The Turanian at the Gate

Since General Saromander's failure at the Battle of the Tower last winter, all had  been quiet, nothing but rumours and old faery tales to suggest that King Antiros had gained anything from his victory in that minor skirmish. Still, King Rossius the Unknown decided that it would be best to use the lull to his advantage, to strengthen the Kingdom of Turan, just in case. Restoring the City of Marakanda to its rightful place as business hub of Turan seemed like a good start.

One would think that a city of merchants wouldn't  be hard to entice with trade opportunities but perhaps his offer had been too generous  and they sensed a weakness to be exploited, or perhaps that vixen Sharazhad had hidden the offer. He had to admit to a certain fascination with the girl ever since their surprise New Year's encounter. Still, it had been a very generous offer to her as "Queen" of the break away city, third wife to the King of Turan for her, free trade for the city, the leaderless peasants to be granted overlords chosen from amongst the younger sons of the great Turanian houses, employment in the Turanian Border Patrols for the warriors. A very generous offer, he had even offered to take on three additional maidens of Sharazhad's choice into his harem despite the discord that might sow at home. And what was her response? The head of his envoy on a silver platter with certain body parts in place of a tongue!  Obviously the girl was looking for a more strenuous wooing. It was time for the Host to Gather again!

In an effort to delay the Turanian advance while the main army mustered, Queen Sharazhad led a small force of archers with some catapults from the city defence to a pass near the border. Once the local levies were mustered she found herself with 1 unit of light cavalry horse archers,  3 units of infantry archers, 2 units of skirmishing archers and the unit of artillery.

The Turanian army, as usual, depended on chance for their order of battle. From the south came a column containing 1 unit of light cavalry, 3 units of skirmishers, and 2 units of spearmen.  From the east came a column composed of 1 unit of light cavalry horse archers, 1 unit of infantry skirmishers, 1 unit of heavy horse archers, 1 of clibinari (armoured lance & bow), 1 of cataphracts and 1 elephant squadron.

With little room to maneuver, King Rossius pushed his light cavalry and skirmishers forward to cover the deployment of the heavy cavalry and elephants. The first unit of horse archers died quickly but while the left wing was unable to evict the enemy skirmishers from their hill, the day was well advanced before the final light cavalry unit broke.

As the losses mounted in the center and no threat to the Maracandan left flank appeared, the Queen began to shuffle troops towards the center but it was a slow business made worse by an apparent lack of messengers to carry orders (lots of 1's.)  A charge uphill by the Clibinari, Rossius at their head, was briefly held by the Marakandan horse archers. Seizing the moment, the Queen led a unit of archers into the flank of the Clibinari. It was a brave but unwise move. The Clibinari ignored the distraction, routed the horse archers and pursued beyond reach of the foot archers. Behind them, the Clibinari and Cataphracts charged in support. After a tough fight with the other 2 archer units, both cavalry units were repulsed.  

 Wheeling around, the Clibinari charged into the Queen and her archers just as the elephants lumbered up the hill from behind. The cataphracts sought to clinch the victory by charging back into the foot archers but had underestimated the effect of flanking fire from Marakandan skirmishers. (6 dice from the 2 units, 5 hits reduced to 3 by armour.) The Marakandan's were jubilant but, caught between lancers and elephants, the archers surrounding the Queen broke for the woods. The young Queen tried to rally them but she was pierced by an arrow. Luckily the woods were not far and her men gathered her up and carried her to safety. The Turanians had been bloodied but the pass was open and the sun still high in the sky. Luckily for Marakanda, King Rossius is not know for his speed or his single minded, aggressive prosecution of campaigns. 

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After the last game, I decided to go back to turn sequence and order dice as used for the games last winter. It was the right choice, the whole thing felt just right and gave an interesting game lasting a bit over an hour.

Now to muster the Marakandan heavy cavalry into their proper squadrons and to raise the city militia, and maybe some more Turanians.

Terror of the Turanians! Coming soon

The Turanian hosts of King Rossius the Unknown approach a pass held by Queen Sharazhad of Marakanda with a small force. A short battle report and update on Gathering of Hosts rules to follow in a day or so.

Chronicle: The Battle for the Tower

CHRONICLES of the FIVE KINGDOMS

Late in the day, the battle hangs in the balance.

It came like a whisper on the wind and suddenly everyone in the market knew that there was a treasure in the old Tower on the Mound in the middle of the steppe. Not just any treasure mind but though none could say exactly what it was,  it was something no one who wished to be Master of the Five Kingdoms could do without. So it came to be that the men of Alexandria the Forgotten and the soldiers of Turan each found themselves trudging across the dusty Steppes, warily watching a growing dust cloud on the horizon. .

King Antiros of Alexandria the Forgotten has come in person at the head of a select force.

General Saromander inspects the Turanian Royal Guard.

It was late in the day when the armies arrived at the tower. There was no question of a truce. 

King Antiros deployed first, the lumbering phalanx deployed deep on the right with peltasts to guard their flanks. Those on the right spread  out as a skirmish line while opposite the tower they loosened their swords and prepared to storm the tower. To the left of the tower rode Cataphracts and Lancers with horse archers on the far flank. The King kept one squadron of lancers as a reserve.

