"Battle of Kulikovo, 1380" Topic

In this fun game, loosely based on the epic Battle of Kulikovo, we witnessed the Russian Principalities, under Prince Dimitry, 'throw off the Mongol Yoke'.

The Russian right flank defeated the Tartar cavalry before turning on the Golden Horde's centre, killing their C-in-C in the process. The Russian centre remained disciplined and managed to break a key unit of mercenary spearmen, sealing the Mongols' fate.

We used Lion Rampant rules, which aren't really intended for set piece battles, but worked surprisingly well in this case. The game mechanisms can be quite 'swingy' from turn to turn, which adds to the uncertainty and 'fun' of the game.

The low-light of the game, was the disgraceful display by the mercenary Genoese Crossbowmen, who failed, turn after turn, to shoot at the advancing Russians. When they did eventually roll to shoot, they didn't even cause one single casualty! Perhaps they hadn't been paid by their employers, or perhaps they'd bribed by the Russians – we'll never know. Either way, they were left to their fate, as the defeated Mongols retired from the battlefield.

Lots more images at Nottingham Trent Wargames:
link

Do the rules require that you roll a die for every figure for fire and melee?

@79th PA.
Units above half strength throw 12 dice, half strength and below 6 dice. Infantry units are usually 12 figures, mounted usually 6. A unit will have a particular dice score for a " hit". Hits are compared against target's "armour" value and then figures are removed. E.g shooting value is 4, unit scores 5 throws above four. Target armour is 3, so target loses 1 figure. The extra hits are effectively lost. If target armour is 4 and shooter only got three scoring dice, there would be no figure removal.
There are modifiers for cover, distance etc, so quite easy for a unit to cause no casualties in a move, even if they pass activation throw, as the crossbow men did in this report. I quite like this uncertainty, but some of our group hate it!

Thank you.

I have used Lion Rampant several times for larger battles and they work well as far as I'm concerned.

I ve read a lot about Kulikovo from Ru sources, and sources that slam down the long lasting myths about it. forget the Genoese, most likely forget infantry too, both sides (or maybe Russians dismounted infantry). I even went there! Have a long article to write on it for years, till I have done the cards to play it. projects…