July 565AD, Part 2

Another game of Dux B, and another raid on the beleaguered of Alt Clut, this time by some Scotti.

 

Having heard that there were no cattle left in the kingdom they had obviously decided to try something else and were raiding a church instead.

Church

The church in question was half way up the table on the left hand side, while the British would appearing on the opposite side of the table form the church. The Scotti got 2 turns of movement before the British arrived, but this was reduced to 1 by the recently constructed watchtowers.

Smelly Scotti

Valiant and Brave British

Early game was quite quiet, with the Raiders advancing up the board towards the church, while the British swung their infantry wound behind the Scotti to cut of their escape, while the cavalry headed up the board to deal with the mounted Scotti.

Lots of smelly Scotti

The Scotti decided to send their Skirmishers to look for the loot in the church, but they were obviously not to happy at this as their dice rolls for movement were pretty rubbish. The main band of raiders on foot advanced towards the church, keeping one eye on the British to their right and rear.

British Shock cavalry try to get their chance

Missed it! Now done over by Scotti cavalry

At the top of the table the cavalry were also squaring off. My shock cavalry have to get the charge to be any good and the combination of movement roles always seemed to put them too far away to get a decent chance of contacting the enemy cavalry.  Ian managed to position his cavalry on my flank and then it all came down to whose cavalry got to activate first, and of course it was the Scotti, who assaulted my first unit of Shock Cavalry with  his Noble Raiders, accompanied with his general in a chariot.  I came out of it badly losing half the force and the rest retiring due to excess shock, but at least my Elite Shock cavalry had a chance to do something now.

More valiant and brave British

In the middle of the field not much was happening. The Scotti skirmishers were making some half hearted efforts to find the treasure, while the Raider infantry just milled around in the middle of the board waiting for something to happen. The rest of the British infantry had all joined up into one large Shieldwall and were manoeuvring into a position to cut of the Scotti escape.  I finally got the chance to charge into the Scotti cavalry with my Elite shock cavalry, but unfortunately I had to cross a wall, which unhorsed half of them.  Not to worry, they get double dice on the charge.  Which apparently means that you will get twice as many misses, and in two rounds of combat my elites managed to miss with every attack (that's about 12 dice, none rolling above 4) and were wiped out for their trouble.

 

With the British cavalry all but eliminated attention was drawn to the centre of the battle, where the Scotti gave up looking for loot and came out to fight.  There was a large Mexican stand-off in the middle of the board as the Raiders appeared reluctant to engage the British Shieldwall. 

Shieldwall!

Stop hanging about and get on with it!

After some goading Ian finally had a go, and after some fighting there was no clear winner. there were no British casualties thanks to Shieldwall, but a lot of shock, while there was quite a bit of shock and some casualties on the Scotti side.

 

Meanwhile my remaining cavalry had transferred to the other side of the table and were ready to charge into the flanks of the Raiders line, hopefully putting one of their bands out of the game, but shock horror the dice roll came up short by an inch, leaving them stranded in front of a big pile of angry barbarians!  True to form the first counter from the bag in the next turn was the Noble in charge of the Raiders, who charged and wiped out the remaining cavalry.

First engagement.

There were a few more rounds of combat, with the Shieldwall accumulating huge amounts of shock, but no casualties, while the Raiders suffered casualties and shock, before the raider cavalry were finally finished off, leaving the Scotti Raiders with a Force Moral of 1 and a few groups close to routing. Annoyingly we ran out of time and had to call the game there.

 

The final result was a +3 victory to the British, with light losses on either side.  I used the funds from this success to promote my Lord to a Legatus as well.

 

An interesting game, if extremely frustrating with a lot of key points being decided purely by whomever got the command chit from the bag first, which can be very frustrating.  There was also a fair amount of head scratching about the rules as there are some things that didn't make any sense to us.  I understand the need for a command card for skirmishers and cavalry, but if the have an attached noble why not just let them activate when the noble does? It would solve a great deal of problems with suited cards etc. I may try that as a house rule during a later game and see how it goes. I suspect it will make the game a lot more straightforward, while making cavalry  slightly less powerful due to less ability to remove shock.

 

I still enjoy the game (sort off) but am finding the random element a bit annoying. There were some turns where almost the entire Scotti force had activated before the British got to do anything, and while this is an extreme example it can be very annoying.

 

I am also really struggling with the British Shock cavalry. They are quite powerful but extremely limited as the movement rate of cavalry is pretty variable, making it hard to plan for them and if they don't get the charge then they are pretty much useless. In all my games so far they have just been a liability as I would have been better served having them on foot instead.  That would certainly have been the case here, as the extra staying power in the Shieldwall would have been useful.  Perhaps if I ever get to the stage where I accumulate some extra troops I may swap them out. They may be useful in a few scenarios, but for now I think I will start leaving the horses at home.

