Joël Borie - 01:38pm Sep 28, 1997 PST (#72 of 73) Hi! This Saturday I went to Glenn's place to continue Empires of the Middle Ages but nodoby else showed-up. So Glenn and I played Command Magazine's latest: YARMUCK. The game lasted longer than it initially seemed. Each of the 6 days of the battle is made of at least 4 turns. We just finished turn 7 of day one when we decided to stop. Historically the Bizantines got fatigued; in our case both of the players were tired. We agreed on a draw because the ending was still uncertain. The Byzantines (me) were slowly moving towards their objectives and with a few lucky cavalry raids they could have won; but if the game went all the way till day six with any lucky Byzantine strike, then the Muslims would have won. The combat table is not bloody. Losses usually come from encirclements that force multiple moral checks: the game uses ZOCs and the map is wide. Both forces have about the same size. The Byzantine have troops with better morale but their units are usually slower and also they have to drag with them caravans that move atrociously slowly (and also happen to be the Muslim victory objectives). The Muslims have more cavalry (even though it is weaker), their infantry moves faster. Also they don't have caravans so they have more strategic mobility (they can move a corps from one side of the battlefield to another in a few turns). The Byzantine win if a some point they hold two of their four objectives which are 2 Muslim camps and 2 exit roads. My initial setup along the start line with 2 corps grouped to attack the area where 2 Muslim camps sit. Since the game works by impulses that startegy worked quite well: every turn his one corps defending could do only one move (usually retreat or reorganization of the defense line) while he was getting attacked twice. I was moving well and came within reach (and actually captured one) of the Muslim camps. These attacks didn't do kills but forced the Muslims to retreat by 1 to 3 hexes by turn. SInce Cavalry ignores Infantry ZOCs, 2 waves of attacks always bring somewhere a breach of the frontline allowing a cavalry to infiltrate and then create concentric attacks. My big mistake was to try and cover the whole frontline. One of the muslim objectives in addition to the Byzantine caravans is a road. Glenn and I agreed that it is not worth trying to defend for the Byzantine player because of the lack of mobility of the Byzantine army. Using his cavalry corps and the "Sword of Allah" (second round of attacks for Muslim cavalry) Glenn quickly did some damage in my lines. In order to regroup, I threatened him with cavalry incursions behind his lines that forced him to waste his cavalry in chases (otherwise I could capture victory hexes and achieve and instant win). That allowed me to regroup towards the main group of my armies but cost me a few cavalry units. Cavalry is the element of the game since Infantry attacks are not deadly. The best strategy for the Byzantine player is to regroup all of his forces to attack the Muslim camps (a little bit like I did). He should not defend the whole battlefield. The Byzantine player should also use the option to regroup all his Cavalry into a very powerful Corps that would overpower the Muslim Cavalry and then force the Muslim player to be on the defensive (and then station Infantry units to defend the victory hexes (exit roads and Muslim camps). Glenn and I really liked the game, but there is no way the 6 days of the battle can be player in one player's day. Joël From: Markus Stumptner Subject: Yarmuk (Command #45) Buoyed by the feeling of finally setting sight again on a Command game that did not make one wish to look at something else, we played a partial game of Command's Yarmuk yesterday (we started late and had to stop playing early). The game is very interesting, with some unusal features. Both sides activate formations alternately (any desired order per player), with each formation moving then attacking, which is mandatory in ZOCs. Combat is differential-based (there is no combat strength - the differential is based on unit count only) results in retreats or disruptions (repeated disruption requires a morale check with potential rout). Disruption lasts until the end of the day, with routed units rolling a die and either returning the next morning or being permanently lost. Victory is gained by taking the opponent's camps or exit hexes, or, if that does not happen, by the Muslims holding out till the end of the game. Command control is done in a manner vaguely reminiscent of Kadesh: all units of a formation that are in one coherent group on the map and include the leader of the formation are in command, others have to roll the die to determine their movement allowance. There are a number of special abilities. Cataphracts and Muslim cavalry (the latter only by declaring the "Sword of Islam" action that gives them an additional movement phase) can charge, but may be disrupted afterwards (particularly likely for the Muslims). Leaders add a combat shift if desired but die then on a roll of (and leave their units permanently leaderless if they do so). The Byzantines can form a centralized strong cavalry arm. Formations can declare a "supreme effort" but may suffer the consequences afterwards. There are events for parleys, sandstorms, combat by army champions, Byzantine fatigue and demoralization. Playing the game was a lot of fun. The CRT strongly favors the attacker, so even the Islamic side (which is a bit more defensive given the victory conditions) is best off using opportunities to counterattack. We did not play enough to get a real impression of historicity or balance. The number of turns per day is not fixed, so the Muslims can wait for Byzantine fatigue and hope to pounce on them when it happens and the day does not end right away. One thing that is odd is that time stops at nightfall. Even if both sides' troops are intermingled in the most horrific slashing and charging manner after the last turn's attacks, and night falls, the rising sun will find all the troops still on exactly the same spot! Yawn, stretch, and off they go against their last evening's opponents... This is a bit weird, some kind of disentanglement and camping rule seems missing (or we overlooked it). The rules are pleasantly short and fairly clear, although there are a few oddities, e.g., the Byzantines roll for fatigue at the end of turn 4 (and later) of each day, but apparently the fatigue effects last only one turn and not till the end of the day. There are also lots of spelling errors and some really Byzantine phrasings. For example, the rules for concentrating the other formations' cataphracts under leader Bahan state that "these cataphracts are treated like all of Bahan's other units" and then go on to say that Bahan's infantry (i.e., all his other units!) are out of command! The intent is clear (the cataphracts are in command, the rest not), but takes several readings to sift through. If I noted correctly, there is no supreme effort marker for Bahan, but two for Qanateer. Overall: Looks quite good, will be played again. Markus Last 3 games played: Thunder at the Crossroads, Pacific War, Yarmuk ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Bakayaro! Bakayaro!" ("Stupid Bastards! Stupid Bastards!") -- Admiral Aritomo Goto's last words to his staff, October 11, 1942