11/22/2010

Rome against the Green Horde.

As this was my first game with Rally Round the King, I did not pick any heroes, magicians, monsters, flying units nor skirmishers. I just picked my DBA EIR army that cost 302 points in RRtK, and an equivalent points force of Orcs; eleven units of Orc warriors and a Black Moon Orc unit with the general in it. I neither wanted to bog down with new terrain rules so I deployed the armies in a clear plain with a solitaire wood on one side.

The EIR army consists of one unit of cav (shock cavalry according to RRtK), four units of auxilia, five of legionaries (having one of them the general), one ballistae and one of archers. Legionaries Rep 4 and auxilia Rep 3 are elite and have throwing pila and javelins which give them a +2 in the first round of melee. They also have AC 4 (armour class), which proved to be decisive in the battle.
The Orc army consist of eleven units of warriors with AC 2 and one unit of Black Moon Orcs Rep 5 and with AC 4 with the Chieftain in it. All of them frenzy and undisciplined.
Both armies have Battle Tactics class A which consists of armies heavily dependant on melee troops which try to close ground as fast as possible. I commanded the Roman army whereas the Orcs were manned by the "machine". I rolled for their deployment and tactics and they got Penetrate Center: Heaviest melee units are placed in the center with a light screen of skirmish types in front, while the wings hold back to prevents being encircled. Objective it to push through the enemy center. 60% of units in the center with up to 10% in reserve, 20% on the left and another 20% of units on the right flank.
Both armies deployed up to the maximum distance allowed from their baselines, 12 inches. The table is 4'x3', so the armies started approximately at 12" of distance between them.
Romans moved first at their maximum speed (6"), with the cavalry going right to later outflank, and two units of auxilia and the archers heading for the forest. The artillery fired and inflicted one hit on one Orc unit at very long range.
Then it was the Orcs turn and they also moved 6" forward, and being at 1" from the enemy the were dragged into melee. I did not expect them to be upon my Romans so soon!
Being all the Orcs frenzy, they easily passed all their Wanting to charge tests, and all the Roman held except one auxilia that which gave ground and took one hit. The Orcs could not hurt the Romans with their heavy armour and the only wounded were two auxilia that gave ground. On the other hand, the hitting power of the Romans added to the poor armour of the Orcs, inflicted a lot of hits on them.
In the next turn the ballistae routed two Orc units next to the wood, and the equites charged on the right flank routing another one. Meanwhile the legionaries in the center were pressing the Orcs, exchanging some hits and losing one legionary unit in the process.
The Black Moon Orcs, commanded by their leader and supported around by many boyz, proved to be a tough nut to crack, but in the end they routed when the Black Moon Orcs had six hits!
One unit of Orc warriors charged to the equites flank and rout them. Game over.
The Romans lose one unit of legionaries and one unit of cavalry whereas the Orcs lose eight warrior units and the unit of Black Orcs. victory points: Romans 456, Orcs 146.

I have to play some more games to have a better opinion but right now I can tell RRtK is an excellent ruleset to play solo, and possibly head to head. The campaign rules also looks promising. RRtK plays differently to DBA or HotT, and have similar results in different ways, so you must use different tactics.
Something that maybe some people do not like is that troops not always do what you order to them, and you have to live with that. Perhaps it is more luck dependant than other systems but that also adds uncertainty to the game, which is not bad.

8 comments:

  1. Good basic write-up. Thanks.

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  2. Excellent writeup - you've captured the flavour of RRtK well. I think the rules capture very well the uncertainty a commander feels commanding a army.

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  3. Looking forward to more batreps of RRTK as I am looking at buying it as well. Makes me think about using either 15mm or even 6mm. Thanks for the report.

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  4. Good stuff, Javier. I look forward to seeing more RRtK reports.

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  5. This is great stuff - I've just ordered these rules myself, so I look forward to seeing more of your AARs, Javier.

    Nice one!

    Monty

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  6. Thanks for the kind words gentlemen. I'll be posting some more AARs no doubt as I mostly play solo lately and I feel like playing ancient/fantasy big battles.
    Cheers,

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  7. I was waiting for such report from you, Javier. Your reports are always good reads and your brief opinions on rulesets are usually close to mine, so I am always looking forward to them.

    Still haven't played RRtK... I haven't even given the rules a good read, but I liked the original Warrior Heroes, so I believe I will like it a lot.

    Thanks!
    Mahoń

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  8. RRtK is practically WH but a little bit better, so you'll surely like it.
    Yes, my opinons are really brief LOL! I prefer to report the battle and let the people make their own judgement.
    Thanks for the kind words Mahon
    Cheers,

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