Campaign Carnival 2022 Scenario 3 AAR

This is the 3rd post about the 3rd Scenario of the Campaign Carnival 2022 by @WorldofWeirth/Purple Druid presents Wargame Culture

If you haven't read the other posts here's a TL/DR:

• Mireland's forces are counterinvading the Barony of Heirland
• Heirland captured a Mireland scout and has set up an ambush
• The Mireland force has entered the battlefield in column
  
• The Heirland flanking force on the right cannot move until round 2
• The Mireland battle plan is to outflank the Heirland force on the hill with cavalry (drake riders) on the left and infantry (gatorkin mercenaries) on the right, covered by archers (goblin infantry) and carnage beasts. The rest of the gatorkin will attack directly with the carnage beast joining in.
• The Heirland battleplan is for their archers (scouts) and battle mages to fire from the top of the hill with infantry at the bottom of the hill protecting them. The infantry from the flanking force will feign coming from the ruins on the right while the cavalry (knights) sneak through the woods
• Mireland cannot see the flanking force until they break cover
• I'm utilizing the Dice Legions game with modifications for unit morale and leaders
• Units use activations to act, leaders can use activations to rally units and give a limited activation to all units in their Command Range (movement rate)
  

Links to previous posts:

Set up

Battle plans

Here are the units cards and the dice that reprsent them, the special units (battlemages and carnage beasts) are d8s.

Close ups:

Initial setup: Heirland south and east, Mireland northwest

The white dice are Mireland supply wagons. There are hills along the northern edge and southwest, ruins to the southeast, and forest center east.

Round 1: Heirland wins the roll off (Dice Legions tern for initiative) 9 to 5, and elects to go second.

Mireland activates its three leaders and moves most of its units sending infantry to the east and center and cavalry to the west. They activate their archers and beasts and move them up and begin targeting the Heirland infantry, reducing one unit to one pip. It fails morale and begins retreating south (routed).

Heirland activates it's leaders. Moving the infantry to the bottom of the hill and clearing line of sight for some of the scouts (archers) to fire. At this point I realize the Mireland commander (i.e. ME) has made a mistake. The hill give range units extra...well, range and they are able to target the enemy leaders. The remaining activations are used to move and fire with most of the scouts and all the mages. (None is used to try and rally the infantry that is routed and retreating). The ranged units wipe out both Mireland cavalry and archer commander units and one carnage beast. They target the infantry leader, but cause no damage. They damaged a couple of archer units and one failed morale and retreated.

(I mistakenly didn't get a picture at the end of Round 1.)

Round 2:  Mireland wins the roll off 11 to 10 thanks to the +3 for losing 3 units.

Mireland has less flexibility with only one leader left. That leader activates gatorkin on one side to move up to make contact with the Heirland infantry and uses archer fire to target the scout leader unit, reducing it to one. Three beasts are activated to move up and target the scout leader, but all hits are saved. The fleeing scout successfully rallies with an activation. The remaining cavalry are activated and double move to a flanking position. Three more carnage beasts are moved up to target the infantry leader and do some damage.

Heirland realizes the Mireland forces will be able to move to a flanking position earlier than anticipated. (No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.) Also the flanking infantry would be spotted immediately and by unable to get near the ruins to support the planned ruse. The cavalry leader activation is used to move the flanking infantry. Rather than slowing the cavalry by sending them through the woods, they activate and break cover for a charge. The infantry leader activates the movement around it, moving some scouts and mages to cover the flank and pulling the infantry leader unit back to avoid further range fire. Several mages remain in place and hit two Mireland cavalry units. An infantry in contact hits another cavalry. The scout leader unit activates the units on its side (and auto rallies). The mages target the Mireland archers, hitting all of them. The scouts target carnage beast in the middle of the battlefield (hitting 2) and the infantry in contact with gatorkin attack and damage them. Most the Mireland units that were damaged fail morale checks and retreat. One cavalry and two archer units stand fast.

