The Empire strikes back? Carthage against Assyrian Empire

Right.
Be prepared for an epic batrep! full of lasers! Phasers! Torpedoes! And... Yes Jean-Luc?

I'm taking command of your cavalry. Maybe this time you will be able to achieve something!

Ermm Ok. 

Now, let's see where our board has decided to send us? Assyria eh? Interesting choice, lots of nice things to steal, trade. But... Oh dear us! We are now facing the most dreaded commander ever, the champion of champions! Patrick "Vader" Tahon Himself! Nooooooo! Not again!

Ok. We might be doomed, and we're going to play very well if we want to satisfy our board.

Here is the terrain:

We had to deploy first since we were defending, and something interesting happened during that phase.

Only two Assyrian corps were deployed. And only two of ours were too. Right. At least I knew Picard was in charge of the cavalry, and they were perfectly placed in ambush, ready to jump at their flank.

And we stole the initiative! Meaning we would move first! So we " cheated" the opponent, making him believe our cavalry were in a flank attack, which failed to arrive. So that we would know then where and when Vader's attack would occur. We might earn a few turns that way. Meanwhile, the infatry moved as fast as possible to get into position, simply because... The ennemy infantry was unreliable!

As soon we discovered his failed flank march, our cavalry jumped into the fight, and in one swift move, here is what happened:

Meanwhile, on the right flank, we needed to buy some time against the hard hitters, and we decided to sacrifice as many units as possible to try to destroy the ennemy infantry.

They were doomed, but at least we had a chance of defeating the army by taking the camp and the infantry. Come on lads, time to excel!

The flank attack was decisive, and combined with the infantry, it was devastating.
Patrick had to send troups in bad going to slow down the slaughter. Where was his flank march?

It finally arrived, but too late. I was about to lose, but the game was so intense that he made a couple of mistakes, with a confusion about his units, and then it was too late! The Assyrians broke, but I was 2 points away from breaking! Gosh! Such a battle! My plan was perfect! I had managed to attack with the best possible odds: 2.5/1!
Am I a genius or what!




I must admit number 1, that you did well, winning against such a mighty opponent. But in truth? Come on, even a starfleet cadet could have done the same! Your plan was not as worthy as Hannibal! You had an ennemy unreliable corps right in front of you, who stayed that way for 3 turns! And the flank march didn't arrive until too late! You were lucky, that's all! No one can resist against such odds! Might I remind you that you were about to break? Had the flank march arrived sooner, you would have lost! Had the corps been reliable, you would have lost! Ah well. I suppose Starfleet needs some good news, sometimes. You're right, we can celebrate. Champagne and brie anyone?

Carthago incorporated: Britain as the next market? An AdlG batrep

Hello everyone.
Last week , I had written my first batrep at Aniche. The battle had been conclusive and we Carthaginian merchants had conquered the Chinese market. Now, following on that success, we wanted to expand in Britain. It wouldn't be easy, obviously, since we would be facing... Jean-Louis Maistriaux and his Britto-Romans! Again! Remember, I had already faced him there.

Ah ha! We had the upper hand this time, since we already knew his army! Hurray! Now we could have a chance of winning. What do you say Picard?

Stop bragging!

Ok, here was the terrain. I hope Carthago Starfleet inc. will be pleased:

Here is how the Britt-Roman peasants deployed:

Honestly, no imagination at all. Brute force everywhere, with the cavalry strike force ready to everywhere. To sum it up, very Klingony.

How dare he!

Our plan was much more subtle. The light horse would delay the Klingon fleet Britto-Roman left flank, hopefully finding some gaps to exploit. Should the ennemy move forward in numbers, a tactical retreat would then be ordered.

 

At the same time, all of my infantry would surge forward to crush one of the ennemy infatry corps. The heavy infantry would also be able to face the cavalry. Great plan!

And they were off! The Carthaginians moved first and started unfolded their great plan. Nothing could fail, it was approved by the board!

yeah... right

But then, everything started to go, well, the usual way you know. Bad management, lazy employees, tough customers

My light horse could barely hold against the pressure, and were slowly sacrificied to buy the army some time. And thay needed it, since the impact cavalry and the ennemy foot were about to crush our infantry. Or were they?

Merlin in  action:

Once again, it was a race against time. Our left flank had to crush the ennemy fast, or we would be crushed. Losses were rising up fast on both sides!

The cavalry was now gone, but thanks to their sacrifice, we had managed to create a second line of heavy infantry, which couldn't be broken by cavalry.

