Open 2-list ADLG in Estella, 2018
Umayyad Arab vs Armenian
Game 1 Umayyad Arab vs Armenian
Game 2 Umayyad Arab vs Delhi Sultanate
Game 3 Umayyad Arab vs Alexander The Great
Game 4 Umayyad Arab vs Maurikian Byzantine
Game 5 Umayyad Arab vs Medieval Polish
The Castles! Driving to Madrid
The Umayyad Empire already touches many lands, has rewritten many lives and erased any number of tribal and city states and their borders.
This Umayyads have build in a few short years a mighty empire stretching beyond the horizon but all under one sun and one Caliph. In it national identities blur and reconfigure, ancient dynastic loyalties dissolve, adherences to place and kin which were once seemingly immutable and formed the very definition of a mans being are being now stirred together by the unifying spoon of the Caliph's chosen mission - The Conquest of Spain !
And now, ready to undertake that mission, the men of that Empire have gathered. A vast host, drawn from an immeasurably vaster empire, and like that empire, a force which has been assembled quickly, grabbing whatever is at hand - almost an army constructed without thought.
L'Art de la Guerre hint - there are loads of army lists on the ADLG wiki, including Julian Lopez' succesful large Arab Indian lists. If you want some ideas that's a great place to start
Crossing the straits of Gibraltar, the passage the Ancients thought of as the very gates of the Gods, and setting foot (and foot. And foot, and of course hoof too) into a rich and fertile land which had provided Rome with many of its emperors and much of its' granary, this planned conquest seems unimaginable to the collections of tribesmen who's prior lives had been of scratching at the fields of North Africa in a vain attempt to wrest a living from that harsh and barren loam. Even flying into Bilbao airport and picking up a rental car can be a tad tricky, but hey, these guys really had it tough.
Althought the Umayyads probably didn't spend the day before each battle caning the local tapas bars of Pamplona until the wee early hours of the morning, so maybe we had toughed it out a little too...
Chips and egg - mmmm !
And the less said about this the better ...
The Umayyad army can have many dimensions, but in a 2-list event it has but two. First it can be the army which had in history invaded Spain, packed with javelinmen to take down enemy elephants - but there is also another variant which is drawn from the opposite end of the empire when the Umayyads had participated in the clash of civilizations at the battle of Talus against the Chinese.
The version of the Umayyad army which took the field in the first battle was the Chinese one, with a Tibetan ally - against an opponent who came from in the middle ground of the world, the ancient principality of Armenia.
Battle of Talas
The lists for the Umayyad Arab and Armenian from this game, as well as all the other lists from the games at Estella can be seen here in the L'Art de la Guerre Wiki.
The field of battle this first morning was mostly barren, with only a regulation road which ran along the rear edge of the Armenian deployment zone, and some small fields and plantation and another plantation which cluttered one side of the table. This melange of terrain at least gave the surprisingly constructed Armenian force a great spot in which to deploy its medium spearmen, as there was a large area of terrain which would suit them down to the ground.
The rest of the Armenian force was small, comprised of two blocks of charging and shooting cavalry up from the fiefdoms and fortified towns of the hinterlands of their country. The two blocks of mounted nobles set up opposite what already looked like a dusty tide of all of the Arabian and Tibetan warriors in the world. The Umayyad army covered the horizon before the Armenians from side to side, seemingly endless in number but low in quality and puzzling no doubt in complexity.
Having never deployed the army before, the Umayyad Caliph found himself arguing with his sub-commanders as who how best to work out what and who should and could go where.
The starting point for his plans was that the Tibetans were an allied contingent and therefore potentially could be unreliable, which inevitably placed them in the centre spot, where their fully armoured horse could be supported on both sides by bigger Arab commands.
