Audible Books: Miscellaneous

Reading, or rather listening. On the history front I decided to broach my general ignorance of the Middle East (unless the battles of Rommel and the 8th Army count) of which I know very little, just the complex and disturbing pictures I see on the TV news. So I took an Audible recommendation of "Arabs" by Tim Mackintosh-Smith (see below, it helped that it came free with my Audible subscription [win-win], and it was very comprehensive, or rather it was very, very long [going back to before the Arab date "dot"] so although I do not remember "everything" I got the satisfaction of a "general feeling" and understanding of the 'diaspora of meaning' that the word Arab evokes - simply put no one interpretation will ever suffice):  

Following on from this I chased up on another recommendation form a friend that takes a very close look at the troubled history of Palestine, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon courtesy of Britain and France's colonial history in teh region, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Aspects of "The Great Game", which really should be entitled, "Be Very Careful For What You Wish For!" It was both deeply informative and deeply troubling, to extent that it just left you shaking your head in disbelief (see below, "A Line in the Sand" is a terrible read because it lays bare the worst part of human nature and international politics - (one of) the moral of the story being don't leave a French and British career diplomat alone is a room of a map of a country that is not theirs and really know squat about to draw a line on a map, between alcoholic drinks, coffee and pastries):   

Needing some "light relief" from the blood letting and treachery from the folded, furrow of deep history and cynical realpolitik's, I called out to my friends for more lighter recommendations and got something I would never have chosen myself (see below, a fantasy detective story set in the modern day, to my escapist delight I really enjoyed it and can see myself slowly walking through the series): 

Refreshed from the non-hard historical journey (although with a deeper appreciation of how many rivers there are in the London whereabouts) I took up my final recommendation (I do have "free will" too, honest. This one was with a slight game inclination, aka Science Fiction, set in a universe that most people who have played or tinkered with Traveller would recognise. Think "Merchant Prince" but working your way up through from the bottom, after life has dealt you an unexpected "bad hand" (see below, "Quarter Share", another series I think I am now hooked into following):  

Given my liking of the book and genre, I have been collectively told it is high time I started watching "The Expanse" on Amazon Prime while I still have the chance.

Final Note: I would recommend all of the above, but for very different reasons!

1526 Mohacs: The Big Picture

The Hungarian Right Wing rose as a phoenix from the ashes of disaster to see the Ottoman Left Wing of Horse break and run to the rear, next stop Constantinople. Confidently my General crested a small rise which gave a precious glimpse of the whole field of battle.

He froze in horror to see that the success on the right wing was matched with a disaster to the Hungarian sister Wing of Horse on the left. There the Turkish Spahi had ably supported their Light Horse and consequently pounced on the Hungarian Lancer Knights who made break through advances

All hung on the centre of the battlefield where the Infantry were in deep contest. A fierce, chilling cry rung out from the Ottoman lines as the Elite Janissaries charged the Hungarian Pike and Shot. There was a brief moment of resistance before the Hungarian centre shattered and was streaming to the rear in chaos All had been fought for nought.

"Sire, sire What shall he do?" cried the General's retinue "Stay and learn Turkish or move to France and learn French" was his sarcastic reply as he turned his horse away in disgust. Well played the to Turks the day was wo by them fairly and squarely, I am sure they suffered as much under the DBR rules as did the Hungarians. No photographs are available (as of writing) as I was unable to make the final session but was emailed the chilling finale today.

DBR rant  #3: We really still don't know the rules
Post match analysis revealed that the stunning break-through Janissary (Fast Shot) charge was calculated wrongly. The 'calculators' had neglected to add in a bonus for being "Shot with a rear support of Shot fighting against (Fast) Shot" [yes I ask you how intelligible is that?] for the Hungarian defenders. This (+1) would have negated several circumstances where the (-1) for being Inferior and recalculating the melee scores after losing or being equalled in combat. Philosophically the Hungarian C-in-C reflected that it only speeded up the inevitable but boy how many years have the Redcar 'collective' being playing the various DBx sets of rules and 'we' still are very unsure if the tabletop outcomes are valid or even added up correctly. In tennis the call is for 'new balls please'! Life is too short to learn or understand these rule IMHO.

