> From: JB Garrett > To: "Paul O'Connor" > Subject: Re: [WL] Re: [consim-l] censored? > > I never saw it come across so send it again. I'm interested in HotS- have it, > set it up, but only have played 2 turns. > > John Garrett > >> I posted a longish Hammer of the Scots replay yesterday, but never saw it >> show up. I figured I'd wait a day or two, and then maybe try again. Maybe >> there was a server burp. All right, then let's try to post that Hammer AAR again, this time using the trick of replying to an actual piece of Consim-l mail, rather than posting directly to the list (as I did originally). Hope it proves worth the bother ... Hammer of the Scots PBEM vs. Bob Moriarty Notes from a play-by-email game of Hammer of the Scots, conducted via the ACTS website at http://www.warhorsesim.com/acts/ 1297 3/10/04 Our scenario is "Braveheart," and Iım the English. Setup is as per the rulebook, with Comyn in Lochaber because its starting position wasnıt specified. My feudal draw is a good one ­ I get Edward plus the Lancaster knights and longbowmen, along with the Westmor infantry. My initial hand is 3, 2, 2, 1 plus Pillage. My plan is to open with the "3" to march Edward with the Lancasters on Bruce in Annan. If Bruce stands and fights, then weıll take him out and make up the losses later by pillaging Galloway. If Bruce retreats, then weıll build a bigger force under Edward using one of the "2" cards and hunt him down later in the turn. I want Bruce and Galloway this year, with Edward positioned with a large army to march north in 1298. 3/11/04 Wallace, Barclay, and Douglas march on Angus, but Wallace gaks it and scores only one hit. I retreat Angus north to Mar, preferring to concentrate my force and keep options open in the north (or at least make Wallace pay more dearly for going after Mar), rather than fighting to the death for Angus. I do surrender the chance to take a shot at B3 on my home ground, but the best I could hope for would be to put two hits on Wallaceıs infantry before Angus himself went down and converted to the other side as a one-step unit. Iıll lose Angus anyway if the Scots occupy his castle this winter ­ might as well keep him around as an army-in-being and see if I can spend his blood to greater advantage later. The Scots regroup one block back to Fife and keep two in Angus, so now Iım not certain what is where. In the south, Bruce retreats to Galloway. I plan to send Lennox and the Cumbrian infantry in Lothian into Carrick to corner Bruce and Galloway. Then I can hit them with the "Pillage" card and move on them later in the year. 3/13/04 Wallace and Barclay attack Atholl while Bruce and Galloway go north into Carrick. I canıt afford to let them link up. Atholl gets mauled and retreats south to Lennox, but the Scots surprise me and regroup to Fife. In Carrick, I withdraw Lennox to Lanark without loss, but my Cumbrian infantry is wiped out. Bruce and Galloway curiously withdraw to Galloway ­ now that theyıre cornered, I can move in with four blocks to try to bag Bruce and Galloway in one stroke. Meanwhile, in the north, the Scots corner Ross and give him no choice but to fight; I can only hope he goes down swinging, but he doesnıt really. In Galloway we capture Bruce and Galloway with minimal losses, but Iım getting nervous about the next two moves. With only a "Pillage" and a "1" card, the Scots can make some real gains in the north if they are bold. Fortunately, the Scots get conservative and start scrambling for winter quarters, allowing me to take the initiative with my "1" card and hit back at Angus with Angus and Mar. If things go well I might be able to keep Angus in my camp this year. It means an infantry block in England is going to be disbanded, but that seems a small price to pay Š 3/14/04 Things go better than "well," with the Scots getting blown out of Angus without a single English loss. My last card is "Pillage," which Iıll use to dent Wallaceıs group a bit. If the Scots have even a "1" movement card, theyıll be able to take Atholl for free, but we otherwise didnıt do too badly this year. As it turns out I am fortunate, as the Scots were stuck with a useless "Sea Move" card, so Atholl stays in the fold for another year. We lost Ross but picked up Bruce and Galloway; lost an infantry unit but killed one as well. Positionally weıre pretty strong in the north and solid in the south. A good year, we lead in nobles 12-2. A bit of Consimworld addenda: cmdr layman - Feb 3, 2004 9:41 am (#1706 Total: 1746) question just came up in a game, searched but couldnt find the answer, if edward 1 decides to winter in scotland, can he or any of his buddies with him(infantry or knights) receive replacements equal to the castle limit? we played that he couldnt,i