Fantastic Battles AAR: The Battle of Ams

 

"The victory at the Battle of the Ruined Temple gave the High King a grand opportunity to weaken the Empire and strenghten his own position. Striking into the Imperial heartlands the High King started attacking cities. The first city surrendered without conflict. But the city of Ams did not. The High King besieged this city. In reaction the twice-humiliated Sultan gathered his forces. The Sultan called on his traditional vassals, but these had switched sides after the last battle. He called on his allies from the desert. They sent him four companies of brave warriors. He also hired mercenaries from the steppes, three companies of steppe cavalry joined the army. And so the twice-humiliated Sultan marched to lift the siege of Ams.

Pikes behind the siege barricades. The Royal camp in the distance.

Another Saturday, another Fantastic Battles! We preferred Fantastic Battles over Warmaster so chose to play a third game. With a small rules addition, we added combat resolution rules. After the units that were locked in combat resolved their hits, the unit which did the least amount of hits is pushed back 4cm, if it was not destroyed already. 
     After this game we still very much like the system, which created a very dramatic situation and a thoroughly enjoyable game. Both armies also grew in size. Both gained a captain. The Royals were re-enforced by a lady-at-arms. The Imperials recruited a royal assassin. The Imperials also recruited an extra unit of archers, three companies of camelry from the desert, and three companies of steppe cavalry. The High-King gained three companies of Imperial vassal infantry who switched sides, a company of horse archers and a single company of gunners-on-horseback (reiters). We played a fun scenario thought up by me about the attack on the Royal siege lines.

High Kings host [red] played by Merijn: 
1x General, The High King [G] 
3x Royal Captains [CP]
4x Companies of Knights deployed in a single brigade [K]

3x companies of foot knights [FK]

3x companies of halberdiers deployed in a single brigade [H]

3x companies of pikemen deployed in a single brigade [P]

3x companies of vassal infantry deployed in a single brigade [VI]

3x companies of crossbowmen [C]

1x company of horse archers [HA]

1x company of Reiters [R]

1x company of handgunners [H2]

1x battery of artillery [C4]

Imperial Sultans host [purple] played by Barend:
1x General, The Sultan [G]
3x Imperial Captains [CP]

4x companies of knights, deployed as two brigades [K]

4x companies of guardsmen, deployed as two brigades [G]

3x companies of city militia deployed in a single brigade [CM]

3x companies of horse archers [HA]

4x companies of archers [A]

3x companies of camelry [C]

3x companies of steppe cavalry [SA]

Both armies were split in three parts, a vanguard, a centre and a rearguard. The Royal centre would be deployed in between barricades of the siege line. The Imperial vanguard is deployed on the road facing the siege lines. For the other parts of the army a dice would be rolled at the start of each turn. On a 5 or 6 that army part would enter the field of battle.

Deployment at the start of turn one. Six barricades form the siege lines facing the outskirts of the city.

Sickness had weakened the Royal forces in the siege lines. Sieges are famous for spreading all kinds of diseases. The vassal infantry and a unit of crossbowmen [C2] had been weakened. Some of the Imperial units entering the field were weakened as well.

Turn 1

A straightforward advance on the first turn. Royal forces stayed in their siege lines.

Imperials behind their barricades. With building on the outskirts of Ams. The vassal infantry are led by their lady-at-arms.

Camelry from the desert.

Turn 2, reinforcements enter the battlefield.

The High King (Merijn) got extremely lucky on turn 2. Both his vanguard and rearguard entered the battlefield on his first roll. The Imperials were re-enforced as well. The Imperial centre marched onto the battlefield. 

The Royal vanguard appears.

Turn 2 movement.

While the Imperials sent out a cloud of light horse and light infantry to harass the siege lines, the Royal centre stayed put, safely behind the barricades.

The Imperial assassin ready to slit royal throats.

Overview of the battlefield at the end of turn 2.

Turn 3, yellow arrows signify retreat.

Light cavalry moves into position on the flank of the siege lines. In answer the vassal infantry and the crossbowmen move forward to get into missile range. An Imperial company of horse panics and retreats towards it's general. 

Imperial horse archers retreat towards their captain.

Turn 4, start of combat. Red arrows indicate a charge.