The Umayyads on the left had realised that their task was primarily to block the exit of the Armenian infantry from the terrain, leaving to those on the right the opportunity and responsibility of inflicting the hopefully decisive blow, swinging round and charging headlong into the flank of the puny Armenian force
The Arabs had a simple plan - advance and be wider than the enemy. The Armenians had clearly never seen such an ragtag assembly of an army. Spearman supported by Bowman stood adjacent to Poor quality Arabian horsemen theoretically lacking in skill and enthusiasm, and next to them infantry bowmen, and Sassanid Heavy Cavalry dragooned into continued service after their own empire had been swept away by the Umayyad tide. All of this melange now advanced with equal speed towards the surprised and puzzled Armenian line
Medieval Armenia
Soon the battle was developing as Philip Barker would have wished to see. The Caliph's army was forming a steady echelon to exert pressure with its advanced right flank, moving forward past its centre. The left flank was sensibly hanging back, no doubt as surprised by the unusual appearance of so many medium Spearman opposite them as the Armenians themselves were puzzled by the odd collection of units making up the Umayyad force.
L'Art de la Guerre hint - One of the cute things picked up from looking at how Julian's list work is seeing bowmen used at the ends of a line of troops. This is normally where each side drops a lone LH, so a bow unit can do some serious damage and interdiction in this area - as long as your own cavalry can push forward strongly and protect your archers from enemy horsemen
The Caliph's plan was simple, but callous. Outnumber the enemy. Not the most original plan it must be said, but usually an effective one as any student of military history will tell you. And surprisingly it appeared to be working as snowy-bearded units of Arabian horsemen already has started flooding around the rear of the solid line of Armenian mounted troopers. Game on!
What's Going on Here Then?
The Arab army sweeps forward on a broad front, with the right wing advancing rapidly and outpacing the centre. The right flank then makes moves to wheel inwards at this point, having initially looked to simply outpace the narrower Armenian formation and then wheel onto its flanks later. The Arab left is in a holding pattern, tasked with preventing the Armenian right from emerging from the terrain that hides it.
On the opposite flank the Armenian spearmen had bravely come out of the terrain, and when standing in the open they became a very tempting target for the inexperienced and vaguely incompetent Arabian lancers. Incompetent because they were classed as Mediocre, and also because they had sadly not read the rules (nor the section in the FAQ that covers this specific interaction) properly and therefore did not realise that the factors were actually really badly against them in the combat that then ensured, and which they had already chosen to initiate. Oops.
L'Art de la Guerre hint
Q : When receiving a charge from a mounted unit, does a medium spearmen unit get the Impact ability ?
A : When medium spearmen is charged frontally by an Impact Cv the factors are:
Medium spearmen = 1 + 0 (no Impact, cancelled by Mounted Impact) = +1
Impact Cv = 1 + 0 (Impact cancelled by Medium Spearmen's Spear ability) = +1
Poor quality troops attacking average quality troops with rear support can end in two ways, but usually ends in just one way - and that is not good for the crap cavalry. Suddenly, having had the rules explained to them by a passing helpful sheet of paper printed out from the FAQ, the Arabians realized that far from having the ascendancy in this matchup they instead had now potentially had put the entire army in peril with their rash headstrong attack.
What's Armenia about then?
In the centre, and clearly conscious of the tide of Arabian horsemen swinging round their left flank, the Armenian nobleman decided that attacking was the best form of defence and charged headlong at speed into the Tibetans.
What's Going on Here Then?
The Arab army sweeps forward on a broad front, with the right wing advancing rapidly and outpacing the centre. The right flank then makes moves to wheel inwards at this point, having initially looked to simply outpace the narrower Armenian formation and then wheel onto its flanks later. The Arab left is in a holding pattern, tasked with preventing the Armenian right from emerging from the terrain that hides it.
The Armenian Infantry have attacked out of the terrain protecting them, and at the same point the Armenian central command charges home against the Tibetans. The Arab army has become somewhat disjointed at this stage, and fails to present a fully coherent line in the centre of the table exposing the Tibetan ally to serious risk of being overrun by the ferocity of the Armenians initial charge. The Armenian left however is in full retreat as the tidal wave of Umayyad cavalry threatens to overwhelm them.