The results after Round 2, the metal markers indicate routed units:

Round 3 Heirland wins roll off 8 to 4:

Heirland: The cavalry leader activates and moves all the cavalry up. The scout leader activates the units around it and mages begin targeting the archers. Several 6's are rolled (6's on ranged attacks by mages cannot be saved and count as two hits. Can you say Fireball?) Both archer units within range are wiped out. Mages and scouts target the Mireland infantry leader unit and get three hits. The infantry on the line attack the remaining gatorkin again. The infantry leader activates units. Scouts and mages target all along the line. Then infantry are individually activated to engage the remaining cavalry. The 3 infantry of the flanking force are also activated and moved. A Mireland gatorkin and cavalry unit fail morale and retreat.

End of Heirland turn, Round 3:

Mireland: Mireland infantry leader actives and rallies troops, rolling a 2. Choose to let 2 drake riders rout off west side of board. Activations used on carnage beasts to reenforce east flank and attack scout leader (attacks missed) and unengaged gatorkin and  beasts moved to attack infantry in west and center. One infantry destroyed and three damaged. Two units fail morale and retreat.

End of Mireland turn, Round 3:

Round 4 Heirland wins roll off 10 (+1 for loss) to 7 (+3 for losses)

Heirland: Infantry leader activates the units around it. Ranged units engage the carnage beasts and gatorkin inflicting some damage. Scout leader activates units with engaged infantry attacking and mages attacking gatorkin in the middle.  The middle gatorkin shake off any hits. Cavalry is activated and charges the 5 gatorkin units in the east. They destroy one and inflict heavy damage on 3 others. West side infantry are activated and attack carnage beasts. 3 carnage beasts and 5 gatorkin fail maorale checks and retreat.

End of Heirland turn, Round 4:

 Mireland: Infantry leader rallies units, rolling a 2. Uses remaining activations to retreat as many units as possible.

End of Mireland turn, Round 4:

 Round 5 Mireland wins roll off 8 to 7:

Mireland: Most activations use to retreat units. 3 units already engaged, 2 gatorkin in middle, northwest archer, attack.  All three Heirland units make morale save. 

Heirland: Activation by leaders and mages used to move units into combat range for next turn.

End of Round 5: 

The remaining rounds are a running fight as Mireland attempts to escape from the battlefield while Heirland tries to cut them off and destroy them. Along with mopping up engage units.

Round 6 Heirland wins roll off 8 to 3, Mireland loses three units to one for Heirland.  Mireland archers force a retreat by Heirland cavalry.

End of Round 6:

Round 7 Heirland winds roll off 7(+1) to 6(+3), Mireland loses 5 more units.

End of Round 7 (last battlefield pic):

 Round 8 Mireland wins roll off 15 (+5) to 8, Mireland loses one more unit and the main force escapes. Heirland almost loses it's infantry leader in the battle near the hill.

Round 9 Heirland win the roll off 8 to 7(+1), Mireland archer routs off the field and remaining Mireland units are mopped up. Baggage train is captured.

The results:

Units remaining. (Heirland top 4 rows, Mireland bottom). The markers indicate the units to left are leader units:

Units lost. (Mireland top 3 rows, Mireland bottom) The rectangular marker indicate units routed off the north or south.

Mireland losses:

In units (stands): 13 gatorkin, 3 drake riders, 4 goblins, 5 carnage beasts, 5 wagons from baggage train, 2 leaders

In pips (figures): 84 gatorkin, 22 drake riders, 28 goblins, 5 carnage beasts,  5 wagons from baggage train, 2 leaders

Plus 5 units routed off field, 3 off north side

Heirland losses:

Units: 3 infantry

Pips: 36 infantry, 9 knights, 5 scouts

Plus 3 units routed off south edge 

Victory points:

Counting losses by stand:  Heirland 35, Mireland 6

Counting losses by figure: Heirland 149, Mireland 53

Utilizing the Campaign Carnival 2022 booklet chart to breakdown casualties: 

Heirland:

Killed: 440 infantry, 120 knights, 40 scouts

Injured: 280 infantry, 160 knights, 80 scouts

Scattered: 720 infantry, 80 knights, 80 scouts

Mireland:

Killed: 880 gatorkin, 320 drake riders, 440 goblins, 5 carnage beasts

Injured: 960 gatorkin, 240 drake riders, 120 goblins

Scattered: 1480 gatorkin, 320 drake riders, 560 goblins

Captured: 2 leaders, 5 baggage train wagons

Summary:

This battle could have gone very differently if two Mireland leaders had not been lost in the first round.  That would have enabled the gatorkin and carnage beasts to fight infantry one on one and for attacks on both flanks. The Heirland Knights would have been pressed to get into battle range and much of the devastating Heirland missile fire would have been negated by either being engaged in melee or having most potential targets in melee (no firing into melee).

