Assyrians and Kushites Take to the Field

Assyrian King leads his army into battle

Finally!  After watching a seemingly, non-ending stream of Assyrian units march off the painting desk, the Assyrian Army took to the field of battle.  Pitted against the Assyrian Army was the flower of the Kushite Egyptian kingdom fielded in a similar endless parade of units off my opponent's painting desk.

With a newly marked grid and Army Lists in hand, To the Strongest! (TtS!) was chosen as the rules of engagement for this first contest.  Since TtS! suggests a battle of 130 points as a good evening-sized battle, we drafted two army lists to fit these criteria.  The lists produced yielded about a dozen units per side.  The Rule of Twelve at work!  With labels affixed, the two armies were deployed for battle.

Armies arrayed for battle

With this being only my third game of TtS! and Jakes' first, we kept the battle situation and rules simple while we came to grips with the rules.  The battlefield was laid out devoid of terrain.  Ammo limitation and resupply were not considered and no Stratagems were in play.  Each army was divided into roughly three, equal commands.

Playing cards flew fast as the two armies maneuvered to close on their opponent.  Notice that spearmen and warriors were often supported by a unit of bowmen in the same box.  Having the Assyrian bowmen in tandem with a unit of heavy spear would add punch to a clash as the bowmen could fire at a target before the spear engaged.  A sound tactic, I thought.  The Kushites ascribed to the same tactic but a number of skirmishing bow were also included in the Kushite OB.  These skirmishers caused a number of harassing hits on the Assyrian army before it could close.    

Battlelines close

Coming to grips did not take long and soon casualties were mounting on both sides.  With most units only capable of sustaining two hits before elimination, the battle was bloody.  The Assyrian King, in his heavy chariot, drove deep into the enemy line.  Unfortunately, many of his supporting troops were repulsed by counterattacks.

Melee in the center of the battlefield as Assyrians attack

Having Victory Medals of eight each, the conclusion to the battle was reached quickly.  Kushite attacks were fierce.  Elements of the Assyrian Army began streaming from the field as first the Assyrian right and then left collapsed and scattered.  In less than one hour of play, the battle was over.  Victory to the Kushites!       

Assyrian Army in deep trouble

With a quick decision in Game 1, the contestants were brought back to their starting lines and a second battle began.  Unfortunately for the Assyrian King, the lessons in the first battle proved elusive to grasp.

Kushites on the attack

As in Game 1, the Kushites delivered a series of potent attacks and fended off repeated Assyrian counter punches.  Quickly, the Assyrians lost their eight Victory Medals.  Could the Assyrian Army regain enough momentum if the Victory Medal count was increased to ten?  No, the Assyrian Army quickly lost two more units to the deadly combination of missile fire followed by melee.  Another quick end to Assyrian aspirations.

Kushites dominate Game 2

Both games were bloody quick.  That is, bloody and quick!

While rules' mistakes were made during the game and I missed several of the Saving Throw modifiers.  Nothing likely to tip the balance of the final outcomes except one.  The Kushite light chariots deployed on both flanks should have had only one hit vs the two we allowed.  That may have brought the sweeping flanking maneuvers to a halt and saved both Assyrian flanks from completed destruction.  But then, maybe not.  Without doubt, my Assyrians were manhandled by their Kushite foe.

Having most units capable of sustaining only two hits, actions were decisive.  Only the Kushite warriors maintained the ability to absorb three hits before scattering.  The difference between taking two or three hits can be decisive.  To allow more unit resiliency, I may recommend increasing the Army Point total for the next games.

The games were a lot of fun even in defeat and played quickly even though the rules were questioned and consulted frequently.  That frequent consultation is expected when learning a new game.  TtS! helps in this learning process with a well laid-out rulebook and superb Index.  Questions were answered with a quick thumb through the book.  Note that both armies were originally built and created under Impetvs Army guidelines.  We found creating a TtS! army based upon Impetvs did not always translate into one-for-one matches.  We may need to tweak the TtS! lists to conform more precisely to our existing organizations.  

I look forward to a rematch!