Below is Part 4 in a series from David Waldorf covering a Manoeuvre: Distant Lands tournament “March Madness” style. Parts 1, 2, and 3 can be found here, here, and here. Enjoy! -Rachel

Pregame Analysis:

It is almost a foregone conclusion that France will win this match. They far outclass the Qing Dynasty in unit and card strengths, and they even have the better side of the board. From their perspective, this match is in the bag.

The Qing Dynasty has an extremely small path to victory. They do have one more cavalry unit than the French do, which could be advantageous if it does not get battered to pieces. They get to set up second, so they will have a chance to counter the French as best as possible. Other than that, they can only play the best game they are able and hope the French make some mistakes or have bad luck on their dice rolls and card draws.

Gameplay:

France sets up first with a fairly even spread of power. The Qing Dynasty observes that the northern end of the French line appears to be the weakest, and places some of their best foot and cavalry units there, hoping to do some damage on that front:

The Qing Dynasty starts out the game burning through their deck quickly. First contact occurs between Mongol Bannermen and the Guard Cavalry at the center of the field; the Bannermen initiate combat, and succeed in reducing the Guard Cavalry. However, the Guard hits back, pushing the Bannermen back and reducing them on pursuit. Joachim Murat then rallies the Guard Cavalry back to full strength, as if nothing had ever happened.

The Dynasty responds by using a forced march to bring the Standard Infantry up over a hilltop to attack the 45^th Regiment de Ligne (with negligible results), and restores the Mongol Bannermen to full strength. The Guard Cavalry again attack the Mongol Bannermen with force, and when the Bannermen withdraw, the Guard Cavalry reduces them in pursuit. They have now pushed the Mongol Bannermen all the way back to their starting line, where General Wang De-lu attempts to rally them and fails.

The Green Standard Elite succeed in reducing the French 2^nd Regiment Legere, who are bogged down in a swamp. The French 19^th Reg. De Ligne then moves up and reduces the Green Standard Elite, but that does not stop the Elite from bombarding the 2^nd Regiment Legere off the map on their next turn and then restoring themselves to full strength. Thus the first loss is on the French side, and at this point the field looks like this:

After a little back and forth, the Green Standard Infantry try an attack on the  45^th Regiment de Ligne, which fails disastrously and causes the Green Standard Infantry to suffer a reduction instead. Subsequently, the 1^st Cuirassiers charge forward and reduce the Han Bannermen, who then force them back with rockets and restore themselves to full strength. The 1^st Cuirassiers move up again, this time attacking the Standard Cavalry, with Michel Ney bringing in the Imperial Guard for backup. The Standard Cavalry is eliminated outright under the crushing might of this onslaught.

The Qing Dynasty makes some gains on the northern flank, but loses significant ground on the southern, with the Han Bannermen and eventually the Tuan Lian Shaanxi being pushed all the way to the back line. The Mongol Bannermen are finally able to reduce the Guard Cavalry, and subsequently knock them back with rockets and the re-roll card. However, the French retaliate by having the Imperial Guard bombard the already-reduced Tuan Lian Shaanxi off the map, and then restore the Guard Cavalry to full strength. Nightfall is now fast approaching.

The Green Standard Elite move south, and attack the reduced 45^th Regiment of France. The regiment puts up a good fight, but the Standard Elite are committed to the attack and they eliminate the 45^th. In response, Napoleon Bonaparte himself commands the 4^th Regiment Suisse to fire a grand battery, which eliminates the Green Standard Elite. The French now have six units left on the field, and the Qing Dynasty only five.

The Qing Dynasty now reaches the end of their deck, while France is still a few turns behind. The French Guard Cavalry move up and attack the Tuan Lian Sichuan, reducing them and driving them back, but falling just short of eliminating them on pursuit. The Dynasty in turn has the Manchu Bannermen bombard the reduced 19^th Regiment de Ligne, eliminating them and evening the losses for each side.

The Tuan Lian Sichuan, reduced and in contact with the French, erect a hasty redoubt for safety. However, French Sappers circumvent the fortification and the 4^th Regiment Suisse eliminates the Qing unit. From the number of cards that are left, the Qing Dynasty only has two more turns now to give a final effort for victory. They opt to move the Green Standard Infantry south, but can make no attack. The French take their last turn, and with both Forced March and Supply cards, they are able to place their units in a strong ending position. The Qing Dynasty also uses Forced March to get the Manchu Bannermen across the center line, and then springs a desperate ambush on the Imperial Guard, with General Ming Liang bringing in the Mongol Bannermen. They succeed in forcing the Imperial Guard into a slightly less advantageous position, but as night falls the French have control of the battlefield 10 to 7:

Analysis and Discussion:

As mentioned at the beginning, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that the French were going to win this game. Although it looked close for a minute there! The Qing Dynasty gave an outstanding performance considering the odds, and did not allow the French to have an easy win. Had the dice gone in their favor during the final attack, they would have tied the French for control, but the French would still have won since they had eliminated more of the Dynasty’s units. It is possible that better manoeuvres before nightfall might have brought them closer to victory, but they really have nothing to reproach themselves with.

The French probably should have been a bit more aggressive with their cards earlier in the game. However, they came out with a win, and there is no arguing with that. All in all, it was a thrilling conclusion to the whole tournament.

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Articles in this Series: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4