Before lockdown (hands up who remembers that time), I promised Steve another learning game with is Swiss.
So, as restrictions finally eased, I went to his place for a rematch game of MeG featuring his absolutely BEAUTIFUL Swiss army (here's the first fight).
Normally, Swiss is a bit of a difficult list to use, small, expensive and if not used properly, damns its owner, it's one of MeG's perpetual underperformers. Steve has slightly tweaked it since that first game, and now it is even harder!
However, then there is my Tudor English, which so far, in both FoG(R) and MeG is a serious underperformer! In MeG it has won... no games. Let us see if it could change it's stars? (hint - no).
Steve's camp, man he is a good painter!
Steve's beautiful army deployed. Death looks on, knowing he will have a busy day.
The two forces deploy. Steve has 5 TuGs, three Keils of 12 pikes, 2 of which are superiors. A unit of superior halbards and an average halbard unit, plus two skirmishing crossbows and a unit of handgunners.
Henry VIII has brought artillery, two units of billmen, a retinue archer unit, mercanary pikes, a unit of Men at arms (on foot) a unit of knights (who dismounted), a group of Welsh spears, the Household Cavalry and a unit of light knights (Curriors).
My plan was to pin the Keils front, and take the left hand halbards with the Welsh spears and curriors. Steve decided to stay out of artillery range! We moved up to just out of charge range with the mass of foot.
Damn those pikes are FAST! I had to throw in my dismounted knights to try and stall them from hitting the Household Cavalry (who would have been up on the charge, then massively down in melee). If I can hold him here, I can cause them all sorts of hurt
Well, that didn't work! Steve's pikes and handgunners rain down hits on my dismounted kmights, who break.(0-2) After several turns of falling back, my foot decides the gap is big enough to go and meet the Swiss Keils. My bills on the right push back Steve's crossbows, to allow them to try and get round the back of the Keil and their softer underside.
On the left, my archers try to pincushion the superior Keil, to little effect. Behind, my Welsh spears and curriors try to squeeze Steve's average halbardiers before his superior habardiers, that have been doing a countermarch that Longstreet would be proud of), reach and crush me.
My game of dodge the Keil continues for the Household Cavalry.
Nope, not gonna make it! I might get my cavalry into his flank though, problem is his skirmishers keep knocking lumps out of them! The center is joined, and the big fights begin.
By the way, VIMTO jelly babies, wow! Not as strong as Vimto drink, but really tasty.
It's a good looking force to run over you!
My caalry flank charge hits, it's on +4 for the flank, +2 for charging lancer, Red and Yellow s Black, and it does... a wound! Oh come on!
It will then go on to consistenlty underperformed while being peppered by Steve's crossbows, even to the point of rolling a red, with yellow overlap, and getting an 'S' and a miss! Drat! Steve manages to charge my spears in the flank, and they miraculously survive too!
Henry and Suffolk both join in the fighting at the centre. They lend their support to average, heavy armour, 2-handed-cut and crush vs 3 ranks of pike, it should be our fight (+4 vs +2 gives me a net +2, so 2 yellow dice and a white overlap, vs two white), but they roll nothing but blanks (yellow dice, pah)!
On the other side, my meer-canaries are suffering vs Superior pikes with a general, who keep rolling shove against my bills and then killing pike blocks...
It's so close, I keep losing bases to crossbow shots (off shot top), and missing the halbards. I get 2 out of 6, but both my units are taking hits, and not returning the compliment!
My right hand bills make it round to hit Steve's rear, causing lots of hits, but suffering from the other crossbows and his superior back rank turning to face. My rear 8 is now 5.5, his 12 is 9...
Disaster! Both my cavalry and spears break, in the shooting phase! Picked off by crossbows, and causing a KaB on the spears, who leg it too. (0-6)
Just when I thought I had him, his superior Keil were down to 6/12, with my rear attack causing all sorts of issues, he wipes out both bill units within moments of each other. (0-15) and my army breaks!
Drat! Double Drat and Blast!
My Tudors continue their reign as my least successful MeG army.
I had three of his units within a smidgeon of breaking, but it was not to be! It's a beautiful army to face, and very hard to beat. I should have charged my foot spears a turn earlier, which might have pinned him in place for a better charge by my cavalry, or got rid of his skirmishers so they couldn't shoot me to pieces, but not much more I could have done apart from thrown much better dice! Great game, well played Steve.
1-1 now, decider soon?
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