;) 

Naturally as a sucker for punishment I am facing a ECW campaign battle next week under DBR ... but should I? It's the Early Parliamentarian Horse versus the Royalist Knights pickle which makes the Hungarian versus Ottoman game look as simple as a game of snap? Perhaps I should take some migraine tablets and a pair of dark glasses along just in case.

   

1526 Mohacs: The Hungarian Right (My Battle) - Part 3

Today death must follow a "Wing of Horse", but whose?.

Fearing nothing and fully expecting to be nominated posthumously as a Christian martyr my General goes forth into a place where no sane man should ever venture. He found himself and his retinue outnumbered, overlapped, outflanked and plain and in simple terms in dire straights. His quality factors  brought the contest to an 'even dice roll' but if the Turk rolls higher than my dice, the General and thus his whole Command were lost outright (see below) by the "DBx: Shutting the Door" mechanism. Note: The blurred photograph aptly depicted my jittery state of mind at this point:

And I rolled a "1". Goodnight Vienna hello Constantinople, but wait there is no hooping or great "huzzah" from the Turk, is he being gentlemanly and discrete? No the Ottoman too rolled a "1", so in fact 'snake eyes' - a stand, the Hungarian General lives to fight another day (well phase at least). Statistically that's my luck for the year gone then!

Granted a surplus of PiPs from my C-inC this enabled my Knight Lancers to mow down the Light Horse (Fast) that stood in my way. This time it was Ottoman Light Horse (Fast) suffering a (-1) modifier and mortally hurting them. From an initial force of ten they were now down to two survivors (see above). 4 VP's to me and given that previously the Ottoman also lost a Spahi Cavalry element from a fluke "1"-"6" Artillery fire from my supporting infantry (see previous posts) it was the Turks turn to look "peaky" (5 VP). One more element lost and the Ottoman's Command was 'gone'.

It was now the Turks phase:

The Light Horse (Superior) fought an uncharacteristically static battle above "milling around", while the Spahi formed up against my overstretched Knights. Hoping for a quick kill they desperately attacked, a kill would crush the Hungarian command, so would "Lady Luck" smile for the Ottoman (see below, the Spahi attack with an overlap on my normal Knight Lancer):

No. A simple recoil, not a kill, which allowed my Knights in turn to retaliate in force (see below). Knight Lancers like fighting Spahi on 'their' (as in the Knights) phasing turn. Taking it to them means they only need to score greater than the Spahi to kill the Spahi. Going in with an overlap on one side and the Hungarian General on the other certainly gave the Hungarians the statistical 'edge': 

Te result was statistical, drawing in one combat (LHS) but winning with the General (who was in the process of making quite a name for himself) and in the process taking down the Ottoman Left Wing of Horse, "huzzah". from near certain death to resurrection in a matter of a few dice rolls (see below and the advanced blue flag of the Hungarian General)!

The only other actions was the combat and containment of the Ottoman Light Horse (Superior), by pinning them frontally in combat and restricting their possible retreat from positioning a Light Horse (Fast) behind them (see below):

This combat dice produced two Ottoman recoils (see below):

However this still pinned or bagged the Ottoman Light Horse (Superior) for next turn, but as the Ottoman Command had broken this is academic, as it was more than likely that the Light Horse would just "flee the field" as they were already counted as lost for VP purposes. The Ottoman would be concentrating on saving the bulk of the remaining Spahi in the now 'demoralised' Ottoman command.

Redcar House Rule: "Closing the Door":
If the above combat seemed slightly cumbersome, especially since Light Horse and 'mounted' in general have large movement allowances to quickly get into the rear/flank, I should explain that a 'House Rule' is in effect. Closing onto a flank, "closing the door" in DBx terms, as in prohibiting the attacked unit from retreating and thus killing the element was/is deemed too easy under DBx rules by the Redcar gamers. Myself I am quite happy with the normal DBx mechanism but when in Rome (or Redcar) I play under the House Rule. To close the door you must start already behind the flank of an enemy unit. This makes for much more linear slugging matches and does reduce the DBx movement "fiddles". However IMHO one house amendment does not redeem what I consider ultimately as a flawed system, more 'competition' based than 'historical simulation' biased. As stated this is only "my opinion" and carries no weight to other gamers whose experiences and preferences differ, but allows me with clear conscience to re-base my figures for my preferred rule-sets Impetus or Fields Of Glory (FoG).   

