Late Medieval French vs Indian?

[Brian E. Ahrens]

Screwy match-up, ain't it?

We want to try a non-historic battle to see how the rules handle this kind of situation. So, the flower of French nobility has to go up against smelly elephants. Heck, the foot soldiers might smell like curry.

I have nine days to construct a 2,000 point Frenchie force in the 1:25 scale.

I think I will need more knights. Might have to scrounge some from my Venetian army. I'm afraid to loom in that box because it was dropped recently and some of the figures are a mess.

Cheers!

[GRPitts]

This is a pretty unusual match up, but should be fun. You might want to send me your first draft on an OB over the weekend as I don't think you have ever played a 1 to 25 figure scale battle before.

At this scale, the proposed 2,000 point game equates to the number of combatants in 1 to 100 scale of about a 500 to 600 point army. Tactical Units (TAC's)will be about four times the size of the same TAC at 1 to 100, so with a much larger point game, the number of units remains quite managable.

I think you will find that the Indian Army will match up just fine against the French, providing the elephants do not panic through their lines (as always seems to happen to me when I play as Indian).

Wonder why that is?

:-)

[Brian E. Ahrens]

My plan is to throw large snails at your pacyderms(?)!

Cheers!

[Kelroy was here]

Originally Posted by Brian E. Ahrens

My plan is to throw large snails at your pacyderms(?)!

You could disguise the snails as mice, and scare the elephants away. That's what always happens in the cartoons, anyway.

[Gary Hoover]

Well tha first thing that jumps to mind is the impetuous Knights and their horsy fear of tha smelly Ole-fonts...?

Then there's tha Currimen's bodybows...hmmm... interestingly twisted combo ya picked thar Sparky!

[Brian E. Ahrens]

Ok, I have a reprieve. Now, there's more time to prepare for this oddball battle as my illustrious opponent has come down with a case of the Pig Cough a.k.a. H1N1. Hopefully, his health will recover soon and we can get down to hammer and tongs for a game on Halloween.

Cheers!

[GRPitts]

Well, I am alive, and doing better. As suspected however, the little lady has come down with it as well now but she seems to have a milder case than I did.

How does the 31st look for everyone?

[Kelroy was here]

Originally Posted by GRPitts

How does the 31st look for everyone?

I am available, with the stipulation that I be home in time to take my daughter trick-or-treating. This means leaving no later than 5:30. I wouldn't want this to mess up the battle, though.

Hope everyone is well now.

[GRPitts]

That should not be an issue. See you Saturday!

Everyone is fine, my stamina is still a bit on the low side however. Talk about something kicking one's butt! It has been many years since I was ever that ill for that long.

[Gary Hoover]

Hey... somebody (for fun) come up with an Alternate Universe historical turn of events that would see these two armies facing each other in the field...

I'll sit and 'muse' over the idea of some kind of invading french army bumps up against the huge globe girdling Indian Empire... or some such...

We'll see who comes up with the best idea...

[GRPitts]

In this scenario, we put non-historical opponents against one another. We had Medieval French vs. Classical Indians in a 2,000 point battle, using 1 to 25 figure scale.

Gary and Brian were Indian, each commanding Major Units that were closely mirrored, consisting of escorted elephants, hereditary and non-hereditary spearmen, archers, and light infantry and cavalry. On the French side we had Andy, Kelly, and David. David commanded a Major Unit of the pride of the French army, their knights, while Andy and Kelly each had a command consisting of mixed infantry types, with Andy’s command also having a unit of artillery. Each side deployed, one Major Unit after another until all were set up. There was one critical error in the French deployment however, and that was troops were deployed in front of the artillery, blocking their field of fire.

The French deployed their knights on their right flank and David’s plan was simple; “forward”! He would crush whatever was put before him! Opposite the French knights, Brian deployed units of hereditary and non-hereditary spearmen so as to prevent a “spear wall” to stop the French knights in their tracks. Gary would advance on the right and crush Andy’s command, which had adopted a defensive posture of wait & see.

As with most battle plans, it only survived the first exchange of fire. Gary’s unit of elephants panicked in the center of the line after initially taking fire from French heavy crossbowmen and ran amok on the field of battle, eventually winding up hitting the other unit of elephants in the rear, disordering them, which the French armored spearmen took advantage of and attacked them from the front at the same time. They panicked as well and now all the elephants were running to and fro on the battlefield.

In the meanwhile, the French knights charged into the Indian “spear wall”, and in a prolonged and fierce struggle, finally broke the non-hereditary spearmen before them. On the Indian far right, Gary looked like he was going to completely chew up the French left, and just when he was about to deal the “coup ‘de grace”, his Major Unit Commander was seriously wounded and the command halted their attack in confusion (failed Major Unit morale check).

All up and down each side’s lines there were now huge gaps in the lines of battle and both commanders realized that their opponent was still not beaten, and no one had anything left to throw in. No one would claim victory today.

[GRPitts]

Last few images from the game ...

[Brian E. Ahrens]

This was a very entertaining game. Gary and I were taking the Froggies to the proverbial woodshed when we had FOUR disastrous dice rolls in a short period of time. First, Gary missed the roll to keep his unit of elephants under control. Then he rolled a 20 and got his MU commander whacked. I rolled a 1 in combat for me the hereditary spearmen on the left side of my line facing the French ka-nigits. And last, but certainly not least, I failed to make the roll to keep my unit of elephants under control.

The winner of this game were the crows, buzzards, jackals, and other carrion consumers.

Cheers!

[GRPitts]

I forgot; the order of battle is attached in Excel.

[Kelroy was here]

All I will say is that my cunning plan to snatch a wishy-washy tie from the jaws of defeat by having the other side fail critical dice rolls at crucial moments, worked!

Originally Posted by GRPitts

All up and down each side’s lines there were now huge gaps in the lines of battle and both commanders realized that their opponent was still not beaten, and no one had anything left to throw in. No one would claim victory today.

Nonsense, I had lots of units left on my side of the table. Wait, those were casualties. Never mind....

[Brian E. Ahrens]

I'll do better next time!

<he says as he frantically continues to paint troops to expand Seleukos the Somewhat Great's loyal followers>

Vaya con huevos!