Another Round of FOG 3.0 in Lee's Basement

Managed to get a game of FOG 3.0 at 800 points against Joey Miller last week in Lee's Basement.  Joey opted for Ottoman Turks with a Serbian Ally and I played Crusaders circa 1101 AD.  I did not take notes but managed to snap a few pictures of the action.  Joey won the initiative, chose Developed and opted to take two open fields, and the compulsory village.  I took the compulsory enclosed field and an open.  Most of the terrain fell on his side of the table but I was able to move the village onto the center line.  He ended up moving first and the battle see-sawed back and forth for quite a while.  At one point, I had him within two points of breaking only to loose it in one turn when things went pair shaped.  Final score was 10 of 11 attrition points for the Ottomans to 12 for the Crusaders.  Multiple turns of the Crusader not in the center refusing to wheel onto the flank of the Ottoman cavalry helped me snatch defeat from jaws of victory.  Here are a few pictures of teh game as it progressed.

Initial deployment

This was the last picture I took as I got caught up in things.  The Ottoman cavalry at the top of the picture ended up getting routed off the table by my knights.  There were Janissaries in the open field at the top and they came our swinging eventually driving towards my camp and turning around and destroying one of my knights.  My spearmen in the center eventually made a CMT and attacked the Ottoman cavalry in the center but it was too little too late.  A great game and lots of fun.  Joey and I finished in around 2.5 hours.

Meanwhile at the other end of the table, Lee Cleveland with Burmese was fighting Vince Solfronk with Anglo-Irish.  The Anglo-Irish did not like the elephants that much.

FOG 300: Crusader vs Fatimid 1101 AD

Another adventure in Outremer this week with a detachment of the forces of the Holy City meeting a force of the Fatimid Caliph somewhere on the road to Acsalon.

Crusader List and Host:

Fatimid List and Host:

The Crusaders won the initiative and opted to fight in agricultural.  The Fatimid took the compulsory open field, a gentle hill and a gully.  The Crusaders took the open.  The open ended up being picked up with the gentle hill landing in the bottom right corner of the Fatimid deployment zone and the open field ending up on the side edge of the left side of the Fatimid zone and then shifted to the middle of the table.  The gully ended up 4" in and just off center of the Crusader side of the table.

The Fatimids deployed with the Ghilman deployed in line with the lancers to their right followed by the Red flagged Abid al-Shira and then the Green flagged Abid al-Shira slightly echeloned back towards the table edge in front of the Fatimid camp.

The Crusaders deployed with the Superior Green knights on their right followed by the Average Red knights in line in front of the camp and then the armoured spearmen anchored on the gully,  The Average Blue knights were deployed to the left of the gully.

Both armies deployed with a full view of the battlefield.

The Crusaders moved first with the Blue knights moving a full 5" forward and shifting 1 base towards the top of the board.  The spearmen moved 4" forward and shifted 1 base towards the Blue knights.  The Red knights and Green knights moved 5" forward and shifted 1 base towards the spearmen in their first move and then moved another 3.5" forward stopping just outside of 5" from the Fatimid line.  The Crusader general moved to the spearmen in Joint Action.  (Unfortunately, the Buzzard cam was shot out of the sky by roaming Bedouin so no picture survives of the Crusaders opening moves).

The Fatimid first turn opened with the Ghilman and Lancers moving as a group to 3" of the line of knights.  Both Fatimid foot BGs moved 3" straight ahead.  In the shooting phase, the Ghilman were only able to score 1 hit on the Red knights who shrugged it off.  With no melees to resolve, the turn proceeded to joint action to end the turn.

