On The Road To Damascus

Crusader Attack Against a Village

Yes, it seems like we play Warmaster Ancients a lot, but that's because a) it's a lot of fun, and b) it's great for those nights where we literally only have the local game store to play in and we have to set up the game, play, and take it down in a few hours. In this scenario (which was way too ambitious for the limited time we had) the Crusaders are driving into Syria and have been forced to deploy to give battle. A Saracen force is guarding a village along the main road that the Crusaders plan to use for their campaign. Both sides had a little more than 2,000 points, which is quite a lot, especially for a 6 x 4 board! Each side had a lot of cavalry, so there were numerous traffic jams as both forces struggled to get into positions for attacks. The village posed numerous problems for both sides as although it helped the Saracens in defending the middle of the board, it made their deployment tightly packed on the flanks with little room for maneuver.

The battle opened up with the cavalry of both sides moving out quickly and the Crusader infantry advanced quickly against the village. The first attacks were repelled by the Saracens in the village, although by turn 4 the Crusaders had broken in at one point in the defenses. On the Saracen left there were a series of cavalry charges that left both sides the worse for wear, but the Saracen infantry were getting destroyed far more quickly than the Crusader cavalry. On the right the Crusaders and Saracens exchanged units in several very bloody melees and by the time we had to quit the Crusaders were clearly ahead, but the main Saracen cavalry force had yet to see action, so the issue was still in doubt. A great game, but not enough time to finish.

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