Two evenly matched Norman armies clashed one afternoon - and it had the makings of a bloodbath.
Rampaging knights, crossbow men , mercenary spearmen and archers were all part of a game that turned into a huge melee ....and a lucky crossbow shot changed the direction of the game!
A very close fought game that had the potential to be a very bloody draw.....but ended prematurely....
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| My right flank |
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| My left flank |
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The armies- mine on the left , Ross' on the right. Ross went with a broad line.
I weighted both flanks and left the middle empty. |
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| The red arrows show Ross main advances. The blue is mine. |
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| Ross's knights. |
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| Mine ! |
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| Early moves- my left flank....Ross put a row of crossbow men in front of his knights...I thought this was a tactical error....Ross was prepared to sacrifice these guys.........and i didn't think it could be so decisive. |
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| My archers with supporting spearman |
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| My left |
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| My left advancing |
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| I got an early initiative and moved forward quickly |
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| My right- Ross' boys coming forward in a long line. I was holding the small hill with archers cavalry and a second line of cavalry and spearmen |
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| Getting close.... |
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| Ross' spearmen advancing |
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| My CinC - dead center of the picture launches a full blown charge attached to a unit of knights- i expected to sweep his crossbowmen away.... |
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| My knights- being Impetuous- went forward without a care in the world... |
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| In the middle my commander is attached to the rear of a knight unit- |
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| The crucial point...one of my Norman knight units- with CinC attached slammed into Ross' crossbowmen....given the fact that I had 11 dice against Ross' 4 ..I should have smashed them....but they survived...just barely... and when forced back, disordered, almost destroyed.....but the two units fired at point blank range and my attached commander vanished with along with his unit.......the subsequent morale tests for the army were dismal....... |
There is no point describing the final stages of the battle....my army....without its commander started to disintegrate.......Ross' boys took the honours and I demanded a rematch....and next time I won't attach my commander to anything.......
Always enjoy seeing Impetvs out on your table. You’re right, your knights should have crushed those crossbowmen and run them down. Tough break.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon- we actually don't play Impetus- we use Impetus style basing but they are a home grown set.
DeleteMy apologies. The basing and even status markers looked Impetvs-like.
DeleteSuperb looking armies and an entertaining encounter
ReplyDeleteThanks Neil...entertaining it was....especially when I rolled for my commander...and he was 'dead'!
DeleteLooks like a fantastic game, superb pictures and units!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the report and admiring the wonderful looking armies.
ReplyDeleteOuch! My friend Andrew used to have a tendency to lose commanders in this way with monotonous regularity, although it hasn't happened for a while....but it's a risk you take, usually it comes off fine, sometimes it doesn't 😉
ReplyDeleteThe table and armies are stunning, if that's any consolation!