I was once again at Kelly's place for a game this weekend last.
Rocky had offered to run a newly modified version of Bingfa, which incorporated some of the suggestions us players had offered up at its last outing. The main difference was an adjustment how units fought.
Previously, a unit would fight each enemy unit in it's front three squares. This often led to lines of troops clashing and then instantly leaving the battlefield thanks to the combat system, which then lead to entire commands evaporating thanks to the Stay Test system. In order to keep troops around on the battlefield longer, each unit now gets a single attack that must go to the enemy unit directly in front, or to a side if there is no enemy unit directly to the front.
John and I commanded the Chu forces for this game, while Kelly commanded the Qin. The Chu army consisted of a smattering of chariots, horse and skirmishers, with most of the force made up by a mass of low-morale infantry.
The opposing Qin army had a sampling of everything available to the Warring States general; chariots, cavalry, horse, nomads, skirmishers, and higher-morale infantry (thanks to the Qin's military pension system, according to Rocky).
Deployment was masked by a thick mist, though both sides knew the general terrain of the area; a valley split by a river with an urban area in the center. Open fields were scattered around the valley, and a temple complex dominated the hills on one side.
Not knowing what Kelly's deployment would be, John and I took the cautious route and evenly split our forces into two commands, one on either side of the river. I failed to get the command out to start with an attack, so the army would begin on the defense.
When the mist cleared after a couple turns, we were surprised to find that Kelly had taken all three of his commands and deployed them on one side of the river facing John's troops.
Two of Kelly's command pushed towards John's troops, while his third command took up a blocking position in the towns and fields.
I had no other choice but to begin the slow process of advancing my troops towards Kelly's flank.
John and Kelly's mounted troops began to clash on the far side of the battlefield.
Meanwhile, the first wave of my attack fared poorly, resulting in five infantry units routing from the battle.
With my nose bloodied, I decided to keep shifting my troops along the riverside rather than trying to cross and engage.
John and Kelly's infantry traded crossbow fire, while Kelly's cavalry won the field and held down his right flank.
John's troops finally received their orders to advance (changing formation takes a turn for orders to disperse), with his right wing moving towards the urban area.
Kelly and John's main infantry bodies also moved into close combat, with the results favoring John.
Another round of combat saw more units on both sides routing from the field. However, Kelly's overall break point was smaller than ours (thanks to the masses of Chu infantry units) and he lost enough units to automatically break and retreat.
Kelly's plan was audacious and, had his luck been a little better, could have easily resulted in a Qin victory. While he wasn't able to bring most of his chariots into the main fight, they acted as a redoubt against half of the Chu forces. And his infantry generally had a better chance to stay after a loss in combat; that just didn't happen this time.
Overall we liked the change to combat, as units had more staying power. The draped cloth was also a great idea, and a creative addition to Kelly's gaming table. I'm looking forward to seeing more of it's use.
