This was a very closely fought game throughout. The key difference was that the Korean cavalry commander (me!), squandered the cream of the Korean cavalry in a failed attempt to attack the Chinese rear. As a result the Korean infantry were left unsupported when the Chinese attack landed on them which resulted in a very unequal fight in the centre.
Medieval Korean v Chinese
Medieval Korean v Chinese
The 6 player game pitted a late Ming Chinese army against a Korean army of the Imjin war period. They both had a points value of 280 points so these were pretty large armies with plenty of units for the 3 players on each side to command. We let the roll of the dice decide which players were with which army, choice of table edge and first move.
Chris, Tony and James F took command of the Chinese and Tim, James and I the Koreans and our Koreans won the roll for first move. The terrain had one road snaking from one table edge to the other with a scattering of woodland areas and small hills. The centre of the table was flat and open and it became the natural position for both armies to establish the lines of their missile units all protected by pavisses.
James took control of the left, Tim the centre and I the right wing of the Koreans. Tony took the left of the Chinese facing me, James F the centre and Chris the right. The Koreans had 8 units of cavalry and the Chinese 10, but the Korean light and heavy cavalry were all ‘B’ class and bow armed whereas the Chinese were more mixed, mostly ‘C’ class apart from the 3 units of ‘B’ class heavy cavalry. So Koreans enjoyed a slight cavalry advantage and the Chinese had a similar advantage in numbers and quality of infantry – game on!
The majority of the cavalry of both armies faced each other on my wing, Tony using the Chinese bow armed cavalry to shadow my Korean cavalry. The first moves saw the centres close on each other and James’s Koreans on the left take up a defensive position in the woods either side of the road as Chris advanced against him in a wide flanking move. The Korean centre comprising handgunners and spear units continued advancing while the Chinese centre halted in line with the left hand wood.
With the Chinese cavalry retreating behind the cover of this aforementioned woodland I was able to occupy the area up to the Chinese table edge with my Korean light cavalry. The gap between the wood and the Chinese table edge was only 2 hexes wide but I planned to send my light cavalry through this gap and attack the Chinese rear was soon as the opportunity presented itself. Trying to disguise this intention was the tricky bit!
Bolstered by a unit of Korean heavy cavalry James was holding back the Chinese infantry on the far left of our line, while Tim awaited the Chinese assault in the centre once the missile troops of either side had whittled each other down enough to create some space! The infantry battle continued for a number phases with neither side able to gain any significant advantage. Meanwhile my plan to attack the Chinese rear had been thwarted by Tony, who was slowly feeding Chinese halberdier units into the wood. In frustration I used my cavalry to attack the woodland and try and push them out- this was not a good policy!
The Chinese, heavy cavalry and armoured infantry started their advance towards Tim’s Korean infantry in the centre. This was the time for my cavalry to sweep around the wood and attack the Chinese rear, but the Chinese ‘woodland’ infantry were still stopping me. In fact they were inflicting significant casualties on my precious cavalry and pinning me in position so that I couldn’t extract them to support Tim’s infantry.
The infantry of both sides had by now been engaged in a brutal hand-to-hand combat in both the centre and left and the casualty trays were beginning to fill rather quickly, but again, neither side could gain the upper hand. After a long while the Korean centre under the onslaught of the Chinese heavy cavalry started to buckle and then break and 2 units of Chinese armoured infantry advanced into the gap virtually unopposed . Where was the Korean cavalry? I had managed to get them bogged down in and around the woodland and still hadn’t managed to get behind the Chinese centre, which was now half way across the table smashing Tim’s infantry!
At least James was still holding Chris back on the other wing, until that is, the Chinese breakthrough in the centre left him exposed as well ! They were all waiting for ‘the cavalry’ to arrive to save them! Unfortunately the useless Korean cavalry commander (me!) had been played like a violin by Tony, who had played an excellent psychological game and effectively pinned my cavalry out of position.
With the Korean centre broken the last few hand-to-hand combats did provide opportunities for our battered Koreans to exact some revenge, but with 2 generals gone and the other 2 locked into combat there was insufficient command and control available to reverse what was a dire situation. Both armies had battered each other well below half strength, but the Chinese controlled a better position, had an extra general, more units and points still left on the table. They deserved this very hard fought win!
