Once again, a disclaimer.
English is not our first language, so this AAR will be far from perfect, in its writing nor in the gameplay. You’ll probably find many mistakes we made, some of them we noticed just after playing, or when it was too late to fix them, but we may have missed many mistakes, please tell us where we messed up the rules,we would love to play the game properly. You’ll also find many misplays, some of them we acknowledge during this AAR, some others we’re not experienced enough to have noticed, as with the rules mistakes, feel free to comment on anything you’d have done differently, we’ll take note of it.
I tried to record as many dice rolls as I could, but as we tried to play as fast as possible not all of them are here, any of those we have recorded are between brackets [ ] .
We decided to try again the same scenario, mainly because as we messed up with our coin management, we wanted to try it again to see if it was really balanced whenever the players didn’t go nuts and end up wasting all the money and loot. I also decided to try to survive without calling the Almoravids, just to see how far the Taifa kingdoms would be able to stymie the Christian onslaught. Julio (that´s me, the bold guy) was mainly focused on making all of his lords fight through the whole campaign, and as such he played a bit more carefully. (No gung-ho cristians this time)
Turn 1
Arts of War
The Christians drew Mesnada (C12) that went to Álvar Fañez (a bit later in the game the christian player reflected that putting in on Sancho might have been a better idea, thus having 3 Lords with 4 command in play) and Cavalgadas (C17) which was attached to Sancho.
The Muslims drew Aqqara(M12) which went to Al-Mustain II and Count of Barcelona (M23) which went to Al-Mundir. The catalan lords seem to be fans of the muslims.(Those frankish traitors)
Pay
Sancho and Alfonso paid 1 coin each in the christian side, while all but Al-Mutamid did the same in the muslim side.
Muster
Alfonso unluckily failed twice to muster Pedro Ansúrez, but got him out of his castle with his last levy action [6,5,3]
Álvar, more convincing than his king, mustered García Ordoñez in the first attempt [1] and brought up some of his vassal reinforcement, with Pelagio Pelaez (1 sergeant and 1 militia)
Sancho bought some new weapons from his neighbours, now having Ballesteros (C2), and called Armengol IV of Urgell with his knight and men-at-arms units to his banner.
Abd-Allah made the Guadalquivir(M19) fleet available to the muslims.
Al-Mutawakkil trained his men with Harbah (M5).
Al-Mutamid decided to pick up some bowmen Alrama (M4) and made the best breeds of horses available to his brethren Andalusians (M10)
Al-Mustain II, seeing the more than probable attack from the infidels, decided to muster some Ribat Monk (M6) to protect his frontiers.
Al-Mundir used his levy action to muster the Count of Barcelona with a coin (as we seem unable to read the rules properly, even though we both have read them half a dozen times, we somehow missed that mustering forces without markers don’t cost any levy action…)
Call to arms
The Christians, decided to Reconcile with Rodrigo, granting the muslims 2VP.
The Muslims decided to Uphold the dynasties and send off the Almoravids for now, earning another VP.
Campaign
García Ordoñez activated first, moving to Calahorra and supplying himself to feed the troops.
Al-Mutawakkil marched to Mérida, also supplying to feed the troops. It seemed that each player decided to start the offensive on opposite sides of Iberia.
Sancho I supplied twice and the ravaged Barbastro thanks to Cabalgadas, thus shifting once Al-Mundir.
Al-Mutawakkil marched to Coria, ravaging the land and starting a siege, feeding the troops from the provender obtained. (somehow I messed this up, even though we did this right in our previous game, I ravaged at the same time as Istarted a siege, which is not an option as the command ends at the moment you start a siege)
Pedro Ansúrez marched south to Tranduero, preparing to defend Coria in the future. He also supplied himself to make sure his troops were well fed.
Al-Mustain II moved to Tudela, in preparation for a defence of the castle there, supplying his troops.
Álvar marched to Nájera, supplied there, then went to Calahorra, where he foraged with his remaining command, ensuring the provender for his army.
Al-Mundir marched to Huesca, this time not willing to risk a fight with Sancho as he was better prepared than in previous games, he just stood nearby to go wherever he would best support his nephew, grabbing some supplies for his large contingent.
Alfonso marched to Calahorra, gathering his hosts.
Al-Mutamid marched to Mérida, preparing to aid the western offensive and supplying from there.
