England - Ken Li
France - Ken Oates
When I was faced with making my game selection for this round of the Ironman competition, I was confronted with a dilemma (the prisoner's?). I had neither of the selected games. One was OOP, and a quick scan of the used game aftermarket showed it was way out of my budget zone. I did not want to sit on the sidelines, so I signed up for Warriors of God (WofG). I found an inexpensive (relatively) new copy, and dove into it as soon as it arrived.
Knowledge of the Middle Ages is not high on my list of accomplishments, but I did recognize some of the characters in the box, thanks to my college Shakespeare course. That course did not include, unfortunately, discussions of strategy. Henry IV, Jeanne d'Arc, Henry V, Henry Percy, John of Gaunt, Richard II, all familiar faces from the pages of Shakespeare. And I made the acquaintance of new ones, some very good, others much less so, to the point of incompetence or cowardice in the iconic period of chivalry.
It struck me on first inspection to be balanced, and more chess-like than most of the usual games I play. The random leader death mechanic was…interesting. Actual rules, quite simple, nothing too cerebral here. But, it could be a challenge to act as the helping hand to fate in bringing your side to victory. The luck factor? Well, I was not sure how large an impact it would be, but I have always been of the opinion bad luck is sometimes the result of just poor play. By training I should be able to manage it and minimize it. Those theories were to be sorely tested.
Oh, by the way, Ken Dunn, the Ironman moderator, decided to produce a play of his own, and what follows is the "Battle of the Kens," as he titled it.
This is a high altitude view of what I considered the key turns in the match (1, 3, 6, 8-9, 10, 11). The results, and my perception of the overall effect on the ultimate outcome rather than each die roll is presented.
Selection of sides and Initiative for Turn 1
We randomly rolled the dice for sides, and I received France (or at least what constituted controlled France at the time). France won the initiative, also. For my unaligned leader I received Jacob van Arteveverde, who went to Flanders for the automatic control . By having the initiative, I knew that I would most likely get David II in the new Leader phase by default. It was at this moment that I decided to use a Scotland gambit, control it as often as I could, posing a threat to the English they would have to address and consider. Both kings die, the French succeed in controlling one area, the English two, a pattern which will be repeated. Score at this stage, England 1, France 0.
Turn 3
Turn 3 sees the first major battle between French (Johann Limberg) and English (Henry ofGrosmont) troops over control of Picardy. 14 rounds of combat decimated the French (13 Hits to 5), with Limberg captured and Robert II KIA. The key here was the bravery difference and the presence of the Archers, which would plague the French the entire game. The bright spot was that the siege of Ile de France (defended by Charles V) was a failure for the English (Edward of Woodstock). But even this carnage resulted in the score remaining England 2, France 0, still fairly close.
Turn 6
In 2 battles, the French lose a leader KIA (Jean de Berry) and Ile de France remains uncontrolled. The French lose 2 areas (Scotland, Champagne) and fail to control a third, Picardy, the English gain 2 (Wales and Scotland). Points for Area control (10 English to 7 French), KIA (1) and carryover points (6) lead to a 10 point advantage in the English favor (although they suffer 5 leader deaths, loss of 0 points). The French lose Charles VI after just a 1 turn reign (a positive!), but the long term effect is there will not be an effective eligible three star leader until Turn 9 (the negative!). Major implications for initiative for Turns 7 and 8. France controls 5 areas (7 points). The English lead, 10 to 0.
Turns 8-9
A few bright spots for the French, as Charles d'Orleans moves into England (but fails to gain control), the French area control points increase to 9, and, most important, a strong king, Charles VII, is crowned. Jeanne d'Arc is placed on the map. Finally, the English suffer their highest number of deaths due to disease in one turn, six (the French lose 2)! However, the point tally is now England 21 at the end of Turn 9.
