The new turn begins with pulling 2 cards from the arts of war deck. On the first turn we pulled the cards and used the capabilities on the bottom of the card. For all the remaining turns we now look only at the top of the card and execute the event text.
Let’s look at the two events the Teuton Lords drew:
As cool as Halbbruder and Balistarii are we ignore the capabilities this turn and look only at the top of the cards. Both cards are combat related, they are held until a battle and can be played to kick up the spice at a critical time. Field Organ will make Teuton Knights and Sergeants much tougher on round 1 of a battle. Marsh will hamper the effectiveness of the Russian Cavalry for a couple of rounds. The Teutons have some potent options up their sleeve should there be a battle during turn 2.
Now lets see what the fates provided for the Russian player:
Valdemar causes Danish unrest. It seems Knud & Abel will be going home early to deal with Royal politics. This card is implemented immediately and is a significant blow to the Teuton Lords if they can’t find a way to extend Knud & Abel. The Russians shift Knud & Able 1 turn box to the left. This puts their service marker in the current turn and subjects them to immediate disbanding.
The Mindaugas event allows the Russian to add a free Ravaged Marker to Livonia territory. We add it to Tolowa bringing the Teuton VP lead down to only 1/2 point. It is a close game going into the final turn. Now that both events have been implemented the cards are sent to the discard pile.
With the Arts of War phase completed for turn 2 we move on to the Pay step of the Levy Phase. This is where we can spend loot or coin to extend a lord’s service. There are 2 lords on the map whose service markers are in the current turn box. Yaroslav and Kund & Abel are both going to disband unless the Teuton can pay them. Neither has loot or coin so unfortunately for the Teuton player the service markers remain in the 2nd turn box of the calendar.
The next step in the Levy Phase is disband. The Teutons must remove both lords from the game map whose service markers are in the current turn box and place their cylinders forward spaces equal to their service ratings. This puts Yaroslav 2 spaces forward and 3 for Knud & Abel. Since the scenario ends after this turn, they are essentially gone. Hermann alone must to try and win the game. The scenario rules state that if an enemy lord is disbanded or removed this grants the player 1 VP. The Russians get a full VP and take the lead by 1/2 VP. Play moves on the the Muster portion of the Levy Phase.
Hermann has a Lordship rating of 3. This gives him 3 muster actions. He is now the only Teuton Lord on the map. He has Russian Lords in Teuton lands raiding both North and South.
Hermann has the option of using a muster action to attempt to bring another lord onto the map. Rudolf von Kassel’s cylinder has been on the calendar in the Turn 1 box since the beginning of the game. Hermann could attempt to muster him to help, this would cost a muster action and there is no guarantee he will muster. The other alternative for Hermann is to gear up and attempt to take out one of the Russian Lords. This would prevent continued ravaging from that lord and grant Hermann a VP.
Vladislav is in range and vulnerable to battle. Hermann just loaded up with useful combat event cards during the Arts of War draw phase and we haven’t yet show a battle. I think the stars are aligned and indicate a clash of arms. Hermann levies a second Vassal adding 1 Knight and 1 Men-at-arms unit to his mat. He then searches the Arts of War deck and adds the Balistrarii capability. Finally, since he is over 6 units he adds a boat transport so he can carry the necessary provender.
The additional troops and Arts of War card make Hermann formidable. He is the only lord allowed to muster. The Russian Lords are not in friendly territory and so must make do with their current loadouts. As a result the very quick Levy Phase comes to an end and we move on to the Campaign Phase of Turn 2. We will have the first moves in the next post. The Russian and Teutons will build command decks for the next round. I think the game will come down to a battle triggered with the very first command card of the turn. Can Vladislav escape destruction? We shall see.
Strategic Buffoonery 