Manlii v Julii Game 34

Game 34 – Byzantine Era 5: Komnenan Dynasty Pivotal Event

Komnenan Byzantine (Alec 178 points) v 4th Crusade (Gordon 190 points)

Major Defence 1204 CE (ADLG Std, 3-Jan-2024).

Battlefield Effects: Crusaders: Special adjustments - Fear

An End of Era result has been rolled for this era and as we are playing optional rule 7: Pivotal Events the era cannot end before playing the battle based on the attack on Constantinople by the crusaders of the 4th Crusade.

The Plan (penned in advance of the battle)

This could turn out to be a non-event. There is no point me contesting the battle as the crusaders as it won't change the strategic situation as to who may win the era if I win or lose as the crusaders. If I can get to play as the Byzantines there is a chance that I could win or draw the battle and come out of it with a positive Prestige Point in the era, in which case I will win it without risking a civil war battle.

As it turns out I won the bidding to be the Byzantines at 178 points, only a twelve point deficit compared to the crusaders; though I will have to contend with the 'Fear' Battlefield Effect. This, I believe, is still a winnable battle for me, 'Fear' means more command points need to be spent to make my units charge the crusaders but as I only need a draw out of this game to win the era Gordon will be forced to make the running to win the game. So I am hoping this, combined with good Byzantine command, will not turn out to be a battle winner for him.

In this Era the Byzantines get access to a decent number of knight units. I have grouped all my knights into one command which I will endeavour to place in such a way that Gordon will be forced to charge them at a disadvantage, a hill would be ideal. If I can neutralise his crusader knights, which will undoubtedly be the teeth of his army I stand a chance of winning this battle or at least forcing a draw. I will have one infantry heavy command, which I'm sure he'll try to avoid and one light cavalry command to dance about and cause mayhem if I can.

That’s the plan!

The Battle

 Terrain:

As he was the invader Gordon chose Plains to be the region for the battle. We ended up with a field, a plantation and a gentle hill plus a road running across the middle. The hill and plantation fell centrally so were in useful areas to take advantage of if possible.

I deployed with my infantry command in the centre, my light horse archer command to my left and my knight command to the right. Gordon deployed only two commands, with hardly any mounted on-table, all entirely to the right of the plantation. As he didn't place any ambush markers Gordon had to have sent the majority of his knights on a flank march, which I guessed given the way Gordon had deployed his troops, would most likely be appearing on my left flank but couldn't be sure.

I forgot to take a picture of the setup but remembered to do so after Gordon's and my first pair of turns, my forces are at the bottom of the picture (see below). In his first turn Gordon started manoeuvring his infantry around to face his open left flank leading me to think his flank march was indeed coming in on my left, consequently I started moving my left wing cavalry to be best positioned to respond. I also moved my light troops forward to slow Gordon's advances so that I would have more time to react. I left my right wing Kavallarioi and Latinikon knights where they were as I figured they were fast enough to react when I was 100% sure of which side the flank march would turn up.

In turn two the crusader flank march roll succeeded and Gordon announced it would arrive, as predicted, on my left.

Gordon began to advance the right wing of his on-table troops forward whilst continuing to turn his left wing infantry to face to his left. This seemed a bit of an overreaction to me as it would mean they would be out of the fight for many turns to come, whilst his troops arriving from the flank march (presumably the bulk of his mounted forces) would be in action from the getgo. Additionally it opened up a large gap for a light cavalry unit to get behind his line.

In my turn I started redeploying my right wing knights over to my left whilst advancing my infantry onto the hill. I also formed a line with my left wing lighter cavalry to face the arrival of the flank march whilst pushing a light horse unit forward to sneak through the gap mentioned above. Picture at the end of both our second turns below.

On turn three the crusader flank march turned up - five crusader knight units, two turcopoles and one unit of infantry crossbowmen as below:

Elsewhere Gordon continued to advance to support his flank march whilst I continued to redeploy to face it and the crusader centre. I evaded away from the crusader flank march with the light cavalry as there was a danger of them getting trapped if they had stayed put, and also managed to sneak a light horse unit through the crusader line; there was now nothing between it and the crusader camp.

The situation at the end of our third turns was as below:

The situation at the end of both our fourth turns was as below. Gordon continued advancing his right wing and I continued to redeploy to meet it. On Gordon's left he vainly tried to catch my light horse by turning his infantry 180 degrees. I was happy with this as he was never going to be able to catch it and it would keep them out of the main fight.

Turn five picture as below. Gordon continued the right wing attack and I continued to meet it. Next turn would see the inevitable clash. I decided to start proceedings by launching my elite Varangian Guard at one of his mediocre crusader spearmen supported by an elite light horse unit of Bulgars against one of his adjacent crossbow units that was already disordered. The result was catastrophe (for me), two hits on each of my units, which obviously wiped the light horse unit out completely. Not the start I was looking for!

