Band of Wargame Brothers: Crusaders vs Mamluks

Crusaders vs Mamluks

Unable to take the humiliation of the last defeat for Nick's Ayyubids, the gauntlet was thrown down by my Mamluks ( well my Ottomans pretending to be Mamluks) to avenge the shame of the last blog.

Phil and I were the Mamluks and Ross and Paul were the 'men of God'- and if I hear Ross scream 'God Wills It!!' one more time I'm gonna throw a brick at him.

The Mamluks were almost all cavalry except for a few paltry skirmishers.
The stinky ones were a combination of Heavy Knights and solid infantry core with spear and crossbow- a deadly combination.

Mamluks and Turcopoles

On the Mamluk left I had plenty of room to dance around and gave Paul a hard time in trying to pin me down. On the right Ross managed to squash Phil and I between the table edge and his heavy infantry line-- but we had a substantial reserve that was commanded by Phil- who just at the right moment unleashed his cavalry into Ross' and Paul's infantry line......

Phil's reserve- He held them back until near the end- and we nearly won!

My Royal Mamluks

The Mamluks slammed into the infantry line after taking heavy fire from the crusader's crossbow fire. But it didn't help them much as they were hit all along the line- and the cavalry won all of the engagements. But in one of those turns of fate, all the infantry were pushed back, and in the follow up die rolls for pursuit, not one of the Mamluk cavalry was able to reach the Christian line- which would have been enough to destroy them with the follow up bonuses. Hanging in by the skin of their teeth, the infantry held on as the battles on the flanks raged between the cavalry. the clincher was on the Mamluk right flank where the knights caught TWO of my light cavalry- really sh*tty generalship on my behalf and ploughed into my Royal Mamluks. Ross was down to one (fresh) unit of Crusader Brothers on that flacnk, but Phil and I had reach 50% casualties with the 'God Wills It' people almost there. A close fought, gripping game!

My skirmishers!

My Turcomen!

Turcopoles

The main crusader force

The Men of God- God Wills it!

Skirmishing around the Mamluk left flank- Paul's Knights chasing my light cavalry.

The right of the crusader infantry line

Mamluks hitting crusader foot

The moment before Phil's reserve line slammed into the Crusader foot.

A low point in my generalship- my deployment and subsequent maneuvering meant that the Hospitallers caught TWO of my lights- unforgivable!! Baibars is turning in his grave!