Field of Glory Renaissance in Roll Call 2012
Early Ottoman Turks vs Caroline Imperialist
Game 1 Early Ottoman Turks vs Later Caroline Imperialist
Game 2 Early Ottoman Turks vs Tatar
Game 3 Early Ottoman Turks vs Irish
Game 4 Early Ottoman Turks vs Caroline Imperialist
The lists for the Early Ottoman Turks and Caroline Imperialist from this game, as well as all the other lists from the games at Roll Call can be seen here in the FoGR Wiki.
The opponent for the last game was a repeat of the first - perhaps the Ottomans would be able to repeat their initial success and come out of the competition with a vaguely creditable 50/50 record?
Review of the Caroline Imperialist list by Madaxeman.com's two resident experts, Fernando and Philip
This time however the terrain was a lot less favourable - nothing for the Ottoman infantry to hide in, and both flanks closed down by fields and forests, reducing the freedom of movement of the Ottoman Sipahis as well. The Caroline Imperialists were also a somewhat different composition, with two monstrous Superior Tercios and a good thick wedge of cavalry on the wide
The Ottomans were stuck between making an attack their Sipahis may not be able to press home and a defence that they were not really geared up to undertake. It would therefore be all about the guns, and whether they could find targets sufficiently quickly to erode the Imperialist army before it closed to combat distance
With 4-deep Tercios and enemy Horse in front of them, the Heavy and Medium batteries on the Ottoman right felt relatively confident - lots of targets they could hit on a score of 4, and with both batteries in place that should stack up to an enemy base loss every couple of turns or better
The Tercios were a sight to behold, especially as the individual elements were all magnetically mounted on a carefully cut unit sized base, ensuring the formation stayed coherent at all times. Impressive in any situation, but especially if you were sat on a horse and in an Ottoman uniform (if the Ottomans had had uniforms that is).
The Austrian Horse, intimidated by the size of the Ottoman guns (and presumably the dirty pigeons too) scooted off out of firing arc and hid behind a wood. They had no real role to play in this game.
The Austrian army moved forward slowly - the combination of Horse, Foote and Skirmishers proved challenging for the Imperialist general to co-ordinate, and the whole was almost slower than the sum of its parts - although quite what the Ottomans could do against such a wall of nasty stuff was still a subject for much debate in the Ottoman camp
The Tercio on the Ottoman right suffered its first base loss as the artillery struck home. Only another 200 bases to go before the 16-strong superior unit broke! Behind them, Gendarmes manoeuvred gingerly - they knew they were a lot more at risk from the artillery park
With the Imperialist centre seemingly defended by light foot and some carbine-armed Reiters, the Ottomans adopted the traditional and unsuccessful tactic of rushing lots of medium foot and mounted for the tint patch of uneven terrain that was proving such a psychological obstacle to the Imperialist battle line. Quite what they would do when they got there was unclear, but it was A Plan, and one they could Execute With Alacrity!
The Turkish lancers were pressed into action as a makeshift skirmish screen, intimidating the Austrian skirmishers by the threat of a suicidal charge against the light foot to their front, but not materially slowing the ponderous Austrian formation in any way, shape or form.
It was starting to look as if the Ottomans had conjured a plan, as if by the process of Brownian motion. The right flank advance of the Austrians would now have to drive past the Turkish line forming in the middle of the park, its northern flank protected by the rough going. The Turks were too big a threat for the Austrians to ignore, but if they wheeled In to face the Ottomans, they would expose a flank to the waiting Turkish horse and guns. Hmmm….
The Turks, emboldened by this facsimile of military competence, reinforced their position and extended their lines, moving Janissaries up into the rough going and bringing in their reserves of arquebusiers and supporting bowmen as the Austrians ponderously drove forward. A column of Sipahis also accompanied the Janissaries and intended to support their advance by driving off the Austrian light foot and striking through the Austrian centre, splitting the Imperialist army.
The Austrian centre was almost non-existent, with only a unit of rather unusual lancer armed horse and some skirmishers in place to stop the crème of the Ottoman army advancing towards the rear echelons of the Austrian Army. This looked like an opportunity…
Elsewhere, on the left flank of the Ottomans, Sipahis, Light Horse and more Janissaries were staying well out of danger and were sneaking, guerrilla style, through the foothills of the jumble of terrain on the left flank, again hoping to get round the back of the Imperialist army and then do some as yet unspecified nasty things to the Imperialist rear.
The Austrian Tercios continued to creep forward, uncaring as to the rather impotent threat the waiting Ottoman Sipahi force night represented to their lack of flanks. Frankly, unless Chuck Norris was riding a horse in one of one of the Ottoman Sipahi units, the Tercios may as well have been behind a 20 foot high concrete wall riding in an armoured train with several large mattresses fastened to its outside by bungee cords for the all the potential threat the Ottomans posed to them.
