Tuesday 6 January 2009

THE BATTLE OF THE RIVER. First game of 09.


Being an ‘after Christmas’ game this scenario is more simple than usual – I’ve used the Christmas break to knock out new units rather than devise scenarios and this battle is definitely aimed at getting all the work so far onto the table-top (only nine units plus baggage to do!). So the following briefing will have to suffice. The mixture of troop types is a little far fetched, but I'm basically collecting figures for at least four armies - Northern Levant Frank (Antioch/Edessa), Kingdom of Jerusalem, Seljuks of Rum and Syrian Seljuk. We will be using Ager Sanguinis.

BRIEFING FOR BOTH PLAYERS
Following the arrival of a large fleet and pilgrims from Europe, the King of Jerusalem has, with financial inducement, persuaded several hundred pilgrims to stay on in the Holy Land and start a new life. This influx of manpower is timely as it will allow the King to fulfil a longstanding ambition. He will use it to build a castle overlooking one of the few bridging points over the Jordan and populate a rich town surrounded by fertile land there (after the Muslim inhabitants have been forcibly ejected of course).

News of the forthcoming Christian campaign has not taken long to reach the ears of the town’s true owner; the Emir of Homs. He has collected together a large army and has marched to the crossing. He had hoped that this show of force would dissuade the King of Jerusalem ambition and make him look elsewhere for expansion; but the dice were well and truly cast. Neither could now, with honour, withdraw.


VICTORY CONDITIONS
He who forces the enemy to withdraw will hold the river crossing and town, and achieve victory. The level of victory will be determined by the number of morale points the victor has left at the end of the battle.

Less than 5: A Meaningless Victory. It will not be long before the enemy are back.
6 to 10: Marginal Victory. The enemy can look to overturn events by launching a punitive campaign against the victor’s depleted forces.
11 to 25: Decisive Victory. It will be a long time before this victory can be overturned.
26+: Crushing Victory: The loser should strengthen his personal bodyguard (as his prestige is now totally shot) and the victor can press his advantage.

The battle will be fought, probably over two nights, starting this Wednesday (7th Jan 09). A battle report will follow after each session.

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