Manlii v Julii Game 25

Game 25 – Byzantine Era 6: Late (Fractured) Empire

Despotate of Epirus Byzantine (Gordon 196 pts) v 2nd Bulgarian Empire (Alec 210 pts)

Major Invasion 1258 CE (ADLG Std, 12-July-2023).

Battlefield Effects: Byzantine: Generals variations

The Plan (penned in advance of the battle)

This is a Major Invasion of the 2^nd Bulgarian Empire in 1258 CE by the Byzantine Despotate of Epirus. Given that a ‘Generals Variations’ Battlefield Effect was rolled for the Byzantines and that there are three Prestige Points up for grabs for a Byzantine victory I’m not surprised that Gordon was prepared to bid quite low for the privilege; at 196 I let him take them.

As usual, as it is a Byzantine invasion, Gordon will be forced to attack quite aggressively to win his three points. I found this battle a hard one to pin down when choosing the composition of my army, I had the option to go with one of three different army make-ups:

·        a large skirmishing cavalry army;

·        a large number of hard-hitting impetuous heavy cavalry; or

·        thirdly, an infantry heavy force.

As Gordon has the potential ability to mess up my command structure due to the Battlefield Effect I eventually plumped for the choice that is the most static – the infantry heavy version. This way I could sit still and wait for him to come to me, thereby minimising the potential downsides of whichever Battlefield Effect he rolls.

So, similarly to the last Byzantine era game, I’ll try to maximise the terrain and create areas that force him to attack the spearmen head on if at all possible. I’ll keep my impetuous Bulgar cavalry in reserve ready to counterattack where needed.

That’s the plan!

The Battle

As usual I am on the left of the pictures below and Gordon is on the right. Gordon chose Steppe terrain so I went with a river (which turned out to be dry) a gentle hill, a swamp and some brush. Gordon went with a gentle hill and a road. I guess he had chosen a largely cavalry army

The terrain was as below:

Deployment was as below:

I placed my two infantry commands on my right and in the centre and my cavalry command on my left. I placed a couple of light infantry bow in ambush in the brush on my right and placed my impetuous nobles in reserve on the rear table edge.

Gordon placed his infantry on his right, a command of heavy cavalry in the centre set back (including Frankish and German mercenary knights), and a mostly light cavalry command on his left. A curious set up.

In his first turn Gordon revealed his plan - he played his Battlefield Effects chit on my Brilliant general commanding my left wing - he became ill losing one PIP for the remainder of the game. Then after advancing his infantry Gordon began to move his cavalry over to his right flank to face mine.

The position at the end of Gordon's first turn was as below:

In my turn, despite being ill, my brilliant general managed to extend the Bulgar medium cavalry into a line and advanced them and two units of mercenary Russian heavy cavalry to take control of the hill on my extreme left.

In my centre I pulled back my outnumbered Cuman horse archers. My right wing infantry sat and awaited events, occasionally taking pot-shots at Gordon's light horse when they ventured too close to the bowmen in the brush that anchored my right flank; which they were to do through the whole game.

The position at the end of my first turn was as below: 

In his second turn Gordon continued the cavalry repositioning manoeuvre. We sniped at each other with our bow armed units. The position at the end of Gordon's second turn was as follows:

In my turn we continued shooting, but I got the better of the exchanges against Gordon's central infantry command. The position at the end of my second turn was as follows:

In Gordon's turn he continued to position his medium knights against my medium cavalry. The position at the end of Gordon's third turn was as follows:

In my turn I scored more shooting hits against Gordon's infantry and awaited the charge of the Frankish and German medium knights. I pondered whether to advance my medium cavalry down the hill but decided against it. I figured the advantage of the hill and my cavalry's elite status should enable me to contain the charge of the knights if they could survive the Knights' first turn advantage from their impact bonus as even though they had armour they weren't elite.

The position at the end of my third turn was as follows:

As expected Gordon charged in with his knights and heavy cavalry. All I needed now was to get lucky - I didn't particularly but Gordon did, he won four of the six combats. The position at the end of Gordon's fourth turn was as follows:

Given the dire position on the hill and the general disordered condition of  Gordon's infantry, in my turn I decided now was the time to advance in the centre. The cavalry fight continued towards a brutal conclusion - see the picture below - two units dead on each side though sadly none of Gordon's knights. 

Picture of my left flank after the melee combat phase of my fourth turn is below:

The position at the end of my fourth turn, after removal of casualties was as follows:

In Gordon's next turn not a lot happened except my cavalry on the hill continued to underperform.

The position at the end of Gordon's fifth turn was as follows:

In my next turn I charged my infantry into contact with his - I came off worse despite Gordon's initial disorders, I also lost another cavalry unit on the hill. Things were definitely not going my way. 

The position at the end of my fifth turn:

In Gordon's turn the front remained static on the cavalry wing but my infantry continued to suffer, I had now lost two units. The position at the end of Gordon's sixth turn was as follows:

I forgot to take a photo at the end of my sixth turn, but I had by this time resorted to plugging gaps with my light horse to stop Gordon turning on my flanks. 

In Gordon's turn he began advancing cavalry into the gap in the centre.

