Ireland 1450 – A Collision Course game

The Medieval Irish and Anglo-Irish are recent additions to the War of the Roses project; these were recently used with both sides scoring a victory. Both games used the collision course variant and I decided today to experiment further.

Both armies appeared on the field and deployed for battle. The Anglo-Irish vanguard deployed to line and awaited the arrival of troops to form the left flank and the Irish auxiliaries on the right. At the opposite end of the field, the enemy were in a state of confusion as units were slow to move into formation.

As the Irish formed their line, skirmishers took cover in the woods positioned on both flanks.

Ready for battle, the colonist moved forward and once in range, began showering the Irish ranks with their arrows. On the Anglo right, Irish auxiliaries moved in the wood to clear the enemy positioned there.

Unfortunately, the conflict in wood took an unexpected turn as half the auxiliary units were put to flight. Seizing the moment, the Irish centre launched their attack on the vanguard aided by skirmishers on their right flank.

The battle hung in the balance (3-3), but Anglo persistency prevailed and the colonist would claim a pyrrhic victory (4-3). Nonetheless, the Irish felt satisfied at having struck a heavy blow against their rivals fighting on the other side.  

 

Observations.

This exercise lasted 13 turns. Poor pip scores hampered the Irish deployment, but in hindsight this worked well to draw the colonist closer to the Irish position. In the third hour (turns 9-12), the luck of the Irish returned, nearly turning the tide of battle bringing the score even. Certainly, worth a repeat.