To open the Crusader 2nd turn the Green knights declared a charge forward and the Red knights rolled not to charge.  The Red knights failed the CMT not to charge and plowed straight ahead.  The Ghilman evaded 5" back and the Green knights charged forward 5" afterward.  The Red knights charged forward into the Fatimid lancers.  The Red knights scored 4 hits on impact to 3 from the Fatimid lancers (who were fighting as superior).  The Red knights survived their death roll but the Fatimid lancers suffered a base loss yet passed their cohesion test.  In the maneuver phase, the Red knights conformed to the Fatimid lancers and the Crusader spearmen moved 3" forward.  The Blue knights failed a CMT to expand while stationary and opted to hold in place.  In the melee phase, the Red knights scored 3 hits to 0 from the Fatimid lancers and 0 from the Abid al-Shira in overlap.  The Fatimid lancers survived their death roll but dropped to disrupted on their cohesion test.  There was nothing to do in joint action so the Crusader 2nd turn ended.

For the Fatimid 2nd turn, there were no charges to begin the turn.  In the manuever phase, the Ghilman BG turned around so they could fire at the knights bearing down on them.  The Green flagged Fatimid Foot advanced 3" straight towards the Blue knights.  In the shooting phase, the Ghilman managed 2 hits on the Green knights who disrupted on their cohesion test.  In the melee phase, the Red knights managed 3 hits on the Fatimid Lancers who scored none in return as did the foot in overlap.  The Fatimid lancers survived the death roll but fragmented on their cohesion test.  In the joint action phase, the Fatimid general could sense the end was near for the lancers and opted to move to the Ghilman.

The Crusader 3rd turn began with the Blue knights charging the Green flagged Fatimid foot.  The Green knights tried to hold but failed their CMT and charged into the Ghilman.  The Green knights should have listened to their commander as they managed only 1 hit to 4 on impact.  On the subsequent death roll, the Green knights lost a base and fragmented.  The Blue knights, however, beat the Green flagged Fatimid foot 2 hits to 1 who suffered a base loss to the death roll and disrupted.  In the maneuver phase, the Green knights expanded a base and the Ghilman matched by shifting a base to cover an existing overlap.  The Blue knights also expanded a base to get more dice on the Green flagged Fatimid foot.  There was no shooting to be had so into the melee phase the turn quickly moved.  The Blue knights scored 3 hits to 1 against the Green flagged Fatimid foot.  The Fatimid foot survived the death roll but then fragmented.  In the center, the Red knights scored 4 hits on the Fatimid lancers and took 2 back from the lancers and 0 from the Fatimid foot in overlap.  The Fatimid lancers survived their death roll but broke on their cohesion test.  The Green knights scored 1 hit to 2 from the Ghilman who had decided to fight with their general.  The Green knights lost a base to the death roll and then broke on their cohesion test.  The Red knights were too far away to care about the broken Green knights.  The Red flagged Fatimid foot in the center did not care about the breaking Fatimid lancers.  The Fatimid lancers routed 3" and were caught by the Red knights losing another base.  The Green knights routed 4" back.  The Ghilman chased after the Green knights and plowed into the Red knights.  In the joint action phase, the Green knights routed 5" and were then picked up as they were at 50% and broken.  The Fatimid lancers routed off the table.

The Fatimid had no charges to declare to begin their 3rd turn.  The Ghilman pursuit into the Red knights was the only impact to be resolved.  The Red knights scored 1 hit and took 2 from the Ghilman whose general was still fighting in the front rank.  The Fatimid general survived.  The Red knights went on to lose a base to the death roll and then disrupted.  In the maneuver phase, the Red knights shifted a base to cover an existing overlap and the Fatimid foot in the center advanced into the face of the armoured Crusader spearmen.   As there was no shooting, in the melee phase, the Ghilman and the Red knights scored 2 hits apiece.  The Fatimid leader survived the drawn combat.  However, the Fatimid foot facing the Blue knights managed only 2 hits to 4.  They suffered yet another base loss and then broke on their cohesion test.  The Fatimid foot in the center were within 3" but just like with the Fatimid lancers they did not care.  With the second Fatimid BG broken, the Fatimid army broke and the battle ended.

All told the game lasted approximately 55 minutes with a Crusader 4-2 victory.

FOG 300 AAR: Ayubid Egyptians vs Crusaders

Managed to find the time to get a quick game in Thursday night with John Martin.  He ran Ayubid Egyptians vs Early Crusaders.

