Back from Warsow - Takaisin Varsovasta

Together with a friend we went to Warsow to participate in 3rd Championship tourney for Baton of Jan Sobieski in Wilanov palace. I was impressed.

First must be mentioned the impeccable hospitality we foreign players received throuhgout the event - from Friday evening when we were picked from the airport back to when we were dropped back there on Monday afternoon. Second the very gentlemanly way in which the competition took place. Thirdly the insane fun Fenno-Dutch contingent had.

The games themselves.
I brought three lists. All European Ottoman skirmishlists.
12 point, 6 bases of lance armed sipahi, 6 bases of sipahis, 3 bases of besli, 3 bases of elite besli, 3 bases of spear armed gonullu, 3 bases of gonullu, 10 bases of segban infantry - three lasts of whom were robbers and thus subject some nasty extra effects in the beginning of the game.
I had a list of 10 points - which I never used - I did not really see a function for it in the end.
And a list of 7 points if I should meet a small list as defined by rules.
That one had just 6 bases of lance sipahis, 6 bases of sipahi and 10 bases of segbani.

First game against Geralt - defensive list, Imperial outpost defending a village. Quite simply I got shot into pieces before reaching the enemy. Strategic defeat. The 7 point list clearly was not made for this task - even with the mass of segbani. SO for the small list something different is required - might be a very small skirmish force - letting me choose the scenario played and using the mobility of light cavalry.

Turks running all around the village - and getting shot at.

 Second game Eoderen. First of Polish crown armies I was to meet. Mission take the village. That 20/+20 elite cavalry is scary. It reaches far, gets horrendous impact and  I tried clever tactic of having light cavalry deployed between the village and enemy deployment zone for diversion, but realized too late they would be hacked to tiny pieces if they try to withdraw. So I charged enemy pancerni instead, with expected results. I managed to get some segbani in to houses - so I came off with a strategic loss again. (If I remember correctly - I was still having trouble following the point count.)

Third Lukasz - with Polish Danzig army of 12 points whom I met in take and hold. The game in tourney where I got to play with my strengths. I had numbers and mobility and even some luck with the dice. I even managed to kill enemy commander. Strategic victory with enemy in the end controlling one of the target points. So lesson learned target points need to be guarded against enemy counterattack.

Light cavalry spreading around and refusing to engage, sipahis advancing and right flank open to deploy the flanking deli. Life is - for once - good to servants of the padisah.

 Fourth Mires - Polish Crown army again. This time I was attacked with a night attack enemy had 3 points less so no extra effects to harass me. Wonky but fun scenario. My troops got  badly hammered, but in the end defeat was only tactical. I managed to keep 2 of his three units of my camp so only one squadron was doing damages there. (Actualy no squadrons allowed so this might have made some difference - no extra big unit to attack, but otoh two different banners going to diffrent directions more fluidly.)

Fifth - Stazi playing Polish Crown army. (5th round game going on Photo by Wargamer crew )Again armies of same force points. Take and hold scenario. Enemy used wallachians very elegantly to deny my flank attack possibility  of gaining momentum. We had to end at round five - My enemy controlling all targets at this point. With some desperate flank charges by light cavalry against pancerni I managed to strike back his central force with my sipahi, but would have been charged in the flank on the next round losing more troops - but with potential ability to reach at least the secondary objectives. Very intriguing. Still - pancerni and cossacks are scary when opponents.

On meta level I got to fight roughly equal opponents twice, twice opponent with weaker list, but not excessively so and once against a small list. It seems that I am pretty comfortable with the large list and in that the larger the better to soak the casualties and to have units to do stuff. Smaller list needs serious thought. Combination of feudal cavalry and rabble infantry is just  not upto the task of  attacking a fenced village, which it will be very likely to meet if opponent is a defensive or small list. Interestingly enough I was not once beaten in reconnaisance thanks to segbani being counted as cavlry for recon. Some more thoughts on development Deluge supplement has brought to game from Anatoli in his blog. Anatolis battlereport.

Interestingly enough: the tourney was won by Imperial outpost which I heard had been thought to be the magic bullet this year. The champ is only one of them in top ten though, with the rest of imperials spread pretty equally among the results. In top ten there are four Turkish armies, second place was claimed by Transylvanians, with tatars 4th , Poland - some version of in place 7 and tenth place taken by cossacks.

Nice tourney, lots to learn of rules, nice opponents and interesting ponderings on continued gaming.