ADLG: Northern League (Manchester, Nov 2017)

It's been a while since I wrote a competition report. In fact it's over two years! My last report was in July 2015 for the Stoke Challenge.

I didn't realise it had been so long. Anyway, last Sunday I finally got myself organised and played in the final round of the Northern League ADLG competition. It did feel like jumping in at the deep end. Prior to Sunday I'd only played one other game of ADLG.

Even so I enjoyed the day and I'd like to thank all my opponents who put up with my stupid questions and total inability to work out even the most basic shooting and combat factors.

Date	05 November 2017
Competition	Northern League 5th Round
Venue	Manchester
Army	Ilkhanid Mongol with a Cilician Armenian Ally
Army list	List details
Army number	255
Army date	1260 AD
Results	Official results grid

This army was a favourite of mine when I used to play Field of Glory (FOG). The allied spear and knights add another dimension to a straight Mongol army. Although not exactly a killer army it offers both quality and maneuverability. For these games I took brilliant generals to allow me to exploit the latter and to compensate for the fact that I'm new to ADLG.

Overall my approach worked but I must do more to learn the basic factors. My inability to do this bordered on the embarrassing. My "process sheets" weren't as helpful as I'd hoped. Their preparation meant I was ready to play but most are still too complex to use in competitive play. However, the set up sheet was both usable and useful.

As to the games themselves here's a summary of what happened:

• In the first game I was able to out manoeuvre three blocks of elephants and spear. The game timed out when I was one point from breaking my opponent. My reward for this was to face yet another elephant army!
• In the next game I was far too aggressive and went for some elite heavy cavalry to open up a flank. I just couldn't shift them. They killed nearly everything I threw at them: no wonder I lost!
• Finally, I faced a medieval knight army with spear and foot with two handed weapons. Again I tried to work a flank but, with one flank secure against a coast and the other almost against the baseline, it was hard work.

The last two games showed me that I need to be more patient with this army but as it turned out I did enough to avoid last place in the 2017 competition. Did I hear someone say fluke?

Read on for photos of my opponents, army & game details, and the individual results.

Game #1

Opposition	Andy Wallace & Martin Routh
Army	Khmer Empire with a Burmese Ally
Army number	167
Army date	1200 AD
Initiative	Yes
My Posture	Defender
Terrain	Steppe
Game time	01:45
Attrition	24 to 17
Decisive	No
Points	53 - 41
Result	Winning draw

Game #2

Opposition	Dave Wengraf
Army	Classical Indian
Army number	79
Army date	320 AD
Initiative	No
Terrain	Forest
My Posture	Attacking
Game time	01:50
Attrition	8 to 24
Decisive	Yes
Points	16 - 94
Result	Lost

Game #3

Opposition	Andy McKay
Army	Medieval Hungarian
Army number	238
Army date	1442 AD
Initiative	No
My Posture	Defender
Terrain	Mountains
Game time	2:10
Attrition	7 to 16
Decisive	No
Points	40 - 49
Result	Losing draw