 Mobility and massed attack really seem to be key in this system.

"Get there (in the fight) first and with overwhelming force (and you will dominate the battle)." - General Nathan Bedford Forrest 

(Often quoted as " git thar fustest with the mostest".)

Scenario 2 "Postgame"

 
If you haven't read the initial setup, that post is here:

https://nerdusinterruptus.blogspot.com/2022/07/campaign-carnival-2022-scenario-2.html

The Heirland forces setup with the scouts on the south end of their line. They can travel through just woods (the southern half of the forest on the left, the top half is on a hill) without restriction. There are two knights on the road to lead the convoy of wagons (white dice).

The Mireland forces setup with the rage beasts on the left and the drake riders on the right. The ground forces will race for the gap in the mountains while the drakes head over the mountain to block the road.

Turn 1

The roll off (2d6): Mireland 4, Heirland 2

Mage teleport rolls (2 each since they are double moving): 2&5, 5&5, 4&4, 6&1, 6&1

Forces move up. Heirland gets on the road, their battle mages teleport to the edge of the wooded hill and the scouts move into the woods. The lead rage beast enters the mountain pass, because it's a hill and halves movement the lead beast just makes it through. The second beast is in the pass. The other units back up behind the pass.  The drake riders move to the base of the mountain.

Turn 2

The roll off: Heirland 9, Mireland 7

Mages moving base range so no dice rolled.

The mages stack up on the edge of the hill which gives them extra range and open fire on the lead rage beast.They score a total of 11 hits, the rage beast saves 5 of them. The second knight unit charges and scores 4 hits. The rage beast saves only one and dies. The lead knight unit charges the rage beast in the pass. It hits with it's charge (not saveable), and scores 4 other hits. The rage beast saves 1.

Having used all 7 available activations, the remaining Heirland forces focus on moving further across the map.

The rage beast in the pass lashes out at the knights, scoring 3 hits. The knights save two, shining armor slightly dented. The drake riders move across the mountain.

Turn 3

The roll off (Mireland plus 1 after losing a unit): Heirland 10, Mireland 8

Mage teleport rolls (4 moving and attacking, 1 double moving): 6, 5, 4, 5, 2&1

The front end of the convoy moves down the road leaving a gap for the range units. The three scouts plus one mage activate and attack the drake rider unit with the the leader. They land a total of 14 hits, including two unblockable hits from the mages. The drake rider only saves 8 and is destroyed (leader captured). Two mages attack the second drake rider, scoring 6 hits. None are saved and the second drake unit is destroyed. The fourth mage targets the next drake rider in line and scores 3 hits, 2 unblockable; one is saved. The remaining convoy units move down the road.

The rage beast in the in the pass hits the blocking knights for 3 hits, only one is saved. The remaining drake riders attack 3 infantry units in the convoy, including the leader. The leader unit takes 2 hits and saves 1; the east unit takes 2 hits and saves 1; the west unit takes 4 hits and saves 1.

Turn 4

The roll off (Mireland +2): Heirland 12 (!), Mireland 10

Mage teleport rolls (moving only once to remain in range of combat while being near map edge):3,6,3,5,4

Most of the convoy (including all 5 wagons and the knight leader unit) move off the map. Three infantry and one knight will activate along with the three engaged units. The attacks on the western drake unit score 6 hits, 3 are saved. The middle drake unit suffers 7 hits; with only 1 save that unit is destroyed. The east drake unit suffers 7 hits, but saves 5. Remaining Heirland units move close to the map edge. The unengaged knight unit near the pass moves to the road.

The rage beast in the pass scores two hits, but the knight saves both. The remaining drakes score 3 hits on two engaged infantry with no saves.

Turn 5

The roll off (Mireland +1): Mireland 9, Heirland 5

No mage teleport rolls, all units close enough to map edge for minimum roll to get them of board.