thought i read that somewhere. -Will Jerry Taylor - Feb 3, 2004 11:42 am (#1707 Total: 1746) Designer, "Hammer of the Scots" and (the upcoming) "Crusader Rex" Good question, which - oddly enough - hasn't come up before. I will say yes, with the caveat being that the replacement points can only go to the noble who hails from that area or infantry. That is, you can't use those replacement points for knights, archers, the king, hobelars, etc. I decided against wintering Edward in Scotland so that I could draw seven blocks from the feudal levy, but my card draw turns out to have been foolıs gold ­ with the fist-full of "1s" I drew for 1298 it will be all I can do to get my infantry across the border and into positions where they can winter. If the Scots have any kind of hand at all they can really do some damage this turn. My sole card of power is a "Herald" Š Wallace and Douglas whack Atholl without a loss, while Grant and Moray jump a full strength Comyn. My goal is to try to blunt the Scottish advance by fighting for every step of ground while fortifying the highland chokepoint along the Lennox/Mentieth border. Unfortunately, Comyn only does two hits before getting whacked in the first round. The year sees me barely hanging on ­ we held the Lennox-Mentieth line, but everything further north is blue (aside from Ross up in the north, who I stole back with the Herald). If the Scots hadnıt been dealt a fairly ineffective hand of event cards, it could have gone much worse for me. We end the year leading in nobles 8-6. 1299 My feudal draw is vexing ­ lots of knights, but no Edward, so it looks like fire and forget time as far as any offensive this year is concerned. We have a move 2 and a move 1, along with Victuals, Sea Move, and Pillage. My plan is to come on strong to frighten the Scots, and then hope to end the year early with paired events. So, that means opening with my "2" to send my Hoblars to Dunbar and my Durham infantry to Annan (the only infantry unit that I can retain from this levy). Then, follow up with a Sea Move to send the Hoblars and Dunbar on a diversionary (and ultimately suicidal) move to either Ross or Buchan (or Fife, if the Scots have already moved against those two areas). This will give the Scots something to think about Š but it doesnıt matter to me if the Hoblars get killed, because they canıt winter in Scotland anyway, and if Dunbar flips heıll still have to return to an occupied Dunbar at the end of the move. In the meantime, maybe I can feint Bob into thinking Iım working up some kind of pincer attack, when in fact all Iıll have is a single "1" card to reinforce the Lennox-Mentieth line (if necessary), and a couple annoying events that will be more useful ending the year than having their listed effects. And so, we will see what the year brings Š 3/18/04 The Scots jumped me in Buchan, but I did manage to get two units up to Ross. Four Scots mass on the border in Moray while five more hit the middle of my line in Mentieth ­ all I can do, really, is stand and fight, and I get good dice, with Menieth and the Norhumber infantry exacting a terrible toll of the Scots ­ it costs them two infantry, and while Mentieth flipped to the other side, I was able to retreat to Lothian with my surviving infantry and Pillage Buchan away from the Scots, who then survived a round of combat to fall back to the English lines. 3/23/04 We then restored our guys with Victuals, but didnıt feel confident enough to hit back at Mentieth because of strong Scottish reinforcements in Atholl. So, with our last move, we "invade" Moray from Ross. This will force the Scots to either give up their attempt to occupy Buchan (meaning I get to keep that noble), or submit to a combat in Moray on what could be somewhat unfavorable terms. Itıs probably Wallace and Moray up there, but my Hoblars go on D3 A2 and they have nothing to lose Š 3/26/04 The Ross attack didnıt amount to much. I suppose 1299 could have gone better ­ we ended up losing the Lennox - Mentieth line, but at least I ended the year with four full-strength infantry blocks on the map, and my six nobles all good to go (including a couple pesky nobles behind the Scottish lines in Ross and Buchan). My draw for 1300 is pretty good Š Edward is back, and he has a movement-heavy hand. I plan to winter with Edward in Scotland this year, so I can afford to be patient in getting my army across the border and developing momentum for the march north. 3/27/04 The English spend the first part of 1300 getting their army north into Scotland, which is time enough for the Scots to run down and convert Ross and Buchan. Then we finally get to fight the English way, with six blocks, commanded by Edward, slamming into the Scottish line at Lennox. 