Turn 10
A break even turn, with areas being swapped, however the French interior areas now under control are not conducive to deployment of troops. After the terrible plague last turn, the English suffer no leader loses due to disease, however the French lose one more. The English now have 25 points.
Turn 11
The busiest turn so far, with 6 impulses and 6 battles, the last with 10 rounds. 4 are French success stories, but the important final battle in Normandy (the one lasting 10 rounds) swings to favor the English. Tolling up the area control, leader deaths (notably the King of France), and captives in the Tower of London, the English easily gain the needed 5 points (and more) for the win.
How important was luck (or is the die roller really fickle)?
A Second Look at Those Key Turns
Leader Longevity (In Turns)
This first chart shows what the average English and French leader could expect once he enters the stage of history. Note no difference in the longest and shortest. The number of survivors at the end is instructive, and a little misleading due to early leadership shortages for the French, and a similar loss near the end for the English, which the French were unable to capitalize on.
|
|
Longest
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Shortest
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Average†
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Average^
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Survivors
|
|
French
|
5
|
1
|
2.2
|
2.32
|
7
|
|
English
|
5
|
1
|
2.63
|
2.63
|
9
|
An English leader could expect to live a long life.
Turns Lived Until Death†
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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Survivors
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|
French
|
8 (25%)
|
8 (25%)
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6(19%)
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2(6%)
|
1(3%)
|
7(22%)
|
|
English
|
6(18%)
|
7(21%)
|
2(6%)
|
8(24%)
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1(3%)
|
9(27%)
|
|
†
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Includes KIA
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|
^
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Excludes KIA
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This chart shows how many leaders died after 1-5 turns of being in play. Exactly 50% of French leaders expired after only 2 turns of impact. Among these was Bertrand du Guesclin , France's greatest asset, even eclipsing Jeanne d'Arc, in my opinion. Cumulatively, over two thirds would not see their fourth turn.The English fared better,not exceeding the loss level of the French until Turn 4.
This is completely randomized loss, so is out of the players' hands. At one point, (around Turn 8) there was a 9 to 5 advantage in leaders for the English. The real damage to the French was the loss of their greatest asset, and the lack of a king for 2 turns (Charles VI is still good for gaining area control, just keep him away from the battlefield!). Interesting point, the French were able to gain the initiative with a negative drm, 2 turns in a row in the absence of a king.
Those Archers
The English archers made their presence felt, often bringing the number of dice rolling across the table to levels resembling the screen shots in Olivier's version of Henry V. Bernard du Guesclin's absence has been discussed above, but he made no great contribution. Jeanne d'Arc was also a major disappointment, capturing only Thomas Montacute and relegated todefending Ile de France rather than being on the offensive, however this was due to the lack of French leaders.
The early exits had another effect. The braver French leaders were the ones picked off by the Grim Reaper. This gave the English another advantage of consistently requiring a dr of 5 or 6 to get a hit with the bravery drm. The defensive solution for that is not more dice!
The Siege Defensive Posture
I played aggressively, I admit, and probably not aggressively enough. However, there is a lot to be said for offering siege. There were 8 sieges offered in this game, 5 offered by the French, 3 offered by the English. Only 2 sieges were successfully won by the besieger (1 French and 1 English).
Conclusion
This was my first playing of WofG, so my expectations were not high, but they were exceeded in that the game stayed within reach for almost the first half of the game. I would expect each playing to be different as the die plays such an important part in selecting initiative, leader death, raising troops, who selects unaligned leaders, and, in our case, side. I will admit I did want to play the French, and would have chosen them, even though the English have that natural moat (aka The English Channel). The error was in the selection of an overall strategy, and trying gambits where just straight forward game play is really called for. This does not mean you should not make surprise, unexpected moves, they should not be a primary focus (mea culpa). Scotland for the Scots! The luck factor has the right mix, and keeps the game tension high. There is a road to London from Ile de France…I just did not follow it! This will definitely be on my game table again. Ken Li played a great game, he earned every one of his points. Congratulations!