On the other side, some medium infantry were about to capture the ennemy camp, meaning we could win. But... Do you remember the annoying mediocre light horse?

Yup! the managed to attack them in the flank, inflict some damages, and then kill the unit! Buggar!

Time was up, it was a draw, and a bloody one. Carthage had fared better than the Syracusan, and the Britto-Romans offered to create a joint-venture. Not too bad I'd say. What do you say Picard?

Right number one! Where do I begin? First, you over-exposed your light horse, meaning you lost too many of them too early. I know many of them were wearing red shirts, but you have to be more careful! Next, you had too many units in ambush and therefore you couldn't use them all, meaning you were outflanked by the cavalry... Should I continue? Honestly, why are you still in Starfleet, I wonder...

Carthago Intermational, or an AdlG tournament batrep

Hello everyone.

I know I haven't been especially active on the blogging front. I'm really sorry about that. To compensate a bit, I've decided to enter Curt's challenge, once again, to try painting some more and blogging a bit. We'll see what happens. In the meantime, I've organized an Art de la Guerre club competition, and we are 20 players so far. I'm really happy about that. Hopefully, everyone will enjoy the rules.

But, for now, it's time for me to do a write-up of the games I played in a French tournament in mid-October. Be careful, it was with the V2 of the rules, not the V3. So some things might have changed. For this comp, I had chosen a favourite army of mine, the Carthaginians, with the Hannibal in Italy option. I didn't choose the great man himself, but one of his lieutenants, Doyoulikethepal.

Here is the army composition. There was a special rule about command, meaning we had more command points to move.

CiC : Doyoulikethepal - competent
6 Medium Foot impact (veteran Gauls and Spanish)
1 mediocre elephant
3 javelin skirmishers
1 javelinmen

2iC Youowemepal - competent
2 Elite heavy armoured spearmen (the veterans)
2 Heavy footmen armoured impact (Campanians)
4 Elite slingers (from the Balears)

2iC Nomilktodaypal- competent
6 Light horse with javelin
1 Elite medium cavalry

Carthage is often played in tournaments, but, most of the time, don't get very good results. It's a very tricky army to play, with no apparent strenghts (or not in enough quantity). I wanted to show people we could have fun with this army, and hopefully scare them a bit.

First, let me introduce my advisor, Master of the Inventory and general salesman, Jean-Luc Picard,  a veteran Gaul who chose to work with us.

And here we go. First round, our esteemed salesman, Doyoulikethepal, is sent to China to open more supermarkets. And he faced Bertrand Carnat and his Warring States Chinese. Tough army.

The Chinese got the initiative and decided to attack our army in a mountain region. Did he want to stop me using my cavalry? Well, after all, he has some heavy tanks, sorry, chariots. Here is the battlefield:

He deployed his tanks chariots on the left. He had some heavy infantry in each of his corps, some impetuous foot in the middle, and the cavalry on his right. He also had some firepower, thanks to his crossbowmen. Unfortunately for him, they were mediocre.

Doyoulikethepal had a different idea in mind, and opted for a more original deployment, an almsot Gallic one.

And the Chinese started the game, moving forward, almost like in a parade. Very German-like.

Then, the Carthaginians did their move. And the ambush was revealed: my 4 Elite slingers, in the steep hill. I knew the Chinese couldn't dislodge them. Skirmishers are the kings of the difficult terrain. My cavalry moved slowly, ready to jump at the ennemy's throat, from the flank.

He tried to react, sending his cavalry forward, but iwas too late. My red light horses, after a crashing course on speed at Ferrari, were already past the flank

After a few turns, here is the situation:

Because the Chinese know they will be outflanked on both sides, they decide to charge, and launch everything at us!

But I almost always fight with an advantage, and soon, everything goes downhill for them.

We even managed to take the camp, to fill our store because the sales. Everything must go!

And with the light horse pillaging the camp, Victory is ours!  Carthage had only suffered a few losses, nothing important, they were expendable mercenaries.

Now, what does Picard think?

Well number 1, you played well, but luck was on your side. Bertrand is a beginner and made some mistakes you ignominiously exploited. It's not very starfleety you know. Especially the one where he attacked your skirmishers in the hill where you had the advantage. I'd say you might have some Romulan blood. Hmm I think I understand Carthage a bit more now. Your plan wasn't extraordinary and the terrain was on your side. You played it safe lad. We'll see next game if you're so good as you say. Meanwhile, after the "Wham", I feel a bit giddy and I'd like to dance a bit.
#Jitterbug#