Game analysis
This was a very closely fought game throughout. The key difference was that the Korean cavalry commander (me!), squandered the cream of the Korean cavalry in a failed attempt to attack the Chinese rear. As a result the Korean infantry were left unsupported when the Chinese attack landed on them which resulted in a very unequal fight in the centre.
Chris, Tony and James F took command of the Chinese and Tim, James and I the Koreans and our Koreans won the roll for first move. The terrain had one road snaking from one table edge to the other with a scattering of woodland areas and small hills. The centre of the table was flat and open and it became the natural position for both armies to establish the lines of their missile units all protected by pavisses.
James took control of the left, Tim the centre and I the right wing of the Koreans. Tony took the left of the Chinese facing me, James F the centre and Chris the right. The Koreans had 8 units of cavalry and the Chinese 10, but the Korean light and heavy cavalry were all ‘B’ class and bow armed whereas the Chinese were more mixed, mostly ‘C’ class apart from the 3 units of ‘B’ class heavy cavalry. So Koreans enjoyed a slight cavalry advantage and the Chinese had a similar advantage in numbers and quality of infantry – game on!
The majority of the cavalry of both armies faced each other on my wing, Tony using the Chinese bow armed cavalry to shadow my Korean cavalry. The first moves saw the centres close on each other and James’s Koreans on the left take up a defensive position in the woods either side of the road as Chris advanced against him in a wide flanking move. The Korean centre comprising handgunners and spear units continued advancing while the Chinese centre halted in line with the left hand wood.
With the Chinese cavalry retreating behind the cover of this aforementioned woodland I was able to occupy the area up to the Chinese table edge with my Korean light cavalry. The gap between the wood and the Chinese table edge was only 2 hexes wide but I planned to send my light cavalry through this gap and attack the Chinese rear was soon as the opportunity presented itself. Trying to disguise this intention was the tricky bit!
Bolstered by a unit of Korean heavy cavalry James was holding back the Chinese infantry on the far left of our line, while Tim awaited the Chinese assault in the centre once the missile troops of either side had whittled each other down enough to create some space! The infantry battle continued for a number phases with neither side able to gain any significant advantage. Meanwhile my plan to attack the Chinese rear had been thwarted by Tony, who was slowly feeding Chinese halberdier units into the wood. In frustration I used my cavalry to attack the woodland and try and push them out- this was not a good policy!
The Chinese, heavy cavalry and armoured infantry started their advance towards Tim’s Korean infantry in the centre. This was the time for my cavalry to sweep around the wood and attack the Chinese rear, but the Chinese ‘woodland’ infantry were still stopping me. In fact they were inflicting significant casualties on my precious cavalry and pinning me in position so that I couldn’t extract them to support Tim’s infantry.
The infantry of both sides had by now been engaged in a brutal hand-to-hand combat in both the centre and left and the casualty trays were beginning to fill rather quickly, but again, neither side could gain the upper hand. After a long while the Korean centre under the onslaught of the Chinese heavy cavalry started to buckle and then break and 2 units of Chinese armoured infantry advanced into the gap virtually unopposed . Where was the Korean cavalry? I had managed to get them bogged down in and around the woodland and still hadn’t managed to get behind the Chinese centre, which was now half way across the table smashing Tim’s infantry!
At least James was still holding Chris back on the other wing, until that is, the Chinese breakthrough in the centre left him exposed as well ! They were all waiting for ‘the cavalry’ to arrive to save them! Unfortunately the useless Korean cavalry commander (me!) had been played like a violin by Tony, who had played an excellent psychological game and effectively pinned my cavalry out of position.
With the Korean centre broken the last few hand-to-hand combats did provide opportunities for our battered Koreans to exact some revenge, but with 2 generals gone and the other 2 locked into combat there was insufficient command and control available to reverse what was a dire situation. Both armies had battered each other well below half strength, but the Chinese controlled a better position, had an extra general, more units and points still left on the table. They deserved this very hard fought win!
Game analysis
This was a very closely fought game throughout. The key difference was that the Korean cavalry commander (me!), squandered the cream of the Korean cavalry in a failed attempt to attack the Chinese rear. As a result the Korean infantry were left unsupported when the Chinese attack landed on them which resulted in a very unequal fight in the centre.