The rage beast in the pass scores 3 more hits; one is a 6 (counts as 3 hits if unsaved). The knight saves the 6 and one other hit. This unit will later receive a citation from the Baron of Heirland for Holding the Line. The two drake units score a total of 3 hits, but 2 are saved.

The knights attack the west drake unit. They score 4 hits; only 2 are saved and that unit is destroyed. An infantry unit score 3 hits on the remaining drake, which is also destroyed after only saving 1.  Most of the remaining Heirland units get off the board, including the infantry leader, and all the scouts and mages. The few remaining units moving down the road.

Turn 6

Roll off (Mireland +2): Mireland 9, Heirland 8

The rage beast in the pass score 3 more hits including a 6. The knights save 2 including the 6.

The remaining Heirland units move off the board.

And with that the heroic knights in the pass are captured as darkness descends and the rest of the Mireland army arrives.

The final tally:

By stands (dice): Heirland (1 Mireland leader captured, 5 wagon escaped) 12 VP

Mireland (1 Heirland unit captured): 2 VP 

By figures (pips) : Heirland 12 VP, Mireland 7 VP

 In terms of troops lost:

Heirland: Injured- 400 Infantry, Captured- 300 Knights 

Mireland: Killed- 600 Drake Riders, 1 Rage Beast; Injured- 492 Drake Riders;            Scattered 300 Drake Riders; Captured- Drake Rider leader

In terms of victory points either a solid Heirland win or a draw. In terms of losses, a lopsided victory for the Heirland forces. 

Because of the terrain draw, the turn 2 roll off was a killer. By activating first, Heirland was able to keep the vast majority of Mireland forces bottled up.  Had Mireland won that roll, they'd have broken out and the chase would have been on.

But this was the only way this battle could have broken down in Heirland's favor. A different set of terrain and a substantial portion of the Heirland force would have been tied up in battle and lost after turn 6 given the scenario conditions.

So what could have been the Heirland forces losing up to half their total forces ends in a substantial victory. This is why we play.

Pink Phantom Postgame: An army in flight

My reworked redux of the first scenario of the Campaign Carnival 2022 took place early this morning.

My previous post, Still Tinkering, discussed the details, but here's a brief synopsis:

Army A (Heirland) has suffered a battlefield defeat. 45% is fleeing the pursuing Army B (Mireland). Outnumbered two to one they must escape the scenario batttlefield. Army B is looking to inflict as much damage as possible.

In my prior playthrough, using the scenario as written Side A scared a tremendous victory, and neither side suffered much in the way of losses.

 This time was different.

Aftermath

The Heirland forces were very much wiped out this time, victory point wise. Out of 18 units, only 6 of them escaped and two of those were of reduced strength. Two of the three Weirland leaders were captured as well.

In terms of victory points -

By stand (unit): Heirland - 14; Mireland - 30

By figure: Heirland - 32; Mireland - 148

Heirland casualties: Inf - 350 killed, 450 injured; Kni - 150 killed, 250 injured; Sc - 250 killed, 300 injured, and 1 Battle Mage injured

Mireland casualties: Gator - 50 killed, 150 injured; Drake - 650 killed, 700 injured

From a purely "dead and gone" point of view losses are fairly even in numbers.  But the Mireland forces had a two to one advantage to start, sooo moral victory for Weirland?

Scenario execution

As far as running the battle: 

By increasing the ratio of men per figure, it went quicker. Only 52 units to manipulate vs 99 in the previous play. I did add some markers, but they didn't add a lot of time. Despite my added deployment mechanic, and added setup time for cameras and tracking sheets, the entire play was about 4 hours from start of setup to tear down, vs well over 5 the last time.

 (this deployment section will make more sense if you've read the previous post.)

I had mixed feeling during the battle of using cards and bags to randomize entry of most of the armies onto the field. Early on and very late I thought my process was hamstringing Mireland, but they also benefited from the process in the middle section.

Mireland forces were slow to accrue on the first two turns because of the stacked mature of the top of the deck. There were more Heirland cards than entering Heirland forces, so there were 'empty' draws, especially on turn 2. The one change I would make to the process is making sure the card selection matched the armies available.