Clearly exhausted by the travel, and despite their armour, they managed to roll pretty poor dice all along that line in the first round of combat. This meant they started their first appearance on table in longer than I can reember by pretty much all picking up casualties in a battle which all things considered they probably should have expected to hold their own in.
However, what the Arabian army lacked in quality it certainly made up for in width.
The left flank of the Armenian army was finding this out to its cost as it was forced to retreat in ignominy away from the countless numbers of North African-born horsemen who the Caliph had spirited away from their villages and townships to join his army. He had given them spears, he had given them shields, and he had given them a purpose in life other than selling stuff to tourists at all inclusive beach resorts and they were repaying his investment ten-fold by attacking incautiously anything in their path.
The Armenians here were quickly forced to retreat otherwise they risked being overwhelmed leaving the rest of their army exposed to the attack of the desert dwelling mounted warriors.
With the right flank pushing forwards the rest of the Arabian army knew it had to do little but hold on. For the Spearmen that was a reasonably simple task. Holding on for a Spearman meant standing still and being a target for Armenian arrows and javelins - something they could do perfectly well probably even in their sleep. The Spearman collected hit markers, and the general commanding the Spearman ran around it behind them trying to rally units and generally encouraging them to take heart and just suck up the slings and arrows of Armenian militarism
The Armenians extending the line to the right of their own noble horsemen were still bogged down against the Arabian cavalry on the Umayyad left wing.
Now the Umayyads had worked out the factors they certainly weren't going to do any more charging, and with the Armenians knowing they too would be a factor down if they initiated combat this was a bit of a stalemate only enlivened by shooting by both sides.
Origins of the Umayyad Empire
As the Armenians attempted to extend their line to outflank the Arabs with skirmishing slingers and yet more Spearman they came under fierce hail of arrows from the shooting Sassanid Cavalry, Bactrian skirmishers and Arab bowmen who has all been impressed into the Caliph's armies and who now apparently formed a proper combined arms force ideally suited to the extremities of the battlefield.
Having given the Tibetans a bloody nose the main line of Armenian cavalry decided then to fall back in the face of the relentless attack and pressure from their left - the advancing right wing of the an Arabian army. Time and table was suddenly fast running out for the Armenians as the tide of Arab unity threatened to overwhelm them.
What's Going on Here Then?
The Armenian attack on the Tibetans has failed to break through the Umayyad centre, and now their horsemen fall back to form a new defensive line nearer to their camp - with Arab and Tibetan cavalry pausing for breath before following in full pursuit. This in turn exposes the flanks of their infantry command, and the Arab troops start to wheel outwards to roll up the Armenian right wing from the centre of the table.
As the Armenian horsemen fell back against the resurgent and resilient Tibetans, they now started to expose the flanks of their medium Spearman in the nearby terrain.
With the Tibetans pushing forwards to pursue the breaking off enemy horse, there suddenly was plenty of space for the Arabian infantry to charge into the rough terrain and assault the Armenian infantry from all sides.
Yet again the sheer numbers of Arabian troops were starting to tell.
The Tibetans, supported by Umayyad Spearman on both flanks, pushed forwards piling yet more pressure on the rapidly fragmenting Armenian Noble Cavalry. As they drove on, these mail-clad expert horsemen from the highest mountains in the world were beginning at last to properly enjoy their first battle on the plains of Spain.
This was now a game of two right flank attacks. The Arab right flank was pushing hard against little resistance and was finding gaps to exploit everywhere as their cavalry drove onwards.
