So we played our final games, with GI03-Battle of the Volturnus 554 AD scenario. Results:

GAME 1
mk20336 (Romans/Byzantine) 6
Togan (Alamanni) 1

Alemanni were brave and attacked. Still, they were checked by a devastating double Mounted Charge from Romans, completely obliterating their forces. A game which was balanced to that point, turned into slaughter.

Scenario log:



GAME 2
mk20336 (Alamanni) 6
Togan (Romans/Byzantine) 4

Much more balanced game, in which the final score turn to each side. Still, barbaric warriors really decided the day with their great Foot Onslaught!

Scenario log:


Thanks to Togan for two exciting games and flexibility in scheduling the games!

 

Dear Colleagues,
we will be playing our second final game with Togan today, July 30th, at 1800 GMT (2000 European Time, 1400 EST)

Feel free to join!

Mark-McG wrote:

mk20336 wrote:

tomorrow at 1800 GMT 

is that Tuesday 11th June at 1800 GMT?

when you live near the International date line, tomorrow can be a confusing term.
 

Hi Mark,
very good question! We talk about Tuesday, June 11th, at 1800 GMT, which is 2000 Central European Time, and 2100 in Turkey (Togan's timezone). I know this is very early for you but we shall post the replay! 

mk20336 wrote:

tomorrow at 1800 GMT 

is that Tuesday 11th June at 1800 GMT?

when you live near the International date line, tomorrow can be a confusing term.

I don't think I will be able to be present during the "live" game, but I will certainly watch the VSAVs and convert them into Youtube Videos.
Good luck to both of you!

Dear Colleagues,

tomorrow at 1800 GMT me and Togan shall play our first game in the Fifth Medieval Mini Tournament - Gothic War. The final scenario will be "Battle of the Vulturnus 554 AD". As always, we shall use VASSAL.

We welcome everybody who would like to join us and observe our play!

Regards,
Michal

mk20336 wrote:

OK, let me grab Togan and we should play . I assume it will be GI03 Battle of the Volturnus 554 AD.

correct..

Mark-McG wrote:

mk20336 wrote:

Shall we continue with the tournament?


 

I think you and Togan should play the Final.

In terms of a Grand Final, between the US final winner and the World Final winner, there is no scenario that is new, the Gothic series is played out. Of course it could be a different scenario altogether, or a grand final using the most balanced Gothic scenario from the rounds.

OK, let me grab Togan and we should play . I assume it will be GI03 Battle of the Volturnus 554 AD.

mk20336 wrote:

Shall we continue with the tournament?

 

I think you and Togan should play the Final.

In terms of a Grand Final, between the US final winner and the World Final winner, there is no scenario that is new, the Gothic series is played out. Of course it could be a different scenario altogether, or a grand final using the most balanced Gothic scenario from the rounds.

Shall we continue with the tournament?
 

    Game 1
gheintze (Goth) 3 banners won
gonzoj (Byzantine) 6 banners won

Game 1
gheintze (Goth) 6 banners won
gonzoj (Byzantine) 5 banners won

Fun matches. Thanks for having the tournament.

Joe wins 11-9

Geoff

Semi Finals USA
John of York (Franks) 4 banners
Gonzo (Byzantines) 6 banners
Franks Warriors charge in middle and trade blows, then Byz HC ride out  and attack.  John did excellent surrounding of one with his dying Franks to get it and the leader too.

Gonzo (franks) 6 banners
John of York (Byzantines) 5 banners
Similar to first game, but the Byz cavalry mistakenly rode out with their jousting lances and couldn't hit anything.  Frankish range fire effective.  Thanks to my long time opponent and friend John.
 

Semifinal - Game 1
toganalper (BZYN) 6 banners won, 10  blocks lost
rams1984 (Franks) 1 banners won, 29 blocks lost

Semifinal - Game 2
toganalper (Franks) 1 banners won, 33 blocks lost
rams (Byzantine) 6 banners won, 17 blocks lost

It was a close match at the end. This was not a very fun scenario to play fır us. Bu8t the luck was on my side. TRhanks to rams for 2 great games. We had problem with the save vsav. so we created our own and played

 

Semifinal - Game 1
mk20336 (Franks) 6 banners won, 14 blocks lost
Mark (Byzantine) 2 banners won, 22 blocks lost

Semifinal - Game 2
Mark (Franks) 4 banners won, 25 blocks lost
mk20336 (Byzantine) 6 banners won, 16 blocks lost

That was day of really crazy rolls and cold dice - especially on mark side. In the first play, Franks consolidated before starting the push forward - once they got to the Roman line, the slaughter begun. In second game Franks lacked good cards to push forward, and when they did, a cold dice was not helpful - one of 1 block Heavy Cavalries sustained like 8 rolls without hit.

Thanks for Mark for flexibility in scheduling the games!

Two great games, though only the first was a real contest. We both had chances to win but Geoff finally closed the deal. In the second, I had some good cards but the execution was disappointing. I had to press to beat the score in the first game, and left myself open to counterattack, and Geoff made the most of the opportunities. Congrats on a well-earned advancement.

