Oathmark: Holding Action (Humans versus the Unseelie Court)

I don't seem to be getting on very quickly with the painting and terrain I need for the next Rangers of Shadow Deep scenario, so I played another Oathmark game instead.

The rampaging humans were in full flight after their defeat at the hills. Their captain succeeded in rallying them enough that a core of the army could make a stand to let the rest get away. He opted to occupy the hills beside the pass into the human-controlled kingdom.

The Orcs had sent messengers to the Unseelie Lord, their overlord, who had sent two companies of the Royal Rangers led by his daughter Patience, a person whose very existence proved that nominative determinism was a load of rubbish, to lead the remnants of the Orcish army. She had picked up a selection of additional troops along the way and had orders to strike deep into the human kingdoms so that they could never rally again.

Following on from the previous Programmed Scenarios game, I looked to see which scenario might suit next. "Holding Action" seemed appropriate. This scenario has the defending force fighting a holding action covering a road. The attackers must break through the pass to the human lands beyond. If the humans can hold off the Orc/Elf army without losing too many troops, balance is restored and the two kingdoms will return to their previous status quo. If the attackers win, then they will be in position to attack the Human capital and hopefully subjugate the human menace once and for all.

The Armies

The Unseelie Army (Attackers)

• 1 Mounted Elven Princess
• 1 Elven Wizard (Level 3)
• 1 Mounted Orc Champion
• 1 unit of 10 Orc Soldiers
• 1 unit of 9 Orc Soldiers
• 1 unit of 10 Lizardperson Soldiers (count as Orcs)
• 1 unit of 10 Goblin Soldiers
• 1 unit of 10 Orc Linebreakers
• 2 Trolls
• 1 unit of 10 Orc Archers
• 2 units of 5 Elven Mounted Rangers each

Humans (Defenders)

• 1 Captain in 1 unit of 9 Warriors
• 1 Mounted Champion
• 1 Wizard (Level 2)
• 1 unit of 15 Soldiers
• 1 unit of 12 Soldiers
• 1 unit of 10 Soldiers
• 3 units of 10 Archers each
• 1 unit of 5 Linebreakers
• 1 unit of 5 Heavy Cavalry

The Battle

This battle sees the humans occupying a hill line with a pass in its middle. Their goal is to stop the Unseelie army from exiting the table through the pass at the opposite corner from the one they enter on.

The Unseelie army has staged entry along the road (newly made for this scenario from Warbases road/river templates). Their scouts will arrive first then their main force and flank guards. The rules  randomise the entry of the main force and flank guards using specific times. E.g. the flank guard can arrive 10 minutes ahead of the main force, which can be one hour behind the vanguard. Oathmark does not have a specific time frame for turns and the turn length feels like it might be longer than the minutes given, so I am going to have to fudge it a bit:

• Turn 1: Vanguard
• Turn 2: Flank guards and/or main body
• Turn 3: Flank guards and/or main body if they did not arrive on Turn 2

As with the previous programmed scenario, I am dicing for the orders for both sides rather than taking charge of one of them. May the luckiest general win!

Victory Conditions

The human commander is desperate now that he sees that the Fair Folk of the Unseelie Court are involving themselves in this fight. He had not anticipated this type of response to his raid and must protect his King's lands from reprisals. Therefore, he is willing to accept higher casualties than usual to achieve his goals. He has 89 men at his disposal and will account it a success if he loses 31 or fewer of them while delaying the Unseelie advance until nightfall. However, aware that he will need his troops for later, he will start to withdraw once losses reach 28 troops.

Princess Patience's goal is to exit at least two units through the pass. Casualties mean little to her, so she is willing to throw all her troops at the enemy and hope to swamp them.

It is entirely possible that this could effectively be a draw with the humans being spent but the Unseelie not making headway quickly enough.

The two armies will have 12 turns in which to achieve their goals. It is hard to gauge how long the scenario should be without having played it before, so I am basing the length on how fast an infantry unit marching down the road could take to enter and then exit the table. I hope I have allowed enough time for a theoretical Unseelie victory. As the Humans outnumber the Unseelie army, they could theoretically just engage every single Unseelie unit and delay them that way, but the Human army rolled a static defence, so they will wait for the Unseelie, rather than moving to engage them.

Deployment

The humans have deployed a forlorn hope of 1 unit of archers in the village. The human captain has also chosen to keep a reserve comprising his heavy cavalry and a small unit of soldiers. The bulk of his troops are deployed on the western hills with the remainder on the eastern hills. He has decided on a static defence on the hills with his troops deployed in a single line. He has also decided that if a single Unseelie unit breaks through, that is acceptable. Local militias should be able to deal with that, so he will focus on defeating the main body in detail instead, but will have to respond if more Unseelie troops start to make headway.