The Armenian right flank was instead still struggling to successfully get out of the terrain, and with its own Noble Cavalry falling back in the centre this had exposed the Armenian foot to flank attacks of their own. The rollup of the infantry on the Armenian right suddenly gathered pace, and they started to crumble under the weight of a frontal assault and an attack from the flanks
Suddenly the once-coherent lines crumbled on both - a seemingly endless succession of combats and exchanges of archery broke down into a patchwork of swirling random isolated combats as pockets of men and their steeds fought at close quarters. Both armies were now creeping dangerously towards the point of no return, but for the men on the ground this was no longer about their role in the overall grand strategy of their leaders, instead it was a bitter and personal battle for survival with an opponent who's breath could be smelt, and who's eyes were wide and close (only if they had been painted on of course).
Battle of Guadalete - Umayyads in Spain
But finally, with both time and table running out, the sheer mathematically imaginative numbers of Arabs managed to do their jobs, and tipped the Armenian army over the edge and into the sea of defeat. The first outing for the unusually constructed and frankly, cobbled together Arabian army had ended up as a success. The Result is a win for the Umayyads!
Click here for the report of the next game in this competition, or read on for the post match summaries from the Generals involved, as well as another episode of legendary expert analysis from Hannibal
Post Match Summary from the Umayyad Arab Commander
Ha'wey, and welcome to a reet good neet out in Speeen. Quite why I ahm do'in these match reviews is summat of a mystery t'me, but I think it may be an old DBM-era pun involving the Al Sheara Infantry from some random Arab list, and this will be the furst battle reports t'feature Arab armies since then, so heeeah ah am.
At least me an' th'lads got an away win - not an easy thing reet now with Sultan Ashley in the Big Chair ah must say. The lads were cobbled t'gether and ended up low on quality - much like the Toon Army's summer transfer programme - but undah my stewardship they seemed to play as a team, which ir reet good ah knows.
Tha army is reet big like, ahn those lancers do kick some serious ass. They go fast too - almost like they are ridin' on a motorbike, maybe even a Kawasaki or somthin' similar like. They strike more feat intro the hearts of th'enemy than I did whan ah was runnin' up the middle for the Toon back in the day like.
Ah am now confident that we will be winnin' this league, 'cause a big empire like ours, with massive support, and I mean massive, surely must win summat eventually like. Reet? Haway th'lads!
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
You blithering idiot. I have long thought you are the most vapid ignoramus on display on the MOTD sofa, and hearing you inane witterings here in real life does little to disabuse me of that notion. How on the surface of the earth can you turn up with an army you have never even laid out before, never mind actually played with? You are lucky it fitted on the table at all - and one cannot really be surprised to see that fully half of it was praxrically (nb: that's not a typo, I'm actually learning to speak Basque) skirmished out of the game by the opposition at deplyment
And I do not even want to countenace the insanity of the mistake you made against the medium spearmen. The way these factors are calculated is literally laid out in total and clear detail in the FAQ - a document which should probably contain the answer to the frequently asked question " how does this idiot even manage to tie his shoelaces in a morning, never mind win the occasional game?" (the answer being "slip on shoes" of course).
You risked defeat here against an enemy you should surely have wrapped up with a fast outflanking sweep and superior numbers in short order. But, instead of doing that and concentrating your efforts on that and that alone, you tried to fight (as usual) all along the line, and as a consequence got sucked into combats where you were at a disadvantage, and where you started losing units.
The only saving grace was that your footballing back story did at least mean you played to the whistle, and not to the time published in advance of the competition by the organisers. With a late start, the end time was also delayed - something your opponent probably missed - but this was not down to any skill on your part. Instead I guess that you didn't even know what time it was supposed to start or finish? Yes - I thought so. Maybe you need to check your watch as it must soon be time for the next game
Click here for the report of the next game in this competition
You may also like....
Game 1 Umayyad Arab vs Armenian
Game 2 Umayyad Arab vs Delhi Sultanate
Game 3 Umayyad Arab vs Alexander The Great
Game 4 Umayyad Arab vs Maurikian Byzantine
Game 5 Umayyad Arab vs Medieval Polish
The Castles! Driving to Madrid
View My Stats for My Match Reports Pages
. That links takes you to Amazon UK's detailed listings for this great book.