July 565AD

July in the Kingdom of Alt Clut saw two sets of raiders try to make away with hard earned British Loot.

The first was a bunch of hairy Saxons from Benaccia. They were trying to raid a village on the border.

Luckily the recently constructed watchtowers helped to warn the British that they were coming.

We rolled for the random placement and deployment, with village being placed in the middle of the board, and the initial British deployment of 3 units was directly opposite the village.

Starting Positions, British on the left. Saxons on the farthest table edge.

The Saxons normally get a D3 moves before the game starts, but thanks to the presence of the watchtowers the British arrived one turn earlier. John rolled a 1 so the Saxons were obviously spotted very early as they did not get any extra moves before the game began.

Early game and John split his force in two, with a noble and 2 units of warriors racing to the village, while the balance of his force headed off to intercept the rather prompt British.

The British were obviously eager to get stuck in as the two groups of warriors managed to get stuck in to the Saxon Hearthguard in turn two. The first turn was inconclusive with some casualties on both sides.

They were obviously a bits shocked by this as in the next turn of combat and about 20 dice needing 4's to hit they fluffed the lot. This resulted in one unit being  wiped out and the other routing away from the Saxons.

They all missed!

And they did it again!

Further to my left my elites had attacked a lone unit of Saxon warriors and inflicted some damage, but exposed themselves to a counter attack from the Saxon Lord and his unit if hearthguard. Miraculously they came out of this rather well, managing to rout the warriors and inflict some damage on the hearthguard.

Late game and the Levies moved on to the board. The Saxons in the village were having a hard time finding any loot, with the first two buildings coming up empty. 

The two commanders have at it.

The pig farmers were obviously out for revenge and all three groups piled on to an isolated group of hearthguard, routing them. The Saxon hearthguard were obviously put of by the smell as the casualties on the levies were minimal. 

Levies show them how its done!

Late game and the Saxons were struggling, although both sides were down to a force moral of 3. 

The British Levies had another go at a second unit of Hearthguard, and thanks to a flank attack bolstered by a few suited cards managed to wipe them out, for very few losses.

To seal the deal the British Elites decided to finish of the fleeing Saxon warriors, which broke the Saxon force, forcing them to flee the field empty handed.

Levies at it again!

A very bloody and quick game, certainly the bloodiest engagement of the campaign so far.  The watchtowers have already proved their worth, as most of the time the raiders have had such a head start that it has been an uphill struggle.

The final results were a +4 victory for the British yielding a Thief's Horde in plunder and an extra two warriors added to the British Forces. The Saxon forces will have to spend a couple of months replenishing their losses.   Now we just need to see of the Picts.

June 565AD

Our Dux B campaign has staklked a bit over the summer, while people disappeared away on Holiday or just decided to enjoy the nicer weather outside.  Things are starting to move again though and this month my British Kingdom of Alt Clut was to be raided by the Scotti of Cenel Loarn, led by Rory.

The random scenario we generated was the watchtower raid, where an isolated British Patrol were trying to get to the safety of a local watchtower, while being chased down by a raiding party with the intent of capturing the patrol leader for ransom.   The patrol consisted of two groups of warriors, one mounted, led by a mounted noble.  The balance of the British forces were deployed round the watchtower, waiting to decide whether they should sally forth or stay put.

As ever with Dux B the deployment was random, with my patrol deploying on the left hand side of the far side of the table, while the Scotti raiders deployed to the flank of them.  This worked out quite well for me as the Scotti were basically behind my patrol rather than in front of them so they would need to spend the game chasing down the patrol with their cavalry, hopefully leaving the slower infantry behind.

Early game and my cavalry patrol legged it as fast as they could, while some of the British moved forward from the watchtower to provide support. The Scotti gave chase, but the terrain and dice were against them and they struggled to catch up.

Some shooting followed with a few casualties on either side but by turn three the British were nearly at the tower.  Rory decided to through caution to the wind and charged his noble raider cavalry into my elite cavalry, and after some dice rolling the British Cavalry were routed while the Raider cavalry withdrew due to shock.

In a last ditch attempt to stop me Rory advance with his other cavalry, only to be mobbed by three groups of levy, commanded by my Lord. Under such numbers there could be only one result and the Raiders were all killed, leaving the British safely in their tower at which point the Scotti decided to withdraw.

Casualties were light on both side, with 2 British dead and 6 Raiders. The 6 was enough to provide and +3 victory to the British though, which was good as it gave me enough income to construct watchtowers in both of my provinces. I suspect next month I am going to be battling some Saxons for control of my kingdom so I am not sure how much use they will be, but we will need to wait and see.  Both the British and Scotti suffered light casualties this month so will be at full strength for July.