The Unseelie army is deployed in 3 bodies. The advance guard comprises 1 unit of Orc archers and 1 unit of Goblin soldiers. The left flank guard comprises 2 units of mounted Elven Rangers. The right flank guard comprises 1 unit of Orc soldiers and both Trolls. The rest of the force forms the main body. Princess Patience has decided that the advance guard must move as quickly as possible to secure the village and then to move on to take the high ground. If two or more units are in a position to push through the pass, then Princess Patience will order them to do so. She will report a success if she can do this by nightfall.

Terrain

Roads do not give bonus movement in Oathmark. Shame. The Unseelie could do with it. Moving a unit on the road will negate any other terrain the road passes through, so units will not be slowed by woods or villages while on the road.

Hills provide a defensive bonus. A single contour has no other effect. A second contour is treated as rough ground in addition to the defensive bonus.

A unit in the village gets a bonus in melee and counts as in cover versus shooting attacks. The village also counts as rough ground.

Woods are treated exactly as in the Oathmark rules.

Turn 1

The Unseelie advance guard moved up the road onto the battlefield. As they rounded the edge of the woods, the Orc archers spotted the human archers but neither party was able to draw a bead on the other.

Humans are deployed in the bottom half of the picture. The Unseelie army enters from the top left corner

Turn 2

The Orc archers advanced in line with their orders and loosed a shower of arrows at the humans in the village but to no effect. The humans responded by showering arrows down on the Orcs, slaying many and disordering their ranks. The Goblins following the Orcs balked at this and refused to advance further than they had to.

The remainder of the Unseelie army arrived and the flank guards started making their way towards the enemy. Princess Patience, true to her nature, gives orders for the main body to advance as fast as they can towards the pass without waiting for the following units to deploy properly in support of them. The flank guards are ordered to take the high ground and roll up the human flanks.

Seeing an opportunity, the Elven Rangers fired a volley at the human archers and slew one of them.

The main body and flank guards of the Unseelie army enter the battlefield

Turn 3

The Elven wizard began to chant and unleashed a blast of flame at the humans in the village. Another of their number fell and the archers became disordered. Their officer quickly got them back in line and they shot at the nearest unit of Elven Rangers, slaying two of them! Both units of Rangers fired as they wheeled towards their left flank, slaying more human archers. Meanwhile, the Orc soldiers on the right flank were advancing on the hill and took fire from human archers there. They took their casualties in their stride and marched steadfastly forward, although it might have been the following Trolls that kept them moving.

The first shots are fired. Elven archery proves superior to human as the forlorn hope desperately holds on

Turn 4

The Unseelie army continued to advance, although slowly on the road as the Orcs and humans continued to shoot at each other, slowing the following infantry down. The humans were starting to get the worst of it now as their numbers dwindled but their courage remained strong in the face of arrows and fireballs. The Orcs on the right flank suffered another casualty but also continued their advance.

The Unseelie forces on the road squabble about right of way while the humans patiently await the onslaught

Turn 5

As the exchange of missile fire still continued, the Orc soldiers and Trolls marched on their foes. A unit of human soldiers attacked the Orcs in the flank, but were rebuffed in disorder despite their superior numbers. Meanwhile the Elven Rangers were racing for the hills on the left flank.

Stout Orc yeomanry stand firm against the fiendish humans, while the forlorn hope is reduced to a single archer now

Turn 6

The last of the human archers in the village fell as the Orcs advanced down the road. A queue of following units had formed behind them and it was not looking like they would be able to reach the pass in time. On the right flank, the Orc soldiers were reduced to a single survivor who defiantly shook his spear at the enemy and yelled. However, the Trolls were now able to move into a position to attack. The Orc soldiers had done their job and would be sung of in the halls of the Orcish horde.

The forlorn hope is gone. Has it delayed the Unseelie army enough?

Turn 7

The Trolls were now in range of the enemy and were keen to charge but the arrows flying toward it caused one of the Trolls to become confused. The other charged the flank of some human soldiers and cut their numbers in half, driving them back and causing the human archers to scramble backwards out of the way. The humans, despite being disordered and torn to bits, held their nerve, even when the last remaining Orc soldier on that flank decided to rush in and kill one of their number.

The human wizard finally found his spellbook and blinded the Orc archers so that they had to spend some time rubbing their eyes before they could see again.

The Elven Rangers on the left flank were now in bow range and cut a unit of human soldiers in half. It was only with great effort that the human officer managed to keep his troops together and in line, turning them to face the oncoming Unicorn riders.

Even in the face of the horrendous casualties, the other humans kept their nerve and remembered their orders to hold their positions. Their captain started to consider how best to withdraw his troops to guard the pass. He was losing too many valiant warriors.

The human left flank is sent into disarray by Trolls while the Elven Rangers start whittling down the human right flank

Turn 8

As one troop of Elven Rangers disappeared in a hail of missile fire, the heroic Orc soldier charged again and killed another human soldier, only for him to then be cut down in a rain of arrows by the nearby human archers. Seeing his heroic Orc companion cut down like this, one of the Trolls charged the human soldiers and crushed many of them underfoot, although it was also wounded in the process. The remaining soldiers routed.

