Field of Glory Renaissance in Oxford 2011
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The lists from this and all the other games at Oxford can be seen here.
Day 2, 2 defeats making a 100% record - what could possibly go wrong? At least this time we had a proper opponent - TYW Protestants
It would be hard to imagine a more textbook Renaissance battlefield, with a checkerboard of troops and a few fields scattered around.
The fields were so nice that the Renaissance photographer focused on them, not the enemy troops massing in the distance (sorry)
Unsurprisingly, the Protestants sent out a screen of Dragoons
Rather than risk redeploying, all of the Polish horse had gathered on one wing (or flank,not one of those things pinned to their backs) and were advancing behind a screen of light horse and dragoons hoping to pin the enemy in place and them smite them mightily
Not bothering with Dragoons of our own, Austrian and Polski foote advanced to counter the enemy screen
The Protestants were bemused at the aggressive attitude of the Austrian average horse - maybe they wanted to die quickly,a sort of scythed chariot of the Renaissance age only there to cause disruption prior to the arrival of the Hussars?
This was technology of the highest order as combined foote and batallion gun teams of Austrians moved forward - failing to damage the enemy dragoons, but hey, what a nice hat...
The Poles and Austrians were considering riding straight over the rough ground, in a move designed to confuse both them and their opponents. The opportunity for them to get stuck in it was clear and present
In a scene so atmospheric that a leading artist of the Renaissance was immediately called in to make an almost-impressionistit oil painting out of it the Austrians advanced on the Protestant Dragoons - but despite massing their fire the Austrians were still unable to sweep away the Protestant screen thus allowing the Protestants own foote to move up into a position to occupy the field
The Austrians started to put together a coherent line of troops
A sharp volley of carbines, and the Austrian dragoons were a man down - but far more significantly so were the Protestant Light Horse - giving the Austrian Hussars a great chance to take the flank what with the French horse already engaged frontally
Milllimeters short, the Hussars fail to catch the evading Right footers
This is shaping up nicely now
As the Austrian Dragoons fall back, the meat of the Polish/Austrian force moves forward to menace the Protestant Reiters
Two lines of foote start to trade musket balls.
Bloody hell! It's Chaos ! The Protestants, realising that their horse are in the wrong place, attempt a clever maneuver to get their cuirassier-types in front of the onrushing Poles - and to get their Reiters out of danger.
Dice all across the table steel themselves for a lot of action, and casulaty markers think about leaving the house early in preparation for a busy day at work
The game is so intense that there is even the possibility of a bit of Reiter on Reiter action as two sets of troops who normally look to skulk around the borders of the battle accidentally stumble across each other!
OMG! There it goes !! Two incompetent troop types locked in mortal combat - with such a lack of combat effectiveness there is a good chance both will lose
Or maybe not, as the Austrians roll well very well indeed for something ...
The Hussars have caused panic without causing any actual damage, and the Protestant horse mill around (see what I did there?) aimlessely as they try to gear up for a stout lancing from the Poles
The two lines of foote close in
The Ausrian casulaties are spread across the park, but the Teutonic Protestant ones are concentrated, creating a weak spot in their line.
The Austrians spot it, and charge home !
Oh Yes!!!!!! A full set from the Austrians at impact!
And bad news for the supportiung unit as it loses its final base to shooting. The Protestant line is unwravelling from this end ....
Embarassed by the British flags, the Protestants break and run sowing panic in the rest of their line
The pancerni play a non supporting role, and are the first to wade into the enemy Reiters
The Polish foot, having decisively won the shooting battle, close with the non-papist Germans to finish the job
A desparate rearguard action from a Protestant Tercio as they shore up the end of the line under continued Austrian pummelling
But elsewhere, red markers are sprouting behind the Protestant foote units as they start to break one by one...
Now nothing stands before the advancing Austrians as they push for the enemy baggage
The Protestant army has been gutted, and now is only present on it's flanks - and the Hussars are finally in a position to deliver the coupe de grace....
Everything goes in - and the Pancerni deliver the killer blow
The Result is a massive victory for Austro-Poland.
Post Match Summary
At last, a fully deserved victory for technology and the approriate application of science to the art of wafare. Being Asutrian is clearly better than being German.
Our allies the Poles also helped a little, but all under my inspired yet somewhat technocratic guidance which steered hem to the point of maximum effectiveness and application
I take great heart from this outcome, and I am sure that it heralds the start of another era in military history, which will be domminatd by the great Austrio-Austrian empire.
That'll be my empire, just in case you hadn't spotted it....
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
You lucky, lucky camply moustachioed buffoon, you clearly have no idea whatsoever as to what has just occurred, do you?
There was some small smidgeon of skill in there, like a slice of fresh turnip used to add a flavour of non-decay to a poor wretches stew of over-ripe vegetables and fetid dog-spurned meat, but it was not spotted by you, was it?
What happened here was twofold - firstly you had better matchups and wildly better shooting dice across the infantry confrontation - and you fortunately failed to mess that one up.... Secondly, through a combination of cowardice, incompetent deployment and a spectacular degree of dithering you somehow managed to accidentally not commit the Winged Hussars too early, as you did so spectacularly yesterday afternoon. This meant that your other troops had time to do their jobs, and the enemy also wasted a huge amount of time and generalship in attempting to positioin their best troops to face off against the threat (not the reality) of the flamboyant Poles - thus making your job easier elsewhere on the park.
So, by the time your "best troops" managed to get into combat, the game ws already won. Lets see if you can be so fortunately incompetent again in the last battle eh?
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