Monty Python’s Empire World Tour Battle #2 - Estalia
3000 Points – 8th Edition
A few pics at the end
I thought it might be interesting to try an army with minimal characters. Turned out to be a disaster as the Pythons carved them up like a hot knife through butter.
The letters in parenthesis are the map designations
EMPIRE:
(Art) Arthur [Grand Master]: Runefang, Barded Warhorse (BW), plate & shield (P/S)
Lancelot [General]; Giant Blade, BW, P/S, Talisman of Endurance
Bedevere [Battle Standard]: Hand weapon, BW, P/S, Talisman of preservation
7 x Knights of Inner Circle: Great Weapon, BWH, plate, full command
(
SK): 12 x Singing Knights of Camelot: Great Weapon, BWH, plate, full command
(BK): 40 x Cult of Black Knight: great weapon, plate, full command, Banner of Swiftness
(
SL): Swamp King’s Legion
18 x Halberdiers, light armor, full command
2 x 12 units of archers (detachment)
(
RF): 6 x Red fast cavalry: light crossbows
(
BF): 6 x Blue fast cavalry: light crossbows
(
CH) Cellestial Hurricanum (Sisters of Piety)
(
ST) Steam Tank (Killer Rabbit & the Black Beast of Arrrghh)
(Ni) Hellblaster Volley Gun (Knights who say Ni)
(BM) Hellblaster Volley Gun (Brother Maynard & Holy Hand Grenade
(TE) Tim the Enchanter: Level3 Fire Wizard w/ Earthing Rod
Estalia:
(
GC) Grand Commander
(Kn) 16 Knights of the Blazing Sun
(
HC) 12 Caballeros with lance
(
MC) 12 Caballeros with spear & pistol
(Co) 12 Conquistadors with handgun & pistol
(T1) 1st Tercio:
32 Pikemen of tercio (4 x8)
18 flank support pikemen (3x6)
18 crossbows
14 handguns
(T2) 2nd Tercio
32 Pikemen of the Tercio (4x8)
12 flank support pikemen
14 crossbows
18 handgunners
(C) Culverin
Estalia moves first
Tim the Enchanter rolls up Fireball, Flame Cage & Flame Storm
Turn 1: Estalia
The flank cavalry advance, infantry stays put.
Shooting:
T1 crossbows take out a couple of Legion bowmen
T2 crossbows take out 2 Black Knights
Culverin takes out 3 Black Knights
Python’s Empire
Light cavalry on both flanks pull back; Volley Guns move forward; Singing Knights charge home against Estalian Knights; Arthur & company fail to charge v Heavy Caballeros.
Magic:
Tim casts Flame Cage on Heavy Caballeros with Irresistible Force – wounding himself & Brother Maynard in the process.
Shooting:
Both light cavalry units fail to kill anything with their light crossbows
Steam Tank fires on Conquistadors, killing two
Brother Maynard’s Holy Hand Grenade scores a direct hit on the Heavy Caballeros -killing five; they panic
Combat:
The Singing Knights, in their best performance to date, defeat the Knights of the Blazing Sun – they panic and are overrun.
TURN 2:
Estalia:
T1 Crossbows & support pike position themselves to block Singing Knight’s threat.
Conquistadors turn to face the Steam Tank & the Heavy Caballeros rally
Shooting:
Culverin misses the Steam Tank (Fell victim to the “anything but two ones in a row” curse)
Conquistadors cause one wound to tank with pistol fire.
Medium Caballeros & T2 crossbows kill two of Arthur’s Knights
Python’s Empire:
Singing Knights wheel to face T1 supporting pikes; Arthur & company have to wheel right to face Medium Caballeros; Black Knights advance at speed; Steam Tank charges Conquistadors – they flee & escape (Their plan was to get out of charge range & shoot again – it never worked); Brother Maynard advances
Magic:
Tim casts medium strength fireball at Heavy Caballeros, killing 3
Fire Cage is dispelled by Estalia
Shooting:
Knights who say “Ni!” cause two wounds to Culverin
Steam tank kills one Conquistador
TURN 3:
Estalia:
The heavy Caballeros attempt to charge Arthur in the flank – but fail. The Medium Caballeros elect to shoot rather than charge Arthur. The Conquistadors rally.
Shooting:
T1 crossbows kill 3 Singing Knights; T1 handgunners kill 3 Legion bowmen – they route.
T2 Handgunners kill 3 Black Knights; T2 crossbows fail to kill any of Arthur’s knights
The Medium Caballeros kill 3 of Arthur’s Knights with pistol fire – they barely avoid panic
The Great Commander kills two Black Knights with his pistols
The Culverin fires grapeshot at the Black Knights, but only kill 1
Python’s Empire
Arthur & co. charge the Medium Caballeros – they lose one knight to Stand/shoot;
The Blue Light cavalry charge the Medium Caballeros in the flank;
The Black Knights charge T2 Handgunners - They flee (too close for stand/shoot) and the Knights hit the main tercio.
Singing Knights charge T1 crossbows, who flee, causing the knights to crash into the flank supporting pike
The Steam Tank charges the Conquistadors – they stand & shoot this time (0 wounds)
Magic:
Tim fails to cast a maximum strength fireball at T2 crossbows
Shooting:
Knights who say “Ni” complete the destruction of the Culverin
Brother Maynard kills 4 crossbows from T2
Combat:
Singing Knights & Pikemen fight to a draw (2 kills each), but lack of a flag and musician gives victory to the Knights – but the pikemen hold.
The Cult of the Black Knight absolutely crush T2 Pikemen (14 kills to 3). Several nearby supporting units panic & flee off the board. A horde of great weapons in plate can be a fearsome thing.
Arthur & Company (by now down to Arthur, Lancelot, Bedevere & 1 knight) destroy the Medium Caballeros (8-0); Arthur is wounded by a horse. The Caballeros panic and are overrun.
The Steam Tank crashes into the Conquistadors who panic & flee.
Arthur has a crushing, and easy, victory.
Unfortunately for Arthur, he is told by local priests that the grail he seeks has gone over the sea. It is believed to have been taken by the High Elves.
Early turn one - Estalian cav on flanks advance
Estalian right flank - Conquistadors & Knights
Estalian center - 2 Tercios supported by smaller pike blocks and plenty of crossbows and hanguns
Estalian left - Caballeros - armed with lances (left) & a spears with pistols on right
Python "Steam tank" bares down on Conquistadors
Only turn 2 and Estalian best cav already routing
Black Knights advance against Estalian center
Arthur is threatened - temporarily anyway
The final charges