Field of Glory hint- Only Chuck Norris can attack an Early Tercio in the flank.
As the Ottomans pushed troops forward to occupy the strategically significant rough terrain, they came under withering fore from all sides as the skirmishers and sideways-shooting Tercios opened up on the Sipahis - who lost 2 bases in quick succession, rather blunting the Ottomans rapier-like attack.
Things were better on the left, as the Ottomans here were wisely staying well out of arquebus range of the Imperialist forces. Of course, at some point the Ottomans knew they might have to get a bit closer as they would struggle to do much damage without either shooting at or fighting the enemy, but for the time being the "manoeuvre" part of the plan was working relatively well.
The advancing Tercio would by now be almost totally outflanked if it actually had any flanks to out flank. The Ottomans have managed to arrange their ideal combination of forces against it, with the HF Voynuks ready to fight, and the arquebusiers also in the mix, both getting rear support from the Azab bowmen. The push down the middle has somewhat stalled, as the Janissaries now join the Sipahis in losing bases - and in any case, are unsure how they actually leave terrain when faced by cavalry lancers to their front?
With nothing really happening on the extreme right, more Sipahis feed into the middle looking for something to do. There is going to be a lot of horseflesh milling around fairly soon, but quite what it will do is still somewhat unclear…
The left flank for the Ottomans has now extended almost to the enemy base edge, prompting the Ottomans to think about how and when they might fancy co-ordinating an attack on the Imperialist army as the multiple units on the Ottoman team can now converge on any of the unappealing and rather tough targets to their new front.
Sipahis stream forward, braving the wrath of the Austrian guns - and losing cohesion in the process. The Austrians 2 guns are more effective than the Ottomans 6 as of now!
The Austrians, emboldened by the lack of boldness shown by the Janissaries, move up more high quality mounted units to impose their will on the rough ground. The Janissaries start to find their arrows bouncing harmlessly off the Fully Armoured Austrian mounted noblemen… this clever strategic seizing of position is turning out to be just as rubbish as it was in the second game…
The deadly Austrian artillery park strikes home again! Sipahis go fragmented, with not a general in sight to rescue them…
Battered by shooting from all sides, the already severely eroded Sipahi unit in the middle breaks and flees. The Ottoman spear point is now reduced to an understrength Janissary unit that is not so much occupying terrain, as being marooned within it
The Tercio charges home against the fully formed Ottoman line - the Pike and Shotte bases slide forward into contact, exposing their template movement base as they charge home
The initial combat is good for the Ottomans, as the Tercio rolls spectacularly badly and loses out on hits. The Ottomans may be able to drag down this incredible beast after all!
With the Tercio losing bases the two lines of men close up and start to trade blows at close range - will the size and quality of the Imperialist win out, or is there an opportunity for the combination of Ottoman units to erode the already eroded Tercio still further?
On the other hand, the advance of the Tercio, and the flight of the Sipahis has left the Janissaries badly exposed and the emboldened Austrian mounted close in on them from all sides. Being in the Rough will offer little defence to a flank charge from Gendarmes..
Things are nip and tuck in the infantry battle, but the Tercio is still grinding down the Azab arquebusier unit at an alarming rate even as the Voynuks stand firm.
The Azabs decide that bring ground down is bad for their morale, and despite an excellent death roll a double-1 in cohesion sees then drop immediately to FRAGGED. It will be a long, lucky way back from here if they are to play much further part in this battle…
A Mikes Models Gendarme General takes a small degree of satisfaction as he drives forward the other Tercio on the other flank. One base loss is feels like a win for the Ottomans, but is barely noticed by the Imperialists
Field of Glory hint- Rules Hint - Mikes Models figures are squat, dumpy, shorter than almost any other figure on the market today, no longer made except by special request and often historically inaccurate. And every Renaissance wargamer has literally thousands of them and loves every single last one of them as if they were his own flesh and blood.
Unsurprisingly, the Azab arquebusiers break and flee, leaving the Voynuks to take on the beast alone. With the Janissaries in the terrain starting to lose cohesion in their battle against the Gendarmes, it seems that there is unlikely to be a fairy-tale ending to this story ..
Almost all of the vaguely competent Ottoman units on the left are ganging up on the Imperialist Tercio, but it laughs off the arrows and cannonballs, and grinds forwards towards hand to hand combat
The end is nigh for the Janissaries. Post-high medieval uber-technology is putting paid to Turkish slavery and silk robes, as the Janissaries contemplate the prospect of a long sojourn back in the toy soldiers tin based on their rather unimpressive outing over the course of the weekend.
