Altengard vs Krakovia

Here's an AAR for a recent game - I unpired it, so don't blame me for the deployments or orders for either side.

Altengard is my Holy Roman Empire analogue. 

Krakovia is Poland-plus (including Tabors & with the Winged Husars making an early appearance… my world, my rules)

ALTENGARD           Attacker  WR2+1 for Captain 

2 Imperial Knights                                            

1 Imperial Mounted Crossbows                    

4 Mercenary Light Cavalry                            

2 Imperial Spears                          

2 Imperial Crossbows                                                      

2 Brabançon Spears                                      

2 Brabançon Crossbows                                                  

1 Mecenary Pikes                        

1 Mercenary Hand-Gonnes          

Mercenaries:

Brethren

1 Captain (Brother Knight Commander)

1 Black Brethren       

1 Order Spears                            

1 Order Crossbows                      

                 

1 Varangian Warriors                 

                 

TOTAL:    21 units +1 Captain     513pts

KRAKOVIA              Defender  WR3+1 for Captain 

4 Winged Hussars     

3 Vilnian Horse                             

3 Bohemian LC                            

2 Town Militia           

2 Tabors                                         

Mercenaries:

White Company

1 Captain  

1 Knights

1 Longbows

3 Varangian Warriors

TOTAL:19 units +1 Captain        550pts

Altengard
Right: Mercenary Pikes/Hand-Gonnes with Varangian Warriors.
Centre: Brabançons in front, Imperial Spears in support.

Centre: Brabançons in front, Imperial Spears in support.
Left: The Brethren Contingent, Imperial Knights & Crossbows, backed up by all the Light Cavalry.

Facing them, the bulk of the Krakovian Horse, Vilnians to the fore, Winged Hussars behind, hold their Right while the Town Militia & the Varangians hold the woods in the Centre.

The Krakovian Left Centre is held by their Tabors, with the White Company & LC hold the Left flank (more LC in Reserve, behind the woods)

Altengard open with an attack on their Right.

Vilnian Horse move to intercept.

Altengard LC swarm around the rear of the Vilnian Hose while the heavies charge to the front, causing a Rout with the Krakovian Horse destroyed between the Altengard hammer & Anvil.

Meanwhile the rest of Altengard's army slowly advances.

The Winged Hussars advance to contest their Right, supported by the LC Reserve (moved from the centre to the flank)

The Mercenaries engage each other causing confusion.

The Centre comes to the crunch with the Varangians counter-charging from the woods.

Krakovia's Right is dispersed

Altengard fail to make an impression in the Centre & fade on both flanks, so throw in the towel, leaving Krakovia safe for now.

I had given the Krakovian Town Militia a higher Armour Class for their Pavises, but this makes them too resilient in RRtK. 
In future, I will lower their AC but allow them to count Cover vs Missile fire due to the same large shields. 
This would obviate their need to deploy in a wood & would help them to use their devastating firepower to greater effect in the open. 

The Terror effect of the Hand-Gonnes was never utilised. Nor was the fact that the Pikes were impervious to frontal assault by Mounted.
The Undisciplined Winged Hussars typically fought well but ended up all over the place & unable to regroup.

The early loss of Altengard's C-in-C (Z makes a habit of leading from the front) was mitigated by the Brethren's Brother Knight Commander taking over - albeit all to briefly as he too soon succumbed to fate as his unit was Routed from the field, severely hampering Altengard's command & control & eventually costing them the battle. 

Suffice it to say, I'd've done things differently (engage smug-mode)

Keep the Table Tidy: Playing Aids

You might have noticed that I like devices - any gadget or gizmo I can use to keep up the flow of the game & keep me focussed on the little metal chaps giving their all for glory down there on the table-top, rather than being constantly interrupted by the mechanics of the thing.

I have written about my loathing of clutter & use of Hidden Markers & Poker Chips as shown again below. I make up Movement sticks for ease of use & store all of these (1 per General) off-table on a conveniently upturned RUBox lid from the army in question.

All this stuff takes a short time to make up & is then ready for the forseeable future.

I hate rummaging through rule books mid-game & why do rules writers have no talent for producing a comprehensive Cross-Referencing Index or even a Quick Play Sheet that has what I need on it, in the order I need it? It's almost as if they can't read my mind & anticipate every single situation that a confused wargamer might find himself in!

With that in mind, I always produce my own reference material. I have a Codex on my computer where I have tried to gather all info on a particular subject (Melee, Shooting, Charging, Pursuit - all that) in one place, each to a seperate file, even duplicating info where necessary so that I can walk through any situation that turns up. That & a home made Index for the Rules (my one criticism of RRtK is that it has many typos in the Historical lists & the Index often gives the wrong page for the rule in question - but I can live with that) makes for really quick reference when in need. 

With some games - particularly the ones where I play against real live opponents - I have, in the past, produced large print sheets of info which I magnetically attack to a large whiteboard so we can all reference the phases as they are played through. For RRtK, I made a smaller version on my iPad but the technology just confused my lazy opponents.

For RRtK, I came up with old-school crib-sheets. Everything I need to know during a game (except any rule misunderstanding - my opponents are competitive, perhaps overly so, that's why I enjoy solo so much) is listed on a crib-sheet, pasted to a stout A4 card & relevant to each army.

Each General gets the crib-sheet for his force (which has a list of Mercenary Stats on the back in case he is using them) plus a Reaction Test crib-sheet with Melee troops Reaction on one side & Missile troop on the other - just flip it over & you are good to go. Magic is dealt with on a third. 

In this way, all phase-to-phase info is at the fingertips of the General (off-table, of course - clutter at your peril in my presence) at all times so the flow of the game is as unimpeded as can be.