Next: But what of the other Hungarian Commands?

1526 Mohacs: The Hungarian Right (My Battle) - Part 2

The adversaries face each other off, Hungarians on the bottom, Turkish to the top (see below). Let battle commence:

The Light Horse forces clash head on and I suffer a(nother) moment of DBR learning curve angst (see below). Note: Spot the lingering Turkish Light horse at the back (top left below). Discretion was deemed the better part of this stands valour, as despite being a potential 'overlap' in combat, the Turkish General didn't go in for feat of being 'shot off his horse' by a supporting unit of Hungarian bow. The benefit of 'combined arms' support and the mounted 'fear of the bow' aka Agincourt ;)

DBR angst #1 explained in Barker'esk:
I discover that Light Horse (Fast) suffer a (-1) if equalled or beaten in combat when not "phasing".

In English:
Light Horse (Fast) are rather fickle fellows.They like to give it out but not take it back, like a school bully. Hence they have an additional 50mm movement capability to take them to contact (making a potential 300mm total move). However when they are on the receiving end of things and are 'equalled or bettered' they receive a (-1) modifier to their dice combat roll to recalculate their final; score. This often takes them over the statistical killing edge to be 'doubled' and hence killed in combat.

Perfect DBR Barkerite Solution:
So, I should never have taken these chaps within 305mm (30.5cm) of the enemy Light Horse (Fast). Then they would not have been on the end of the receiving charge and I would have been able to extend out into line my Light Horse (Superior) on the right and advance upon the Turk with a tactical advantage. In fact I would/should have 'first' (as in first move in the move/puzzle sequence) moved my column of Light Horse (Superior) into a place where the Light Horse (Fast) could have 'wheeled slightly', to form an angled line. The DBR movement suddenly turns into a Suduko puzzle with "correct solutions" to the 'DBx'land geometry'. Can you see what colour my aura is, or rather see why it is turning a brown-black?

Remember this is supposed to be fun and entertainment ;)

What actually happened. 
The Turk pounced (and good on him) and butchered two stands of my Light Horse (Fast), as per the gaps in the line (see photograph up above the previous text). Both sides were now a mass of confusion, typical Light Horse stuff. Count two layers up from the line of Knight Lancers to see my original front line (again the photograph above not below).

My turn next, the outcome is shown below:  

I return the complement and "wallop-in" (authentic Hungarian Renaissance battle terminology, or so I believe) and I take a Light Horse (Fast) back from the Turk, but there is also a DBR angst moment #2 (see below).  "With a spare PiP" I also make a stupendous DBR movement error of astronomical proportions in my rear line, thinking I would be supporting my General I gave him a rear rank support, it's just a pity that Knights don't get rear rank support. Thus I shorten my line (always a bad thing in DBx) and effectively take a valuable fighting unit out of the game. Could I do it any better (ahem, worse) if I really tried? SNAFU! Serves me right for not revising my DBR GCSE ('comprehensive/high' school) exam the night before. What I was trying to avoid was to stop my Knight (General) winning against a Light Horse and charging forward uncontrollably without any form of support, as a dangerous gap in my Light Horse screen had opened in front of my General.

[Rant Start: Optional reading]
DBR angst moment #2:
This line of previously Light Horse (Fast) turns into a mixture of Light Horse (Fast) and Light Horse (Superior). Where did the latter suddenly come from (remember I did not have the Turkish Order of Battle to hand during the battle)? This saved the Turk one possibly two "deaths". It was not intentional I am sure, but this sort of thing happens all the time in DBx games because they are 'element' games rather than 'unit' games, mixtures of troop types on similar bases can lead to 'floating troop types'. It is also too late to go back and retrospectively measure that charge distance, over 25cm and the Light Horse (Superior) would not have got in.

