The Hanging Flank: Chariots to Your Right

Pharaoh calls upon his elite Chariots to come to his rescue and challenge the flank of my Pike Phalanx (damn their wheels and 5 "Attack Dice", yes a historical period super-stat miss-match methinks but that goes with the territory of an "open period" game, [and they are still fun to play]). The movement on the Renaissance right flank started thus (see below):

The Chariots move in (see above) and then see away a band of Renaissance Harquebusier Skirmishers (see below). Score card: Chariots (1) Renaissance (0), not going too well as remember I also have a bruised bunch of mounted crossbow (did I really call them The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'?) on the Renaissance left flank from a previous encounter with a bunch of javelin-men I underestimated.

Meanwhile the Renaissance Pike have moved up menacingly to assault Egyptian Center (see below). Already my noble Bugundian Knights have caused the Egyptians a "tummy flutter" moment by attacking the right flank of the Egyptian Line. That "tummy flutter" moment turned into Egyptian unrestrained hilarity as the Knights bounced off in disorder (decorum please gentlemen). Obviously the Renaissance equivalent of a German WWII 'Tiger Tank' does not like fighting men in "cotton white skirts" with reed bows. Some semblance of respect was regained when the Knights disposed of the annoying javelin-men when they had the cheek to try mix it hand-to-hand, trying methinks to get the Knights disordered. A calculated gamble that backfired. Scorecard: Renaissance (1) Chariots (1).  

Note in the above photograph the Pike Block has started its eagerly awaited assault. The Egyptian skirmishers guarding the front of the Egyptian main fighting line have been stripped away and retreating in disorder, stunned by the ferocity of the "Doppelsoldner" assault (Skirmish troops with an Impact of 3). The initial part of the plan worked perfectly however such is their aggression (and the lure of the Impact capability of the unit in attack) is that they overplayed "their hand" somewhat and lost out in a dice exchange with the main Egyptian line (hence the casualty marker and disorder). Nothing was lost though, as all was now set up for the "Push of Pike" next go. Dithering to the right hand side of the Pike Block its protective sleeve of shot had been delayed by the disordering effect of "sustained" Egyptian archery fire ("darken the skies"). Only through "good" Renaissance Generalship 'rally rolls' was this disorder finally removed. The consequence of this being the Harquebusier formation lagged slightly behind the rest of the Pike Block which turned out in the end to be quite fortunate (see below).

A ferocious "mounted" melee had broken out on the right flank. The Germanic Mounted M-A-A were slogging it out with a unit of Pharaoh's finest Chariots. While there was stalemate as they heaved, prodded and shoved, the Pike Block's flank was still secure. Unfortunately the Egyptians were intent on bringing up more infantry and trying to release additional chariot formations into the center of the battlefield. Those 'lagging and malingering' Harquebusiers suddenly became very useful indeed.