Thanks, Mark, for organizing! I really enjoyed these scenarios - nice contrast in army types with the swingy warbands facing bow-armed cavalry. I especially enjoyed the semifinal, getting a chance to try each side. Looking forward to the next event.

JRTracy (Goth)  3 banners won,28 blocks lostgheintze (Byzantine) 6 banners won, 20 blocks lostIn the first game, the Goths attacked with a foot onslaught, luckily the Byzantines has strong command and were able to repel the attack and then move in with the cavalry for the final banners. 

gheintze (Goth) 6 banners won, 21 blocks lost
JRTracy (Byzantine) 3 banners won, 26 blocks lost

In the second game, the Byzantines used a mounted charge to get things started. However, two line commands helped the Goths climb back into it. The win was assisted by two leader kills.

Thanks for the great games JR.

geoff   

I don't see an email for gheintze - please drop me a line via the address in my profile and we'll set something up - thanks!

JR

The final results of the heats are now up, and the Semi-Final pairings, rather buried in the page..  I might try and consolidate them.
However, here is the pairs
Semi-final Round - MK02 Casilinum (Capua) (554 AD)
World 
Goth Match mk20336  Goth1 vs. Goth2 Mark-McG
Byz Match rams1984 Byz1 vs. Byz2 toganalper  

USA   
Goth Match gheintze Goth1 vs. Goth2 jrtracy
Byz Match John of York Byz1 vs. Byz2 gonzo

rather strange outcome in the World tournament on the Goth side.. all 5 players ended at 27 banners, so the block loss tiebreaker was required to separate the 5 players. Unique occurance for me.

Round 5 - GI02 Battle of Taginae 552 AD
RiverWanderer (Goth) 6 banners; 18 blocks lost
Alex (Byzantine) 4 banners; 28 blocks lost

A slow start with both sides taking small probing and manoeuvre actions. With the Goths nervous of ranged attacks, the battle developed in the centre until closing to contact on the Byzantine right. Eventually the Byzantines had manoeuvred enough to launch two Mounted Charges in succession and Goth lines starts to look threadbare and vulnerable. However, the Byzantines also had some depleted units that had scurried to the rear. A Rally turned the battle, allowing a cavalry pursuit and drawing the Goths ahead, though at a price. Fortunately for the Goths, dice just about came good to take the battle's final banner.

This was an exciting game where both sides found their cards a challenge and most attacks came at a risk; other than the 2 Mounted Charges, tactic, first strike & ambush cards were more or less missing in action. The spectator row of Goth auxilia applauded their side's win.

Thanks to Alex for a great game.

toganalper wrote:

This one is becoming one of the most competitive Mini Tournaments, sepecially for the non-US group. May be we should do an Open Tournament for the Medevial this year instead of  (or together with), the Ancients. I am very interested to hear all your thoughts on the Medevial System. Is it good enough for an Open Tournament ? 


 

I would be interested in seeing this as an OT event and would be willing to play in Ancients as well if both were offered as OTs. I really like the inspired action options available to players and perhaps the expansion for Medieval will be out in time to include scenarios from that source.

This one is becoming one of the most competitive Mini Tournaments, sepecially for the non-US group. May be we should do an Open Tournament for the Medevial this year instead of  (or together with), the Ancients. I am very interested to hear all your thoughts on the Medevial System. Is it good enough for an Open Tournament ? 

Round 4

mk20336 (Goth) 6 banners won, 14 blocks lost
Alex (Byzantine) 2 banners won, 27 blocks lost

When approaching this scenario, I knew that to be still in play for potential play-offs I have to win. Playing under pressure is not always good thing 😊When you look at this scenario, you see overall more numerous Goth forces in well-fortified position. But there is a drawback here – Romans can pick the defenders with much more numerous archers. So, you do not have much choice, but – just as history – descent with your Goths and fight in open terrain, against cavalry and infantry.And that is what I had to do and did in our game. First on right, then on left, disregarding causalities and risks, barbarians were attacking. The onslaught was so relentless that even the better equipped Roman cavalry was not able to be everywhere. In the end the Romans sustained such losses that they routed.

Thanks to Alex for the game!

 

Round 2
EZPickins (Goth) 5 banners; 21 figures lost
gotigerssc (Byzantine) 6 banners; 28 figures lost

I got off to a quick start on my left with cav attacking the aux units in the woods and then claiming another med cav on that side. Goths took a lot of ranged shots at my LB with their LB from the woods and just couldn't buy a hit until the very end. He worked is warriors down into attack range and they went to work pretty hard on my line to the point of near victory. Fortunately, I had one last turn for a foot onslaught and was able to surround his 3 figure warrior unit w/leader and eliminate both for the win. Had I missed on that attack, I would have certainly lost on the next turn with a lot of wounded units. Thanks to John for an exciting game.

 

If JR won his last game, I would face the only opponent who bested me. Instead, I will be facing Geoff (who suffered his only loss vs me) in the playoffs - interesting. He is my weekly C & C Ancients opponent (we are currently on expansion 3). We also did an entire playthrough of the C & C Medieval scenarios. So, we know each other well. Stayed tuned.