Reading Warfare is one of the larger Wargames shows/competitions around the country, and it was MeG's first outing here, organised by the redoubtable Alasdair. 16 players with armies ranging from Alexander Macedonian, Romans, a lot of Far Eastern lists including 2 Chinese, 3 samurai and a Korean, and some heavy hitting medieval lists, including 2 Crusaders and a LOT of 100 Years War kit and Swiss.
Senguko Samurai, using Uesgui Clan. List below, no skirmishers, so therefore low PBS and Scouting Cards.
Four games against four absolute gentlemen.
Game 1 vs Nigel Emsen with Takeda Samurai
Game 2 vs Ade Nash with First Crusade
Game 3 vs Mark Spratt with Early 100 Years War French
Game 4 vs John Skipper with his Ebay bargain Macedonian Alexandrian.
Game 1
Samurai Civil War vs Nigel Emsen.
Nigel requested a fully detailed write up of our game, so hello Nigel! Here it is!
This was a pre-arranged grudge match. Nigel is an old friend and adversary, who has had a Samurai Takeda army for FoGR, and I had Usegui. These two clans were historical mortal enemies, so, why not?
Nigel had basically the same list as me, but his big difference was he had lancer cavalry, an absolutely deadly opponent, used correctly. Could Nigel do it?
My deployment, the terrain had fallen almost exactly as I wanted. The Buddha looks on
(You may have noticed from my warm-up posts, I like to deploy like I'm corner sitting, but I never do).
Told you I don't! My cavalry came out of their ambush, and swung across the center. My superior bows and large Ashugari from my woods followed to close the gap.
The left flank, with my bows and Tepo safely behind their barricades! My cavalry turns to face Nigel's warriors.
On t'other flank, my superior bows and my larger ashugari start to swing in. I was concerned my cavalry might get bowed in. Time would tell.
Nigel went for a charge on my cavalry. Cavalry suffer a disadvantage if caught stationary after shooting, so this was a BIG risk on my part to shoot.
Well, that paid off! Stopped him in his tracks and killed three bases! The fourth dice wounded the red unit too. 👹
And over on the other flank, as Nigel's average foot closed on my superior bows, lightning struck twice! Sorry mate!
The envelopment progresses, but in Nigel's backfield, a worrying development as his lancers fill gaps and then move at speed towards my archers and Tepo (I only brought them forwards to see what they could do), a mistake, but these troops have never been out from their barricades, I needed to know (put it like this, I've used them 4 times since, and they've only come out once more)!
I might be in danger, but man we look good!
The cavalry keep Nigel's foot pinned, literally, by many arrows, to their battle-lines.
And his flank is under threat.
Oh, you want to charge me do you? Again, my bows show how lethal they are! His Ashugari on the right hit mine, and mine came out on top.
Already a unit up, this was always going to be bloody. See the speed of Nigel's dealing!
Nigel's lancers close quickly on my Tepo, how long could they hold out before the inevitable. This was the first test of Firearms in a MeG competition, that I am aware of. *Special Feature* each hit counts as a double slowing hit. This first shot stopped Nigel's charge dead. Killing a base on the way too!
Nigel's second unit fell, and his other lancers charged into my spear armed Ashugari. Me thinks Nigel had not read the cribsheet. Those are my dice at impact.
Nigel's other unit of Ashugari decided they were not bothering to stick around. In the Ashugari vs Ashugari scrap, I was also ahead, with a a unit spare to swing in.
An even match starts grinding away in the middle. No matter what I did, I could not shift that red unit to the front of my cavalry! If I could get past them, I could turn his flank, and then victory would be mine! Muhahahaha!
Oh look, unit 3 of Nigel's has just disappeared. At this point I was 8-0 up, and fairly chuffed with myself, Uesgui could finally avenge themselves for historical wrongs by Clan Takeda.
In the center, Nigel was rolling up against me, it was suddenly looking a little less one sided.
Nigel's lancers contacted my Tepo. Two bases fell instantly, but that unit of 6 shiny cavalry was now down to 3.5, soooo close!
Deforestation! Shock horror!
