Game three, and Peter Cross's Ming Chinese. Oh look, decent cavalry, polearmed armed infantry, artillery AND elephants. The perfect anti-cavalry force.
Drat.
Did no one bring a nice, soft, unprotected loose foot army?
Oh well! Peter is a lovely bloke and this was going to be a great match.
Terrain, what terrain? All on the right, few pieces of scrubby ground, a rocky hill that my archers gladly stood upon to admire the view, and that was it. Peter massed his cavalry on the left, and a line aof very solid infantry with many crossbows, pole arms and artilerry pieces on teh right. Behind lurked a line of very sof t and squashy infantry, guarding the camp.
My plan: refuse the infantry, do something suicidal with the cavalry and camelry, duck those 4(!) elephants coming my way rather too quickly, avoid every battery of artillery the infantry all had.
Honestly, as a cavalryman, this is where you DO NOT want to be!
The sun shines on the righteous as we advance. My Tuaregs sits back, avoiding the elephants, while the cavalry spread out on teh right to draw his cavalry away from his main battle line. On my right, my infantry advance hard, knowing that they were there to distract the foot line that outnumbers and outclasses me in all aspects of life (plumbing, dietry intake, literacy).
The cows are peeled off to annoy the Chinese frontline, pinning them back, mostly out of fear. My two cavalry units close down on Peter's cavalry, hopig to catch, plannin g to scatter him before his elephants and infantry can do anything unpleasent to me. One unit holds back as security (or because herself had naff cards AGAIN)!
A quick expansion later, and despite losing a base, the guard crush their opponents (superior, melee expert with a legend, vs unarmed cavalry, it's a +4 to me, a bit rude really). (2-0)
The KaBs and pursuit are unevitable really, my avarage cavlry smack into the supporting Chinese allied cavalry who had just reformed out of skirmish order, and Queen Amina bursts through into the soft underside of Peter's poor archer corps. His skirmishing horse evaded forwards, losing a base, but avoiding Her Highness. My cows lose a base to massed shooting, but no one cares (and we send an envoy for the beef recipie that is bound to happen afterwards).
What to do next?
The Tuaregs had emerged from the backfield, Hausa cavalry was primed (some to take on units a little too close to elephants, but they have their back to us) and even the foot was getting involved with the polearm armed Chinese foot.
The guard cavalry are caught in the back by elephants, this would not be at all pleasent, but hopefully I could take some archers with me.
Superior Tuareg cavalry engage lose order Chinese shooty foot, and...
Miss! Double drat.
The result of the Guard charge? Cavalry flattened, but Peter's archers are down to half strength. (2-2)
Queen Amina, blooded but not out the fight, scuttles back to the next non-guard unit just in time to break them in melee (4-2). My cavalry had taken losses, but now the backfield was open again (apart from elephants).
Peter assumes the 'Wargamer thinking' pose as the game progresses. My infantry and Tuaregs are holding the Chinese foot while across table, Huasa cavalry face down elephants and look longingly at his camp. Oh yes, there are 6 red cards in the MeG deck if anyone was wondering where they went!
Peter redeploys his infantry second line to deal with the cavalry threat as the camp is exposed, and the elephants turn to face their next victims.
Further back, the Tuaregs are starting to make their superior martial quality and melee expert felt breaking the archers and the melee expert foot and short spear foot fight hard for every inch of their plains. (4-2).
Giraffes look on, amused, as despite being outnumbered several to 1, the foot tenaciously hold on.
Oh it could have been so good! Camels caught by elephants go pop like a teenagers's zit (4-4). The Tuaregs may have a flank charge coming up, but can they be bothered? Queen Amina has the camp and the mauled archers in her sights though, but a unit of evading skirmishing flexible horse just happened to get in the way.
Tuaregs ride to the rescue of the infantry and break another foot (6-4).
WIth the elephants pursueing past the camelry, they catch the archers in the flank as the Queen Amina's new cavalry engage the unprotected cavalry that we had fail to reach earlier, who have parked themselves in the way of the camp..
Over on teh left, the elephants catch their third unit of the game, as my retire and shoot lan fails miserablly. Always run from elephants, don't skirmish!
Tuaregs munch their way through the bows (8-4) and Queen Amina leads the charge into the second camp of the weekend, while superior Tuareg cavalry eyes the flank of allied foot..
Peter paitently awaits the inevitable, somehow, my infantry hold their line again and again, while the cavalry remove another base from the camp. The elephants kill one base of cavalry, but too little, too late.
I mean, I can't even scratch them!
But with the fall of the Chinese camp, the Imperial Ming army breaks
Somehow, Queen Amina has dragged he forces to a 15-4 win, and despite getting two units ridden over rough shod by nellies, it was a hell of a game. Peter's luck was awful on the dice, and taking his camp was a series of lucky rolls. Next time we meet, I'm sure he will crush me.
I ended the round on 35 points and catapulted into 11th place.
Round 4: vs Cid's Gupta Indians
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