I would like to make it clear that my Turkish opponent is an outstandingly good chap and somebody I like gaming with (we share a badge of honour and courage serving as Union commanders together in a long ACW campaign which was fantastic fun so I know he is no wargaming cheat) but the DBR (DBx) rule-goblin makes me such a cantankerous beast! It always leaves me with that "have I been robbed(?)" intentionally or unintentionally feeling and thinking "why can't we get these rules played right or at least consistently". Anyway get over it and get on playing the game, worse things happen at sea!   
[Rant Over :) Continue Reading]

A flip-flop of clattering exchanges sees the Hungarians lose another three Light Horse (Fast) and woe betide 'me and my command' a precious Knight Lancer versus a Light Horse (Fast) to a "1 - 6" dice roll. The Ottomans in turn loses two more Light Horse (Fast). The Turks are well up in the victory point race, as my command is already nearing its break point.

There is worse news though as careful examination of the photograph above reveals exactly what I didn't want to happen, has now happened (sigh). My Knight General has been victorious in combat, made the Light Horse (Fast) it was fighting flee and advanced into the throng of the enemy fearlessly. This is the opposite of 'DBR angst' as a bizarre feature of the game I do like, a troop type behaving with historical correctness not gaming ingenuity and guile. Sadly it also looks like the end of the line for my General and with it also my command!

Next: A glorious death awaits

1526 Mohacs: The Hungarian Right (My Battle) - Part 1

Preliminaries over the main events starts: The Hungarians 'en masse' advance straight forwards.

A bunched up Hungarian linear mass of Light Horse (Fast) screens the Lance armed Knights, with a small column of Light Horse (Superior) aloof to the right. These Light Horse (Superior) were in that formation purely to fit inside the deployment zone. (Already there were DBR deployment mistakes here, more of later). The Hungarians had deployed as far forward as permitted and were going to "go for it" as otherwise their infantry were going to spend a long time under the guns. "One in, all in" was the motto.

The Ottomans had decided to refuse their left flank (i.e. mine) and hoped to win on their right and centre. Consequentially their cavalry against me were going to fight a 'delaying action'. The Ottoman General had calculated that he could lose all of his Light Cavalry and still not be a "beaten command" (see above). Hence the 'sacrifice of the lights' was enacted. The Ottoman twelve stands of Spahi Cavalry are a grim sight in the distance (see below). Silently I was pleased all that Turkish cavalry was not going to be "in my face". 

I did have a friendly bunch of infantry hanging on the inside of my all horse formation (see below) which was nice. Bow armed and a bit of artillery against enemy mounted they could be a useful asset:

The Hungarians advance was countered by a brave "Huzzah" from the Ottoman Light Cavalry formation as they too charged forwards. There was to be no 'pretty prancing' to be had here but a straight forward in and at them! I have already made several DBR mistakes here. I should have deployed my small but perfectly formed Light Horse (Superior) column into line before advancing, in fact they should have been in the fighting line right from the start. Columns that don't 'support' the front rank with a rear rank modifier are silly to take into combat as potentially they are just a way to lose more stands quickly. Knowing which does and which doesn't thins out the DBR boys from the men, and I was looking rather boyish and naive at this point! 

Pop quiz: Guess the range between the two lines of Light Horse. If it is less than or equal to 25cm then what happened next was quite legal, if it was over then it was illegal (Note: scale wise the big blocks are two foot by two foot). Arrgh, my angst against DBx rules and geometry was beginning to well up inside of me. The Ottoman was working on the assumption that all his Light Horse were fast (capable of 25cm movement + 5cm charge), however despite the troop types looking the same there was a mixture of (Superior) and (Fast). He only remember they were (Superior) when the combat came about, after movement. The benefit of the doubt goes to the Ottoman, but it's a plague of the DBx "element" rather than "unit" ME (manoeuvre element) that is encountered over and over again, leading to fraught and ambiguous situations (IMHO).    

