Test game of Conquerors and kings (Germans v Parthians)

[martin]

We wanted to test two opposites.
An armoured mounted army versus a foot unarmoured army.

The Parthians had:-
8 units of armoured cavalry
7 units mounted skirmishers
6 units of levy militia
2 genearls

The Germans had:-
14 units of close order warband.
6 foot skirmisher units
2 generals

Conquerors and Kings (CK) is played on a 6 zone by 5 zone deep table.

There was bit of scenery in the main area.
A rough hill on the German right and a wood on the German left.
The Germans were the defending army.

The game started with the Parthians advancing en masse.
The Germans had bunched up in the central 3 zones in order to take advantage of bonuses for close packed foot and support from adjacent zones.
This allowed the Parthian sto take one flank with mounted skirmishers. CK victory criteria include allowance for zones held. This was unopposed as the Germans had not brought their cavalry.

On the other flank a whole bunch of Parthian militia units (6 units of auxiliaries) . The few German troops there juts fell back. This was amazing as they held the German right flank hill. The problem came when the militia started to outflank them.  In game terms the Germans there could have beaten the Parthian militia without too much problem. The joy of playing games is that the unexpected (not the implausible) can happen. The German player rolled a 4D6 (more D6 = worse) morale test and failed every roll. The Germans fell back.

Meanwhile back in the battle centre.
The Germans countered the Parthian advance by pushing their battle line forward.
There were 5 major fights in the centre.
Once again the Parthians were jolly lucky.
i.e scoring 10 successes from 14 D6. (A success is 5,6)

The fight is won on the number of hits not the saves. This means that armoured troops can survive  defeats well, but they can still be punched back (shock of impact).
The Germans won some of the fights, but appalling luck created a backward movement which lost the Germans the battle line zones.
When cavalry get a big win in a fight in no scenery they get the chance to destroy foot units. This they did.

The game ended in a major Parthian victory.
The reasons for the Parthian win are
1. The Parthians took three flank columns (the game has 6 columns and 5 rows).
2. The german centre had lost the battle line (their row 2)
3. The german zones got separated.
4. The Germans had 9 units withdrawn off table.
5. the Parthian army had only lost 6 bases out of about 60

A massive Parthian win on the victory table.
We did discuss whether  foot can hold against cavalry in open scenery.  Yes they could have if they hold the battle line.

The Parthians really enjoyed the battle .

martin

[Chris]

Martin,

Interesting! I may be mistaken, but wasn't there a C&K version or scenario of Chalons when that was the Battle Day battle?

Parthians vs Germans is certainly an unusual match. When I think of Germans, I think of heavily forested terrain, or at least fairly green space.

When I think of Parthians, I envision quite a bit of sand and arid ground. I see lots of arrows and shining armor from the cataphracts too!

From what little I know, C&K seems rather dice heavy and a lot depends on rolling a 6 or a 5 and 6. Reminds me a bit of Tactica II.

Still waiting on that Spartans vs Vikings contest as a further test 

Cheers,
Chris

[martin]

Hello Chris
The Spartans v Vikings is being arranged with our local chaps to play.
There are a lot of D6 in CK.
A typical fight will be 12D6 per player.
A typical shoot is 7D6 for a zone with bow units in it.

I do not pretend in any way that Germans and Parthians were historical foes.
Instead we have copied the WRG idea of 1000BC  to 1000AD sort of band width with any army playing any army.

Compromised but efficacious.

martin