War Unleashed battle no. 2

So in this battle, I'm happy to say we could use Figatures - these are used to represent your Unit on the Terrain Map and are free to download and assemble from our website - warriorelite.com

We each had 3 Units. I, again, was the Ang and Ash played as the Dzaa.

Ang Unit Tactics

This battle I opted to have a Unit of Marsh Riders, one Unit made up of a rank of Archers and 2 ranks of ShieldMaidens and one Unit made up of two ranks of Archers and one rank of ShieldMaidens.

All my units could fire at ballistic range and charge range. Due to their rate of fire and being able to fire from rearward ranks, the infantry units also had a conflict bonus of 3 - this means that win, lose or draw the round, if my conflict bonus is higher than my opponent, I would do damage to him. I knew this would be the case against the Dzaa.

So my plan was to keep the Dzaa at range.

Dzaa Unit Tactics

Ash opted for a unit of cavalry, a unit made up of one rank of gunners and two ranks of swords and a unit made up of one rank of swords and two ranks of gunners.

The unit with two sword ranks and one gunner could form a shield cover at ballistic range which would absorb 10 damage. His other infantry unit was set up to compete with the Ang archers until they could close in when he planned to unleash the cavalry.

The total army cost of the Dzaa units was less than the Ang so Ash gained himself a higher Combat Master - champion.

The Dzaa's aim was to close and engage in hand to hand as soon as possible.

The Battlefield

The battle was to fought over terrain dominated by woods. Dotted amongst the woods were clearings. The woods closest to the centre of the battlefield were dense enough to prevent a unit creating a unit composition - i.e. this would prevent the Dzaa swords from creating their shield cover.

Mounted troops could take advantage of the clearings as their speed would carry them over these terrain positions in one go - unlike the infantry where it would take them two goes to accomplish this.

The Battle Begins

During the 'Deployment Phase' both of us got two Vanguard Units - these can make a free move before other units. I also got a Flanking Unit. A flanking unit isn't placed onto the battlefield until after the third duration but can be brought on from any edge bar your opponent.

So after initial deployment and first moves, three Dzaa units faces off against two Ang units.

The Battle Unfolds

I held my Ang units back, forcing Ash to bring his Dzaa units on. After the third Duration I brought my unit of Marsh Riders - my flanking unit - on from one edge of the battlefield which enabled me to combine two of my units - indicated in the above image. This gave me a distinct advantage.

After we had exchanged arrows and bullets for a Duration I allowed the Dzaa to close in to the charge combat level. Arrows, throwing axes and bullets flew.

The remainder of the battle was fought in this position. I kept playing the 'Retreat' and 'Hold' Stratagems to enable me to remain at the charge combat level as often as possible. Why? Because the Dzaa swords can't use their shield cover at that range so can't reduce damage they take. Plus, I had my conflict bonus which dealt 3 damage every round - whether I won, drew or lost the round. This tactic won me the battle.

To the Winner the Spoils

Revenge was mine! My tactics won through. Having a flanking unit at the beginning made Ash wary of his army movement and as a result I capitalised by combining units. Drawing the Dzaa to the charge combat level and keeping them at that range as long as possible was also key - doing little bits of damage every round soon mounted up.

The Dzaa shield infantry - such as swords or spears - are weakest at the charge. At ballistic they can reduce damage by 10 as previously noted and in melee they can form a shield wall and reduce damage taken by 5. So to defeat them, you keep them at charge . . . if you can!

Other Actions of Note

Ash did manage to avoid the woods that countered his unit formations and also brought the 'Terrain Dominance' Stratagem card into play. This prevented me from benefiting from the ability to use woods to guard - basically, this gives you the opportunity to use the woods like a shield and take no damage when you lose a round. I obviously countered this as soon as possible.

Ash kept his cavalry out of harm until we closed and exploited a clearing on the battlefield to charge in and engage my marsh riders. When these units came together at melee he gained the attack bonus for extra impetus which wiped out one of my marsh rider ranks in a single round!! Ash's cavalry fared well and were winning their unit vs. unit fight but overall it wasn't enough.