Sunday 30 January 2022

From TamsinP: Why Georgia Didn't Join The Fifth Crusade (144 points)

 The Adventures Of Oscar: Time Traveler, Slayer of Squirrels and Very, Very Good Boy

Chapter Four

In which our hero sees lots of horses...

"It's hot, it's dry, it's dusty, but there's grass! At least that means I'm not in one of those nasty deserts! Row-rah!"

"There's a lot of noise coming from over that hill. I wonder what it is? Better go and find out - no trees here, so no chance of finding squirrels to see anyway..."

"I think that's a battle? There are lots and lots of men on horses. The bigger ones seem to be surrounded and losing to the smaller, darker looking ones...oh, it seems they've all been killed. That was over rather quickly."

"I wonder if that was a famous battle? I expect Daddy-Curt would know."

"Well, not much more to see here, let's press a button and see where and when I end up this time. Ruh-roh..."



Of course, the battle young Oscar witnessed was one of the occasions where the Mongol tumans led by Jebe and Subetai encountered and wiped out the pride of Georgian cavalry near the start of their "Great Reconnaissance". The Georgian army was meant to join the Fifth Crusade, but with their cavalry mostly destroyed, King George IV's sister had to write to the Pope to explain what had happened.

As for the figures, I realised that I needed to beef up the medium cavalry part of my Mongol army. The list in Art de la Guerre also allows you to take up to four bases of Georgian or Armenian heavy impact cavalry, so I decided to add those as well.

Mongol Medium Cavalry





Georgian Heavy Cavalry





The figures are all 15mm from Donnington Miniatures.


There may be another submission from me today if all goes to plan...


<<<<INTERMISSION>>>>


 Extract from the journal of TamsinP, Time Traveler, Society Girl and Adventuress

Well, that's quite a pickle that Curt has put me in. How could he have left the box somewhere that Oscar could get at it? And why on Earth did he wait so long to ask me for help? Oh, well, I guess those questions will never get answered. Best to focus on sorting this problem out. First things first - I'll need to get someone to build a modified time travel device. Lots of electronics work for that - better call Dave.

"Hello, Dave here!"

"Hi, it's me, Tamsin. I'm going to need your help."

"Of course, what can I do for you?"

"You remember my time travel device? Well, I sent it to Curt for safekeeping and it seems that Oscar found it..."

"And broke it?"

"Errrmmm, I hope not. It's gone missing. As has Oscar."

"....."

"Are you still there, Dave?"

"Yes, still here. You don't think that loony hound has time-traveled do you?"

"At the moment it looks quite likely..."

"Ahhh, I see. Heavens help us! So, how can I help?"

"I was rather hoping, given your electronics wizardry that you might be able to modify the device so that we can track him down and get him back home. I have the blueprints for the original."

"That's technically feasible, but I'll need to consult with someone on the maths side for the time-tracing equations. I'll call you back in a week or so."

"Cheers - that'd be fab! I'll email you the blueprints"

I put the phone down, and sigh with relief. That's the first part of the rescue done...


For scoring

36 x 15mm mounted @ 4 = 144 points

Total = 144 points


__________________________

Haha! Excellent work Tamsin. I'm curious to what makes the 'medium' aspect with Mongol medium cavalry, or is it simply a gameism to fit a list mechanism? No matter, they look terrific as do the hapless Georgians. I'm glad you have Dave on the case helping you, but I'm curious to the 'someone on the maths side'. I look forward to seeing our new character and how this unfolds.

Always wanting to help, here is Oscar being your muse, investigating the leaves and grass for clues (and squirrels).



26 comments:

  1. Thanks, Curt! That's very helpful of Oscar - I'll certainly need clues to track him down! :)

    "Medium cavalry" is a fairly common game mechanic to describe cavalry that fight in a dense formation but who have little or no armour and usually "shooty". To put it in French Napoleonic terms: heavy = cuirassiers and carabiniers; medium = dragoons; light = hussars.

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    1. ps - just spotted the points error in my title and corrected it!

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    2. Yeah, I understand the variation, but I'm just not sure if it really applied to the Mongols. From my understanding they were mostly light horse archers with a core of more armoured lancers. The 'medium' thing seems a little vague to me.

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    3. The Mongol "light cavalry" was just as capable of getting stuck in as their heavies (all of whom were primarily archers, only using lances when charging in) whereas in most ancient/medieval rules "light cavalry" is rarely capable of doing much in melee except against skirmishing infantry.

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  2. Fine looking medievals Tamsin. I was completely unaware of the Georgian plans for the Fifth Crusade, but they appear to have managed a similar level of epic failure playing the home game.

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    1. Thanks! Strangely, up until then and having heard of the defeat of the Muslim kingdom of Kwarezm the realms of Christendom had thought the Mongols must be an army led by the mythical Prester John come to assist them. :)

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  3. Thanks for the history lesson, nice story and pretty miniatures. I like how you have used bright colors here and there, varied look, but still rather formal.

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    1. Cheers! I like to mix some brighter colours in with the browns and muted tones for my Mongols - it helps reflect the booty from all their conquests. :)

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  4. Lovely cavalry Tamsin- as an aside if you like historical fiction, there's a great series of books by Conn Iggulden set in the Mongol Empire - it nealy made me buy a Mongol army

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    1. Thanks! I've got those books - a good read, even if some liberties have been taken with facts. :)

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  5. Another highly entertaining post! Terrific calvary Tamsin.

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  6. Great story and minis.
    Cheers, MikeP

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    1. Thanks, Mike! Glad you enjoyed the stories! :)

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  7. Great mounted troops and are love the massed effect, truly a horde!

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  8. Very nice cavalry, the colours are very engaging.

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  9. That’s some mighty fine work again, Tamsin. Always rather taken by your horses. Well done

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    1. Thanks! I've got pretty good at painting horses over the years, which is hardly a surprise given how much practice I've had! :)

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  10. The cav are wonderful, Tamsin! I really like the colors on the Mongols and Georgians. They look really lively for a smaller scale with the visual pop!

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