The position at the end of Gordon's seventh turn was as follows:

In my turn I  pondered sending in my reserve Bulgar nobles but if I went in it would have freed up Gordon's units elsewhere to run riot so decided not to.

The position at the end of my seventh turn was as follows:

In Gordon's next move I was finally pushed over the army demoralisation level as I lost two more units and a committed general, Gordon had lost 18 out of 25 so a fairly sanguine contest all round. It didn't help that I forgot to put my two light infantry that were in ambush on table so exceeded my army demoralisation level unnecessarily losing 23 out of 22 on-table troops rather than the 26 I would have had had I remembered to place them. 

The position at the end of Gordon's eighth turn and the end of the game was as follows:

So, a victory for Gordon. The Battlefield Effect did have a significant impact on the game losing me seven command points overall, which may have allowed me to move my reserve heavy cavalry up at a timeous moment.

Gordon's comments

Pre-Game

I want to win some points, so bid low to win the Byzantines. I am relying on the battlefield effect to make up for the small difference in points and overcome whatever battlefield terrain Alec will use to construct a fortress. I expect that Alec will choose a strong defensive position and choose a largely infantry force, much like the Antiochene Crusaders. He has some more options in his medium cavalry, so he will have a few, and it would be silly not to try a few heavy cavalry.

So, on the balance that there will be a strong infantry line, what can I choose? The choice of infantry will not win the game, so I will have to take some decent cavalry. Even though spearmen significantly reduce their effectiveness, they are the only way to win. I go for maximum knights (4 units) and 5 heavy cavalry lancers. If I am wrong and he has gone for lots of cavalry, then these units should win the combat unless his shooting causes a lot of disorder. I take a few infantry spear and bowmen to give me a reasonably stable centre or flank. The spear can withstand the cavalry and the bowmen might keep them away. A relatively large number of light horse in case Alec takes more impetuous cavalry than I expect, and they might even hurt his spearmen.

As the invader I choose the terrain. It will be steppes.

 The game

The terrain was pretty good. It was mainly open, but the brush on Alec’s right flank should close that flank down.

I put my light horse command on my left, opposite the brush. They can move quickly and if Alec is going to play a defensive game I can skirmish and keep him busy, and maybe transfer troops to where they might be more urgently needed. If I am wrong and he deploys a cavalry command on the dry river, then the light horse and cavalry can delay while I try to win elsewhere.

The heavy cavalry command goes in the centre. If Alec deploys cavalry my troops can go hell for leather for them. If not, I can either think about whether some controlled charges might hurt the infantry, or I can move the command to right or left as require. I deploy them back to give them that option.

The infantry command goes on the right flank. They can either sit in front of cavalry and hope for the best or move to the centre to defend there while the cavalry move behind them.

This is all a lot more ambitious than most of my plans, but the terrain allows it and I think I have the options to deal with Alec having taken more cavalry than I anticipate.

The Battlefield Effect rolls give me the option to choose one of the other five options. That gives lots of interesting options to either improve my command or reduce his. Looking at Alec’s deployment he is going to defend. So, he won’t need many points to move anyone, except with his cavalry command. Even with a brilliant general it is going to be hard to command that lot. My brilliant and competent commanders should give me the flexibility I need to get into the position I want. So, I choose to make his brilliant commander sick and less effective.

So, the infantry command slowly inclined to the centre. During the course of the game they took a hell of a battering from missile fire – I spent a lot of command points trying to stop them dying. Slowed things down, but then their purpose was to stop Alec doing anything clever in the centre while my central cavalry command moved behind the infantry to attack his cavalry. Despite the hill and elite Bulgar horsemen, this is where I could win, assuming a good first round of combat. As my right flank cavalry slowly chewed through his cavalry Alec charged into my infantry centre. His archers were destroyed, one of my archers performed magnificently and held up one of his spearmen until I could get onto their flank. Another unit of spearmen held up two of his for most of the combat.

The right flank cavalry were able to get into position to fight Alec’s horse. He chose to sit on the hill rather than risk shooting at me. That was fine, as I feared charging in disorder more than elite troops on a hill (hmmm – bit too much reliance on my heavy armour to save me, but what can you do?). I got some good results in the charge round, but not enough to destroy any of his unts. It was then a scary grind to kill all his Bulgars before he killed all my Byzantine lancers. The knights lived up to my expectations, even if it took them longer than expected to break the enemy facing them. My reserve was committed and one unit was destroyed. If Alec had been able or willing (still not sure why he kept his heavy cavalry so far back – although the battlefield effect was effective) that could have cost me the game.

On my left flank the light horse chased his light horse away and slowly destroyed his two light infantry. Otherwise, his archers caused disorder which I spent a lot of the game rallying. My two cavalry units on the left posed a threat to his spearmen that seems to have kept them out of action.

And then it was over. A win to me. Alec forgot the deploy two light infantry in ambush which ended the game a turn or two earlier than otherwise and might just have saved me.

 Post-Game

A much happier experience for me against a strong defensive army with a far weaker position than in the Byzantine vs. Crusader game. Although the hill on Alec’s left flank was a far stronger position than I expected.

My left flank of light horse felt a bit wasted. But, then again, they kept his light horse largely out of the battle and slowed down any movement on his right and centre. Which was my basic plan. 

Result

Byzantine victory - three Prestige Points to the Julii