The situation at the end of Gordon's turn six was as shown below. The two lines of opposing knights finally went in. We were equally matched, five knight units each, of which two on each side were elite. As bad as the previous turn had been for me this combat swung the other way. Gordon lost one unit completely and took two hits on another. I didn't get away entirely unscathed however, taking two hits.

The infantry fight continued to go badly, two of my kontaratoi were now on the brink of destruction. Though the Varangian Guard managed to win it's fight it was in severe danger of being flanked.

The situation at the end of my turn six was as below. As good as the mounted fight was going for me the infantry fight was the reverse. I lost one heavy spear unit, Gordon lost a knight unit. On the bright side I had sufficient reserves to plug holes plus I finally got to the crusader camp.

In Gordon's turn next turn he finished off the Varangian Guard and in mine I took out more of his knights. The position at the end of my turn seven was as below, at this point Gordon was at 19 losses out of 21 and I was at 13 out of 19.

At the end of my next turn it was all over, a final burst of luck from me pushed the crusaders up to 27 losses. The final situation was as below.

There's no doubt that being lucky at the right moment can sometimes play a big part in winning a battle and this was one of those battles. Despite being outnumbered I managed to pull off a win by getting those few lucky rolls where I needed them - against the crusader knights. That said, even with that luck as I had been unlucky elsewhere on the field it was all to play for until the last turn, it could easily have gone Gordon's way until the very end.

The Fear Battlefield Effect cost me a few extra command points but my plan of manoeuvring to where Gordon was obliged to charge me worked. I like it when a plan comes together!

Gordon's comments

 Pre-Game

I forgot that the Byzantines were suspect to fear. Not sure it would have made much effect as having decided I would not bid as low as Alec to be Byzantium I needed to win regardless.

Both lists have pretty much the same choice of troops. So, Crusaders need knights to win the game with some heavy infantry to form a solid centre or flank depending on terrain. As defender Alec could go for a largely infantry force and place terrain to limit the crusader deployment. Or, he could choose the same mix of knights and heavy spearmen that I decided to go with.

He will have much better command, but is a unit or two down which might compensate.

I decide against impetuous knights as I will struggle to control them if faced by an army with a number of light horse.

I go for a largish cavalry command under a brilliant sub-general. If we get open terrain it will try to win the battle by a straightforward charge to combat. If the terrain is problematic then I will try a flank march.

The C-in-C to command a similar sized command but a mix of knights and spearmen and a crossbow unit. Reasonably solid in defence, with a chance to win against a weaker cavalry command with the crossbowmen to keep horse archers away.

The third command of four spearmen and two crossbowmen: mediocre spear with armour. This should hold against any infantry Alec has and give cavalry or knights a tough fight. The crossbowmen to make cavalry think twice about coming too close. 

The Deployment

Neither of us place much terrain, but what there is causes me concern – a great big plantation in the middle of my side of the table. I have only the crossbowmen who can cope with that, and I don’t know if Alec has some allies who might be able to make use of it. So, it is going to be a flank attack with the cavalry command on my right flank. The infantry deploy next to the plantation to slowly move forward to fix Alec’s centre, with the mixed command on the right flank to threaten whatever Alec deploys here and to fix them for the flank attack.

Alec deploys a weakish cavalry command on my right, a solid infantry centre opposite my infantry centre, and, to my horror, a huge command of knights facing my open left – I have visions of being outflanked and losing my camp. 

The Game

I panic and make a hash of redeploying some of my infantry to protect my left flank. This weakens my centre. The on table right flank command advance towards the light and medium cavalry with the idea of chasing them away by missile fire or threat of knightly charge.

The flank attack arrives on turn 3 but by this time Alec has seen my message about where it will arrive courtesy of my mess in the middle of the table which also leaves a huge gap for one of his light horse to go through to loot my camp. They duly do that. My crossbowmen cause them some annoyance but cause no damage.

My right flank gets a bit disorganised due to a slight traffic jam but actually does its job in conjunction with the flank march.

The flank march chases off the cavalry before charging into the knights that Alec has redeployed from his right flank. The combats are even but I come off far worse and lose all my knights for one of his. Bad luck here makes a big difference.

My centre sort of realign to face his. A bit of luck here breaks the unit of Varangians but the infantry are pretty much equal and the battle is decided by the loss of my knights. 

Post-Game

If you choose a flank march you have to work on the assumption it will turn up, even if approaching cautiously until it does. Mind you facing a seven strong knight command made that a nerve-wracking experience.

Redeploying so many of my central command on the first turn was a panic response, especially as the commander being ordinary was always going to struggle to perform (and made that known to his superiors by fairly consistently rolling ones). Deploying a couple of units adjacent to the camp and leaving them there might have been a better move to deter too aggressive an attempt at a quick outflanking move by Alec’s knights, which could have won the game before the flank march turned up. 

Result

Byzantine win - one Prestige Point to the Manlii