3/28/04 Š Where things go very well, indeed, with Lennox and Argyll coming back to the English and the Etterick archers wiped out in a single round. We should take Mentieth next march and then end the year early with a Truce. The Scots sea move Wallace and Moray down to face me in Mentieth, so rather than take them on at full strength, we go to ground and spread out for the winter. If I draw a "3" card, we might be able to trap Wallace with the first move of next year Š but the Scots will likely take the opportunity under the truce move to redeploy in a less vulnerable position. Fortunately for me, all the Scots had was "Victuals," setting up a trump move next year. 3/29/04 We suspend the game for two weeksı of my vacation with the dawn of 1301. I drew nothing but movement cards for the coming turn, so things couldnıt look better right now. I should be able to jump Wallach in Mentieth with eight blocks (including Bruce and Edward), and then begin a march north through Mentieth, Fife, Angus, and maybe as far as Buchan and Mar. Hammer time! 4/15/04 Back from vacation and I decide to start things off with a stand-up fight to eliminate Wallace. Iıll play a Move-3 to open the year, and hit Wallace in Mentieth with Edward and four of his finest blocks (knights, nobles, and archers all ­ the weakest of the bunch is Steward at D3B2). Two other moves are used to pin potential Scot reinforcements and close off Wallaceıs retreat paths. Iıd like to come in with a larger army, but I think these blocks can do the trick. If I take a move to build up a bigger force, then Wallace will be able to retreat north, and the further north he goes, the stronger heıll get, because of the Scots forces heıll pick up along the way. A larger army would let me conquer Mentieth, Fife, and probably Angus, but at that point Iıd be up against it, with a large army marooned in northeast Scotland and Edward having to return to England for the winter. It would be all that I could to do hang on to my gains in the following year Š I really think it better to hazard it all on a somewhat riskier strategy, trying to take out Wallace early and then make a consolidation move or two before strengthening my hold on the middle part of the map. Then try to hold on for 1302 and get Edward into position to push into the north in 1303. And so we look for a decisive victory in Mentieth. Letıs hope this is a Falkirk, and not a Sterling. 4/17/04 The Scots reinforce with the Norse block (didnıt see that one coming), so theyıll be pretty strong in this fight. But weıre still hitting on 3ıs and 4ıs while theyıre hitting on 2ıs and 3ıs, and we outnumber them in steps 16:13, so hopefully Š 4/20/04 A bloody fight, but bloodier for the Scots than for me. In what will likely be the pivotal battle of the game, we wipe out the entire Scots force (including Wallace) at a cost of seven steps (hitting on six out of eight shots to open the second round didnıt hurt us at all). Mentieth joins the English cause. Now all I need to do is have Atholl retreat back across the border to Mentieth (after closing Wallaceıs path of retreat to Fife), then spend a turn bringing up infantry from the south, and weıll be ready to make some hay in the north. Hope to take Fife and Angus this turn Š 4/22/04 We March Bruce and a couple infantry north to Mentieth, then march six blocks into Fife (including Edward) to battle five Scots. Meanwhile, the Scots drift around toward my left and invade vacant Argyll, which I will almost certainly lose this year. No matter ­ my mission right now is to chew up as many Scots steps as I can before my army goes home for the winter. I will likely have to reinforce Lennox but I can afford a consolidation move before the last of the campaign season at the end of the year. 4/25/04 The battle in Fife goes our way ­ with minimal losses we damage a pair of Scottish nobles and kill two infantry blocks. We regroup a block to Atholl to hold the northern shoulder of the assault, and now must decide if we press north into Angus or hold tight and shore up our present line with more infantry from the south. Probably makes sense to fortify the Lennox-Fife line with good infantry, but Iıd really like to get up to bat with Edward one more time and take Angus our of the war. 5/1/04 Well, we got our chance, and took it, and it proved to be the decisive battle of the war. I pulled my main body back to Mentieth, to use interior lines to reinforce my frontier, and was happy when the Scots trumped me with three moves to two. The Scots attacked in Atholl and Fife. Moving second, I was able to selectively reinforce both battles from Mentieth with a pretty good idea of what Iıd face. Bob chose to fight in Atholl first, which may have been a fatal mistake ­ not only did