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Friday, July 26, 2024

Battle of Ucles 1108

Thursday saw Mark and Tony face off in a large, two-player game refighting the 1108 Battle of Ucles in Spain.  Mark took command of the Almoravid Army while Tony took command of the Christian Spanish Army.  First player activation saw a modification in this contest where the initiative winner no longer received automatic first activation.  Instead, initiative winner added one extra activation die into the activation pool.    
Initial deployments
Almoravids form up in front of Ucles.
Let's get straight into battle!

As the two battle lines begin a cautious advance toward one another to close the distance, Tony's Christian heavy cavalry can contain themselves no longer.  Striking off in a long charge, one body of knights slams into one of the Almoravid large, mixed infantry units comprised of both long spear and archers.  Failing to slow the Christian horsemen with an effective volley of arrows, the impact sends the Muslims reeling back.  The horsemen continue on in pursuit and scatter the enemy as they cut them down from behind.  Tony is quite pleased with this first result, as he should be!

Having dispatched the enemy to its front the cavalry continues on in pursuit.  Next target offers a large body of veteran spearmen.  Here, Tony's cavalry is stopped cold suffering heavy casualties.  The horsemen recoil deep behind enemy lines but not before a large hole opens between the Almoravid Left and Center.
First cavalry charge of the day...
sees the enemy dispatched...
but pursuit is stopped short.
Cutting a hole in the Almoravid line!
Seeing this early success, Sancho Alfonsez, himself, leads two bodies of heavy cavalry forward into the enemy line.  Hitting enemy cavalry with great force, Sancho sees a similar result.  The unfortunate Muslim cavalry to Sancho's front turns and flees.  Even with Sancho leading the charge, his horsemen refuse to pursue.  The second body of Christian heavy cavalry attacks the enemy cavalry to Sancho's left.  In this second attack, the enemy stands firm and the Christians recoil.  To Sancho's right, yet another body of Christian cavalry plunges into the Muslims in front of Ucles.  The Almoravid infantry are driven back to the gates of Ucles!  Neither player can believe the success.  Great start for Tony!  
Sancho leads a cavalry charge...
driving the enemy back...
but the Muslim Center holds.
Almoravid Left in tatters.
While much of the Almoravid Left is gone and the Center is under pressure, these earlier Christian successes leave the Spanish heavy cavalry vulnerable since they are no longer supporting one another and their ranks have been depleted.  Time for a counterattack!

Beginning on the Muslim right, heavy infantry advances down from the high ground to drive away enemy light cavalry.  
Heavy infantry on the move!
Overview as the Muslim counterattack begins.
In front of Ucles, Muslim heavy infantry attacks the now exhausted Spanish cavalry with Ibn Yusef leading the way.  Even with support from Sancho and his knights, the Spanish are scattered.  Sancho falls back.  Ibn Yusef follows up to confront Sancho.  In very heavy fighting, the Spanish horsemen finally succumb.  Sancho is forced to seek shelter within the ranks of Spanish infantry to the rear. 
Ibn Yusef attacks!
Ibn Yusef's heavy infantry destroys two Spanish cavalry
 and sends Sancho searching for safety. 
Seeing two bodies of enemy cavalry dispatched, Arab camelry sets off from the center to engage a body of weakened Spanish cavalry in the center.  The Spanish are driven back with heavy loss.  The camels pursue, catch the Spanish horsemen, and dispatch them.  The Spanish bring up another body of heavy cavalry to intercede but they are driven back!  The camels keep on coming.

Caught from behind, the Spanish horsemen are scattered even though a nearby body of spearmen offers support.  The spearmen fall back in sympathy.  As the Spanish infantry falls back, the camels pursue.  The retreat turns into rout as the camels destroy the routing infantry as well as capture the Spanish baggage.  Oh, the humanity! 
Camels trot forward.
Spanish knights are driven back and then destroyed.
Pursuit and disaster!
Spanish baggage captured!
In only a short time, the battle has been turned on its head.  In the Almoravid counterattack, the Spanish have seen four heavy cavalry and one heavy infantry units destroyed.  Oh my, but Mark is not finished yet!

With the Spanish Center hollowed out, Mark shifts his attention to his Right.  Harassing the enemy with his two bodies of horse archers, the Almoravid heavy infantry move forward.  First body of Spanish encountered is heavy spear.  The Spanish are driven back and then finished off in pursuit as the supporting infantry falls back.  Working around the Spanish Left, a second body of Spanish infantry is contacted.  The Spanish hold!

