This is an AAR of our first Warmaster game. We used the Warmaster Revolution ruleset and both had an army of about 1250 points. We will write down our opinions on the rules system in a future post. Army lists are as follows. The movement diagrams were made with the program Battle Chronicler.
Unit abbreviations in the Battle Chronicle pictures are in [Brackets].
High Kings Host: (Uses Dogs of War list)
2x Halberdiers [H]
2x Pikes [P]
2x Foot Knights [FK] (These are 85 point swordsmen with armour +4)
2x Crossbowmen [C]
1x Handgunners [H] (the horizontal one)
3x Knights [K]
1x Cannon [C]
2x Officer [O]
1x General [G]
Imperial Army: Uses the Araby list.
4x Spearmen [S]
2x Archers [A]
3x Guards [G]
3x Knights [K]
2x Horse Archers [HA]
1x General [G] (the round one)
2x Heroes [H]
The armies start deployed on the north-south road. We played the Take-and-Hold scenario, with the imperial objective in the ruins and the High King's objective on the large hill on his side of the crossing. There were also two neutral objectives: One on the central hill with the Cronespire tower, the other on the crossroads itself.
Objectives are marked in orange beads Breaking eachothers armies was worth 2 points at the end of the game. Controlling the objective on your side of the table was worth 1 point, controlling one of the objectives in the middle was worth 2 points each and controlling the objective on the other side of the table was worth 3.
Deployment of the two armies. Crosses mark the four objectives.
The Empire's army was arrayed on the southern side of the crossing. With horse archers on the western flank and two infantry blocks in the east. Two regiments of knights were deployed on the central road and a third one behind the infantry on the east flank.
The High King chose to deploy all of his knights in a single formation, akin to an armoured battering ram pointing straight down the battlefield. Cannons were deployed as to be able to make a quick move straight up the northern hill, with halberds and pikes covering them. Foot knights were deployed on the road and the handgunners and the crossbowmen secured the western part of the battleline.
On the first turn the whole Imperial line went forward. On the eastern side of the battlefield the army advanced cautiously, where as the horse archers in the west charged forward to capture the hamlet along the west-east road. Unlike the Imperial Sultan, The High King had some trouble motivating his men to move forward, so the knights impatiently charged forward, crossing half of the battlefield and charging across the northern hill. The King quickly sent one of his officers, the Green Knight, to chase after them and hopefully contain their enthusiasm.
On the second turn the Imperial western flank advanced further northwards. Horse archers quickly entered the hamlet on the road while the green regiment of the Imperial guard moved into the ruins, capturing it easily. The second unit of horse archers started harassing the mass of knights at the foot of the hill. A hail of arrows drove one of the knights back up the hill. Turn two again saw little movement in the Royal army with only the cannons and the crossbowmen slowly moving forwards.
The Royal crossbowmen in their woods. No Imperial soldiers were allowed near these woods. A hail of bolts drove back anyone that approached.
The Royal cannons have the enemy in their sights.
Turn three started with the Imperial eastern flank advancing. The guard and a regiment of knights moved up to counter the Royal knights in between the hills. Horse archer fire again pushed back even more knights. But disaster struck for the Imperial player. First, cannon fire from the central hill pushed back both Imperial guard regiments in the center, killing many of the purple clad warriors. Then, impetuous as they were, the Royal knights charged forward. Savaging the Imperial brigade of knights right in front of them and driving back a unit of archers. Meanwhile a general advance was called by the High King. All Royal units advanced on the crossroad.
The High King's knights strike the first blow. Charging down the crossroads and killing many Imperials.
Turn four started with Imperial retreats in the center and in the west. The bronze and silver Imperial guard regiments charged forward to bravely repel the Royal knights inflicting many losses on them. But the knights fought back with vigor and destroyed the silver regiment on the spot. The bronze regiment was left with only a third of its troops alive. The knights felt compelled to retreat back north. Two squadrons moved to guard the artillery while the last squadron secured the crossroads.
Situation at the end of turn four.
With Imperial defeats and retreats in the center the High King took the initiative. Roundshot from the hill tearing through the militia spearmen to the south of the tower caused mass panic. The spearmen retreated in horror and almost disordered the Imperial knights positioned behind them. Fearing total defeat in this battle the Sultan took a risk and sent his infantry forward, the Royal knights in front of them had to be destroyed. The guard must be avenged! At the same time the Imperial knights who just had to wade through a wave of routing spearmen charged straight up the hill, and onto the artillery. On the western flank the green guard decides to go into the woods at their front, but the advance was limited due to their low visibility in these woods.
The Royal knights and cannons receive Imperial charges.
Their green coats did not save the Imperial guard from being spotted by crossbowmen in the woods.
The cannons fired canisters of grapeshot at their charging adversaries but the small bullets were effortlesly knocked aside by the heavy armour the knights were wearing. The cannon's crew was killed by the vengeful knights. All Royal cannons were spiked and made inoperable. The Imperial infantry on their flank fared a lot worse. They only managed to unhorse a couple of knights but were then sent back in disarray. Almost a third of the spearmen were killed for very little ground gained.
As a last resort, the remaining Imperial cavalry surged forward. The Imperal knights, already at the foot of the hill, took the crest and the last fresh cavalry unit charged to support their flanks. But the Sultan's command broke down. The horse archers who were supposed to provide support for the knights refused to go forward. All infantry officers on the eastern flank had been either killed or wounded, so no support came from that corner. So the knights remained on the hill, alone.
A damning situation for the Imperal knights.
It quickly became apparent that the knights had made a mistake. They were charged inthe flank by Royal knights. After being pinned by this, pikes advanced on them from the front and halberds closed in from the other flank. After a brutal round of combat the unit ceased to exist. All the surviving knights were captured, probably to be ransomed to the Empire and make many a soldier rich. A hail of arrows drove back the guardsmen in the woods near the ruin, making it impossible for the guardsmen to charge forward next turn.
The last turn of the battle saw the final destruction of the Imperial army. The last unit of knights was charged in the flank by Royal horsemen, and halberds in column hacked at them from the front, destroying the unit. The crossbowmen surrounded the green guards in the woods and peppered them with bolts, forcing them to take cover and hold their ground. At the eastern flank though, an Imperial unit of archers still managed to rout the yellow regiment of Royal pikes. After that the Imperial action was limited to a single charge of horse archers on the crossbowmen in the woods, but foot knights came to aid the marksmen and scared off the riders. No other soldier was willing to advance, ending the game.
Royal crossbowmen enveloping a unit of guards. The rain of arrows they release forces the guards to take cover and become passive.
The Imperials held two objectives scoring 3 points. The Royals also held two and also scoring 3 points. But the Imperial army had been savaged badly. All three Imperial knight regiments were either destroyed or badly disrupted. Two of the three guard regiments were mauled, and every single infantry unit had been damaged. The Royal host was lightly damaged in comparison. A couple of units even remained fresh and ready to attack. The Imperial army had to retreat, making this a grand victory for the High King!
The situation at the end of the game, it is quite clear the Imperials are from this point on outnumbered and have to retreat.
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