Sancho cautiously decided to wait and not throw his troops against Al-Mustain, he decided to tax his people.
Al-Mustain II supplied twice, seeing that he might need to hold for a long siege… or at least escape to Zaragoza
Alfonso then foraged and marched to Tudela with his entourage, where Al-Mustain II decided that Tudela might not be such an important place… Alfonso bypassed the fortress there and was only prevented from ravaging the lands thanks to the Ribat Monks [4].
Al-Mundir decided that supporting his nephew in defence of Zaragoza was the best plan, he moved there and supplied his troops.
At the end of the campaign, wastage took 1 provender from Alfonso and Sancho, while Al-Mutamid left 1 cart behind.
Somehow at this point we had a collective brain fart and we decided that we were only allowed to have a card in play for each lord on the map. Not 2 “this lord capabilities” plus up to the total number of lords in “side capabilities”. As such I discarded Ribat Monks and Alrrama, convinced not only of that limit, but also that it was enforced at this point, not at the beginning of the campaign phase… We might have to stop playing just after lunch, either that or buy some better brains in the black market...
Turn 2
Arts of War
The Christians drew Drought (C5) and decided to use it immediately, as the memory of the effect camels had on the previous game was still fresh. (That was outrageous) The other card was held.
The Muslims drew Fatwa(M9) adding a Jihad marker to Talavera. As the Christians, they held to the other card.
Pay
No one got paid.
Muster
Alfonso, Álvar and García were unable to muster because they were in enemy territory.
Sancho brought some carts with him to ensure good supply lines.
Pedro Ansúrez levied Martín Flaínez (1 knight, 1 sergeant and 1 men-at-arms) and took some Adalides(C7) with him.
Al-Mutawakkil was in enemy territory so he couldn’t muster.
Al-Mutamid trained his men in the ancient rock slinging arts Slingers(M7), and built some Battering Rams (M14) wanting to see Coria fall. (Somehow, I totally missed the Arrada(M1) capability, which would’ve been much better for the job…)
Al-Mustain levied his Tudelan sergeants.
Abd-Allah brought bows for all his men Alrama(M20)
Al-Mundir levied his Tortosan sergeants.
Call to arms
The Taifa Lords cried out “¡Al-Andalus va bien!”, and the Almoravids stayed in Africa for a bit more.
Campaign
Pedro Ansúrez supplies himself and marches to Tormes.
Al-Mutamid supplies twice and moves to Coria
Sancho supplies and then moves laden to Huesca, where he sieges and the christian player uses the Surprise(C10) card to storm the fortress. This was our first storm ever, but we thought ourselves mentally prepared for the massacre… This whole game demonstrated that we were never prepared for this.
1st round of storm:
The Muslim garrison hits twice, one of those hits was avoided by the hastened siegeworks of Sancho (1,4) the other one hit a unit of men-at-arms that held strong [1]
The Christian ballesteros responded in kind, but the shot didn’t get over the walls [1]
In the melee 2 Muslim hits surpassed the siegeworks [2,4,5] but once again the men-at-arms held firm and avoided routing [1,2]
In the Christian melee, as they were better prepared, 4 hits weren’t avoided by the walls [1,3,5,6,6,6,2] but it seems that this was the day of great defense for men-at-arms, and no routing happened [3,3,1,2]
Sancho decided to keep pushing
2nd round of storm:
This time, muslim missiles are more accurate, both going over the siegeworks [4,6] and one routing a men-at-arms unit [1,6]
But this shooting let them exposed as the christians also routed one men-at-arms with their shooting with a [6] trespassing the walls and a [4] sealing the deal.
The muslim melee is luckluster once again [1,6] and [2] with men-at-arms still strong.
The Christian melee wasn’t better, as the walls stopped most of it [1,1,2,3,4,5] and the men-at-arms shrugging off the remaining hit [1]
With the storm a failure, Sancho isn’t able to recover his routed men-at-arms[5], so he prepares to keep the siege.
Al-Mutamid, jealous of the eastern storming, decided to try his luck on the business.
