Norman v Romano British Sept 2021 Game 1

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Paul K
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Norman v Romano British Sept 2021 Game 1

Post by Paul K »

Over resent months we’ve pitted these armies against each other resulting in very close and entertaining games. And so, as the club has started to meet every week again as we hopefully leave the restrictions of Covid behind, it seemed appropriate to let the Normans and the Brits ‘slog it out’ a couple of times with a group of players around a table once more!
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The dice gave Dave and Tony the Normans and Chris and I the Romano-Brits and we deployed first. In response the Normans deployed with all their substantial cavalry contingent concentrated on their right and all the infantry including 5 units of armoured infantry on the left. In response to this Chris and I decided to form our infantry into an extended line stretching between 2 areas of woodland with our chariots with Chris behind our right wing and the British cavalry behind my infantry on the extreme left wing. By doing this we could hopefully respond effectively against any massed Norman cavalry attack against our left or right.
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Tony, having advanced his cavalry forward against my left, switched suddenly across towards our right and Chris’s units which were already under pressure from Dave’s advancing Norman infantry. We couldn’t risk the whole of the Norman army attacking only the right wing of our Brits and so in our next tactical move I started to move my cavalry up and across – a big mistake! It was a rouse by Tony and it worked! He turned his Norman cavalry and slammed into my now vulnerable British left.
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The following hand to hand fighting saw my British cavalry well beaten and pushed back into an area of woodland where they would fight disrupted. Thankfully, as an insurance policy I had kept my generals behind the front in reserve. After an initial severe crunching, the general and the hero general borrowed from our centre managed to lead a fight back with warrior hordes. This prevented what would have been a game winning Norman cavalry attack.
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Meanwhile the Norman infantry was battling it out with Chris’s right wing. Chris had no choice but to commit his 2 units of British chariots into combat as he tried to hold his ground against the more powerful Norman infantry supported by 2 generals. I had stolen our hero general from the centre to stop the self-inflicted catastrophe unfolding on our left. Despite some commendable dice rolls from Chris, especially his shooting from the ballista unit, it was obvious that he wouldn’t be able stop the steady advance of Dave’s Norman infantry. He needed support from my embattled left wing.
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The Norman cavalry would need to be defeated quickly in order that what was left of my forces could come across to support Chris. Unfortunately for us, Tony’s cavalry was incredibly stubborn and as each game turn ticked away the Norman victory looked more certain.
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The Norman cavalry did give way, but my only remaining complete cavalry unit plus a general were trapped in a compulsory pursuit, which gave even more time for the Norman infantry which had by now captured all the woodland and turned the British right flank, to inflict more casualties on the quickly diminishing British infantry.
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Finally, the British cavalry and remaining warrior hordes did arrive for a final showdown with the so far victorious Norman infantry but hardly in sufficient numbers for the task in hand. The resulting 2 rounds of hand-to-hand combat inflicted the final blow on what was left of the British force with the loss of their generals heralding the end of a truly epic struggle.
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Game analysis
The Norman dictated the course of the game with the early attack and the Brits had to expend so much of their available strength to deal with this onslaught that Chris’s infantry and Chariots were always struggling to hold out long enough against Dave’s tough Norman infantry. When I did eventually arrive in support it was with far too little and far too late!
Kind regards
Paul

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