December Digest #4

FOG2: Medieval

Earned the Hero and Artillerist achievement in Game 2 of the HYW (English) campaign played tonight. 

Once again, the French deployed a large force - both mounted and foot - totally over 20,000. Against this I had a smaller force of mounted knights but high on foot troops - dismounted MAA, light skirmishers, bowmen and crossbowmen. In all, over 17,000. 

Also had three cannon which I split up: two guns on a hill in the centre behind my main line of infantry, and one on the right flank. The French had none which was interesting. 

The left  as seen above was largely wooded so I placed most of my Welsh spearmen, a single unit of javelins, and mounted swordsmen on the left among the woods. Not knowing what to expect, I kept them hidden until the enemy declared his intentions. 

The right (below) contained the lone cannon, three units of crossbowmen and two units of mounted knights. Protecting the cannon were two units of armoured spearmen. To assist the knights I had the other half of my mounted swordsmen there.

In the woods to the left of the right flank force I hid several units of foot troops. In front of the missile troops I deployed temporary barriers. 

The centre (above) was covered by my main infantry force - dismounted men-at-arms, longbows, crossbows, and armoured spearmen under king Edward III. The rest of the mounted knights were placed here as a reserve to the right of the high ground. 

The game started slow as our troops watched the full French force emerge. Facing our centre was the bulk of their foot troops. Our right faced off against the bulk of the mounted enemy knights. Our left faced another smaller cavalry force supported by foot troops. 

At first, it was going well for our side. But then the full weight of the French numbers began to tell. Our centre held good and actually pushed back. Our left was hit hard though and began to crumble. Keeping my spearmen in the woods worked up until the enemy foot, following up in support, struck. Then it began to head south as the line began to crumble and break as individual units were broken. The mounted swordsmen deployed on that flank broke fairly easily against the combined heavily-armoured knights and enemy foot. 

Our right fared better with the missile troops putting down withering fire on the enemy skirmishers and then the mounted MAA. Only when the enemy cavalry advanced to contact did I respond by sending forward the knights in echelon. It meant only one of my units was engaged while the other hung back in support. This seemed to work as soon the main enemy cavalry thrust was first blunted and then broken up as I despatched my armoured spearmen who defensive prowess assisted the lone knight unit holding off the enemy.

Losses soon began to rise on both sides although the enemy lost more. Eventually as the fighting broke any cohesion into isolated pockets of contact, the losses suffered by the French proved too much and they broke and fled. 

King Edward III emerged victor against King Phillip VI. Not sure what if this is a historical battle. 

On to the next battle in this enjoyable campaign then...

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World of Warships

Uneventful yet quiet "day at the office". Select mix of ships played today to complete the next unlocked Dockyard mission - San Martin, Blyskawica '44, Gulio Cesare, Valparaiso. For once, I finished the six dockyard tasks faster than usual. Bring on next Thursday.

Also scored nearly 55,000 in coal today thanks to the Festive Rewards exchange scheme. Just eighteen ships left to shake off the snowflakes and it's done for this year.

Also got the last ship on my list of to-get ships this Christmas - Tier X British cruiser Monmouth - when I bought the promised Mega crates. Heard of this ship but know nothing about it. May take her out tomorrow.

No new ships - Aki, Bremen, Hawaii and the like. Would have been nice but wasn't really expecting it. Got some nice resources - Elite Commander XP and Research Points - in the reveal. Even Red economic bonuses. I was tempted to go for a smaller Ultras bundle but decided to play the law of averages and went for quantity over quality. 

Interesting that the guaranteed drops apply specifically to the Santa crate purchase window. But individual Santa crates, as with the Event Pass bonus earning and the like, tends to be more of a random lottery. The other day, for instance, I got my Smaland via the Gathering by the Firelight drop of a single Gift crate. 

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Into the Dead

Update 6 just released today and it's an interesting read scrolling through the details. 

Saw that the complaint about the swinging door at the Ought Bar has seen the doors now removed to stop people jamming the opening. So many would have registered that complaint with the developers that it seemed obvious to remove them. 

Hao's combat window now gets to showcase his spinning kick. Can't wait to use it. Had a chuckle when I saw the change regarding Hao bringing grenades into his duel to death against Garret (really, someone used grenades! That's something to look forward to in real-life UFC fights - LMFAO)

Lots of new additions regarding Morale (new system being introduced) and Relationship changes (how characters interact and so on).  And now certain Shelter Events (like Nameless Grave) do indeed have consequences, not just little incidental bumps of little to no consequence in your journey. 

Critical Kills is now a thing. Looks interesting. 

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Field of Glory II: Medieval

Game Three of the current campaign was played today. I am still refamiliarising myself with the game mechanics, and basically relearning to play again after a very long absence.

Today's battle was fought in England itself when the Scottish king David II decided to invade the north of England to help out his allliance with France. As the blurb states, King Edward wisely chose not to mobilise his French campaign force from north of the Humber. This meant the Northern lords led by Ralph Neville were able to muster a large enough force to counter the Scottish invasion. 