1st round of storm:
The Christian garrison hits twice, the siegeworks don’t stop of the shooting [4,5] and a sergeant unit routs [1,6]
The Muslim shots are all avoided by the walls [1,2]
The Christians seem to be doing well in the melee at first but after avoiding the siegeworks [6,6], no one routs as the men-at-arms stand their ground [2,2] (at this point in our brief Almoravid “career” I think that men-at-arms have saved more hits than knights have… the true heroes of the game)
The Muslims demonstrate their prowess failing to do anything in the melee [1,1,6] and [1]
The sergeant isn’t able to regroup [6] and Al-Mutawakkil shifts, as he clearly wasn’t prepared for the “Stormy Weather”
Pedro Ansúrez forages twice, as he wasn’t totally sure of being able to confront the missile superiority of the muslim forces sieging Coria.
Al-Mutawakkil keeps up with the Stormy weather.
1st round of storm:
The garrison shoots decently over the walls [1,3] and rout a light horse unit [,6]
The muslim javelins work quite well [1,1,5,6] and rout some men-at-arms and a militia [4,3]]
The remaining militia fights fiercely and routs another light horse [2] [5]
And the remaining muslims troops are unable to hit through the walls [1,1]
In the aftermath no light horse recovered [2,6], and both muslim lords shifted, paying up some coin from Al-Mutamid to avoid Al-Mutawakkil going home.
García Ordoñez, ravages Tudela and supplies himself
Al-Mundir isn’t sure what to do, surrounded by too many Christians, decides to just supply himself (I should have tried to go against Sancho here... but I was a bit nervous about the huge army in Tudela)
Álvar Fañez marches to Jaca, and forages there.
Al-Mustain, as nervous as his uncle, decides that only a bath full of coin would make him at ease, and taxes his citizens.
Alfonso decides that this isn’t the correct time for a fight in Tudela and retreats to Calahorra, to prepare for the next campaign foraging a bunch.
Al-Mundir still, far too nervous, supplies himself, while hiding...
Sancho supplies for future storms and ravages Huesca and Lérida.
Abd-Allah takes some supplies and goes to Tortosa taking some boats in the port of Almería.
At the end of campaign, as it was the final spring turn, we took out ravage tokens from Barbastro, Tudela, Huesca and Coria.
The wastage took a cart from Al-Mutamid and Al-Mustain and 1 provender from Al-Mundir.
Julio decided to discard Mesnada from Álvar, as it could be used elsewhere and I also decided to discard Guadalquivir, as I thought that I’d not need the naval transport anymore, at least at this point it was a conscious decision…
Turn 3
Arts of War
The Christians drew Berbers(C9) avoiding muster from Al-Mutawakkil and Abd-Allah. The other card was held.
The Muslims drew Fatwa(M9) once again… Putting a Jihad marker in Trujillo I promise we shuffled thoroughly, but we seem attracted to some cards. The other card was also held.
Pay
Pedro Ansúrez, García Ordoñez and Al-Mutawakkil got paid. The christians from their own coinage, Al-Mutawakkil from the taifa box.
Muster
Alvar Fañez mustered some Battering Rams (C1) and Fernando Díaz with his retinue of 1 knight,1 sergeant and 1 men-at-arms.
Alfonso mustered 2 carts and Froilá Bermudez who also has a big retinue of 1 knight,1 sergeant and 1 men-at-arms.
Pedro mustered Martín Alfonsez with 1 sergeant and 1 men-at-arms, and took his Mesnada (C11) with him.
García Ordoñez mustered 1 knight, 1 sergeant and 1 men-at-arms from his vassal Gonzalo Nuñez.
Sancho was sieging in enemy territory, so no levy for him.
Al-Mundir levied his Denian light horse.
Al-Mustain II called his Huescan sergeants to arms
Abd-Allah, forgetting totally that he could not muster because of the previous event, took Hassam(M11)
Al-Mutawakkil and Al-Mutamid were sieging Coria, so they couldn’t levy.
Call to arms
Almoravids? We don’t have them here… Once again the muslims decided that they didn’t need the help… Clearly a mistake...
Campaign
Álvar Fañez, gets some supplies, moves to Huesca and uses Surprise (C10) (we did shuffle… we promise)
1st round of storm:
The muslim garrison routs a sergeant thanks to their crossbows[2,3,6] [3]
They fare similarly in the melee [2,5,6] and rout a sergeant[4,2]
The overwhelming strength of the christians is noted at this point and the dice weren’t very affectionate… [5,5,5,5,6,1,6,1] 6 hits going over the walls, and the with [6,2,5,5] everyone died in the fortress.