Another strange game of Dux B where the victor was decided by the random deployment and not much else.  Any other result of the die and I would have had to fight my way through the entire Scotti force, but this time the random deployment favoured me rather than my opponent.

Raiders April 565AD

May in the Kingdom of Alt Clut saw a lot of Raider activity. Must be the start of teh good weather.

My kingdom was raided twice this month, with teh British coming of rather badly out of both games.

The Scotti managed to get away with a large amount of livestock, once again thanks to the tardyness of my defending troops failing to even catch them, never mind put up a decent fight.

My other region was raided by the Saxons (again!) and despite the British defenders having a perfect position to stop the raid theu failed miserably, suffering moderate cacualties in the process.  THis means that next month the Saxons from Northern Rheged will be able to return and demand money from the defenceless British province, while the other province tries to fight off the inevitable raid from teh Scotti or Picts.


May was a bloody month in the North of Britain, with the Saxons of Bernaccia getting a bloody nose at the hands of the British shock cavalry and Levy(!) of Goutodi, while the Scotti of Cenel Loairn got a beating at the hands of the Picts of Flotla.

All this fighting means that in May only the Saxons of North Rheged, Scotti of Cenel N'Gabrain and the Picts of Fib will be able to carry out any raids, as everyone else is at home licking their wounds, so to speak.

 So far  the British of Alt Clut are having a pretty ropy time of it, failing to defend their kingdom successfully at all. Hopefully that will improve as I think teh British are in for a rough summer of being raided!



 

Raiders 565 AD

March 565AD.  

The Kingdom of Alt Clut is beset on all sides, from Saxons, Scotti and Picts.   This is an eight player campaign, with two much set upon British Kingdoms, surrounded by a host of uncivilised types. The players are shown in the map below.

More details of my British Kingdom to follow.

April AD565

Another month in soggy Alt Clut and another bunch of raids. This month my kingdom was raided twice!

The Saxons of Northern Rheged were back, looking for more loot after last month’s easy time of it, and also the Scotti of Cenel N'Gabrain had crossed the country to steal some of our fine livestock.

My Lord decided to ride out against the Scotti, using his household cavalry while sending one of his subordinates to go and deal with the Saxons. 

Once again the British were slightly late in giving chase, meaning that they ended up chasing after rather than intercepting the raiders.  Ian managed a maximum three moves with his escaping forces, while I ended up deploying behind them, to the left. It was going to be another evening of running after the invaders. Luckily I brought two units of cavalry to give chase with.

After them!

There was a turn of moving and getting into position before I had the opportunity to launch my Lord and cavalry into a glorious charge. The Scotti leader and one unit of cavalry were just within charge range, with only a measly unit of skirmishers standing in my way.  I needed a charge distance of 15” to make contact, and played a Carpe Deum card along with a handful of other useful cards (Artorious and one other I have forgotten). I managed to get a 15” exactly but alas the skirmishers managed to inflict one point of shock before they were dispersed, bringing my elite cavalry and accompanying lord up short by 1”.   Ian wasted no time and as soon as his cavalry had the chance they charged home against my cavalry, and a messy fight ensued. After a couple of rounds basically all the cavalry in the game were neutralised, with my Lord taking a wound and the Lords champion sacrificing himself to save his Lord. 

1 inch!

1 bloody inch!

All the while this was going on Ian was herding my cattle and sheep further towards his table edge and away to the Scotti lands.  I managed to get my troops on to the board but with my cavalry neutralised there was no much chance of me catching them with my Levy.  The levy really needed to be in shieldwall to stand a chance against the raiders, and if in shieldwall they would only move 1D6 inches a turn, and without shieldwall they would be cut to ribbons.  My only chance of stopping the raid now was to break the Scotti morale, and despite my best efforts Ian wisely refused to give battle and happily ran off with my livestock.

Brist look on from the hill as their cattle disapear into the distance.

So another successful raid against my kingdom in two months, with another still to be fought. Another player who cannot fight this month due to casualties is going to attempt to chase of the Saxons on my behalf, and I sincerely hope he manages it as if they succeed the Saxons will be back in May looking to steal some land.

Another game of Dux B and I struggled with this to be honest. The activation is so random it is very difficult to plan much of anything, as you have no idea when in the turn you are going to activate.   In this game my cavalry all activated very early in the turn, which is not ideal as you like to have the opportunity move some units in support or limit the amount of troops that your troops have yet to activate.  It is a learning curve and the result of this game basically came down to a distance of 1” as if the Brithish Shock Cavalry had managed to charge home it would have made a big mess of the Scotti force.  Not to be though and I wait to see the result of the Saxon raid with baited breath.  Random deployment is a pain as well as my last four games of Dux B have all basically someone chasing the other down the board. AT least of the Saxons get a straight up battle I will get a decent scrap out of it!