Pastoral Visit

MNG member Will hasn't been around much on Tuesdays this last year or two. He's our oldest member and is suffering from exactly that - being old.

I got a text from his wife on Thursday saying he was in the Kettering General, so I took time this afternoon to make a ward visit. As is my custom I took a box of armies and my portable DBA board, as it'll work on a hospital bed table, as long as you have a dice tray too. Which I do..

Unfortunately I forgot to take my terrain box, so we were playing on an open plain.

I gave him the choice of armies, and he took the Alans/Lezgins as he's been playing Sarmations recently. I took the Georgians, which is giving up a bit of punch, as they pack Cv against Kn. First game I was attacking and Will was defender.

I went for massing my light horse on the right, supported by a knight element and my cavalry general. Bit of a gamble putting the big man in the front line, but it's the only way to get parity with his knights.

Will thumped home with everything he'd got. My bows failed to inflict any damage as the light horse hit them.

We swapped a couple of elements, alas my loss was the General. B*gg*r. That's really inconvenient.

I got squeezed very badly on the right, as nothing went my way, and I lost another cavalry unit by being surrounded. However, I won the game in the middle.

My bows finally sorted out the light horse. That gave me an overlap on his blades which meant my spears were able to edge a kill with a 6:1 roll off, giving me a 4:3 win.

We reset with the same armies, but I defended this time.

I set up with light horse and infantry on my right, and cavalry on my left. Will was able to line his troops up to get the match ups he wanted.

He clattered my cavalry with his knights, and I went after his light horse with mine.

I used my general to create an overlap, but my heavy horse, including my knight element, kept being pushed backwards.

I won one of the fights on my right, and was looking to get a second element, but I mixed up which light horse were mine, and which were Will's. This cost me a turn at least during which I lost my general on a 6:1, which gives me a PIP problem, as I now can't roll more than a 3. That meant I couldn't close down the LH on my right and also stage a defence in the centre. Stupidly I had enough PIPs to surround his solo LH element, but instead of his I surrounded mine. Will smiled when I finished moving and pick up the dice for combat, as I'd missed the chance for a 3V0 combat where he couldn't have recoiled. 

I got driven back badly on my left, and my general got hit by knights and surrounded by LH. Will ended up with a 4:3 win, as he'd killed my General. If I hadn't cocked up that LH move on my right I'd have been filing away a 4:2 win.

Still, it cheered Will up to get a win, and you need that when you're not feeling very well.