their swords did not even nick the beast and soon they lay dead at its feet. The great swordsmen, reeling from their fierce fighting earlier were not match for the hard warriors. The other swords men soon fell. Now, the warriors turned and approached the river. The elephant's feet fell upon the stout timbers of the bridge. All that was left were the two companies of bowmen. They rained their hail of arrows but to no avail. With a "run, lads!" the bowmen fled the field. But the warriors were staggering and the elephant troops, knowing they had won the day, turned and lumbered back to the Umenzi borders.
It was clear that two bowmen even at full strength could not stop the elephant that was only hit a few times. The Umenzi are tough. This was marginal loss for Hawkshold when I surrendered. That's not bad considering the big whomping elephant that was against me. Although with two units each, that means he had killed more of mine than me of his. A tough battle.
Game Notes
This battle demonstrated the importance of terrain objectives and direct control. My cavalry had to flank. He was unwise in not getting those priests out of the way. Killing them certainly helped by cutting off his ability to do healing and give leadership bonuses.
Since his units just held and advanced to hold the first few turns, he gathered a good pile of command cards. Charging my men up with bravery and doing lots of direct control meant that I never got more than a few command cards. The Umenzi have some nasty ones, too that really help. I felt that I was at a disadvantage there.
Upon reflection, it was probably a bad move on my part to fight the battle against the enemy with the Elite units. I should have let one of the others tackle him (the rest of we three all had Logging Camps). That brings to mind the notion that there are some game considerations in the campaign portion too. That makes it really interesting as there's a "meta game" in the campaign choices beyond just the battles themselves. Quite fun!
I shall look forward to our next battle when I hope to vindicate myself against my foes!
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Piero S. P.
Italy
Turin
"If our gods and our hopes are nothing but scientific phenomena, then it must be said that our love is scientific as well." - L'Eve Future
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Please keep 'em coming!
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Malacandra wrote: Upon reflection, it was probably a bad move on my part to fight the battle against the enemy with the Elite units. I should have let one of the others tackle him (the rest of we three all had Logging Camps).
Great report, thanks.
Reading into it, though, I'd say your mistakes were more that the enemy got inside your OODA Loop and forced you to react to him, rather than the other way around. The effect of that was that you were wasting Command Points to direct control while he was hoarding Command Cards. You also used (4) 5 5 bowmen against an elephant - madness..!
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Mark Buetow
United States
Du Quoin
Illinois
Best game company ever?
GMT Games, of course!
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elgin_j wrote: Malacandra wrote: Upon reflection, it was probably a bad move on my part to fight the battle against the enemy with the Elite units. I should have let one of the others tackle him (the rest of we three all had Logging Camps). Great report, thanks. Reading into it, though, I'd say your mistakes were more that the enemy got inside your OODA Loop and forced you to react to him, rather than the other way around. The effect of that was that you were wasting Command Points to direct control while he was hoarding Command Cards. You also used (4) 5 5 bowmen against an elephant - madness..!
OODA? You'll have to spell that out for me...
It was pretty good to use the cavalry against the units that were on his elephant's sides. They dispatched the priests pretty efficiently. On the right, though, they got slaughtered. I did fail to note: When it became apparent that the arrows were pretty much useless against the elephant, I had the bowmen begin targeting the units directly across the river. They had a few hits which helped speed up their demise.
Most Valuable Player Award goes to those Core Swordsmen who routed, rallied and held on to make it all the way to get a swing at the elephant. Brave guys!
I had 7 units to his 6 but perhaps, in the end, an elephant is the equivalent of two or three units!
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Malacandra wrote: elgin_j wrote: Malacandra wrote: Upon reflection, it was probably a bad move on my part to fight the battle against the enemy with the Elite units. I should have let one of the others tackle him (the rest of we three all had Logging Camps). Great report, thanks. Reading into it, though, I'd say your mistakes were more that the enemy got inside your OODA Loop and forced you to react to him, rather than the other way around. The effect of that was that you were wasting Command Points to direct control while he was hoarding Command Cards. You also used (4) 5 5 bowmen against an elephant - madness..! OODA? You'll have to spell that out for me...
OODA Loop: Observe; Orientate; Decide; Act.
It is a decision making process in which you ascertain what the enemy is doing, make a decision and take an action. If you complete this process faster than the enemy - referred to as 'getting inside his OODA Loop' - then he must react to you, giving you the initiative and advantage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OODA_loop Read about it here.
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Mark Buetow
United States
Du Quoin
Illinois
Best game company ever?
GMT Games, of course!
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elgin_j wrote:
OODA Loop: Observe; Orientate; Decide; Act.
It is a decision making process in which you ascertain what the enemy is doing, make a decision and take an action. If you complete this process faster than the enemy - referred to as 'getting inside his OODA Loop' - then he must react to you, giving you the initiative and advantage.
OK. Thanks. Sounds like some military analysis process or something. You'll forgive my ignorance, I'm sure, realizing that I'm only commanding medieval units who just know how to run at things and hit them! 
The "problem" with BGFW is that you have to take turns laying out your initial orders and he didn't put his elephant on til almost last with orders last. So I had to figure out on the fly what to do with those cavalry. (On the assumption that they were going to be used against a flank somewhere.
In the end, I just didn't have units strong enough to take down that elephant by the time he got moving. The elephant very smartly had the advantage of coming in fresh against my spent forces, what remained of them!
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Malacandra wrote: elgin_j wrote:
OODA Loop: Observe; Orientate; Decide; Act.
It is a decision making process in which you ascertain what the enemy is doing, make a decision and take an action. If you complete this process faster than the enemy - referred to as 'getting inside his OODA Loop' - then he must react to you, giving you the initiative and advantage.
In the end, I just didn't have units strong enough to take down that elephant by the time he got moving. The elephant very smartly had the advantage of coming in fresh against my spent forces, what remained of them!
Exactly. He's 'inside' your OODA Loop right from the get-go. It's all about the OODA, baby.
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Mark Buetow
United States
Du Quoin
Illinois
Best game company ever?
GMT Games, of course!
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elgin_j wrote:
Exactly. He's 'inside' your OODA Loop right from the get-go. It's all about the OODA, baby.
Now that you mention it, I think that's what the Umenzi were chanting as they came marching forward, "Ooda! Ooda! Ooda!"
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Malacandra wrote: elgin_j wrote:
Exactly. He's 'inside' your OODA Loop right from the get-go. It's all about the OODA, baby.
Now that you mention it, I think that's what the Umenzi were chanting as they came marching forward, "Ooda! Ooda! Ooda!"
Make sure that you correctly chronicle the Umenzi chant of 'Ooda' in your next session report.
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Randall Shaw
United States
Kennesaw
GA
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Don't have the rules in front of me...do the elephants have a chance to rampage?
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Mark Buetow
United States
Du Quoin
Illinois
Best game company ever?
GMT Games, of course!
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Sokadr wrote: Don't have the rules in front of me...do the elephants have a chance to rampage?
I don't think so... they just take lots of hits. Not sure what their rout number is. I don't own an Umenzi deck.
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Malacandra wrote: Sokadr wrote: Don't have the rules in front of me...do the elephants have a chance to rampage? I don't think so... they just take lots of hits. Not sure what their rout number is. I don't own an Umenzi deck.
Do they also chant 'Ooda' or is that just the riders?
edit: I can't help but think I read a development blog by YMG in which that mentioned they purposefully omitted rampaging elephants as it could potentially ruin a game with its effects.
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