The Muslim heavy infantry regroups and attacks again.  This time, the enemy is driven off and the Spanish Left has collapsed.  With the Spanish Left turned, the Almoravid Center conducts a sweep to pick off any wavering Spanish still clinging to the field.  The Spanish Army has broken! 
Almoravid attack against Spanish Left.
One Spanish destroyed and the other driven back.
Pursuit!
Repulse!
Success on a second attack.
Mopping up.
Wow!

What an exciting game to watch develop and unfold.  Congratulations to both Tony and Mark for making this contest such a riveting game.  Mark comes away with victory but in the early going, it looked like Tony might run away with it.  In Tony's early cavalry charges, the Spanish laid waste to the Almoravid Left and part of the Center.  Amazing how Mark picked himself off the floor after the first two turns to come roaring back to secure an impressive victory.  The historical outcome was not overturned.

The game was really a tale of two halves.  In the first half, Tony controlled the narrative.  After a brief intermission, Mark came back in a most impressive manner.  Unbelievable turn around in only a couple of turns.

In total, five turns were played and the game lasted just under three hours.

What great fun!  Thanks guys!

52 comments:

  1. Once again, my thanks for a superb game set up, Jon, and well-judged umpiring and support - it was a splendid evening out! I must also compliment my worthy opponent on his resilience and general panache in his recovery. I have to say that I do find the piling up of severed heads both ostentatious and unnecessary, but I suppose different cultures celebrate in their own way. It all started so well for Sancho, and it all turned sour at a very definite instant - you could almost hear the click as the narrative swung.

    I am shaken by how my all-star heavy cavalry, with apparently minor damage but now faced by long spears, suddenly lost all that fancy impetus. Hmmm. [Back to the drawing board...]

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    1. Thanks, Tony, the game was a real pleasure. We definitely witnessed a game of two halves. Great fun and great sportsmanship all around.

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    2. I do feel for Tony here....see my comments below!

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    3. Tony had terrific dice rolling at the start and then that luck left him high and dry. Mark is a solid player and rarely makes a misstep.

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  2. Impetuous Spanish cavalry get themselves into trouble after some initial success? Sounds very historical.
    You need the Cid! ☺
    Neil

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    1. That was the final resolution, no doubt. The impetuous Spanish cavalry got themselves into trouble faster than they could get out. They executed some serious damage before they went down, however.

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  3. Another great looking game and a cracking read as well, really swung full circle, defeat from the jaws of victory!

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  4. Well done to Mark for turning that one around. What effect does capturing baggage have in Basic Impetus?

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    1. Yes, well played by Mark. Loss of baggage deducts points from the army breakpoint.

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  5. A cracking, colourful and entertaining battle.

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  6. Another good looking run out for the Reconquista collection 👍

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  7. Could almost smell the sweat and wet leather, hear the clash of arms on armor. Good second half for the Muslims.

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    1. Much appreciated, Joe! Yes, it was a very good second half for the Muslims.

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  8. A lovely looking game and great AAR Jon! In our group, it has been a generally accepted tenet across all periods that infantry cannot attack cavalry, based on our presumption that if they attempted to, the cavalry would simply retire before they could be contacted. The most recent occasion when this had a significant effect was our recent Samurai encounter, when Rick only had infantry units left and, opposed solely by several units if Korean cavalry, was unable to do much except wait to be attacked and hope he might win the melee.....which he didn't!
    Several of us had a pleasant lunch together yesterday, and Rick was still bemoaning the unfairness of it all!!
    Such a rule in BI may have made a big difference to the outcome?!

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    1. Thanks, Keith!

      On foot attacking horse, for these ancient and Medieval periods, this does not bother me. For BI, foot units are more often than not at a disadvantage against horse in both raw VBU and any Impetvs bonus is nullified. Foot attacking horse is especially risky since although foot cannot pursue horse, if horse wins then it can pursue foot. Besides, if a player is worried about a foot unit attacking his horse, he ought to keep his horse out of harm's way. Such a rule would not have a made a difference in the outcome although one foot v horse combat lasted several rounds so both units hung in longer than expected. I don't think Tony was complaining about it either. The rules do work both ways.

      As I said, for these early periods and these rules, I have no problem with it.

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  9. Fantastic game Jonathan with a great Hollywood ending for the Almoravids!
    MVP to the Camel unit? They must have been extra cranky.

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    1. Thank you, Ben! Yes, the camelry mowed a wide swathe through the Spanish battle line.

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  10. A superb game. Thought it was all over after those early charges by the Spanish cavalry, but well done to the Almoravids for bouncing back

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    1. The game was superb, indeed! I reckon all three of us thought the battle might be decided in those first two turns. It was not!

