Fourth scenario of my custom campaign; previous one: viewtopic.php?f=320&t=98108
The crushing defeat at Panhala Bridge sowed discord among the Bengali Confderation, that soon started to fall apart. The Bengali Kingdom was one of the strongest successor states, and as such, the rising Marathi Kingdom moved to challenge it immediately. Sure in the strenght of his Pikemen, King Chatrapati Shivaji moved north with his army, and when he saw the Bahmanis King forming a fortified line in one of his castles, he decided to attack him. He didn't send his men blindly forward, however: he sent his Marathi Raiders in the woods on his flanks and thought it was enough.He was wrong. As soon as he committed his army against the enemy lines, the Bahmanis reinforcements descended on his army from all sides.
Scenario starts in a difficult position: I am surrounded and the bulk of my infantry is already committed. I decide to try to power through enemy lines with my pikemen while forming a defensive perimeter against incoming enemy reinforcements. Enemy cavalry starts swarming around, with Misl Irregulars taking potshots with their carbines at my units, but I manage to contain the enemy action on the left flank, pinning a lot of units down in melee. Unfortunately, my frontal assaults on enemy positions mostly failed, except one melee between a Mansabdar infantry holding off two of my pike blocks thanks to higher ground and rough terrain.
In Turn 4 I managed to get a unit of Marathi Raiders behind enemy lines, and realign a pike block to threaten an Archer unit manning the fortifications. I hope that the combination of frontal assault and rear charge will force them to rout or at least flee, opening a gap in the enemy line. Fortunately, it worked and by Turn 5 I have a foothold over the fortifications. Unfortunately, enemy units are taking down my defense perimeter: in the right flank an enemy Irregular unit charged and routed my Longbowmen, and on the left flank enemy infantry coming from the woods and Irregulars preparing to charge from the opposite side risks collapsing my lines with a two-pronged attack.
Turn 8: mixed results, but mostly bad. My attack near the castle is still stalling: the enemy infantry refuses to back off. Remember my foothold behind enemy fortifications? It got pushed back by enemy Nawab's own guard, so I decided to pull back entirely and try to salvage the situation in my backfield, where enemy cavalry is running amok. The left flank saw my cavalry being mostly wiped out or chased off in the fields, but the pikemen and my own personal guard managed to wreck everything the enemy came up with, so it's not too bad. The real problem is the total collapse of my right flank, where my cavalry got floored and a rear charge of a unit of Misl Horsemen routed my only pike block in the area. Enemy cavalry rode forward and overran my artillery and remaining Longbowmen.
[custom scenario] Surrounded!
Moderators: rbodleyscott, Slitherine Core, Gothic Labs
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- Sergeant Major - Armoured Train
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- Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:10 am
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- Sergeant Major - Armoured Train
- Posts: 590
- Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:10 am
Re: [custom scenario] Surrounded!
Things get better the next turn, when I manage to finally rout that stubborn infantry that was blocking my way and push my Pikemen behind the castle. I am also able to form a strong concentration of infantry and cavalry roughly in the center of the battlefield to hold enemy units at bay. In the fields, sadly, the remains of my left flank's cavalry is being killed off.
The penetration of enemy lines near the castle sort of works: one pike block starts to flank the enemy units still manning the fortified line, while the other tries to get rid of another infantry on the hill (with very poor results). My Rajah runs through the gap to help dealing with the fortifications. Meanwhile, my pikemen are pushing back enemy cavalry, but more cavalry are closing on them from all directions.
My infantry manages to clear the enemy off the fortifications, and is chasing off other enemy units in the south, but the rest of the battlefield is a mess: my cavalry has been killed off to the last man, and two pike blocks in the north are isolated and surrounded by enemy cavalry, that is decimating them with gunfire. Fortunately, I have routed enough enemy units to hit the 60% threshold so I got awarded a victory!
The battle has been very very tense: it was a close victory and this time the AI used his cavalry really well, whittling down my units with debilitating gunfire and setting up a lot of flanking and rear charges. Enemy infantry put up a valiant fight thanks to fortifications and rough terrain, proving that in the right conditions even the fearsome pike blocks can be beaten. Really satisfied with this battle.
The penetration of enemy lines near the castle sort of works: one pike block starts to flank the enemy units still manning the fortified line, while the other tries to get rid of another infantry on the hill (with very poor results). My Rajah runs through the gap to help dealing with the fortifications. Meanwhile, my pikemen are pushing back enemy cavalry, but more cavalry are closing on them from all directions.
My infantry manages to clear the enemy off the fortifications, and is chasing off other enemy units in the south, but the rest of the battlefield is a mess: my cavalry has been killed off to the last man, and two pike blocks in the north are isolated and surrounded by enemy cavalry, that is decimating them with gunfire. Fortunately, I have routed enough enemy units to hit the 60% threshold so I got awarded a victory!
The battle has been very very tense: it was a close victory and this time the AI used his cavalry really well, whittling down my units with debilitating gunfire and setting up a lot of flanking and rear charges. Enemy infantry put up a valiant fight thanks to fortifications and rough terrain, proving that in the right conditions even the fearsome pike blocks can be beaten. Really satisfied with this battle.
Re: [custom scenario] Surrounded!
Nice and interesting !
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- Sergeant Major - Armoured Train
- Posts: 590
- Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:10 am
Re: [custom scenario] Surrounded!
Thanks, I'm having a blast with this custom campaign, experimenting with evolving weapons and tactics. This time the AI played really well. After every AAR I usually try to change something to make it more challenging to a human player, but this time it wasn't necessary.
I'm also trying the "Field of Glory Flank/Rear charges" and it feels good.
I'm also trying the "Field of Glory Flank/Rear charges" and it feels good.
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- Sergeant Major - Armoured Train
- Posts: 590
- Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:10 am
Re: [custom scenario] Surrounded!
I'm also posting all AARs on Reddit, trying to get attention to this game, it really deserves it.
Re: [custom scenario] Surrounded!
Less domino effect when a flank charge starts.StuccoFresco wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 3:40 pm I'm also trying the "Field of Glory Flank/Rear charges" and it feels good.
Longer games. More realistic charges, I guess.
Nice!.
IndeedStuccoFresco wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 3:42 pm I'm also posting all AARs on Reddit, trying to get attention to this game, it really deserves it.
Re: [custom scenario] Surrounded!
btw the number of P&S players has increased lately, according to steamcharts.StuccoFresco wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 3:42 pm I'm also posting all AARs on Reddit, trying to get attention to this game, it really deserves it.
Ok... we're few but the recent growth is nice for a 2015 game
PS : this is not the total number of those who keep on playing the game at the present time, but only the average number of ppl playing the game on Steam at the same time at a given time; and the max one.
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- Sergeant Major - Armoured Train
- Posts: 590
- Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:10 am