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sammywol and I tried out the Agincourt scenario from Battlelore. The scenario is the simplest in the adventure book, and involves only medieval troops on a fairly open battlefield. No magic, no goblin or dwarven mercenaries and no funny creatures to confuse things.
It took us some time to set up the game, as we got used to the pieces and the cards, and I explained the rules as best I understood them.sammywol took the English side, with plenty of archers but no mounted troops, while I took the French, with two heavy cavalry units, lots of footsoldiers but only one archer.
Somebody cried havoc, and we let slip the dogs of war.
The game played a bit slow initally but it was our first time and we picked up the pace as we progressed. At first I pushed forward with the heavy cavalry, trying to make contact with the English bowmen, but I had a bit of trouble closing on my left wing, where the hail of arrows drove me back. On the right I made more headway, but those dastardly English ducked into a wood, which slowed my progress against them.
Both sides were hampered a little by the lack of really good command cards to get the troops moving and the centre of the board stayed static for a long time, while the wings fought it out. In the end, both of the my heavy cavalry were destroyed, but not before I'd managed to deal some damage to the English. In the last round it came down to a push from my remaining cavalry and footsoliders making for the English heavy infantry, while my footsoldiers just held together under fire from the English archers. A close-run game, with a final 4 - 3 score in my favour.
I'd like to try it again with the sides swapped, so I can get a go with the English. I suspect that a risky but potentially rewarding tactic would be to move the archers together in the centre, while trying to mass fire on the French units one at time. It would rather depend on the right command cards, I suppose, but that's the gamble.
Good game, and I'm really looking forward to playing it some more to learn how the fantasy elements and cool bits all work together.
sammywol and I tried out the Agincourt scenario from Battlelore. The scenario is the simplest in the adventure book, and involves only medieval troops on a fairly open battlefield. No magic, no goblin or dwarven mercenaries and no funny creatures to confuse things. It took us some time to set up the game, as we got used to the pieces and the cards, and I explained the rules as best I understood them.
sammywol took the English side, with plenty of archers but no mounted troops, while I took the French, with two heavy cavalry units, lots of footsoldiers but only one archer.Somebody cried havoc, and we let slip the dogs of war.
The game played a bit slow initally but it was our first time and we picked up the pace as we progressed. At first I pushed forward with the heavy cavalry, trying to make contact with the English bowmen, but I had a bit of trouble closing on my left wing, where the hail of arrows drove me back. On the right I made more headway, but those dastardly English ducked into a wood, which slowed my progress against them.
Both sides were hampered a little by the lack of really good command cards to get the troops moving and the centre of the board stayed static for a long time, while the wings fought it out. In the end, both of the my heavy cavalry were destroyed, but not before I'd managed to deal some damage to the English. In the last round it came down to a push from my remaining cavalry and footsoliders making for the English heavy infantry, while my footsoldiers just held together under fire from the English archers. A close-run game, with a final 4 - 3 score in my favour.
I'd like to try it again with the sides swapped, so I can get a go with the English. I suspect that a risky but potentially rewarding tactic would be to move the archers together in the centre, while trying to mass fire on the French units one at time. It would rather depend on the right command cards, I suppose, but that's the gamble.
Good game, and I'm really looking forward to playing it some more to learn how the fantasy elements and cool bits all work together.
(no subject)
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That may or may not prove to hold up, but if it's true, I'm pretty happy with it.
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I was particularly impressed by the way the simple mechanics gave rise to some real-seeming behaviour. The cavalry charge and are powerful, but easily lose support by sprinting ahead of the footsoldiers; The archers naturally make for cover and work best when focusing fire from multiple units; the command cards naturally reflect the difficulty of coordinating multiple units of different troop types, and you can't always get the men to move where and when you want.
I'm impressed after just the one game, and can't wait for another.
(no subject)
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With the more complicated set ups and the full war councils of lore masters, it might run slower, or more quickly. Some of the lore abilities would certainly shorten some games, as well as shortening several of the soldiers to the tune of one head height. *Snick*