Game 4 - The Great Horde of Makkan:
Prehistoric Baaaaahraini's? They cant be all that good, surely eh?
Thinking that they would probably have command and control problems, we dished out a couple of wooded hills in our defender capacity, assuming it would make maneuver harder for them, and break up their large formations.
AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGG-GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
All of a sudden it became horribly, horribly clear......
We were the mincemeat, and they were the grinder.
We were the freshly laid tarmac, and they were the dirty great steamroller driven by hairy-arsed Irish navvies
We were the Finnish non-league part-timers, and this was the UEFA Cup first round.
And they were Barcelona, still smarting at going out at the group stage of the Champions League to a dodgy refereeing decision away at Real Madrid
And we had just, unwittingly, helped them build the Nou Camp.
And the spectators were baying for our blood....
There was nothing for it, but to take a deep breath, hold our balls in our hands, gird our loins, and CHARGE!!!!!! Luckily I had a bald, gentle hill, positioned in our deployment area, on which I could construct a flimsy and ill prepared defense. Frantic leafing through the rules failed to show bowfire being reduced if the target is uphill (drat) so instead i had to rely on what all good and great generals do - LUCK!
In the meantime, Micks commands were still pursuing the "lets do something clever" strategy
In an outrageous display of dicing, we managed to just cop one casualty from shooting before the bowmen were in combat - and then they were decimated - 12 elements in one turn! But still they weren't demoralized ! Bugger!
But then came the Warband! how depressing when the enemy game plan is for you to succeed in breaking a 46 element command, just so they can burst through its tattered remnants, impetuously, for no pips, with another monster !!!
All hands were to the Assyrian pumps (or, I guess all hands were to the Archimedian Screws actually) Even the Cv (I) Haababaattippupupuopopodeah Cv (I) were thrown into the front line to fill the gaps as Auxilia and Bd (F) exploded under the Warband's charge..
Now was the time for decisive action, and boy did it come in a spectacular fashion, as Mick's 2 commands bravely and heroically committed the full force of a single Cv (S) chariot to flank some demoralized Bw (I)... Yes!
In the end, at the death, we finally, and only by a hairs whisker, nailed them. Both my commands were on their knees - both half an element from breaking, both surviving several quick kill opportunities every turn - but finally, finally nailing the Warband command, and with it the army - all 150+ elements of it !
An amazing 10-0 !
phew....