Here is a shot of the Ayubid Host.  Two average Turcomans in the front.  The 2nd row is made up of the average Ghilman on the left and the average armoured lancers on the right.  The 3rd row is the superior Ghilman with the FC and the unfortified camp in the back.

Here is a shot of the Crusader host.  The two average knights have flags and are on the right hand in the center.  The superior knights are the green and yellow ones on the left.  The armoured spearmen are behind the knights.  The general is an FC and the unfortified camp is in the back.

The Ayubids won the initiative and opted for Hilly.  The Crusaders took the compulsory hill and a broken.  The Ayubids took a broken and a brush.  The compulsory hill and his broken fell on his side of the table.  His brush fell in my middle.  My broken could not fit on his side edge and was discarded.

The Ayubids deployed with the superior Ghilman on the left end of the line partially on the hill.  The average Ghilman and one Turcoman deployed on the other end of the hill.  The remaining light horse Turcomans covered his center with the armoured lancers next to them.

The Crusaders deployed the armoured spearmen in front of the camp.  The two average knights were deployed stretching to the left from the brush in the center of the table.  The superior knights deployed in line at the end of the Crusader front.

The Ayubids had to move first.  The armoured lancers moved straight forward.  The two light horse Turcomans moved toward the center in an effort to get ready for shooting at the average knights.  Both Ghilman moved their full move forward. (No picture).

The Crusaders moved both average knights straight forward 5".  The Superior knights moved 5" forward with a slight wheel to their left.  the General moved to the center average knights.  The Ayubid shooting was poor at best.

The Ayubids expanded the average Ghilman into a line and moved up to within 3" of the superior knights.  The superior Ghilman moved up on the end of the Ayubid line to also be able to shoot at the superior knights.  The center Turcomans wheeled until they were pinned by the center knights to get a die on the superior knights as well.  The other Turcomans moved up a bit to shoot at the average knights next to the brush.  The armoured lancers turned 90 anticipating the knights charging.  In the shooting phase, the Ayubids threw a lot of dice at the superior knights but to no effect.

The Crusaders charged in their turn with all of the knights.  Both Turcoman light horse evaded as did the average Ghilman.  The superior knights made contact with the superior Ghilman with 1 base so there was only one impact contact.  The resulting impact resulted in the Ghilman disrupting.  After conforming the superior knights shifted a base to cover the front of the Ghilman so 3 bases were fighting.  The center average knights rolled down and only charged 3" while the average Ghilman evaded 5".  The center Turcoman evaded 9" and stopped just short of the table edge.  The other Turcoman evaded 7" stopping in front of the Ayubid camp.The Crusader spearmen moved up 4" to stay within 8" to give support where needed.  In the melee phase, the superior knights beat the superior Ghilman again dropping them to fragmented.

To start the next Ayubid turn, both Turcomans moved up to be in position to shoot the knights closest to the brush.  The average Ghilman turned around and measured their options realizing too late that none of their bases were entirely on the hill.  The armoured lancers stayed put.  In the shooting phase, the Turcomans proved inept with their bows.  The average Ghilman were just outside of 3" of the superior knights.  In the melee phase, the superior knights beat the superior Ghilman who routed off the table.  The superior knights pursued stopping at the table edge causing the average Ghilman to evade to the back side of the hill.  In joint action, the Ayubid general moved to behind the center Turcoman hoping to make it to the average Ghilman before it was too late.

Unfortunately, no picture survived of the final defeat of the Ayubids but this is how it unfurled.  The superior knights charged dropping a base back to keep from going off the table edge.  The average Ghilman were less than 3" from the table edge and evaded off board.  The average knights next to the brush charged the Turcomans in front of them.  It just so happened that by charging straight ahead they would clip the front corner of the Ayubid lancers who were within 5" so they did not need a variable move roll.  The Turcomans, however, evaded off the table.  At impact, the average knights, with general attached, managed to roll about as bad as you could rolling 1 hit and a 2 and a 3.  The Ayubid lancers hit twice.  Luckily, the Crusader general survived and the knights passed their cohesion test.  At the end of the impact phase, the Ayubid army was broken with 5 attrition points down to 0.

