This part 2 of my battle report of our glorious 5k battle, Basilea versus Kingdoms of Men. Read part 1 for introductions and fluff. There will be a part (3) and maybe even (4)
Instead of describing the battle turn by turn (or unit by unit), I’ll describe what happened in four phases:
- deployment
- engagement (the first two turns)
- decision (turn three and four) – to be posted later
- roundup (turn 5 and 6) – to be posted later too
I’ll finish this series of posts by a short review.
Fluff
My Basilean army hails from the Archduchy of Topaz. A force this large can only be commanded by the Archduke himself! Archduke Michael of Topaz is both the overall commander and the leader of the right flank. He leads from the front and is the leader of the horde of knights. On the right flank also appear two valiant heroes of Topaz. Both sir Lionel (ur-elohi) and the archduke’s wife, lady Mysteria riding her Chimera (rules as high paladin on dragon) grace the battlefield.
As you can read below, the center is commanded by Abbess Jeanette, a militant member of the sisterhood. She bears both great respect throughout the land and she carries an experimental magical item, the gnome-glass shield!
The left flank is commanded by general Ernst-Casimir. Casimir is an ageing soldier, known for this careful and conservative deployment. Content to watch the action from the back, he ensures no unit of his is caught unaware. Mechanically, Ernst Casimir is a bearer of the holy icon with the lute of insatiable darkness. His encouragements have the same effects as a bane chant!
Deployment
The battlefield (as shown below) is can be divided into three parts. From the Basilean (here shown on the left side) perspective:
- The left flank consists of the area from the far edge of the board up to the square farm area in the Human deployment zone
- The centre which is the area between the farm and the division of the two battle mats, marked by the small house in the Basilean area and the small walled enclosure in the human area.
- the right flank, the closest part of the battlefield.
You can find the full setup here: (WordPress doesn’t allow me to link movies using a free account. Fortunately, there’s 3rd party!)
My opponent decided to field most of his cavalry on the left flank (the far side). I countered with a small contingent of fast units on the far flank, but mostly with my two hordes of spearmen-at-arms, supported by most of my other infantry and a horde of ogre palace guard.
This is the place where Ernst-Casimir gets ample forces to slowly press the advantage. Ever the cautious soldier, he lines up his forces in a slow advance, vowing to give the enemy cavalry no chance to encircle his slower force.
My opponent fortified the centre with several hordes of infantry and four troops of archers, but no fast units except two captains on pegasi. I took the opportunity to allocate nearly all units on other areas, leaving just a phoenix, three arbalests, one regiment of paladins and a mounted abbess to guard the centre. The centre was just 650 points (of 5k) so I could focus my force on both flanks.
Abbess Jeanette looked at the pityful few units she had available. A few war machines, a single phoenix and a small units of paladins. Yet, she vowed, the enemy would not get past her! She may have gotten a nearly impossible task, her faith in the Shining ones would see her through!
The right flank was were I put my strenght. Nearly all paladin knights, all lancers, nearly all elohi including the ur-elohim supported by gur panthers, the dragon and a phoenix. This flank includes most of my power-units and three named heroes. Opposing them was a small contignent of cavalry, all the enemy artillery (6p pieces!), two generals on winged beasts and a pair of giants.
Archduke Michael smiled. The scouts and war dogs advanced in front of his many knights as the cavalry rode stirrup to stirrup, eager to face the enemy. His large force was supplemented by no less than ten heavenly agents including the mighty sir Lionel. Victory could not be far away if the angels supported his cause! On the far end of his line, his wife rode her favourite pet, supported by another phoenix, as the two titanic creatures loomed over whatever pitiful opposition his enemy might field.
Needless to say, this was the place where I expected to meet the enemy soonest.
Engagement
On the right flank, I advanced swiftly! As you can see, my lighter units shielded my heavier ones, as the vanguard was readying themselves for a charge!
The lancers and gur panthers readied themselves for the hail of bullets that would certainly come. A noble sacrifice befits the one that can actually make it!
Here’s the view that the leading cavalry had to endure! Either the lancers (left corner) or the elohi (right) would have to face the barrage of all the enemy artillery. Through a hail of bullets, they advanced in order to shield those who came behind them. In the end, the lancers would face it. At the end of turn 1, they would survive with 7 wounds and (after a couple of heals) at the end of turn 2 with 10 wounds!
Turn 2 ended with only the gur panthers being able to charge a cannon next turn, but they would certainly rout it!
Center
In the center, the arbalests and phoenix would trade fire with the archers opposing them although only wavering one troop. Suddenly, the two enemy mounted heroes fly straight into the (lowly defended) centre aiming for the war machines.
The phoenix and arbalests would wound them during turn 2, but in the end both charged the war machines with the intent of killing them. Apparently, 9 attacks isn’t enough to rout a war machine, so they both survived to be resqued by the mounted abbess!
Other than that, the centre was more or less stationary.
The left
In the left, the infantry slowly inched forward in order to force the cavalry (most notably the horde of knights) to commit either against the spearmen or unsupported agains the paladins.
Faced with indecision, the human line inched backwards, unwilling to commit.
Vince on all things Kings of War 