I'm off to Vapnartak (York Wargames show) on the 7th Feb to play in the Impetus competition. This will be the first time we've played with the new 400 pt format so my usual opponent "Big Paul" suggested we get a bit of practice in, and it would also give him the chance to get his newly acquired Yi Dynasty Koreans on the table - and get the "new army first game auto loss" out of the way before the competition started. I decided to go with my old faithful Early Achaemenid Persians, but to use the extra 50 points the format gives to upgrade the Immortals to "A" class - never had the points to do that before so I thought it would be interesting :-)
Both armies had 2 commands, the Korean left being 2 units of VBU7 heavy cavalry supporting 4 units of VBU 3\1 Comp B light horse. The Korean C-in C was with his infantry, 2 deep units of B class foot backed by bowmen, plus a unit of rather scary "two sword wielders" and a secret weapon - a rocket launcher!
The Persians were similarly arrayed, two deep units of Immortals supported by two units of Sparabara on their left, with three Medium cavalry (5-2 Comp C) supporting four light horse (4-0 Comp B) facing the Korean cavalry on the right. This was an interesting face off - the Korean heavy cavalry were in theory superior to the Persian mediums, but the Persians had bows and an advantage in numbers. They also had a unit of Thracian Javelinmen bought in case there had been a need to scout any difficult terrain the cavalry could not get into.
Terrain turned out to be uneventful - some broken ground on the Persian left. Here is both armies after deployment
And a couple of pics of the Koreans - very nicely painted by Steve Irvin and based by Paul
In comparison the Persian looked a bit boring
Turn 1 and the Persians won the initiative, but elected to stand on opportunity. The Koreans advanced a little, tempting the Persian Immortals into a bit of long range shooting which disordered some light horse but otherwise achieved nothing.
Turn 2 and the Persians pushed their light cavalry forward to try and capitalise on the Korean disorder, safely within the protection offered by the line of mediums behind them. More disorder in the Korean light cav, who were starting to look like they were coming unstuck against the slightly better factors of the Persians.
Meanwhile the Korean infantry also advanced
and deployed their secret weapon!
Which missed! The Persians responded with long range bowfire which achieved little other than a couple of disorders which were soon shook off.
Turn 3
Persians won the initiative (Ahura Mazda be Praised!) and their light cavalry pressed home their early advantage, wiping out a pair of Korean light cavalry. Paul realised the battle was swinging away from him so charged with his heavy cavalry. The Persian lights evaded but their supporting mediums declared a counter charge from Opportunity, meeting the Koreans head on. Their was a quick mellee which went in favour of the Koreans, but both sides had suffered losses and the Korean heavies had not managed to maintain contact with the Persians as they fell back, leaving them feeling rather exposed. Whoever won the initiative next would gain a big advantage.
After three equal initiatives the Persians finally won, and like a well oiled machine they started to take the now stranded Korean heavies apart with a combination of point blank bow fire and charges to the flanks. The Koreans broke, but not before a heroic charge threatened the Persian Cavalry commander who survived by the skin of his teeth.
On the other flank the Immortals decided to give an example of how dangerous A class troops can be, and threw themselves across the battlefield and into contact with a rather surprised Korean infantry command. The Koreans proved a tough opponent however and drove the Immortals back, at least initially!
With the flanks now threatened by the arrival of the Persian light horse it was clear to everyone that the game was up for the Korean infantry. The Immortals rallied and fired point blank into the still disordered Koreans before charging in. The Korean artillery was also overrun, breaking the army morale, but not before a brave charge from a surviving light horse unit rode the Thracians down.
The final positions as the Koreans broke
All in all an interesting battle, with both players looking thoughtful and thinking about tinkering with the lists a bit. I was rather impressed with the Koreans who could easily have won the cavalry fight if the initiative had gone their way and they had been able to press their heavy cavalry advantage before the Persians rallied.
Thanks again to Paul fpr the game and Hartlepool Wargames Club for the venue.
Cheers