We finished the game in less than 1 hour and a half.  We hope to make this a weekly event with 1 or 2 games every week going forward.  Until next time...

Cold Iron V FOG Tournament Page is Live

List the link below to go to the Cold Iron V Field of Glory Tournament page.

Cold Iron V

Later Plantagenet vs Italian Condotta - 11.24.19

Managed to get a quick 800 point game in of FOG at Lee's Basement vs Joey Miller this past weekend.  Unfortunately I only managed to get some pictures form the early rounds as I got caught up in the action.

I won the initiative and opted to play in Hilly as I wanted to restrict the amount of open ground.  Joey ended up with two brushes and a broken (in the center of the picture below) on his side of the table.  He deployed with an unarmored crossbow cavalry at the bottom followed by two 12 packs of pike, an 8 pack of billmen (in the broken), followed by two 6 packs of average knights deployed in line.  Behind his front, he had a 6 pack of crossbow by his camp and a 4 pack of superior knights behind the average knights.   Joey deployed a 6 stand BG of hand gunners in front of his line. Joey opted for 4 OTCs to round out his army.

I had a gentle hill on my left with a piece of broken in front of it.  A marsh came next and then there was a gentle hill next to an impassable at the top of the table.  I deployed two ambush markers as dummies:  one in the broken terrain and one in the marsh.  My line deployed with a 6 pack of Gascon Crossbow followed by an 8 pack of longbow then a 6 pack of Superior dismounted men-at-arms, a 4 pack of average English "Spearmen", two more 8 packs of longbow, another 6 pack of superior dismounted men-at-arms, an 8 stand longbow on the hill and a 4 stand Gascon mounted Knight BG in the gap between the hill and the impassable.  6 stands of Irish Kerns were deployed in front of my center and 6 stands of Gascon Brigans were deployed in front of my camp.  I went with an FC and two OTCs to command my army.

I moved first and started slowly moving my troops forward.

Joey was slowed by the terrain on his right so he tried to refuse it to some extent.  He angled his hand gunners in the center as they advanced hopping to disrupt any advance on my part.  I did only minor movements in the center but advanced the mounted knights towards his left wing on one end of my line and angled my crossbow and bottom longbow forward to bring future fire onto his mounted crossbow.

Unfortunately below is the last picture I managed before becoming consumed by the battle.  We were in for several rounds of ineffectual missile fire from both sides before Joey launched a charge pretty much across the whole front.

I managed to reduce the mounted crossbow to 3 stands due to fire but he charged me anyway and eventually routed my Gascon crossbow.  In the center, both side's light foot units pulled back behind the front lines as the meat grinder began.  Joey would eventually bring his reserve crossbow up to guard the right flank of the pike at the bottom but when the pike were destroyed by the superior men-at-arms they died on their polearms when the men-at-arms pursued into them.  Joey was able to destroy both longbow BGs in the center and the superior men-at-arms next to the hill.  Unfortunately, the billmen had been reduced to fragmented and pursued to within charge range of my reserve Brigans.  At the top, the Gascon knights destroyed one 6 pack of Italian Knights and then caught the Italian Superior Knights in a kinked column.  The Gascon knights would eventually charge them and drop them to 75% after impact and melee and them with a general.  The reserve Brigans meanwhile charged the fragmented Italian Billmen who broke from being charged.  The Brigans survived barreling into one file of the remaining Italian Pike thus ending the game in around 2 hours and 45 minutes with the English on top but down 8 attrition points.

If my shooting with longbow ever improves, they will be a force to be reckoned with.  We hope to get another game in before Christmas and hopefully, I will take pictures throughout the game.

The Anguish of the North

With our King somewhere on the continent, the perfidious French have spread their gold throughout the north.  Not seven days ago the lord Archbishop, William de la Zouche, marched north with the immediate forces of Yorkshire to join with Lord Ralph Neville to face the bastard Scots under William Douglas. I was to follow with additional troops of the shire...

