Disaster in the Desert

Pasha Dan came over for a game of Midgard this weekend. Because Dan never does the ordinary, his ancient figures are focused on the Roman frontier in the Middle East. So my cohort was fighting Arab raiders instead of the usual Germans or Celts.

Pasha Dan exhorts his followers 

We played the Take the High Ground scenario, with some camels carrying loot as the three objectives to hold or capture. 

Romans advancing 

Despite having a 3:2 points advantage and starting with 12:9 advantage in Reputation Points, I was trounced solidly by turn 4.

Red chits are Stamina hits, blue are Mighty Deeds

My eastern archers never got a shot off. Their Centurion, Ozempyc, catching an arrow and going down with double 1s on a Risk to Heroes roll before he got to "unleash hell". Then they got charged and well... yeah...

Roman flank getting enveloped

My cavalry on the flanks got shot up as well, and my Prefect Carolianus Silex became a pin cushion, alone, and surrounded by Arabs with bows, his turmae of cavalry already dead.

Slave girls looking decidedly unhappy. "Golly dominus, you never take us anywhere fun."

The heavy infantry were doing well in the center, but that was too little too late.

Pushing up that hill

and not finding Kate Bush, just a lot of Arabs 

Some spectacularly bad dice rolls in the initial fights, plus Dan rolling hot, put me on the back foot from the start. 

Dan bought very few heroes, instead getting a lot of troops, so he had me heavily outnumbered, despite a lower points total, and "quantity has a quality all of it's own" as some geezer said.

My tactics were bad. Deploying second, I should have concentrated against one flank instead of attacking along his front and letting his superior numbers swamp me. His having fewer heroes would have played in my favor then as he'd need Command Tests to shift troops from one flank to the other. 

Hopefully my Romans have had their new army curse thoroughly excised now at least.

And the new magnetic bases worked a treat.