General Saromander deployed his infantry in the center supported by a troop of elephants. The nimble slingers were sent ahead to take possession of the ruins on the hill. Horse Archers, heavy and Light guarded the left, the Royal Guard and more cavalry guarded the right.  

The infantry lines clash.

The first clash came in the center as the peltasts stormed the Tower and strove to drive the lightly armed slingers from their positions in the ruins. It was a David and Goliath struggle  (ed: that is a slight exaggeration to say the least) but it raged through half the day. Outside the walls the phalanz swept forward sweeping away the Hillmen skirmishing in front of the Turanian line. Then suddenly there was a loud trumpeting and forward came the Turanian elephant corps. Bracing themselves, the pikemen awaited the shock. 

Across the field, the King sent his cavalry forward. The Royal Guard, in a deep column, unleashed a volley of arrows then taking up their lances rode forward while the lighter Turanian cavalry sought to keep the enemy horse archers at bay. The shock of the charge was tremendous but neither side gave way. As the horsemen circled and hacked at each other, the King's lancers proved no match for the heavily armoured Turanian Guards and soon the remnants were fleeing back across the plain. . 

All along the line, the fighting spread, inthe ruins and across the field with first one side then the other gaining an advantage. The peltasts were unable to roust the slingers from the ruins and were slowly cut down but in the center, a lucky pike thrust struck a young elephant in the eye. Rearing back in pain, blinded with blood, it panicked and the confusion spread, suddenly the whole herd thundered off across the plain.

Undismayed, the Turanian infantry pushed forward into gaps in the phalanx and the Turanian moved forward to ride around the flank. Despite the loss of the elephants the battle was swinging towards the Turanians.

This was not the King's first battle though and he was not ready to give up the prize so close at hand. He pulled back his infantry and cataphracts, reformed the phalanx,  brought up his reserve of lancers and prepared for one last throw of the dice.

The King leads the final attack.

With Antiros at their head, the Alexandrian cavalry slammed into the Turanians sweeping away the first squadron of the Kings Guard and pursuing into the second while an arrow storm drove the lighter Turanian cavalry back in disorder. A company of spearmen on the hill, however, held despite terrible losses. 

With Sarumander at their head, the heavily armoured Turanian Royal Guard seemed more than a  match for their lightly armoured foe in melee while the Turanian infantry began to slip into the ranks of the Cataphracts, hamstringing horses and toppling the heavy riders, knocking them all to sixes. The Cataphracts, seemingly helpless, turned and fled or were cut down. The battle seemed lost but out of nowhere, the King's horse archers, tribal auxiliaries but veteran fighters, smashed into the flank of the Royal Guard which collapsed leaving Sarumander a prisoner. The Turanian army seemed paralyzed, unable to respond as the King led his cavalry forward into the Turanian infantry and suddenly the whole Turanian army was fleeing. 

As the sun set, Antiros and a few picked companions dismounted and entered the tower. An hour later the grim faced party re-emerged. What they found there was a secret they did not share.

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This battle was fought using the ancients module of the Square Brigadier which is essentially a small gridded version of Gathering of Hosts.See my Battle Game of the Month blog for more details and a free copy of the rules.

Last Hosting of the Year

The honour of Last Game this year goes to my 25mm Ancients. The close of one era and the opening, or reopening of another, but more on that another day. As the Winter campaign begins, Queen Sharazhad of Marakanda herself has led the vanguard of her army out to meet the hosts of King Rossius the Unknown of Turan.  

The Turanian forces were comprised of a unit of cataphracts, two of lance and bow heavy cavalry and two of light cavalry, one of them being horse archers. There was also an elephant unit with its attached light infantry and 2 wing commanders. The Maracandians had the Royal Horse Guards, a unit of lancers and a unit of horse archers backed by two units of light archers, one of massed archers, one of spearmen and one of Hillmen. There was also a pair of war engines dragged along for reasons unknown and two commanders. The rules were the universal edition of Hearts of Tin which is essentially an amalgamation of Gathering of Hosts with Hearts of Tin. The debate over a new name such as Hosts of Tin is still sputtering.

The Turanians arrived early and had the mobility to deploy and seize the crossroad before the Queen's forces were all on the field of battle.   Rossius seemed in no great hurry to press the attack but was rather determined to draw the enemy in before striking.

The Queen's heart beat faster in this her 2nd battle but her veteran soldiers and commanders were not dismayed. She steeled her will and as the Turanian lancers spurred forward, she signalled for her own cavalry to attack.

As the Turanian cavalry charged, the sky was darkened by Maracandan arrows and despite their armour the Turanian Clibinari broke to the rear. The Cataphracts charged home but the Turanian archers wielded their axes to good effect and soon the Cataphracts were also galloping backwards just as the Marakanda cavalry swept through the enemy light infantry, pushing their panicked horses into the flank of the elephant line. On the other flank the Maracandan horse archers swarmed the flank of the advancing Turanians and in a flash Rossius whole army was galloping towards the safety of the hills.

 Sharazad could not help but feel that she and her troops had been blessed with great good luck when it was needed most and that one victory  was not the end of a campaign but only a beginning.