I popped up to CHCH for work yesterday so took the opportunity
to take up some figures and have a game of Dragon rampant vs Ian in the
evening. We played 32 points and though a tad rusty quickly got into the swing
of things.
I ran my bugbears
1x Elite foot general
3x bugbear warbands (bellicose foot)
2x wargs (lesser warbeasts)
1x ettins (large warbeasts)
Pretty much everything in my army had wild charge
Ian ran the stoic defenders of Rohan
1x elite riders general
1x elite riders
1x heavy riders
2x heavy foot
1x light missiles
The battle started well for the bugbears and their allies,
managing to defeat or badly damage both cavalry wings of Rohan while the
infantry stood on the banks of the river and watched on and their glory hungry
general and his amtes met their maker and the bugbear warlord was feeling confident
the victory was in his grasp. Alas, once the cavalry had been dealt with by the
wargs and ettins the Rohan infantry showed a bit more mettle and stoically defended
the river bank vs the waves of bellicose bugbears. Slowly they were driven back
but counter attacks and missile support finally put paid the bugbears and the
bugbear army literally melted away.
A fun game and each army played very differently. We were
both a bit surprised at ho robust Rohan’s heavy foot were and they really
turned the tide once the cavalry had been delat with.
Next time I’d probably look at a little missile support but overall
as really happy with the way the bugbear army played.
A horde of bugbears emerge out of the northn wastes and head towards an undefended ford, the ford of Isen?
Before the bugbears can reach the ford a force of Rohan cavalry and infantry arrive to stop the incursion.
A force of wargs drives the Rohan light cavalry back on the hill. In the foreground the bellicose bugbears head for the ford.
On the other hill the other pack of wargs also drive off the Rohan cavalry after discovering the usefulness of being uphill (i.e +1 to armour, pretty damn handy)
The riders of Rohan are driven back.
But they come back for more.
After several rounds the ettins and wargs prevail, killing the elite riders and the Rohan general. The bugbear warlord now smiles and senses victory. Momnts later the rohan archers finish off the ettin which had 5 wounds.
Time to send in the bugbears. This should be a doddle but alas the bugbears are about to learn why the heavy infantry are so good on the defence.
Anglo-Saxon battle tactics ##1: Find a hill and sit eon it
Anglo-Saxon battle tactics #2: Find a river and site behind it
And that is it, the Saxon battle tactics manual.
Slowly the bugbears force the Rohan infantry back.
Things are looking good but somehow...
It ends up looking like this. The Rohan infantry saw off wave after wave of bugbears and in the end retained the ford. Who needs cavalry?
Thoughts
It was a great game. 32 points made for a good sized game with a nice variety of troop types. We both made a few tactical mistakes but learned heaps and were both impressed at the resilience of vanilla infantry... when defending river banks.
I hope to get up to CHCH for another game soon.
Craig
It was a great game. 32 points made for a good sized game with a nice variety of troop types. We both made a few tactical mistakes but learned heaps and were both impressed at the resilience of vanilla infantry... when defending river banks.
I hope to get up to CHCH for another game soon.
Craig
