Rowan Tree and Red Thread

Last night 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.

Hey all. Long time without a post, but there have been extenuating circumstances. sammywol, my wife, is pregnant for the second time and we're expecting our second child sometime in early March of next year.

Unfortunately much as before, sammywol is suffering with morning, noon and night sickness and is feeling nauseous most of the day through. We're hoping that she won't need hospitalisation (for dehydration) this time, though, and she is just about keeping things under control.

Offspring number 1, Rowan, remains blissfully ignorant of the impending change in her sibling status. We're new to the business of explaining the new arrival to our daughter; advice will be gratefully accepted (though possibly ignored if it involves buying Rowan noise-makers or a car).