Normans in Italy - Move 1 - William 'Iron Arm' Hauteville

 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......

The Lombard center- spearman and archers holding a hill

This was one of the toughest and closes fought games I have played in years.  By turn three it looked like it was going to go one way.....but the game finished on a very surprising set of die rolls!!

William decided to head north- moving his forces against the Lombard Duchy of Capua- and attacking Amalfi.

The Lombard left- a small proportion of the Normans cavalry ( 2 units) were held by the Lombards who counter attacked and would get to the woods in the distance.

Lombard center.

William's left flank- heavily weighted with 80% of the knights!!

The lines move- both players were aggressive.....

Lombard archers

The Lombard left flank- Cavalry out in front- spearmen and archers holding the line behind

They are all in range...the Normans threw themselves at the Lombards. The Norman cavalry were of a slightly better quality than the Lombards- better charge bonuses indicating that historically they were more aggressive than their opponents. The battle would be decided on this flank as the Lombard commander would be killed and his command wiped out.

The battle was so closely fought- at one stage things were not looking good for William and his boys.

When William's knights hit the Lombard right flank......the Lombards stood. The infantry held, and the cavalry got lucky. In six melees the Lombards won five.  

Ross' dice rolling was abysmal. He was rolling anywhere from 6 to 10 dice per melee and only got, at most 1 hit each melee. The Lombards were averaging 3-4 per melee. It was not looking good for the first Norman foray!

The Lombard cavalry about to hit the Norman crossbow men, supported by the archers. 

 
The melee follow ups, pursuits, breakthroughs suddenly showed how tough the Normans are. All the Lombard pursuits failed to destroy the Normans...in fact the Normans held....and in the following charges and countercharges, the Normans drove the Lombards back on the Lombard right. In the center, the Lombards rampaged through the Norman line but it was on the flank that Normans destroyed the power of the Lombard army.....William 'Iron arm' snatching victory from the jaws of defeat-  to use a well known cliche!

Picture of the map after the first phase of turn 1 (1040 AD) ( sorry about the reflective glare)
William's forces have taken Amalfi and are now in Napoli for a 'step 2' fight.
The big green pin represents William's army.
The small green pin representing the provinces under his control.
Yellow is Robert Hauteville- who gets to move next.