But once on the field, Mireland benefitted from the automatic movement entering units had until they entered battle or moved into command range.

(end deployment section)

The presence of the cameras inhibited my access to the board and reference/tracking cards/charts, but not too badly. I don't know how people play while providing continuous commentary. Much respect to the consistent Youtubers in the hobby.

From a strategy standpoint:

In the Dice Legions system, once a unit is engaged in melee, it is stuck there until the unit(s) engaging it 'dies', unless they have a special ability to escape (Mireland Drake Riders and Heirland Battle Mages do).

My Heirland strategy was to use the initial numbers advantage to kill the few Mireland units and free up incoming units, then flee. My Mireland strategy was to use drake riders and double moves (which can be executed instead of move-attack) to engage and cut off forces. Then oncoming numbers could polish off the Heirland units.

I used the leader led units to reorganize incoming units for Heirland, but with limited activations, it'd have been better to let the incoming units benefit from the 'free' move action disorganized units of both sides had. Still things might have worked out if the initial Mireland forces could have been killed faster. I definitely erred in the mid-game, trying to save a tied up leader unit when a third or so of the Heirland forces were unengaged and had a good chance to escape.

The Mireland strategy worked very well, though at the cost of hi casualties among the Drake Riders.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I like how this scenario played out. A change in the fortunes of war could have changed the victory points result in Weirlands favor but also could have led to much higher Heirland casualties had it gone the other way.  The semi-random deployment mechanic is something worth using and refining in the future.

Now I just have to figure out how to hammer this video footage into something coherent and...not 3 hours long.

Campaign Carnival 2022 - Force determination and 1st Scenario

 

 The Fluff (pulled from the Campaign Carnival 2022 booklet by World of Weirth, barony names adapted from the forces of Dice Legions Roll vs Evil): 

Two neighboring Domains have been involved in a trade dispute for nearly a year.
Baron Arron of Heirland has had enough! He has lost all patience and in the Spring of the year mustered his forces and sent them into the Barony of Mireland to seize the disputed resource area.
Baron Barren called up his own bannermen to defend the domain, meeting the army of Heirland on the Fields of Aprikoosit.

 

The Crunch: To determine the initial forces, I've utilized the system from The Solo Wargaming Guide by William Sylvester. I rolled dice to determine the towns/villages and available forces. Since per scenario these are two baronies (generally smaller forces) I decided there would be a central castle town (rated A[2-5 regiments]) for each barony and 4 additional potential sources of soldiers. The rolls were fairly even:

• Mireland received towns of B [1-5 regiments] and B size and villages of D [3 companies], F [1 company], and H [no units]
• Heirland received towns of A and B size and villages of D, F , and H
• Mireland's A and two B towns yielded 4 regiments, 2 regiments, and 2 regiments
• Heirland's towns yielded 3 regiments, 2 regiments, and 3 regiments 

 So the dice were kind and both baronies start evenly matched, 7920 troops each. In Dice Legions each side has three types of regular (pip based) troops.  I chose to divide them up as
4200 basic infantry, 2400 cavalry, and 1320 'trained' (due to range attacks) troops.  I then added 10 of each sides' special units to the mix.

The 1st Scenario (from the CC 2022 booklet with DL names): 

The Fluff: The overconfident and headstrong general of Heirland was defeated, his strategy thwarted, and he was ignominiously captured by the Golden Guard of Mireland! Heirland’s army was forced to withdraw from the field, leaving behind a small force to defend the retreat.

In my head canon, the Baron of Heirland was unaware that the coveted resource (a mineral useful in magic and alchemy) was located in the goblinoid inhabited swamps of Mireland. Baron Barren had made a deal with the goblinoids, sharing the riches of the trade for rights to the mineral. This also generated goodwill with goblinoids, who now swelled the ranks of Mireland's army.  Baron Aaron assumed the light human population of Mireland would not be able to resist the size of Heirland's army. His general was ill prepared to meet a foe of equal numbers and savage intent.

The Crunch:  Per the scenario, Heirland will only have access to 45% of its forces, while Mireland will have 90% of its starting units.

