I decided to take three fairly different armies to try out a range of troop types. Unfortunately I didn't get any pre-comp practice matches with any of the armies, so I had to do a lot of learning on the run.
Army 1 was Eastern Late Imperial Romans under Inert Constantius II with Armenian allies and the Delay Battle stratagem. The C-in-C had a large command of Ax, Cv, Kn (X) and LH. One sub had the legionaries and a couple of the ubiquitous artillery carts, while the other had only a few LH (F). The Armenians were a mob of Cv (S) and LH (F).
Both games ended in draws, the first against Kushan and the second against Early Imperial Romans.
Against the Kushans, I sent the Armenians flank marching on the right, but they didn't arrive in time to have any serious effect on the game. On the other flank, the LH command lost 4 LH trying to hit a mob of Pk (F) in the flank. In the main part of the battle, my cataphracts butted heads with Bw (O) and Pk (I), killing 1 Pk and losing nothing. The legionaries steadily died to the Kushan cataphracts, killing a couple in return. The artillery recoiled only a couple of cataphracts and spent a couple of LH in the whole game. To their left, cavalry died against Kushan elephants, though a brave Ps came within 1 of killing the Kushan C-in-C. The Ax struggled against Bd (I), even when I wrapped it.
Against the EIR (Varus with Sarmatian allies), I flank marched the LH command, and kept the Armenians on table. Varus's legionaries were ordinary, but he had a lot of them, and supported them with a couple of Art and Bw. The Sarmatians were not impetuous (Inert C-in-C), and I was able to make the first contact. This was decisive, with the Armenians killing three elements including the general, and thus breaking the command in one go. Varus's legionaries steadily ground through mine, although I got a few kills as well, while his Ax ground through mine as well. My supporting Ps played a vital role in keeping him from getting too many flank hits, but my own flank hits failed more than I thought they should have. The cataphracts died against his Bd and Ax.
Army 2 was African Vandal with Brilliant Gaiseric and Moorish allies, plus navy. Gaiseric had the largest mob of Kn (F), along with the naval elements. Two subs had progressively smaller commands of Kn (F). The Moors consisted of a mob of LH and another mob of Ps (I). Gaiseric had the Concealed Command stratagem for free (use a Brilliant Stroke as an Invader), and the Flank Attack stratagem.
Both games ended in losses, the first against Wars of the Roses English, the second against Early Imperial Romans.
Against the English, I knew I'd be facing a couple of commands of Bw (S), and an allied command of Scots who were usually flank marched. Not wanting to face the Pike with a small Kn command, I decided to keep all commands on table, and mass the Kn on a narrow front to try to overwhelm the Bw by sheer weight of numbers. The Moors faced a wood, with the Ps aiming to go through and support the flank of the Kn. I didn't realise just how effective the Bw (S) were. Two knights survived archery to get into contact with the Scots, but died there. The rest died before I could make contact. The Moorish Ps died in close combat against Bw (S), thanks to bad dice. The Vandal marines also made contact, but with Sir Andrew Trollope himself, who declared a Brilliant Stroke to make sure of killing the Wb. I didn't kill a single element of the English.
Against the EIR I tried a bit more subtlety. Gaiseric deployed on the left against a waterway, on which I placed the naval option. Next to him were the Moors. The middle-sized Vandal command was concealed and the small one sent flank marching. The Concealment turned out to be incorrectly placed, and was instead placed against the base edge. It eventually went impetuous through the Moorish infantry, causing several to be spent, and eventually contacted some Ax. Gaiseric and his Kn ground their way slowly through the legionaries, while Claudius's elephant made merry near the waterway. The flank marching command ran into some Cv which made the first contact, and managed to break my command in two rounds. Gaiseric's mob managed to dishearten Claudius's command, but couldn't break it before they themselves broke.
Army 3 was Maurikian Byzantine. I had four regular commands plus a baggage command. The C-in-C had Reg Kn (F) and LH (S). The first two subs had Cv (S) and LH (S/F), and the third sub had just LH (F). The baggage was Reg (F). I had no brilliant generals and no stratagems.
I got a win against Sea Peoples, and lost against EIR.
Against the Persons of Nautical Background, I deployed the LH command against the waterway on my left, with the other commands spread out across the table. My opponent deployed his largest command against the WW, with a naval command in the water, another Bd (O) command on the other side of the C-in-C, and some Libyans lurking on the open flank. I decided that the best option was to concentrate everything against the C-in-C's command, and screen everything else. I was aided by the Libyans being unreliable, and ignoring at least two calls to obey orders. It took several bounds, but I was able to mass the Cv (S) and Kn (F) against the Bd (F), while the small LH command faced the naval invaders. The Byzantine heavy mounted steadily ground their way through the Bd, not losing an element, although the Cv on the end of the line survived a couple of flank hits. The LH (S) did a good job of holding off the Bd (O), killing a couple, while some SP chariots managed to catch some LH in the rear with marches, killing a couple.
Against the EIR, I managed to stuff the deployment roll (despite being all mounted) and had to deploy first, although my opponent's inertness gave me the first move by default. Again I tried to mass the Cv and Kn to a point where I could make a decisive impact. Adam was able shift some legionaries and cavalry across to face me, and by the time I'd sorted by lines out, he'd also brought across the artillery. Undaunted, I charged the Cv and Kn in, but against the Bd (S) I could make no headway. The Cv and LH facing Roman Cv achieved some success, but he always had reinforcements to fill the gaps. All three main commands were disheartened, and when one broke, the additional losses pushed the other two over the edge.
I was naturally disappointed to only win one game over the weekend, but I was certainly also approaching the comp as an opportunity to push the rules to breaking point. Hence my use of three different armies, despite a lack of match practice with any of them.