Enthusiasm abound in turn 3. Steppe cavalry let loose a volley of arrows aimed at the vassal infantry, charges straight in afterwards and scatters to the winds. After exchanging missiles with horse archers, a company of crossbowmen leave their barricade for a charge and rout their victims. A second unit of horse archers retreats in panic at the slaughter near the barricades.

Brave crossbowmen charge a unit of cavalry.

Royal horsemen struggle through the mud of a freshly ploughed field (cavalry halves their movement over mud).

Turn 5

The brave crossbowmen take down another unit of horse archers in a hail of bolts. But their ferocity makes them a great target. Arrows rain down on them and the unit is dispersed. While the Royal vanguard struggles through the mud, the forest and the camp, the knights on the left flank make good progress towards the Imperials. The Imperials have lost a third of its light cavalry in the skirmishes at the barricade but heighten the pressure.

Brave crossbowmen inflict 4 wounds on another
 unit of horse archers, they panic and break.

Battlefield at the end of turn 5.

Turn 6.

Steppe cavalry and archers charge the vassal infantry supported by a flank charge of the camelry. While fighting well, and routing a company of steppe cavalry, the unit is routed and with it the lady-at-arms as well. Reiters fire at the approaching camelry, and the Royal horse-archers move into a flanking position. The camelry is severely weakened but hold on. The pikes see an opening and surge forward. The last unit of horse archers retreat towards the rear. On the left flank both armies manoeuver for position. Imperial archers are sent forwards in large numbers to weaken the Royal knights. These are much feared and need to be taken down a peg after their successes in earlier battles.

The demise of the vassal infantry. In their doom, they fight fiercely and manage to kill many steppe warriors.

Turn 7.

A rain of lead from handgunners and reiters routs the unit of camelry in the centre. While a concerted push of pikes and a flanking attack by royal light-horse destroys one of the two camel units on the right flank. Imperial archers cross over the barricades commanded by the Royal assassin. A mass of light horse panics in the rear. The Imperial sultan moves rearwards to stop these units from leaving the battlefield. On the left, Royal foot knights take the hill and form up on its crest.

The camelry are shot to pieces.

Pikemen rout a unit of camelry to their front.

Turn 8.

With the right flank of the Imperial forces as good as destroyed, the battle shifts to the left of the field. Artillery is finally in position to fire, and round shot crashes into Imperial archers in the woods [A2] The royal horse archers move into position to engage the Sultan himself. Who quickly dives into cover of a unit of steppe cavalry. Imperial knights move forward and charge uphill into the ranks of foot knights set up on the crest. Royal knights charge forward as well, engaging the guard and an imperial unit of archers. Crossbowmen and handgunners take care of the archers in the woods.

Fighting on the hill.

Fighting at the foot of the hill.

Turn 9.

While the Royal units move forward on the right flank, the Sultan is in danger. After being forced into a unit of steppe cavalry for cover, arrows fall all around him. He is not able to manoeuvre this turn. The Imperial knights force the foot knights off the crest of the hill and, and start to win terrain. The Royal knights at the foot of the hill destroy a unit of archers and damage the guards to their front very badly. The Sultan feels control of his army slipping away.

The melee on and around the hill.

Turn 10, end of the game.

Tragedy! Oh tragedy! A lead ball strikes the Sultan in the eye killing him instantly (if a unit with an attached character is fired upon and suffers more than 2 hits, you must rolls dice to see if the character is killed). As a result of this terrible loss every Imperial unit immediately suffers a -1 to their resolve. The foot knights force the demoralised Imperials back over the crest, recapturing the top of the hill, in the scuffle another Imperial officer falls. The guard breaks when charged in the flank by crossbowmen and the last units in the Imperial rear are quickly destroyed by charging horsemen. This is surely the greatest defeat the Imperial army has suffered.

The shot that killed the Sultan! (only a 5-6 or 6-6 would have killed the Sultan).

The lads that shot the Sultan.

A small victory on the flanks,
a crossbowmen company is routed.

The Battlefield at the end of combat. Not pictured are the royal cannons.

 The Sultan is dead, a greater victory for the Royals could not have been possible. 12 companies of Imperials were routed. In contrast, only 5 companies of Royals were shattered. Only with great effort will the Empire recover from this drama. The city of Ams surrendered to the High King putting an end to the long siege. Who would be the new sultan? Will the High-King use this opportunity to fight the much weakened Empire? Time will tell.