Heirland:

1890 Heirland Infantry (by Dice Legion standards - 16 dice with one die understrength at 4)

1080 Heirland Knights (9 dice)

594 Heirland Scouts (5 dice with 1 at 5)

5 Heirland Batttle Mages (5 dice with one starting at 4 of 8 health points)

Mireland:

3780 Gatorkin Mercenaries (32 dice with 1 at 3)

2160 Goblin Drake Riders (18 dice)

1188 Goblin Infantry (10 dice with 1 at 5)

9 Carnage Beasts 

 Terrain:

Using the method in the CC 2022 booklet to generate terrain, the battlefield has a large section of woods on the west and southwest corner with some wooded hills just south west of center. 

In Dice Legions woods give cover (allowing for rerolls of failed saves against hits). Hills give extra range to ranged attacks. Of the Mireland forces, only the Carnage Beasts are slowed by the forest. Heirland Infantry and Knights will both be affected by this terrain.

Dice Legions Roll vs Evil forces are set up as and even matchup of 18 dice in each army, with 6 activations per army fielded. Since this is a fight of uneven numbers, I'm ruling one activation per every 3 dice. Heirland will have 12 activations per turn and Mireland will have 17 per turn.

 Setup:

The standard set up for Dice Legions calls for a 12" 'no go' zone between opposing armies.  This assumes the armies will move towards each other rather than one trying to get away. Dice Legions also has no facing, so units can move away just as easily as moving towards the enemy.  Given these reasons (and my small battlemat) I'll be setting the Heirland forces within a 6" strip in the middle of the board and the Mireland troops just outside that strip. This is to keep the Heirland forces from turning tail and running with little chance of being caught.

 

Results: 

It was a wipe out. The Heirland forces knocked out two Mireland leaders on the first turn (one killed and one on a retreat that never ended). All three of their leaders were gone by the end of round 3

The improvised morale rules, rather than allowing Mireland a chance for points from routed units (though that is where most of their points came from), proved a boon to Heirland as a means of escaping melee or forcing Mireland forces to retreat. Admittedly a lot of that is the whim of the dice, but by RAW Dice Legions, once in melee most units are stuck there until one of the units in melee dies.

 I got caught up on the Mireland side with getting the drake cavalry and range units up to tie up units, inflict damage, and possibly cut off retreat. I didn't move in the gatorkin infantry until late. those guys can really lay down hits and avoid (save) hits. (Both are a success on 3+ on each d6).

 The final results: Mireland inflicted casualties of two units, routed 8 off the board, and captured one leader. Heirland had one unit escape disrupted and 24 escape in good order.

Going by stands (dice): Heirland 49 VP; Mireland 13 VP

Going by models (pips and special units):  Heirland 341; Mireland 116

 

Aftermath: 

Heirland: (in models, 20 men each)

Scattered: 36 Infantry; 7 Scouts; 7 Knights; 1 Mage

Injured: 5 Infantry, 1 Scout; 2 Knights

Killed: 4 Infantry; 3 Scouts; 3 Knights

Mireland:

Scattered: 4 Gatorkin; 12 Goblin Infantry; 21 Drake Riders; 7 Carnage Beasts

Injured: 4 Goblin Infantry; 3 Drake Riders

Killed: 1 Gatorkin; 3 Goblin Infantry; 4 Drake Riders

Lessons Learned:

If you're going for mass battle, get the scale right.  By choosing a 1:20 ratio for each model/pip, there were 99 stands/dice on the battlefield. Admittedly, some were set up and never moved, but that was a lot going on for a solo play. A 1:40 ratio would have been better.

 The Law of Unintended Consequences: The morale rule I implemented and leader activation bonus I added lengthened the game.  the morale rule added a third roll to combats (from attack rolls and save rolls to attack, save, and morale) and a post combat movement phase. The leader bonus activations made especially the Heirland turns longer (Mireland barely used that rule). These factors plus my inexperience with the system and the scale snafu above led to this being a 5 hour game from set up to finish. That does not include to time to put everything away and factor up the loses.

RAW first, mod later. Rules as written exist for a reason, try them first. (It turns out I didn't foul up as much as I thought. I believe my setup modification more than countered the ill advised morale and leader rules. I 'reasoned out' a RAW combat with the same forces, and I believe the result would be the same. see below if you're interested.) There's a reason a 'full army' in Dice Legions is 18 dice. The mass battle "Legion" level of the game is one army "per player". The game I played should have been a 3 on 2 as I set it up.