Everything has changed now...

Yesterday, a messenger brought word that Ravenspur & Hull have fallen to a force of Danes.  Danes!!!  A force under their King, Valdemar IV, marches on Wressle with York as their obvious destination.  I have sent riders after the Archbishop but I doubt he will be be able to act in time.  As the High Sheriff of Yorkshire, I will bring the forces here at York south to confront the Danish invaders.

The host and list of the Yorkshire defenders:

The host and list of the invading Danes:

The experience of the Danish King allowed him to pick the open heath on the agricultural road from Hull southwest of Wressle.  The defending English opted to place the compulsory open field, an enclosed field and a gentle hill but the Danish attackers removed the gentle hill and both fields fell on the Danish side of the table.

The Danish deployed with the blue vested select levy on the right of their line partly in the open field with the red vested select levy only two files wide with the Feudal Knights beside the enclosed field.  The Danish king decided to deploy with the red levy just behind the knights.

(a close up of the Danish king behind the lines)

The English deployed with veteran longbow (i.e. those with swords) on each end of their line with the armoured retainers in the left center and the dismounted men-at-arms in the right center.  The under equipped longbow deployed behind the left and center of the English line.  Sir Thomas de Rokeby deployed with the men-at-arms to begin the struggle.

(a close up of Sir Thomas behind the men-at-arms--okay its Ralph Neville but I have not painted Sir Thomas)

The ire of the English troops being up, the English were ready first but decided to allow the Danish invaders to move on them first.  Thus ended the English 1st turn.

The Danish 1st turn witnessed the blue levy move 3" forward and shift 1 base to their right.  The knights moved 4" forward and shifted one base to their left.  The red levy (and the Danish king) expanded 1 file and advanced 1" on their first move and then 2" to come level with the blue levy on their second move.  At this point, no one was in bow range, so the turn ended.

The English opted to remain in place for their 2nd turn but did try to move the reserve longbow but failed a CMT to turn 90 to the left of the English line.

For the Danish 2nd turn, the knights remained stationary and expanded two bases to their left.  The red levy expanded 1 base and advanced 1" to come level with the knights.  The blue levy also advanced 1" to conform with the remainder of the Danish line.  The Danish king remained with the red levy in the center.  With no one in bow range, the turn ended.

For the English 3rd turn, the rear longbow passed a CMT and turned 90 to their left.  The remainder of the English line moved 1" forward.  Still being out of missile range the turn ended.

The Danish king, not wanting to dally, advanced all units 3" forward.  This move brought the longbow and crossbow within range.  The left English longbow BG scored 2 hits to the blue levy who shrugged off the hits and managed nothing in return.  The red levy could not bring enough dice to bear at long range to be effective while the right English longbow managed 2 hits on the knights who also shrugged off the arrow fire.  With nothing else to do, the Danish 3rd turn came to a close.

For the English 4th turn, the rear longbow moved 4" towards the left of the English line. Neither sides' missile fire was effective so the English 4th turn came to an end.

The Danish king felt the need to come to grips quickly in hopes of reducing the effect of the longbow arrow storm (and in the campaign context, to take advantage of the Archbishop of York's absence in the north) and decided to continue his advance in turn 4.  The entire line advanced 3" forward.  Both Danish levy units fired with gusto but to no avail as their crossbows had no effect on the stationary English.  The English, on the other hand, scored 3 hits on the blue levy and 2 hits on the knights.  Luckily for the Danes, the hits caused no ill effects and, after Sir Thomas moved to the longbow BG on the right end of the English line, the turn ended.

For the English 5th turn, the front English line remained in place while the rear longbow wheeled towards the end of the English line ending in a kinked column.  In the shooting phase, the blue levy scored 3 hits on the longbow to their front who disrupted from the crossbow bolts.  The return fire was negligible. The red levy and the longbow on the right end of the English line only managed 1 hit each to no effect.