Next: The fights starts proper

1526 Mohacs: The Order of Battle (Ottoman Empire)

The Ottoman Right Wing of Horse:

• 1 x Spahi (General) Cav
• 11 x Spahi Cav
• 4 x Light Horse (Superior)
• 6 x Light Horse (Fast)

The Ottoman Infantry Centre:

• 2 x Spahi (1 x General and 1 x C-in-C General) Cav
• 3 x Spahi Cav
• 12 x Shot (Janissary)
• 3 x Artillery (Superior)
• 8 x Warband
• 4 x Bow
• 6 x Hoard (Superior)
• 2 x Skirmishers

The Ottoman Left Wing of Horse:

• 1 x Spahi (General) Cav
  
• 11 x Spahi Cav
• 4 x Light Horse (Superior)
• 6 x Light Horse (Fast)

The the thing to note about the Ottoman's is that they see to be "big" on everything, as in the number of bases that they field. Their "Wings of Horse" out number the Hungarians and we are using DBR (a DBx game) which from my past experience favours 'width' over 'depth'. If the Ottoman horse is aggressive then it is going to be 'interesting' for the Hungarians. The considerable Ottoman artillery park suggests a defensive role for their infantry forcing the Hungarians to attack. The eclectic mix of regular (Janissary) and odds-and-sods makes an unpredictable encounter against the "Shot" based Hungarians.

The Battle of Mohacs 1526 - Renaissance

Keeping up with my New Year's resolution I managed to make a wargame this month. In fact it was a gloriously big affair, a re-run of the 2011 Christmas special set up by my Redcar club. Over Xmas they opted for a deployment that was roughly 'historical', but in this re-run 'free deployment' was allowed (as per the DBR rules and conventions). It also allowed players to 'change sides' and see it from the other perspective. I must confess that I knew little or nothing about this battle in advance (see link below for the historical description and background):  

Wikipedia: The Battle of Mohacs

Somewhere on a flat Hungarian plain the Hungarian army of Knights and Peasant Infantry. These being the lower classes whose fighting ability was very much under-valued by the armour plate wearing, horse riding, lance armed aristocracy. Of historical interest and note is the fact that the "King" was 'elected' and not hereditary. This made for a poor command structure, as each Hungarian noble thought himself as good as the king and was a law unto himself. The Hungarian Army arrayed itself to face the Ottoman invaders (see below, viewed left-bottom to right-top):

The Hungarian army was comprised of: two "Wings of Horse", "Knight Lancers" supported by "Light Horse". In the middle was a huge mass (as in by far the bulk of the army in physical stands, although not 'point-wise' as the Hungarian Knights were rather 'expensive' to buy) of the Peasant "Infantry". The Peasant Infantry were "Shot" and "Bow" plus a few "Pike". The Ottoman tourists were deployed as follows (see below viewed right-bottom to left-top):

Again formidable "Wings of Horse" but with a more compact middle of "Infantry", very diverse in troop type. The horse was a mixture of "Light Horse" and "Spahi Cavalry", not quite as deadly but more numerous than the psychopathic Hungarian Knights.The Ottoman infantry was an eclectic mix of revolting Hungarian(ish) peasants making a bid for regime change, mixed with odds-and-sods warband and bow, backed up by the Ottoman Janissary "Shot" and the daunting obligatory Ottoman "Artillery Park" (of which every Ottoman General I have ever met never claims never to have enough of in relation to his "historical counterpart". yThen blames his bad dice rolling.).

How the two sides would physically match up this time was anyone's guess. In the historical deployment the Ottoman's army hurt itself as it emphasised depth over width, something which the DBR rule set punishes. The Ottoman player was also disadvantaged in that the Hungarian C-in-C respected the capability of "Shot" against "Mounted" (even knights) and unlike the historical counterpart did not elect to try and 'charge down the guns' with his royal retinue. In the Xmas game narrow Hungarian victory resulted. I too k my Hungarian command seat to the far right in line of battle, in charge of a "Wing of Horse".