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Battle Reports December 2004 |
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(Legendary Trojan vs Legendary Greek) |
An
interesting bash last Thursday night with the arrival of Agamemnon's
Greeks intent on the recovery of the fair Helen and the Trojans
determined to keep her. The table was set up longways with Troy at one
end and Besika Bay and the Greek camp at the other end. The
Greeks had a regular 800 point Mycenaean army with the addition of
Achilles (EHI,SH,LS superhero+fire magic), Diomedes (HI,SH,LS
superhero), Ajax (HI,SH,HS hero) plus the elite Myrmidon MI. In addition
any leader or hero who spent a turn inside the Greek camp recovered 1
Str Point. The
Trojans had a cut down Hittite army with the addition of Hector (HI,SH,LS
superhero), Aeneas (HI,SH,HS hero) and Paris (MI,BO Champion with Void
Magic). Similarly any Trojan hero or leader standing inside the walls of
Troy received 1 point of damage back due to the wonders of the Skaian
Gate Snack Bar. Finally, the Trojans had a flanking force of two units
of Amazon Vet MC under Penthesilea coming in as per the chart. Special
Rules Challenges Any
hero or leader within 16cms of an enemy leader could issue a challenge
to single combat. If a
leader declined a challenge then he lost a Str Point from shame / his
men's contempt for his cowardice. If he agreed then the leaders were
moved together and each rolled a D6 adding their current strength (max
of 6). The winner took 1 Str Point Damage, the loser took half the
difference in the die rolls. Divine
Intervention The
Gods intervene If a Commander could muster 5 CPs he could instead call
upon the gods to help his forces. There was a list of one shot miracles
available to each side depending on which god wanted to meddle. Dramatis
Personae Chris
took the mantle of Priam, Sam that of Penthesilea and Richard the hordes
of lousy levies that had turned up to support the Trojans. Priam's main
thrust was a strong right hook timed to join up with the arrival of the
flank march while the rest of the army pinned the Greeks. Paul
took the mantle of Agamemnon while Jason stepped into the armour of
Achilles. The Greek plan was to advance and then retire, drawing the
Trojans away from the city nearer the camp so that they could not use
the healing power of their base. Also it was expected that there would
be a flanking force somewhere and it was hoped that this would be
flushed out. The
battle opened badly for the Greeks. Paris strung his bow and with a
brief prayer to Apollo, loosed a shaft that dropped Agamemnon from his
chariot. He wasn't killed but it was enough to prevent him calling on
the gods for several turns. He started the long walk back to the camp.
Apollo then decided to help a little bit more by spreading plague among
the Greek ranks. The forces moved slowly forward. The
second turn proved even less fortuitous for the Greeks with Paris
shooting Achilles for a few points of damage (Achilles could not use the
Greek camp), Ares, god of war was inspired to come down and attack
Agamemnon who got away with only 2 points of damage leaving him gasping
on 1 Str Point. Ares then turned on Achilles but was driven away. The
Greeks then executed their retreat plan which left grins on the faces of
the Trojans and puzzled looks on the faces of the onlookers and the
referee. Perhaps too complicated an option with your CnC in a wheel
chair? Turn
three and the Gods were really batting for the Trojans by this point.
The mighty Achilles was unmasked as being only his sidekick Patroclus.
Achilles lost his EHI status and took some damage to cut him down to
size. The Trojans were now pursuing the Greeks. Turn
4 and the Trojan gods decide not to intervene any more. They don't
really need to. The Greeks are turning around trying to get their line
sorted out to receive the Trojan advance. The big threat is the Trojan
chariots on the right against which Odysseus and a mob of lighter
chariots are dispatched while the Myrmidons move towards the Trojan
"King's Sons". Achilles does not join the Myrmidons at this
point. Turn
5 and Penthesilea arrives hitting Odysseus' contingent in the flank.
Although the Amazons are destroyed and the warrior queen killed by
Odysseus in a challenge, there are 3 routing chariots. The Trojan
chariots are bearing down and it does look like the Greek left is a bit
of a mess. On the right, a gap has appeared along the line and Trojan
archers start exchanging shots with the Greek tereta. Turn
6 and things look grim. Agamemnon is back on line but refuses to call on
Zeus to blast Paris with a thunderbolt. At this point Paris nails Teucer
shaking the centre of the Greek line. No one runs away but no-one's
going forward now. The Myrmidons hit the King's Sons and push them back
but Odysseus' weakened chariots are scattered by the arrival of the
Trojan heavy charioteers. The Myrmidons' flank is exposed and Achilles
is thrown into the fray alone to stop the onslaught. Patroclus dies in a
challenge, half the Myrmidons
rout and even the ever optimistic referee does not give much hope to the
Greeks now. Turn
7 sees the last of the Myrmidons break, the Greek left is gone, the
centre disordered and the right static. Game over. Post
Match Thoughts Excellent
play from the Trojans who utilised their forces well and had a simple
and determined plan. They
always had the initiative and were coming forward. They also had some
luck with the dice. Dropping Agamemnon on turn 1 was a definite bonus. I
still thought the Greek retreat was too complicated a plan to carry off
particularly given the horrendous dice the Greeks were rolling. It
handed the initiative to the Trojans and allowed a gap to open between
Agamemnon's and Achilles wings. There were no reserves to counter the
flank march and poor Odysseus was left out on a limb. The Mycenaean army
is one that goes forward if at all possible and the tereta never got a
chance to thump the Trojan allies. There were comments that the flank march arrived fortuitously on the edge of the map next to the Greek charioteers and this is some truth in this. Perhaps a set point should be specified for flank march's entry. On the other hand, on the principle of "march to the sound of the guns", I didn't feel it was too unbalanced for Penthesilea to appear within charge range of the Greeks. Odysseus' chariots were out on the wing without reserves or support, facing the main Trojan strike force. Another
comment was that the battle magic was unbalanced. However, I'm not
convinced by this. The Trojans played theirs extremely well using it to
focus on disrupting the Greek line and messing up the Greek left flank.
The initial good fortune of nailing Agamemnon might have skewed things a
little but even when he was back and able to implore the gods' aid, no
lightning bolts fell from the sky zorching Paris and stopping his rain
of death. There were two opportunities to limit him up for a few turns
and these were ignored. Conversely, the Trojans made damned sure that
Achilles never got to lead the Elite Myrmidons into combat with a dice
worth of fire magic (charging elites with attached superhero = 33+3d6).
Hence the King's Sons held them long enough for the Trojan to eat
their flanks. To
settle the matter a challenge has been issued for a rematch with the
Greek and Trojan commanders reversed…..
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