the fight go against him (with Mar coming over to my side), but my regroup move following the battle allowed me to occupy Angus, cutting off the Scottish retreat from Fife. Fife turned into a battle of annihilation, from which the English emerged without a scratch, but Buchan, Angus, and Ross all changed allegiance, while the Scots archers were destroyed. The year ends with the noble count favoring the English 11:3, and nearly all of our blocks are at full strength. Wallace and the Norse block are both dead, and we have good infantry as far north as Angus and Fife. The only blemish is that Edward didnıt show up in our six-block levy, so we wonıt be able to land a knock-out blow in 1302, but things are otherwise looking pretty grim for the Scots. 5/3/04 My goals for 1302 are simple: hold on to what Iıve got, maybe capture one more noble, keep my infantry in forward deployment, and set the stage for Edward to return and end the war. I start the year by marching three blocks across the border into Annan ­ one infantry and a couple powerful knights. Theyıll join up with Bruce and head north with Argyll as their ultimate destination. In the north, the Scots hit me at Buchan, who manages to inflict a couple hits before fleeing across the border to Angus. I hope to pillage Buchan next move to build up Buchan again. 5/9/04 The pillage does indeed build up Buchan, and kills a Scots infantry. After a consolidation move, we begin the last offensive of 1302, pushing six blocks (including the elite Hobelar knights) into Buchan, while Bruce and York enter Argyll at losing odds with the hope of getting lucky (and York has nothing better to do that fight to the death, anyway Š Edward isnıt present to allow wintering in Scotland, and my only remaining card is Victuals). 5/21/04 1302 ends with the noble count favoring the English 10:4, but I gakked my last move of the year and lost two infantry blocks to castle limits (I blame fatigue from a deadline siege at work). My feudal draw includes Edward, but the rest of the blocks are crap, so I may not wish to winter him in Scotland next year, even though the end of the game is fast approaching. I may have lost my chance for decisive victory this turn, but it seems like little can prevent a marginal English victory given the current Scot dispositions. 5/26/04 The Scots come on strong, driving me out of Buchan and Mar; in both cases I elect to fight and flee rather than die in my tracks. It takes two cards for Edward to get across the border in force, but itıs obvious that this is my last and best shot to take out the Scots, so I have to take time to do it right. Red border limits make it difficult to make rapid gains in the north. 5/28/04 A Scots truce further slows my offensive, but Iım positioned to hit the Scots in Argyll, Mar, and Buchan with the last march of the year. 6/11/04 Things go pretty well for such a fumbling offensive. I lose in Buchan, but at this point I think I can more easily replace lost steps than my opponent. I win in Mar. And I overcome long odds to win in Argyll, too, where Edward and a single infantry block take down two nobles and a couple supporting infantry/archer blocks with minimal losses to themselves. The year ends with us enjoying an outside shot at a decisive victory in the next two years Š IF I can push the Scots back to the far north this turn. It has to be now, though, because Edward wonıt be this far north again. 1304 I draw a good hand for movement, plus the Victuals card, so I have a legitimate shot to roll up the Scots this turn. I start off with a deployment move, positioning four blocks each in Argyll, Atholl, and Angus. My plan is to use a "1" move to send four blocks into Buchan next turn, and then flood four blocks into Lochaber and two strong blocks into Badenoch the next move. If those moves are successful, we should be able to march on Moray before the end of the year, leaving only Ross to conquer in 1305 to claim the decisive victory. 6/13/04 And sensing as well as I which way this thing has to end, Bob offers surrender, which I am honored to accept. Bobıs comment: "I did feel that I was in control and winning the game until the 1302 battle. My weakness in war games is that I do not retreat enough and it looks like it may have cost me the game." I learned quite a bit about this game. Momentum is key for the English, as is nurturing a base of infantry wintering as far north in Scotland as you can manage. Who hits first is often more important than how hard they hit. The order in which battles occur can be critical, and you should never get yourself into a fight from which you cannot easily retreat. I like it. I wouldn't mind taking a break, and I wouldnıt mind playing again right away. Hammer is a winner.