The desert lions strike back - Third game
Game3 against the Post Mongol Russian
After the second game the Tuaregs were second at 44 point chasing the Post Mongol Russian at 46. This was the match I didn’t want to face as we met already three times in friendly games. The Tuaregs lost all the games. Once again the desert lions waited the Russian invasion nearby some oasis close to some soft sand areas. The Russian horde was mainly mounted with some shooters and handgunners light foot. Again, the foes decided to invade in winter to avoid the thirst.
The Tuaregs deployed the Wb in four rows guarding the plain partially in the dunes. The Wb right flank was protected by Ally A camels with 8 Ps in ambush in the small oasis. In the left hand dunes Ally B placed in ambush his 3 PsO and 2 LhI while Ally B camels was protecting the flank of the Wb and readied to sally through the dunes. The CinC stood behind the Wb ready to be redeployed where needed. The Russian protected his right flank guarding the dunes with his CvS command, while the LhS command and his PsS aimed to the Wb to lure them into the plain. His CvO command pointed to overwhelm the Wb right flank.
The Russian advance his LhS and PsS to attack the Wb while his CvO moved toward the Ally A. By bound three he charged and FF the Lh and the Ps. The Wb went berseker and had to advance in the open. Ally A and the Cinc advanced to support the open Wb flank, trying to get two camel commands against one CvO command. On the right flank the ally B advance to engage the CvS command and support the Wb as well. In the following bound a violent melee was fought in the open and in the right dunes. The CvO command supported by the LhS firstly crashed the Ally B and then the CinC sealing a 23-2 victory for the men of the cold land. The turning point was a tactical mistake that allowed the CvO to take the flank of the CinC command (no flank guarding) and some bad dicing when the Tuareg had a chance to kill 3 CvO but took only one.
Overall assessment: The Tuaregs wrongly accepted to fight in the open were the CvO had the better hand. They should deployed closer to their baseline and let the Russian to come in the natural bottle neck generated by the dunes and oasis. If the Russian wouldn’t accepted this risk, they would have gained 12 points. This would have allowed the Tuaregs a better position for the final fourth bound rush.