‘Tibetan Ex-Knights Exit ‘
Or
‘The Deli Lama Gets Sandwiched’

Once again we return to the diary of  Dyfyd Llewllyn as he continues his expedition to survey the Silk Road routes of Central Asia and the battlefields of the now rather extensively documented Silk Road Wars.

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26^th April 1873

Well here we are again, at yet another battlefield and yet another story of an army trying to push the infamous King Ganasha off his perch. This time it was those bloody Tibetans again. From what I have learnt , their leader ‘The Deli Lama’ was a great warrior, if not such a great general – oh, but I get ahead of myself! Let me start this tale as my friend Gerupta Singh relayed it to me.

Those bloody Tibetans with their bloody armour and bloody yaks were trying to invade again. This time they had thought to trap Ganasha The Almighty and his Hepthalites against this bloody marsh. But by now, you are knowing that Ganasha The Crafty is not so easily outmanoeuvred. He tricked the Tibetans into giving away their positions and manoeuvred his army to hold the high ground (1) With woods on his right flank and this large hill in the centre he was very happy indeed.

The foolish Tibetan sent his horse archers to the right, thinking to tempt our heroes to engage – and it bloody well worked, Sahib, because engage they bloody-well did… and with great elan! For the unwitting Deli Lama did not realise that the wily Hadhash The Brave had been sent to the woods to lie like a tiger in ambush. And it was like a tiger that he leapt out from his lair and pounced upon the enemy horse archers!

At the same time the Zhing Zhang  nomad ally general , Zhu-Li-Zhu-Li-Zhu-Li Zhing-Zhang-Zhu, loyally sent his horse archers forward to cut off the enemy’s retreat and exploit the large gap in their flank.

But this is not all. There was more to the brilliance of Ganasha The Well-Planned. For on this very hill he had hidden more Huns and a group of blessed elephants. Sensing the time was right, he pushed them forward towards the centre of the Tibetan army. It was with great fear and wobbling of the knees that the Deli Lama realised his doom had come! To add more pressure, Fagash The Wise sent a small group of Huns to skirt around the far left of the marsh, while he moved to the centre to support his King.

Well, it is true to say the Deli Lama was most disheartened by this turn of events. It was all he could do to form his troops into some semblance of a battle line. Just as they were doing this they were struck by the first attack of the main Hun force. Many Tibetan cataphracts were slain in this first attack, but they resolved to get their revenge and counter charge. Alas, this was not to be so. For the gifted Ganasha The Masterly, had another trick up his sleeve. 

The Huns broke away from the centre in flight before the Tibetans could strike back at them. But it was only a ploy to lure them on. Stalled the Tibetan response was to do nothing

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Suddenly, the Huns turned again and charged back into the front of the knights, while on the right flank the nomads had worked their way around the rear of the enemy lines, trapping the Tibetan Commander in the process. 

And he was not the only general to be surrounded as on the opposite flank one of his subordinates was also isolated.

The Tibetans crumbled. The subordinate general was quickly dispatched. 

The Deli Lama… well, he fought like a yeti!  He repulsed the enemies that had surrounded him and managed to slip away from the battlefield as his army routed.

And so it came to pass, that the Deli Lama escaped but was still many, many miles from his home His journey would be long and arduous with many perils. And thus began the Waynyssey, the story of the shamed Tibetan chieftan and his journey home… but it is very dull and boring and I won’t make you suffer it, Sahib! (2)

So there you have it. Another great victory for Ganasha. I am told that we only have 1 more battlefield to visit before we move further along the Silk Road in search of Ganasha’s fabled capital, The Palace of The Golden Goat. (3)

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1.    Wayne rolled a 2 and I rolled 1, so him doubling me meant he deployed first J

2.    Wayne is officially out of the campaign running as he has lost his 3 lives. However, he will play as the stand-in opponent for Bob on the bottom table as he tries to fight his way through the converging armies and back to Tibet.

3.    The current standing is Anthony and Bob have 1 life each, and I have 2 lives. Anthony is the next opponent and when I beat him I will have beaten each player consecutively and therefore become the Grand Poobah and Keeper of Goats without having to beat Bob (again).

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This was one of those games where everything went well. The terrain fell quite well, and Wayne deploying first was a bonus, but not really a big advantage. It was obvious that he had a large force off-table somewhere and my main fear was that it would be a delayed command (which would have buggered up my attacking his flank). As it happened it was a flank march on my right and would have come on the turn after his army broke. His first move of bringing the LH too close to the wood set the tone for the game really. They were trapped and without them his flank was wide open. That only really left the option of pressuring his centre to stop them from protecting that flank. The match up for Wayne against the Huns is very hard as my army is far larger. I learnt from the errors of our first game and tried to keep the space open for the LH. As ever, Wayne defended well but the odds were too far against him. End result: 25-0 (I lost 3 LH(s) elements).

Next, Anthony and the Indians. Having learnt from our last game I have a plan. However, I can also rest on my laurels somewhat as I have 2 lives and can accept a draw, whereas he cannot (a draw = 1 life lost each).  

So, until the next (and final instalment), I bid you roll well and may the Goats be with you!