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  11. Another terrific game. How did the new rule of the extra initiative token work out? Will you stay with this change?
    Stephen

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    1. Thanks! For me, the initiative change worked. No commentary about winning/losing initiative at a crucial point (isn’t every point crucial?) decided the outcome. Removing this aspect from direct player control was a plus. Players may disagree.

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  12. It was a belter of a game and I honestly thought Tony had it in the bag. Fortunately a timely break allowed me to hold a strategy conference with my chickens and they advised me that stinky camels would scare the Christian horses into retreat - which lo and behold they did. Seriously though I think the Muslim forces had more tactical flexibility than the Christian’s with such a preponderance of heavy cavalry. All you can ever do with them is charge and hope for the best. Tony is a tricky devil to play against but when his dice went cold that was the break I needed. As a side issue we played an ECW game via zoom the next day and Tony absolutely kerb stomped me as retribution. LOL.

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    1. You both fought a terrific game. Like you, I thought the battle over in the first two turns and we would be calling an early night. How wrong I was! The chicken conference was the turning point.

      Once all of the Spanish heavy cavalry were committed, they were hard pressed to extricate themselves from trouble. Much like the historical battle. Tony may be a tricky devil but are a very cagey player as well. We saw that when your army came roaring back for the win. Really, the Spanish army was in tatters when it broke and the Muslim Army still had plenty of fight left in it.

      I look forward to seeing the results from the game you had with Tony.

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  13. Exciting game Jon. I really thought the Spanish had it. You've made a Impetus convert out of me!

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  14. I was rooting for Mark the whole time. Looks like I chose the right horse err camel I mean.
    Troops looking good as usual Jon. 😀

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  15. Sounds like a great game. I enjoyed the battle report very much.

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    1. Thank you, Duke! Good to see you stopping by to leave a comment.

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  16. A seesaw game, indeed: very keeping with the nature of the forces, it seems to me. I was wondering: how many of these charges were the product of involuntary actions in your system?

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    1. The game mostly "seed" for the Spanish and then "sawed" for the Almoravids. While I did not keep count of involuntary pursuits, all of the Spanish heavy horse were classified as "Impetuous" meaning that they were compelled to attempt pursuit. Some succeeded and some failed but I have no recollection of how many and which ones.

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    2. Right. Thx for the clarification. 'Twas me who posted (Ed M) by the way, but from the wrong browser, so without credentials (ie, anonymous).

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    3. You’re welcome! Glad you returned to identify yourself.

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  17. Top stuff Jonathan…
    I decided to wait until the end of the day and read this sat in my garden with a bourbon in my hand and the sun going down quietly in the background 😁
    It was well worth the wait… An excellent AAR of what was definitely a game of two halves…
    Well done to everyone involved…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks, Aly! Very pleased to see that you reserved the battle report reading for the perfect moment.

      It really was a game of two, distinct halves.

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  18. Sounds like an excellent game with both sides in ascendant at differing times, looks great too of course!
    Best Iain caveadsum1471

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    1. Iain, this was a well-played and exciting game for all involved.

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  19. I gotta confess - I enjoyed the Almoravid victory- my first 15mm army ( first army ever in fact) was Almoravids. Great AAR!

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    1. Thank you, John! Mark will be pleased to see that he had your support.

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  20. Well that really was a game of two halves there Jon! Lovely spectacle to behold and a great AAR too, which really captured the swings of fortune for both sides:).

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    1. Thank you, Steve! This was quite the battle spectacle to watch develop.

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  21. That looked a great game! Well done to both players, and you for hosting and excellent report. A salutory lesson in cavalry fighting perhaps? Always keep a reserve, as your first chargers will be exhausted and need to rally.. and don't get carried away! I'm sure Tony doesn't need any advice from me, of course..

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    1. David, this was a great game, indeed! Too bad you could not make the game but I see you had other wargaming commitments. An embarrassment of riches for you. Yes, some lessons were learned and I bet the fellas would enjoy seeing these armies back out again. Next up, though, is a visit to the ECW.

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  22. Wow! That was a rollercoaster of a game. (I would have said ‘seesaw’ but that’d been taken!).
    It’s amazing how you can have such varied games with one set of rules, with a few period tweaks.
    Sorry to have missed the game.
    Chris/Nundanket

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    1. Chris, the game was similar to riding a rollercoaster, for sure. It was great fun so sorry you missed the game.

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  23. Now that's remote gaming at its best! A tip of the helm to the players and of course the illustrious GM! :-)

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