Erm, didn't I have three units in the centre there! Suddenly, with the loss of the Tepo, I had gone from 4-0 up, to 4-4! My cavalry broke his red centre unit, but he broke one of my two cavalry at the same time. (Yup, 1300 points, evaporated). Both armies brake on 5 units, who could get the drop and win? A whole string of failed 'Kill A Base' tests (KaBs) put paid to my main battle line.
Oh, well, it was Nigel's turn on the decks, I couldn't get my troops from the flank back in time. I had a chance against his archers with my archers, but that was a stalemate. I was about to grab defeat from the jaws of victory!!!
Oh no! Nigel is bringing his cavalry back against me!
Everyone PILE ON! All available units headed into the scrum in the center. It was all down to who could get the dice in.
Crunch!
Nigel pulled the win! 8-15 to him, hell of a fight. Initially I felt disappointed I had thrown away a big win, and Nigel ended up for the next two games on the top table. It looks like I'll be buying the traditional 'Loser's Beer' that we have between us over each competition we enjoy.
I went off to help the Timecast boys for a bit, regroup and carry on (I was just hoping it wouldn't be a repeat of the Worlds, where I came dead last).
Game 2
vs Ade Nash and his 1st Crusade List (basically Normans, with many many MANY extra crossbows).
Less photos on this one, as I was enjoying the game so much.
The terrain, on Ade's amazing new battlemat, again fell magnificently. Two built up areas situated perfectly with a wood. This was ambush central for my troop. The gap was to be filled perfectly by my barricades.
The army advances in. Early clashes went my way. Even my archers came forwards (they ended up killing one of Ade's spear units in combat, unheard of)!
His knights charged my spears. I charged his spears, I danced with is cavalry, his cavalry didn't like that!
My army tore into his foot, bouncing off his cavalry, and finding his crossbows flanks.
23 points at the end of day 1. I was happy with that.
On the way home, I checked the raffle for Pete, Paul and Stephen at our club. Pete and Paul had both won!
Game 3
vs Mark Spratt's 100 Years War French.
After our game on Thursday, Mark was out for vengence. He had won in game 1, then lost to Nigel in game 2! (Nigel was on 30 points, still on top table and was now against Alasdair, the eventual winner). After two losses to Samurai in three days, he now knew how to smash them. He put his horse behind the foot this time and it payed off. He destroyed my cavalry with missile fire, his crossbows chewed lumps out of my foot. I did break his foot knight, and a unit of knight, but it was to be his day!
Yup, he comprehensively out played me there! I was slaughtered! Am I using to many exclamation marks!
Ow!
Game three done, lost two, won one, and points were lacking. I was languishing 4th from bottom, on 27 points. I was on exactly the same points as friend, painter extraordinaire, neighbour, lift share and bantermeister, Paul Cummins, who had had an nightmare first day, and then pulled a win vs Chris in game 3.
Game 4
Vs John Skipper
NO PHOTOS, sorry!
I was talking through the rules with Pete Entwhistle and Ian, who had come down from Lancashire to look around, they are two more gentlemen, and are getting into MeG too. Then Merion form the Pendraken forum appeared, so it was great to have a chat with him and his family too.
It was a good game for me, but not so hot for Skip. His companions crashed into my spears, and into my cavalry. I mullered them. His elephants also tried to take on my drilled spears, that was never going to work for him then, he was already 3 units down.
One of my cavalry turned about, and while Skip tried desperately to deal with my spears by steamrollering then with his pike, hit his massed ranks of philangites from behind. The othe cavalry went off and took his camp (4 units, plus KaBs across his whole army). 4 units.
I lost a unit of average spears to his superior pikes (who were the only pike unit not to lose their bonuses through losses), but my weight of numbers was too much. Despite trying to turn bases to face my cavalry, his pikes were crushed from both side.
15-2 to the Samurai!
So, overall, 42 points. 8/16. Exactly the same score as Paul, above both Mark and Nigel! The beer was mine! Yummy.
Best of all, I won best list design award from Alasdair, a very nice KR multicase with foams for MeG. 😄
Great weekend, thank you to my opponents and to Alasdair for organising, and the WAR committee for putting on another good show.
Oxford in mid-December next. No idea what to use, but after that Brighton in January, which will be my Mid-Imperial Romans big outing.
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