No cavalry by the Scots but lots of foot troops. 

Interesting assembly by myself as I opted for the flanking maneouvre - a small force of light lancers and archers would appear in Turn 7. Where? I did not know. 

Also tried various unit types in order to get familiar with them. An experiment that has its pluses and minuses. A more wiser player would have seen the listed units already deployed and, more or less, followed that format. Lesson learned.

Anyway, as per usual, I deployed blind not knowing where the enemy would deploy in response.

Guessed right...

The Scots advanced en masse as I impatiently waited. My right flank was able to first stop the Scots advancing on that front before counterattacking, breaking the attack, and then cleaning up that flank without too much fuss. 

My left flank had a few more problems. For one, they were deployed on high ground overlooking woodlands. The Scots push a small force into the woods forcing my three unit force to advance down into the trees to confront them. It was hard-fought but my team prevailed even though I lost unit when it blundered out into the open straight into a forest of Scots spear. It held out for a while before it broke. But by that time, I had taken control of the centre. 

Speaking of the middle, I made sure that the line there was reinforced. Sure, a few units got isolated and were eventually routed. But some were also able to form defensive squares and hold out against greater numbers. While this was happening my dismounted foot, supported by my various missile units, were able to take on the bulk of the Scottish infantry and defeat them piecemeal. Until the Scots broke and fled. 

Victory was won. No achievements earned. 

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Game Four is back in France. This time it's the turn of the Black Prince as he confronts a large French force near Tours.

Having learned my lesson from the previous game, this time I concentrated mainly on dismounted men-at-arms and longbows. Added a couple of other units - mounted knights, artillery and crossbows - either for specific roles or to use up remaining points. 

Deploying blind, I took into account the terrain and what the map provided by way of likely enemy approaches.

Am happy with what Turn 1 has revealed once I had deployed my force. My right flank rests on the river while my left has woodlands for protection. I've deployed in two lines, and made sure to fortify the front line with temporary earthworks. Not yet convinced of their value but then I've always been impulsive and tended to rush across the fortifications anyway. 

As per usual, my cavalry force is small compared to the much larger French force and divided into two wings, one on the far left and the other centre right. My foot, when compared against the French foot, are of better quality. The French have brought along a bombard - first time seeing this artillery. 

My three defensive lines consist of dismounted men-at-arms with longbows on their flanks. I have two light artillery units: one on the left in front of the rough ground behind the foot with the second next to the river. This battery is protected by two units of archers. 

Facing my left, the French cavalry there consists of eight units. In the centre, the French have six units of mounted units of knights including the French king. And facing my right are four units of French knights under the Duc d'Orleans. 

Meanwhile, the French front line consists of one unbroken line of crossbows and swordsmen flanking a core group of dismounted men-at-arms. In front is the heavy artillery bombard. To the rear of this long line are several units of light troops deployed on the flanks. And leading the way are light crossbows. The quality of this mass of French is considered dubious according to the blurb. But you never know on the day. 

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World of Warships

Friday session has seen me grind just three ships - Blyskawica '44, San Martin, Monmouth.  

Images of four ships above obtained recently: Blyskawica '44, Graf Spee, Smaland, Monmouth. The last three were made available this Christmas Update and were the only ships I did not have yet. Mission now accomplished. 

Not played the historical Graf Spee yet. Will take it out in Asymmetric or Operations eventually. 

Monmouth was played twice in Co-Op today. Interesting ship. 9" guns, twelve of them - eight in the front, four in the back. Also has torps arranged the British way - fired singly or in salvos - on either side. I think it's got fairly good AA defensive capabilities. It has hydro which you can swap out for increased defensive AA. In the two games played there was no opposing CV however to test out the AA so hydro would have been ideal. 

On the Mountain Range map (second game), spawned in the centre. I simply ran her towards the enemy opposite - a Schroder, Valparaiso, and Veneto. During my advance I was fired upon from the portside by a Goliath so was a bit distracted as I replied and reduced her HP to less than one quarter in reply. Then as I closed with those to my front I managed to whittle down the Schroder to less than one third, good enough to slip by and allow my backup (C. Colombo and Valparaiso) to finish her off. 

Meanwhile I sped toward the two battleships who got tangled up. I managed to loose off torps on the Valparaiso depleting her from full health to one third HP. At the same time, my 9 inch shells hit the Veneto managing to take her down to half health as I sailed past. Before I could finish her off I got blatted by an Amagi on my port broadside. 

Smaland has been a target of desire for a long time. Relieved that I got her finally this year. Played it badly though when I tested her the other day. I wasn't playing it to its unique strengths as a stealth gunboat. It's definitely not a Blyskawica '44 which I like to risk YOLO-ing. You shouldn't do that with Smaland. Great concealment and strong guns makes it a real threat to other DDs and cruisers. And an annoyance to battleships.  

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