The only good thing for the muslim was that none of the sergeants recovered after the routing.
Abd-Allah moves to Lérida and supplies three times there. Preparing for a siege
Pedro Ansúrez, supplies twice and marches to Coria, where the muslims decide to retreat, as with the previous losses from storms made them too fragile. Pedro bolstered by the muslim cowardy, moves to Alcántara to siege. Al-Mutawakkil fed his troops with loot he should have left behind… but at this point we were playing a bit too quickly and didn’t notice until afterwards, and Al-Mutamid shifted.
Al-Mutawakkil, moves to his seat in Badajoz and supplies himself, preparing for the possibility of Pedro going towards the city.
García Ordoñez supplied himself
Al-Mutamid seeing that for this campaign he would not be able to confront Pedro’s forces, decides to forage to ensure supplies for the future.
Alfonso supplies twice and marches to Tudela with García to start a siege
Al-Mundir picks up some supplies. He was waiting for the Christians to divide their forces, but it seemed that they would not do so…
Sancho goes to Barbastro to siege.
Al-Mustain II supplies twice, the muslim player lamenting his command order choice, as this would have been the perfect moment for Al-Mundir to hit Sancho or Alvar alone.
Álvar advances to Barbastro, to support Sanchos siege.
Al-Mundir seeing that there would not be a really good opportunity, decides to go for a suicide attack on Barbastro.
1st round of battle:
Christian missiles rout a sergeant [6]
The muslim player used Spear Wall(M15)to absorb 3 of the cavalry hits and the christian Cavalry rout 2 men-at-arms [1,2,6,2,6,3]
Muslim cavalry rout just a serf, as the knight shrug off the hits [2,1,1,4,3]
Christian infantry hits hard and a muslim knight falls [2,4,3,5]
Muslim infantry rout 2 men-at-arms [4,5]
2nd round of battle:
The muslims seeing that they had too much damage, decide to concede the field, in a good moment as the cavalry hit hard, routing everyone [6,6,4,4,1,4]
Al-Mundir goes to Lérida and there he recovered 2 men-at-arms [1,1,6], 2 sergeants [2,3], 1 knight [2,6] and 1 militia [1] he paid some taifa coins to avoid disbanding.
The Christians recover 1 militia [1] and 1 men-at-arms [2,4] and feed with no problem.
Pedro Ansúrez, stormed Alcántara.
1st round of storm:
The garrison downs some men-at-arms, once again thanks to the crossbows[2,3] [3]
In the melee they fail to take another men-at-arms down [4,4] [3,3]
The Christians then smashed the defenders [1,2,3,3,5,6,3,3,4] [1,4,2] conquering Alcántara. We here misplayed once again, there should only have been 6 hits as this was a Castle.
The men-at-arms recovered and the troops fed with the spoils from the storming.
Al-Mutawakkil, seeing his taifa attacked by the Christians did the best he could… taxing his citizens to ensure enough money to run away.
García Ordoñez stormed Tudela
1st round of storm:
Between shooting and melee the garrison fell 2 sergeant and a men-at-arms [5,6] [1,5] [3,3,4] [3,6,4]
The Christians were unable to pass over the walls
We didn’t record whether the routing troops recovered or not.
Al-Mutamid took some more supplies
At this point we did the end of campaign but didn’t record anything, as we were not going to continue playing. The muslims were winning by 1 ½ VP, but it was clear that they could not confront the huge Christian armies without the Almoravid support, so we awarded the Christians the victory.
Our Storming attempts where pretty bloody and gave questionable benefits. You need to prepare during several cards to build up your siege markers so your troops are not decimated for nothing. Meanwhile you have to provide your lords there and force your opponents to do the same if they have lords involved. It seems to us that Storm is a job for an unique contingent maybe with screening from friendly lords in nearby locales because each siege action would force them to feed if they were at the same locale aswell. All in all it makes perfect historical sense and we like the rule but we hate the effect.
Our Storming attempts where pretty bloody and gave questionable benefits. You need to prepare during several cards to build up your siege markers so your troops are not decimated for nothing. Meanwhile you have to provide your lords there and force your opponents to do the same if they have lords involved. It seems to us that Storm is a job for an unique contingent maybe with screening from friendly lords in nearby locales because each siege action would force them to feed if they were at the same locale aswell. All in all it makes perfect historical sense and we like the rule but we hate the effect.