Quite a few of the Janissaries make it immediately back into the box, as they are practically wiped out in combat and pursuit by the Imperialist mounted attack
Struggling for ideas, thinking of an early exit onto the motorway and failing several complex move tests in their attempt to get away, the Ottomans decide to take on the other Tercio on the left. Clearly the lack of success on the right has not gotten through to these outliers….
In a rather unimpressive round of combat, the two Ottoman units suffer base losses and cohesion drops. This will not end well for the boys from Ankara
It is not ending well for the boys from wherever Voynuks come from (Voynukia? Voiynukistan?). The other Tercio has now crushed all opposition, and the Voynuks will be lucky to have any bases left on table to rout with
In a move of almost unimaginable incompetence, the supporting Azab archers find they have positioned themselves so the pursuing Tercio can clatter into them. Unarmoured Average bowmen with no hand weapons against the best and most successful unit on the table. Nice, if you are an Austrian.
Over in the far distance, some of the as yet unengaged Sipahi units are milling around aimlessly, trying to work out what they might be able to do against the rear echelons of the Austrian army - and coming up with a pretty thin set of answers.
On the far right, having been bolstered back to coherence yet more Sipahi decide that trying to intimidate a unit of harquebusiers and think about running down the enemy guns is a good way to disassociate themselves from the debacle taking place in the middle of the field. Whether it will have any meaningful impact on the game is not really even worthy of debate, but it will make them feel better anyway.
The Tercio on the Ottoman left is about to beat the other unit of Janissaries quite comfortably…
The confidently made prediction comes true..
The Sipahis on the Ottoman left suffer cohesion loss simply by getting vaguely close to the Austrian horse. Shooting may be involved in some way as well, but it was probably not necessary - it seems the mere smell of a well-oiled piece of Teutonic gunpowder based technology is enough to send the Ottomans into paroxysms of despair.
The Azab bowmen last about as long as could be expected, and the middle of the field is rendered utterly free of Ottoman troops. The Austrians take a deep breath and look around themselves, slightly shocked by the scale and speed of the cataclysm they have wreaked on the Turkish forces.
With only a handful of half-baked units still in play, the Ottoman army slips to a massive defeat.
The result is a staggering 22-3 loss for the Ottomans.
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 Early Ottoman Turks Commander
Well, haweay now, and even though I am the supreme leader of an empire on which tha' sun only ever sets occasionally like, even I must admit to being rather humbled by the poor performance of my lads, both the loyal subjects and the even more loyal bonded slave warriors in this, the fourth and thank Allah and St James, last game of this rather harrowing weekend of Man-on-Geordie combat
I was hooppping that the losses of the previous games was to be a mere aberration like, confounded by the odd nature of the armies we was facin', but it turned out that the first game was a spot 'o luck and this one was proving that normal service involves relegation to the Fizzy Pop league of military competence.
I think a' least we did manoeuver well, and got down the wings and crossed the ball well into dangerous areas, but once we were there woah strikers proved to me more Xisco than Malcolm MacDonald.
I think we will go awaeah and ha'e a rethink on how best to construct woah Ottoman army from here, and maybe the combined arms approach will be sacrificed in favour of a proper all mounted option next time. Or maybe they will just stay in the box as the requirement to have more average cavalry than any other army anywhere in any other book is a hamstringing too far?
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
Thou greasy dismal-dreaming punk! What depths of despair did compel you to attempt to shoot yourself in the Foote so emphatically in this shambolic façade of military ignominy?
Your army has no answer to the Superior Tercio, it is a formation which is more akin to a mobile mountain embedded with fortresses than an opponent which you could aspire to ever best in manual combat - yet your entire plan appeared to hinge on taking on these behemoths and hoping through that to bring down the enemy.
How many times do I need to repeat, take on the enemy's worst troops with your best ones, not their best troops with you best ones! Your only defence here is that against the force of the Tercio, your army lacked anything which could even be worthy of the description "best" - it was all simply cannon fodder of the lowest grade so at least you have the possibility to claim delaying actions in your feeble attempts to muzzle the beasts. If only you had a plan to do anything else….
I am singularly unimpressed with the Ottoman army, especially in the half hearted format you chose which was ne'er fish nor foul, neither a mounted force nor an infantry army. When married with your lack of planning, competence and practice it became a recipe for unmitigated disaster.
I hope these colourful men never darken and besmirch these pages again…
That's the end - so why not go back to the Match Reports Index and read some more reports?
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Game 1 Early Ottoman Turks vs Later Caroline Imperialist
Game 2 Early Ottoman Turks vs Tatar
Game 3 Early Ottoman Turks vs Irish
Game 4 Early Ottoman Turks vs Caroline Imperialist
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