In his first action to begin carving out his new fiefdom, in imitation of William 'Iron Arm', Robert 'Guiscard' sent his rampaging Normans to the south and got into a big fist fight with the armies of the Roman Emperor...the EASTERN Roman Empire.....or the Byzantines if you prefer.
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| The first line of the Guiscard's force.....lots of Norman cavalry..hard charging, hard fighting lunatics!! |
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| The opposing byzantine left flank. |
Well William did it again......got his butt kicked ...but managed to pull the fat out of the fire...
In his second move he launched his army deeper into Lombard territory (Duchy of Capua) to fight a 'step 2' battle. In this case, after defeating the main Lombard army in a (step 1) encounter battle between 'equal forces' he advanced and had to fight a Lombard army in a defensive position.
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| The defending Lombards. The Lombards anchored their flanks on two large woods and had a row of hills in front of their position. A solid defensive spot that was going to be a tough nut for William's army to crack. |
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| The Norman line. On the far left all the cavalry. In this battle William had a lot less cavalry. He dismounted much of it as he needed the extra 'punch' to smash the Lombard defensive line. |
Game 1 has been played!
Ross has taken on the role of William Iron Arm and has launched his first attack on the Duchy of Capua - attacking the province of Amalfi.
The Lombard defenders ( played by yours truly) were waiting.
As a 'Step One' the battle is an encounter battle with 'equal' points forces.
William weighted his cavalry on one flank- the sight of 8 units of Normans on one flank was intimidating!
Naturally they came forward in an attempt to swamp my right......
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| The Lombard center- spearman and archers holding a hill |