Hell on Horseback! Turks vs. Commonwealth at the War Room

Phil's excellent 28mm Eastern Renaissance figures saw action on Easter Sunday at the War Room as he hosted a battle between the Ottoman Turks and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, using his own rules. The game was an encounter loosely set in the later sixteenth century, on the Polish southeastern borderlands abutting Ottoman territory.

Philip (until lunchtime), Doug, Rob and Brian were the Turks, whereas I, Pete, Alex and Tim, were the Poles. The table was open steppe apart from hills on either side, with a couple of hamlets and scattered woods. Both sides deployed light cavalry on their flanks, and infantry, artillery and heavy cavalry in the centre.

Turn One

Pete, commanding the Cossacks, advanced on the Polish right, facing Brian and Rob

Tim and Alex's cavalry did likewise on the left. Facing them, Doug also began to move his Turkish light cavalry forward, as Alex fired his artillery against Philip's heavy cavalry.

Turn Two

Rob began to move up his Tartars on the Turkish left.

Whereas Philip initiated an advance by his heavy cavalry against Alex's Wallachian horsemen on the Polish centre-left

However, Alex continued to pound the Turkish heavies (Kapikulu)...

Meanwhile I held back the Winged Hussars, who were deployed alongside Alex's infantry in the centre

Tim continued to advance with his Polish light cavalry and Registered Cossacks on the left

Turn Three

Now Pete's Cossacks began to get into range of the Tartars (who couldn't charge, but could fire bows)

Meanwhile, Doug's light cavalry approached Tim's...

Philip's heavy cavalry now charged the Wallachians, some of whom evaded. However, Alex's artillery and infantry fire inflicted hits on the Kapikulu ('white cloaks')...

Pete now faced off against Rob's Tartars on the Polish right, the advantage ebbing and flowing between the two sides

But it wasn't looking great on the Polish left, as Alex decided to voluntarily retreat three Wallachian units as the Turkish heavy cavalry threatened ...

Turn Four

Pressing his advantage, Philip charged his Kapikulu heavy cavalry into the relocating Wallachians. The Turks were now assaulting the Polish centre-left. Alex responded by moving the infantry up onto the flank of the Turkish heavy cavalry...

Turn Five

After Philip left, Doug took over his heavy cavalry and Brian took over the Janissaries and artillery in the centre, facing the Polish Winged Hussars

With a clear gap opening up between the Turkish heavy cavalry and the Janissaries on the hill, I now unleashed the Hussars, four units to take on the advancing Silahdar heavies, and two to act as a reserve

Tim's duel with Doug continued. Meanwhile, Alex charged two Wallachian cavalry units against the Kapikulu, and continued to flank them with his infantry fire

The Kapikulu were forced to retreat 9" which led to four nearby Turkish units acquiring a retreat marker

My Hussars took two retreat markers from Brian's Janissary infantry fire on their flank, as I attempted to advance

On the Turkish left, after several poor rolls, Brian now began to push up his Spahis facing Pete's Cossacks, and Tim and Doug continued to spar indecisively on the Turkish right

Doug's Silahdars ('red cloaks'), advancing behind the Kapikulu, turned to face the Hussars and Polish infantry

Doug now charged the Kapikulu against the Wallachians again, but Alex's infantry and artillery dealt three retreat markers to the lead Silahdars...

Turn Six

My Hussars finally charged the Silahdars, but most of my Hussar units were strung out owing to variable movement rolls

The lead Hussars took casualties from the Silahdars firing at short range and the Janissaries too, as another Hussar unit received two retreat markers from the Turkish heavy guns

Tim's Registered Cossacks now advanced on Doug's light cavalry, forcing it to evade

Pete (Cossacks) and Rob (Tartars) continued to fight, but a stalemate had arisen on the Polish right, although the Tartars had the advantage

Brian now launched a charge by the Spahis against Pete's Cossacks. The eight Spahi units now appeared to threaten the two Hussar units in reserve on the Polish centre-right

While a unit of Alex's Wallachians was lost to Kapikulu fire, my lead Hussars won a melee against the Silahdars, who were forced to retreat

Alex now destroyed the lead Silahdar heavy cavalry unit. He also forced a Kapikulu unit to pull out after Wallachian and artillery fire. Hussar pistol fire also stopped a charge of the red-cloaked Silahdars. Philip's initial assault had now been totally blunted...

Turn 7

With Brian's Spahis threatening the right and centre, I pulled back the Hussars, even as Alex advanced with the Polish infantry to their left

As Tim's Registered Cossacks kept advancing they forced Doug's light cavalry to evade. However, Tim was starting to lose units

Brian's Spahis charged Pete's Cossacks and destroyed one unit, he then advanced en masse against them...

Meanwhile Alex was still eroding the Silahdars and Kapikulu with artillery fire; one Silahdar unit was forced to pull out

Turn 8

Both Polish flanks looked to be slowly contracting, as both Tim and Pete had by now lost several units between them. Yet the Polish centre was holding, largely thanks to Field Hetman Pritchardski's accurate fire on the Turkish heavy cavalry, with another Kapikulu unit retreating, and Tim's fire also helping to push back the majority of the Turkish heavies

As the Turks won the initiative, both Brian and Rob could capitalise against Pete by advancing. Three of Brian's Spahis launched melees against the reeling Cossacks...

Rob had begun with a 2:1 numerical advantage against Pete's 12 Cossacks units, which were split between facing Rob and Brian. Rob had made much progress as a result, for the loss of only 1 unit

The three Spahi vs. Cossack melees ended with a Cossack unit retreating off table; a Spahi unit defeated by another Cossack unit; and a third Cossack unit defeated by the Spahis. As a result, Pete only had five of the initial 12 Cossacks units remaining. The Turks had the advantage on the Polish right, but no breakthrough

With a wave of my ceremonial mace, I now charged the two reserve Hussar units into the flanks of the Spahis who had attacked the Cossacks, and they evaded. My other Hussar units were still regrouping and took a number of casualties from the Turkish Janissaries and guns

Tim's command had taken several losses, and now took a morale test. It failed, and his lights and Registered Cossacks had to retreat

Turn Nine

The final turn opened. Pete's remaining Cossacks were forced off the table. My two attacking Hussar units attacked the Spahis from the rear, and took casualties from adjacent Spahis firing. In the final melee of the game, my Hussars defeated the Spahis who were forced to retreat 13", while the Hussars followed up. The Polish right was secured.

Conclusion

The game ended with the Commonwealth army undefeated in the centre (where the Turkish Kapikulu and Silahdars had taken heavy casualties), but with its left bested by the Turkish light cavalry, and its right rescued by the Hussars (after the collapse of the Cossacks). According to Phil's stipulations the game was a draw, because the light cavalry on both sides and the Cossacks were deemed expendable. Even though the Poles lost more units, they lost no key high-quality units, in contrast to the Turks. Still, it felt more like a Turkish victory...

By consensus a very enjoyable game. Thanks to Phil for umpiring and to Rob for hospitality. The rules were new to most of us, prompting some initial quibbling, but they delivered in terms of playability. I had underestimated the number of turns required to move a reasonable distance, and I overestimated the likelihood of intervention from the Janissaries to my front or the Turkish cavalry to my flanks. However the game was positively challenging, requiring tactical judgement. The large array of finely painted units was visually spectacular. In short, a memorable War Room experience!