... the continuation of Barts and my dark age saga: 28mm, Hail Caesar, normans, vikings, noble men, peasants, drunks, knights and simple bowmen ... somewhere in the middle of the crumbling Frankish Empire ... in the last episode the bishops town was raided and the bishop got "replaced". The victors were fiercly celebrating with mead and wine and beer, viking style. Then these vikings went home to their northern realms, this was when Henry II choose to strike. He had all his men around town waiting until some of the garrison would leave. Probably still intoxicated as some of them were, he might have a chance.
Bart and Campbell played the intoxicated normans trundling out of town (on a 1-4 on a d6, they were drunk and disordered, only to get sober once a 5 or 6 was rolled) with fatal repercussions. I was getting my men together to block them to leave the town. So both parties had the issue to built up in time a battle line, and the Bart and Campbell needed to break through my lines of lesser quality troops - half of my revenge army was made out of peasants.
So we both had our fun and trouble, but I got the better part and was able to actually form a shieldwall line upholstered with peasant support warbands, while Bart and Campbells morale drowned slowly as Barts knights, intoxicated and unable to get orders, stuck in the gateway to make way for the rest of the army.
First I charged my good knights into some of his troops, but then got spiked by crossbow bolts far too heavy. All the while one unit of my peasants (archer, if you might call them that), got killed by cross bows, but that was the high water mark of Campbells advance.
Then I changed my tactic and formed a crescent and waited for them - it worked.
At the end of our time, with still half of his milites drunk in town or waiting, his infantry and some horse advanced. This was when I charged them, with my heavy milites. First I cleaned up the crossbow units, then I broke the light infantry and the support and then lastly I hurt one of the heavy infantry - ouch! Then my milites of the right flank charged right into his light cavalry and broke them too. Only his heavy knights were now isolated in the focal point of the crescent, that's when they blew the retreat - victory!!!
Next part will be a siege I guess, this time they are trapped and without vikings ...
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| Initial set up |
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| My shieldwall ... a thin line |
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| The first fighters rolling out of town ... sober... |
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| My milites arrive ... |
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| .... but more enemy infantry pours out of this town! |
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| The rest of my armoured infantry arrives |
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| Then my milites strike first ... ouch bolts! |
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| The rest of the my milites arrive ... |
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| And then his milites arrive, BUT drunk stll and stuck |
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| Blocking the way and giving me time |
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| For my peasants to arrive |
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| and slowly ... |
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| ... form up a battle line |
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| forming a crescent shape ... |
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| Blocking their way out |
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| Thats when they decided to move with just half of their troops |
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| inching forward over the little summer river |
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| ... giving me time to form up |
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| My milites on the flanks just waiting for them |
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| Would they even touch the centre, let alone break through? |
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| There his cavalry appears ... |
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| Let them come ... |
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| His soft flank was against my hardest hitting milites ... |
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| Time is ripe for a charge! |
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| most of my milites charge and hit the target |
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| Crossbows fly but get ridden down |
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| Light cavalry get the brunt of a norman cavalry charge |
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| ... and die and break and retreat ... |
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| the casualty desk ... |
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| while most of his army is stuck in traffic ... |
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| due to some drunken chaps blocking the way... |
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| Thats when he called the retreat ... |
