Scenario set-up.
Another Monday Tuesday Night game at T’s;
another Commands & Colors: Medieval (GMT Games 2019) Crusades (GMT Games, 2024) scenario. This time we visited the field of Sarmada, site
of the Battle of Ager Sanguinis ([the] Field of Blood). T
took his traditional role the Crusaders, in this case Roger of Salerno, in an incursion
that took place in the brief lull between the formal First and Second Crusades,
while I played the Artuqid Turk defenders, under the leadership of Il-Ghazi.
The scenario covers a portion of the situation of
battle. For background; after a couple of years of uneasy peace in the region
following the death of Ridwan of Aleppo in 1113, Roger captured Azaz in
1118, which left Aleppo vulnerable to attack. Il-Ghazi, under whose
rule Aleppo had fallen at Ridwan’s demise, recognised the danger facing the
city, and had crossed the Euphrates River with his army, making camp less than
a day’s ride south of Aleppo. There he was to wait for another contingent of
the supporters under Toghtekin of Damascus, but he
received intelligence of Roger being on the move.
Not a bad opening hand.
The night before the battle, Il-Ghazi encircled the Crusader
camp, which only realised their predicament at first light. The only avenue
that offered a chance of survival for Roger and his men was to attempt to break
through the envelopment. This scenario reflects that attempt to escape through
the Artuqid lines.
The Artuqid move first in the Sarmada scenario. I opened with
an Order Medium Troops, which saw five of my Medium Cavalry descend on T’s Turcopole
mounted archers on his Left flank (my Right), and the Medium Cavalry vanguard on
his Centre/Right. The Retreat and Panic rule is in play for the Crusaders in
this scenario, and this, rather than straight combat, led to my first Banner of
the game, with both Turcopole Cavalry fleeing and breaking, one completely lost
and the other reduced to half strength. Pressing their advantage, the brave Medium
Cavalry took on a Knight Cavalry unit under the leadership of Robert of St Lo.
Though reduced, Robert’s men stood firm against the onslaught. On my left, my
second banner was temporarily denied me as a Crusader Medium Cavalry unit weathered
my cruel attacks, trading nearly man for man. In response, the Crusaders
adjusted their ranks but didn’t engage.
Taking the fight to the enemy: five Medium Cavalry descend
on the Crusader front line.
My second order was to five Light units, none of
which needed to move to be able to strike with their bows; this winnowed down some
of T’s forces by a block or two, particularly his Right. T Responded with a Leader
Right Section card that drove into my thinner Left and earned his first banner for
the game.
Robert of St Lo valiantly held his ground.
While the Dice god seems to have forgiven T for his past infraction, the god of the Cards still takes umbrage, dealing my opponent unhelpful hands. Nearly all of T’s efforts too place in the centre, which by the third turn I’d begun to hollow out.
The Card god continued to smile down on me, offering a useful card for every turn in the action. But those who the gods would cast down, they first build up; I tried to save myself the indignity of a second banner loss in the third round, when Geoffrey the Monk’s Knight Cavalry hit one of my reduced Medium Cavalry units on his Right, but my rolls amounted to naught and the squadron was swept away in a deluge of crossed-swords and helmet results.
End state. Not much left on the board for the Crusaders.
With the scores at 6-2 in favour of the historical
victors, we entered the seventh round. In my last turn I needed just one more
banner to seal the seven-point game. The Leaders card allows a side to commit
all their Leaders and any attached troops, which may manoeuvre as normal but
will attack in close combat with an additional die. All of my leaders had at
least partial units attached, and so I went at it. As is our habit of long standing,
we played out the whole round – I took all intended actions while T responded
where and as he could. I took a banner in the first round of combat for the turn,
winning the game. As the bouts continued, we exchanged two more banners each,
bringing the final score to a convincing 9-4.
 |
| Crusader casualties: seven full units, Robert of St Lo and Guy de Frenelle. |
T has broken his non-scoring streak, which made for
a more satisfying win. Historically we’re pretty evenly matched across all the
flavours of Commands & Colors, though we’ve both experienced losing
streaks. The longest was recorded by me, with fourteen consecutive
losses. There’s no telling when that particular brand of lightning nay strike
again, but it wasn’t this week.
Artuqid cards played.
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