To start the Danish 5th turn, the Danish king dipped his flag and the entire line charged ahead.  Sir Thomas joined the front rank of the left end longbow unit while the Danish King decided to remain in the rear ranks of the red levy in the center of the Danish line and not fight.  The blue levy scored 11 hits on the left longbow unit but none against the retainers in the center.  In return, the blue levy suffered 0 hits from the longbow but 3 from the retainers.  The red levy scored 4 hits on the retainers and 2 on the men-at-arms.  In return, the red levy took 2 from the retainers and 1 from the men-at-arms.  The knights scored 1 on the men-at-arms and 5 on the longbow on the right.  In return, the knights suffered 3 hits from the men-at-arms and 1 from the longbow.  Sir Thomas survived fighting in the front rank.  The left longbow BG suffered two bases lost from hits and then doubled dropped to broken on the cohesion test.  The retainers in the center of the English line suffers no base loses and rolled out of cohesion.  The men-at-arms suffered a base loss but won their impact.  The right longbow managed a draw against the knights but lost a base to hits.  The retainers looked with disdain at the fleeing longbow and carried on while the rear longbow were too busy trying to finish their wheel to worry when the longbow to their front broke (for the moment).  The broken longbow rolled long and crashed through the longbow behind them who dropped to fragmented.  On the Danish side, the blue levy lost a base due to hits.  The red levy survived with no loses but the knights lost 2 bases yet rolled a 12 on cohesion and survived.   The Danish blue levy could not pursue as they were still hung up on the retainers.  In the maneuver phase, the Danish line conformed as much as possible with only one file of the blue levy still fighting the English retainers.  There was no shooting on any worth in the shooting so into the melee phase the turn went.  The Danish knights only managed 1 hit to the longbow to their front who gave one back for a draw.  The red levy in the center of the Danish line did 3 hits each to the retainers and men-at-arms but took 4 total in return.  The blue levy gave 3 to the retainers and took 1 in return.  The English men-at-arms lost a base to hits and dropped to disrupted.  The English retainers lost a base to hits but rolled out of their cohesion test.  The The Danish king opted to remain where he was and watch events unfold while Sir Thomas was still fighting in the front rank so the turn ended.

The English 6th turn arrived and their situation was getting desperate.  The fragmented longbow moved 3" forward allowing them to come out of their kink and moved them out of arc of most of the Danish blue levy whose missile fire on the column was woeful.  In melee, the English retainers managed 1 hit total on the Danish red levy and 0 on the blue levy but suffered 5 in return.  The men-at-arms scored a single hit on the red levy taking 2 in return.  The longbow facing the Danish knights managed 3 hits and took 4 in return.  Sir Thomas survived another round of melee.  The English retainers lost a base to the hits and then fragmented on cohesion.  The English men-at-arms also suffered a base loss to hits and fragmented as well.  The longbow suffered a base loss from hits but passed their cohesion test.  The Danish knights managed to roll a 1 for their death roll auto breaking.  The Danish red levy to their right disrupted from seeing the knights break.  In their rout, the knights rolled short and were caught by the longbow in pursuit removing their last base.  At the end of the melee phase, the English stood at 5 attrition points to 2 ending the battle.  

Sir Thomas de Rokeby led the regard of longbow as the Danes consolidated on the field.  Hopefully the walls of Wressle will hold them up long enough for you to organize the defenses of York...

Thus ended the first test battle of the "War on the Doorstep" HYW campaign.  Incidentally, the Danes will only be able to field only 1/2 the max of Superior Knights as the knight BG was destroyed completely on the table in this fight.  I will try out the Victory Ripple and siege rules this week and see what happens next in the campaign.  Until then, here are a few close ups of King Valdemar IV and the Danish Knights.  All are Old Glory 15s and the shields are handpainted.  The flags were downloaded off a Danish site years ago and are no longer available that I am aware of.

New GCC Content Added

The GCC Archives Page has been updated with 2 more volumes of the GCC Monthly Uploaded.  Unfortunately, 2015-2016 is missing the April and May editions but I will keep looking.

GCC Archives