Scenario rules matter: I did an oopsy. I either missed or just skimmed passed the rule about using die rolls to determine which units would be part of this battle. I just took a straight 45% of total Heirland forces.  Fewer Scouts would have meant the Mireland leaders survived longer. Fewer Knights and Mages would have meant slower units in the forest, more likely to be locked up and destroyed. Would that have turned the tide? Hard to say. Reading Is Fundamental, kids. :)

Notetaking: I definitely need a campaign journal to track what's going on force wise. Who's available next, where are the injured, etc. I also need to adapt a more systemic way to track the action on the battlefield.  I had to go back and forth though several notes and my memory to figure out the AAR. I have blank notebooks around. Time to use one.

Overall this was fun. I felt stretched and challenged. I can get better. As evidenced by my system tinkering, the old brain juices are pumping. I think the space of how to do a wargaming campaign has a lot of room for development. How to you make a campaign flow in a way that individual battles are interesting and competitive and the flow of the overall conflict doesn't become a runaway? What is the right mixture of the random and planning? How do we keep the focus on the action on the table? I'm looking forward to what comes next in the Carnival, and beyond.

RAW refight (utilizing the forces I employed in the battle I fought)

 The setup rules for Dice Legions: Setup a 12" no man's land in the middle of the board. Each side has free setup on either side of that zone.

The obvious Heirland setup given the 'just escape' objective: setup on the very edge of the board. Put the Battle Mages in the wooded area side by sidewith at least one unit outside the outermost of the Mages. (Why will be explained in Turn 3.) There is no facing in Dice Legions, so just activate and move off the board.

On my 24" by 36" gameboard, the Mireland forces setup RAW would be a minimum of 18" from the Heirland board edge. The fastest of the Mireland units are the 18 Drake Riders. The have a move of 4". In Dice Legions a unit can either move and attack or move twice. There is a contested die roll (roll-off) each turn, the winner can choose to go first or last.

Turn 1: Regardless of the winner of the roll-off: Mireland activates 17 Drakes and they move 8"; they are now 10" from the map edge. Heirland activates 12 units and moves them off the board. (This could potentially be 13. The Heirland Scout unit has an ability to activate a Scout for free if Heirland wins the roll-off.)

Turn 2: Same actions as Turn 1. The Drakes are 2" from the map edge, an inch or so from the Mireland units. There are 9 to 11 Heirland units left on the board. Five of those will be the Battle Mage units. The others will be Heirland Knights. (Why will be explained in Turn 3.) 

Turn 3, option 1- Heirland wins the roll off: The Heirland units activate and move off the board. All units have escaped with no losses. 

• By stands: Heirland 70 VP Mireland 0 VP
• By figures: Heirland 370 Mireland 0
  

Turn 3, option 2 - Mireland wins the roll-off:  The Drakes move and attack. Heirland forces should be aligned in a way that only a couple of outside units could be double teamed. The Mages and Knights have a 3+ save versus any hits. Setting them up in the woods gives them cover, allowing rerolls of any missed saves. Only extremely Mireland slanted rolls should result in any units being killed in one round of battle. The Mages have a special ability to move even when engaged in melee. On the Heirland turn, they leave the field. The remaining 4-6 Knights will be locked in place and only be able to attack in turn.

After Turn 3, option 2: Chances are the remaining Knights will be ganged up on and killed. There is a chance, if they are engaged with a single unit, they can escape if Heirland wins the next roll-off. Best case scenario for Mireland: 29 Heirland dice escape, 6 are killed. The totals:

• By stands: Heirland 58 Mireland 12
• By figures: Heirland 298 Mireland 72

Both the above outcomes are worse than what I gamed out. RAW in a 'playing the game by the rules' strategy by Heirland does no favors to Mireland victory point wise.  In terms of casualties for the campaign, Mireland would fare better overall. A refight with my modified setup rules might narrow the Heirland ability to escape, or it could tilt the balance of the scenario the other way. Maybe a battle for another time.

Until next time, folks, may your dice roll true.