War and Conquest Round Two

On Tuesday Nick and I had another try at War and Conquest. During our initial game, I had expressed some dissatisfaction with the army lists available for the Age of El Cid. Well those spiffing chaps at Scarab have released some shiny new lists that fit the bill much better - download them from here -  thanks Rob!

The Almohavid lines

I picked a couple of armies at about 2300pts each:

Christian Spanish

• Characters: Rey, Captain, Personal Standard
• Cavalry: 12 Noble Knights, 12 Noble Cavalry, 12 Noble Cavalry, 9 Jinetes
• Infantry: 21 Guard Spearmen, 21 Peone Spearmen with 7 Archers, 21 Peone Spearmen with 7 Archers, 7 Skirmishers

The Christian lines

The Almoravids

• Characters: Warrior Emir, Sayyid, Imam, Personal Standard
• Cavalry: 9 Berber Horse,  9 Berber Horse, 
• Infantry: 21 Berber Spearmen with 7 Berber Archers, 21 Berber Spearmen with 7 Berber Archers, 21 Berber Spearmen with 7 Berber Archers, 21 Berber Spearmen with 7 Berber Archers, 21 Berber Spearmen with 7 Berber Archers

After watching the England vs Costa Rica game we sauntered on down to the club and had a bit of a late start. As it was getting on, we decided to play the standard 'Pitched Battle' scenario and deployed units in turn as per the old WAB way. We added a small wood to the table to break up the monotony. As usual Nick played the Amoravids and I played the Christians.

I formed a solid line of infantry with the guards in the centre, on their right a single unit of Caballeros held the line in skirmish, on the left a unit of Jinetes were supported by Caballeros and Caballeros Hildagos.

We were soon getting to grips, on my right both Nick and I capitalised on the 'skirmish/formed' rules for our horse and soon the Caballeros were dancing with the Berbers. In the centre the infantry advanced on each other. My Jinetes made a dash through the gap towards the Almoravid rear.

The cavalry continued to dance, with the Berbers getting the better of the missile duel but eventually the Caballeros charged home and scattered them. The Berber foot in the centre fell upon the poor Peones but the Spanish were performing well and soon one unit of Berbers had been routed and another was being ground down by the Guards.

With the Jinetes reformed in is rear and the clock calling time the Christians were at a definite advantage, only four turns had been played but it was time to put the toys away.

I have still not purchased a copy of the rules and really ought to as I keep relying on Nick to do the hard work, this game did not seem to flow a well as the previous one, maybe we were questioning things a bit to much. For example, when do you take a combat morale test, after combat or during the resolution phase. Also, if something routs during the resolution phase can it rally during the same end phase.

I forgot my camera, but it seems that my shiny new iPhone 5S takes much better pictures than the old iPhone 4. All the figures are mine and were painted by myself. The Christians are Perry Miniatures and the Almoravids are Gripping Beast.