Posted this to the Yahoo list, but maybe it interests someone here who doesn't read that. Anyway:
4/35 Mongol Conquest versus 3/68 Early Hungarian
A nice historical matchup, except I don't have enough actual Mongols yet and so had to trek a bunch Chinese across all of Eurasia to make up numbers (to 300 AP) ...
The Mongol army composition was simple enough:
C1: CinC rCvS, 4x rCvS, 2x rBgeO
C2: Sub rCvS, 16x rLHS, 2x rBgeO
C3: Chinese Warlord ally, rCvS, 2x rCvI, 4x rBdI, 4x rBwI, 1x rArtO
The basic plan was for C3 to hold one flank, hopefully helped by terrain, while C2 attacks on the other wing, with C1 behind it as a reserve to plug gaps and exploit opportunities. As it happened, I ended up with C3 on the left wing and C2 split by a big wooded hill. The baggage was naturally pooled as an army baggage command.
I don' t have the exact composition of the Hungarian army, but there was a central CinC command (H1) with the CinC, some iKnO and iCvS, and a bunch iLHF. The right wing (H2) had a iKnO general, 2 rKnS hospitalers (depicted as Teutonic Order), some iLHS, and big swarm of iLHF. The left wing (H3) had some iKnO, and a mixture of iLHS and F. A single element of iBgeF, containing the king's spare horses hid at the back.
The Warlord ally was, to my mild surprise, loyal. On the opposite (Mongols' right) wing, a detachment from C2 went forward beyond the wooded hill, then spent the rest of the battle slowly (yet gallantly) falling back as the Magyar LHF facing them were reinforced by part of H3's LHS.
In the centre, the iKnO refused to impectuous, and the Mongol LHS found themselves forced to charge them, with their iCvS and LHS/F supports, head on. Casualties built up on both sides over a few bounds, with C1 in reserve proving most useful for plugging gaps left by destroyed of fled LH (and the Hungarians rolling more 1's than they were perhaps strictly due). The Hungarians, with fewer reserves, eventually found their CinC hardflanked destroyed, breaking H1. H3 disheartened at about the same time.
H2, meanwhile, was having little success against the Chinese and a few Mongol horsemen, the military order brethren in particular finding it absolutely unreasonably difficult to deal with a few Chinese crossbowmen, and were then destroyed by Mongols getting in their rear after the collapse of H1. The Hungarian LHS were doing a little better, losing one element to artillery fire but eventually making contact and destroying two Chinese BdI. The LHF never got the PIPs and courage to attack the Chinese mounted who skulked on a hill in front of them.
Ignoring the shaken nerves of their lessers, the KnO of H3 kept attacking and soon enough disheartened C2 too. They were now surrounded by rCvS from C1, however, and a rear attack together with a shaken LHS being destroyed frontally put them over the edge, breaking the command and therewith the army.
The Mongols had one command (C2) disheartened [with C3 scarily close] and 16% losses, for a 22-3 win.
The Mongol plan worked better than I had perhaps expected, the small-but-tough reserve command working quite well. It had the low PIP die, but with just five elements one of which moving effectively free, more wasn't really needed. I'm warming more and more to LH (S) as a troop type, they're quite fun to play with and pack quite a punch, abeit fragile.
