Dailami vs Bosphoran

This time I played a new version of the Dailami, with regular commands and a strong mounted arm.

My opponent used Bosphoran and this was quite interesting. Lately on DBMM yahoo groups there has been a lenghty discussion about the effectiveness of this army and of IKnF in general. My clubmate did not follow it, but in our club is the more convinced user of that army, so this game would be a good test.

All the pictures are taken from Bosphoran side. As attacker I set up some rough going to help my RAxS against boshoran lancers. The battlefield was quite open, and with a missing bosphoran corps I decided to attack along the left where I had a marked superiority. The bedouin ILhO were to use the scrub to protect them from the alan ally.

The fourth boshoran corps was concealed behind the gentle hill on the center right. The opponent had massed all his knights in the center. The situation was quite grim, because my right wing was slow in the attack. The corps there had the average pip and the AxS advance in the vineyard combined with RCvS manouver was often too much for the pips avalaible. Furthermore I realized that my line was stretched, with few reserves and grealy threatened by alan corps on a flank

Boshoran artillery near the vineyard was a thorn in my side, and was well used to prepare the knight charge

The first bosphoran attack was followed by a feigned flight. It did no damage, but froze a sector of my line letting the whole enemy army advance for a general charge. Finally I charged a section of enemy skirmishers with dailami in the vineyard but my RCvS there was painfully slow

It was evident the battle would be decided in the center. The Bosphoran advanced everywhere in charge reach. The army reserve lead by the CiC was not yet in position due low pips.

Dailami charged but they did not much damage. This is not very good in a fight between RCVS and IKnF

Dailami CiC corps was under attack from two enemy commands now, and the IKnF charge was deadly with 2ME lost for every CvS killed. Also Bosphoran charge vs the dailami foot was very effective, with great losses for my army. Now the situation was very tough.

In few more combat bounds Dailami run away. Both hard pressed corps had taken high casualties and when the CvS corps broke, the army was done. 23-2 for Bosphoran. A shame because three bosphoran corps were just 1ME from being disheartened.

By the way there were two factors that doomed the army. First was the composition, with too many RCvS and not enough lesser troops to support and screen. My Elephant for example had not a psiloi escort and I missed that. So this list need a revision. Second, I mismanaged the army, sending 6 RCvS to outflank the enemy and never having them in combat. I should have given to that corps the higher pip dice or, more correctly, have deployed all three corps from the vineyard to the left. With 6 more RCvS in the center and some RAxS in the righternmost scrub it would be a very different game.

About the Bosphoran, all I can say is that they were well organized and played. I still prefer divide the IKnF in a large and a smallish corps instead of using two balanced ones but after all this up to player preference.