Seeing the soldiers routing, the human captain ordered his troops to fall back to the pass. They would narrow their frontage and defend there. He and those around him began edging backwards as the Unseelie fired fireballs and arrows that whittled the human numbers down to the point where the human captain grimly decided that all he could do was sell the battle dearly. His force would not be fit to fight again any time soon.

The Unseelie main body finally starts to deploy properly

Turn 9

The human archers continued to make their presence felt. One Troll was wounded again while the Elven Rangers lost a rider. However, the human archers on the Unseelie left flank did not last long as the Orc Champion crashed into their flank and routed them. The Orc archers then cut down all bar one of the human axemen as the rest of the human army manoeuvred backwards to try to hold the pass.

The Elven wizard showed her worth by destroying the last of the soldiers on the Unseelie left flank with a well-placed fireball. The human captain would need to commit the reserve there to prevent an Unseelie breakthrough. He gave the order and his reserve started moving to plug the gaps and support the withdrawal as the Unseelie army surged forwards, urged on by Princess Patience's angry commands.

The human captain commits his reserve in a desperate attempt to stem the tide

Turn 10

The Trolls moved to engage the archers and crushed several of them, driving the archers back into the woods. A Lizardpeople unit crushed the last of the human axemen, but suffered horrendous casualties when the human heavy cavalry countercharged it. Nevertheless, although it was driven back, its resolve never faltered. The battlefield was now a muddy, bloody morass of carnage as Princess Patience lost patience with her troops and raced ahead. They bravely followed.

Princess Patience leads from the front and the Unseelie army follows

Turn 11

Seeing the enemy commander alone, the human heavy cavalry charged her. She was wounded, but it was a mere scratch. In return, she slew their commander and threw them into confusion. Taking their cue from their leader, the Unseelie forces smashed through the enemy lines. A depleted unit of Lizardpeople and the Orc champion were now clear to drive on through the pass as their comrades smashed into the enemy forces to further clear the way. Even the heroic Goblin soldiers got carried away and charged the enemy cavalry, only to be beaten back in disorder. At this point, the Elven wizard got into the game once more and cremated the human champion with a fireball.

The Unseelie break through the human lines in small numbers

Turn 12

The Elven Rangers charged the enemy soldiers before them and pushed them back but at the cost of one of their own. The Orc warriors charged the human captain's warriors and cut the unit to ribbons. Only three men remained in it by the end of this fight, but all were stout and undismayed. They were protecting their homeland after all. As the fighting continued, the unengaged units of the Unseelie army moved as fast as they could for the gaps in the enemy lines. As night fell, several Unseelie units entered the pass. Princess Patience would, of course report a crushing victory against the humans.

As night falls, the Unseelie army bypasses the exhausted humans. The remaining few make their escape to regroup later

The Butcher's Bill

The human army lost 65 soldiers from a starting total of 89. This was way above the threshold that the captain was willing to tolerate. However, it could also not be helped. They simply could not withdraw fast enough to escape the Unseelie army once it was upon them.

The Unseelie army lost 35 of 74 soldiers. This actually leaves Princess Patience's force in a reasonable position to carry out a punitive raid against the humans. The Orc champion also managed to exit through the pass and leave the table. With a contingent of Lizardpeople very close behind him and other units breaking through the human lines, I think this means a minor victory for the Unseelie army even though it took a little too long to actually break through.

No doubt the remnants of the human army will use the extra time they have gained to retreat and seek to regroup with new recruits elsewhere, but they are in no position to prevent the coming reprisals and it will be a long while before the humans are able to launch large raids against the Unseelie again.

Conclusion

This is an interesting scenario but I felt that it needed better editing in the book. Some of the options where it said to dice seemed incomplete. So, for example, the defenders diced and were willing to accept a single attacking unit breaking through, but there was no further explanation about how they would deal with additional attacking units getting close to breaking through. As a result, I knew from the outset that I would need to interpret the defenders' orders on a situational basis, even though the initial roll called for a static defence.

Deciding how to call the game at the end of turn 12 was difficult. It really comes down to how you interpret "breakthrough" in the scenario. If the goal was to get past the enemy lines with a clear route to the pass, then the Unseelie army achieved a solid victory. I chose to interpret it as moving off the table, so it was a qualified victory with one unit leaving the table and one ready to follow it.

The biggest issue in this scenario was the activation rolls for the Orc units. They failed as many as they passed so they moved a lot more slowly than needed even with Princess Patience's "commander" ability giving them an extra die for activation. They also spent a lot of time getting in each other's way. This seems in character but it certainly caused the army issues, as did the forlorn hope in the village.

It was another fun scenario though, and I look forward to trying more from the Programmed Wargames Scenarios book. Oathmark works really well for my solo games. The activation system means that I do not have total control of my armies. I also use it to help me make decisions about whether units follow their orders or not. So, for example, I have a unit of Orcs on a hill. They have been told to hold there, but see a pesky human unit within charge range. Do they charge or do they obey their orders? Rolling against the activation number tells me.