Peoples Crusade vs Granadine

I don't write up all my ADLG games. Some of them are just not interesting, sometimes work gets in the way, sometimes it looks like a deranged monkey took the pictures and they are unusable (there is a direct relationship between beers and photo quality) . However some games are just kinda cool.

PEOPLES CRUSADE he shouts from the top of his lungs. I love this list! Burying your opponent in a mountain of bodies. Winning through the exhaustion of the bad guys sword arm. Time for a Futurama quote.

Fry: I heard that one time you single-handedly defeated a horde of rampaging somethings in the something-something-system.

Zapp Brannigan: The Killbots? A trifle! It was simply a matter of outsmarting them.

Fry: Wow! I never would have thought of that!

Zapp Brannigan: You see, Killbots have a preset kill limit. Knowing their weakness, I sent wave after wave of my own men at them, until they reached their limit and shutdown.

This is how you play this list. You have some knights for some kick, and the medium sword are not a bad troop type if you can keep them away from knights. The levy are... well not great, but there are a crud ton of them and furious charge should never be discounted.

Yes you are reading right that is 12 count them, 12 light horse! So we have a fairly hard centre of knights and heavy spear. The light horse harry flanks and slow the enemy. Also, don't discount a flank attack with these bad boys. Javelin, with a support either side and the + flank bonus is +4, get the general involved and you are +5. So if you can isolate a unit you can strike! Is brilliant! is also illegal. You can't get the heavy knights with the mediums.... shhh.

It wasn't until I was placing this army on the table that I realised I had no way of discerning who the included light cavalry generals were. I am a digitised son of technology so all my lists are electronic. Had to borrow the bottom of another persons army list, tear of a strip of paper, quick lick and bravo! Flag.

....feck. I can't remember who won the initiative, but it looks like the Peoples crusade are defending in the mountains.

PCs grab all the terrain they can and throw it down. Forests and steep hills abound, with a coast as well. Not sure I agree with these choices, rough would probably suit the PCs better than difficult, however the way the terrain fell really annoys my light horse force. As there is no way to get around the flanks. A straight up fight is what it is.

So. My initial pre-deployment thoughts were simple. Everything that is not a light horse holds back. The lights spends some quality time javelining and about turn 3 or 4 we have the stabby part of the festivities. this all changed when I saw this

The knights are behind the foot. Even a brilliant commander is going to struggle to redeploy the knights, and the tightness of the terrain that is stopping my light horse have a field day, will also make getting these knights in to the front rank hard work. There is just nowhere to go but forward.

So everything rolls forward in the Grans army.

PC's lumbers forward. I think a better move would have been turning the Medium impetuous foot in the East hard West and moving them. They would much rather fight the heavy spear and crossbow, and this would have allowed the knights to come in as a group. Yes it would have got in the way of the one of the blocks of levy, but does it matter? Its a wave attack army. Now you have three waves instead of two in the place you are most likely to win.

Grans get closer and start the throw point sticks party game. Only got about a 28% chance of hitting, but am throwing 12 sticks, and two more from arrows. So looking for four hits a turn... or two in this case... stoopid game.

The shooting was not what we had hopped, but there are more turns to come.

Levy Charge! Light horse leave. If either group had rolled long, then they would have ended all broken up like. They didn't. In the East a flipping light foot puts a hit on the heavy cavalry on the end of the line. He had some heavy lifting to do next turn and this marker was not helpful.

Grens light horse come back...and after 13 shots add one marker.... thats fine. We have shot 27 times for four hits. I don't care, whats that? One of my dice is being crushed under my stealy toed boot while the others are forced to watch...

In the East the Gren knights crash into the medium foot line! The PC brilliant general joins the combat, at the time I thought this is suicide. The medium foot is still one down, the knight is armoured with furious charge, this is a good way to get your most important general killed. Even if you don't, you really need his pips next turn. The mighty Peter the Hermit raises his staff and bops the knights on the head. Can't argue with success Pete turns a draw into a win for the PC units.

Its still not looking great for old mate Pete here, but he does seemed unfazed that he is surrounded on all sides by knights.

PCs turn and the levy charge and the Light horse... hold. I am up in all these fights bar one. Either due to damage, generals or support. Its still light troops and a bad die roll is punishing, but think it is worth the risk. In fact down the entire line there is not a single fight were the Levy are up. Out of 11 combats the levey are even in five down in the rest. They win two, statistically that is not bad. At the time I thought the PC were a little hard done by, but they really needed to get lucky. There is one notable fight were the levey win and due to furious charge a heavy spear take three hits. Adding to the PCs woes the second rank of levy in the centre are not quite far enough back, so routers are disrupting the second wave.

With bodies piling up to the left and right Peter the Hermit gives no one witt! Though he is starting to run out of bodies on this flank...

Have been wanting to do this all game. the first rank of lighthorse withdraws, and the second rank charges in! Goes well for three out of four combats. The one it doesn't go well for well it goes about as bad as it can go and the light horse routs. Our exchange at this point is about one of ours for every 10 of there's so we are good with this (I mean apart from the crying families of Gerald and his brother who will never see home again...vale).

With almost the entire first wave gone, and the second wave half wonky the commander steps up and SMITES and Grans heavy spear. Doubling their losses in one hit. In the East Lord Owatess has had enough of Peter the Hermit and rallies his knights before joining the fray. Lord Owatess is +3 up and puts a single hit on Peter, Peter ducks his head and avoids having it chopped off.

First wave almost done with.... phew. Army is getting tired, but the Killbot counter has got to be gettin up there.

Like the crashing of the worlds most unwashed wave...(can you have an unwashed wave?) the second rank of levy crash into the fight. Some light horse leave, some, notability the general, hold. The fighting is not as one sided and a heavy cavalry is pulled down by some PC medium foot in the East, the unit routs through his mate behind him putting a hit on him. Peter the Hermit, still at +3 down (should that be -3?) refuses to give up, takes a hit, ducks the sword aiming for his head.

Peter is fast becoming a pain in my seated parts.

In what I thought would be a suicidal move, has held up my line for turns.

Go Peter the Hermit!

Grans turn. The light horse have had enough and pull back enmass to re-javelin up and rally off some hits. This left a crossbmen out to dry, but thems the breaks.

In the East, Peter the Hermit gets hard flanked and in the dying moments of the game, also dies. GOOD!

With that, the Peoples Crusade is over, the unwashed mass return to their hovels and the Grens take the Victory.

Was more my opponents unfamiliarity with the army than anything else that got me the win here. Though I will take full credit for advancing and taking advantage of the mis-deployed knights. Or course it is always hard to claim a true victory when your list was, slightly, illegal.