1.  A Dark Ages Bash

2. Prelude to Chaeronea (86BC)

3.  Vivat Rex!

4. Second St Albans

Saxons Advance (Photo from Wargames Journal)

A Dark Ages Bash

Introduction and Special Rules

Last night a friend, Stephen, and I played a Dark Ages infantry bash.

Borrowing a few ideas from a very old article in Miniature Wargames, we used the following additional rules:

1. All units start with Hold orders, deployed and in view of the enemy.

2. All units start off Disordered, Shaken and with a Strength of 1.

3. Command points can be spent on removing Disorder and Shaken markers, changing orders or forming up units. Each point spent on forming a unit gives it 1d6 Strength points up to its maximum. Once a unit's orders are changed to attack it cannot continue forming up.

4. If a unit takes damage while forming up, its maximum Strength is reduced rather than its current. It fights and tests morale with its current Strength but is not destroyed until its maximum reaches zero.

5. Sub-Generals count as a CinC and Leaders as Generals: the big guys are REALLY important!

The problem would be getting the balance between sorting your units out and not getting caught halted by the enemy. And at what point to you get rid of the shaken and disorder?

The sides were even: each was three brigades of three bases each…

The Battle

The early morning mist cleared from the river valley, and the armies of Mercia and Anglia came into sight of each other.

As the early morning air began to warm in the summer sun, the two mobs of men began to coalesce into battlelines. Each began to form into two great divisions, lead by the most trusted men from each kingdom.

To the south was the army of John the Weak-Stomach, so known because of his inability to ride in a cart without losing his lunch. To the north was the army of Stephen the Indecisive, so known for his constantly changing banner and shield designs - new banners were often only half finished before he decided he wanted a different one!

Amid much clamour of arms, shouting or oaths and insults, the two armies began to form their shield walls. By coincidence, both leaders concentrated their efforts on organising their right flank divisions, while leaving their respective subordinates to organise the left flank divisions.

John the Weak-Stomach started hostilities early by sending forward his slingers, in the hope of disrupting the enemy deployment, but these were met by enemy archers and an indecisive firefight began between these two units. A few men fell, but these men were thinking more about their crops than killing fellow farmers.

Meanwhile, organisation of the shieldwalls went on apace, again with the right flank of each army getting more attention from their leaders. Soon Stephen's right flank division began to get ready to move forward, prompting John to order his own right flank to advance, even though there were still men milling around in the rear, and indeed still arriving with breakfast around their mouths and in their beards!

This decision was to have dire consequences later in the battle.

As the two right flanks started forward, Stephen's archers decided they had had enough shooting, drew their swords and rushed forward at the enemy slingers.

These evaded back behind their advancing shieldwall, causing the archers to crash into it. This unfortunate incident caused a little disruption in the shieldwall, as the victorious warriors had to pause to remove bodies and entrails from their spears. This delay was also to cause dire consequences!

Over on Stephen's advancing right flank, the disorganised troops facing them hurriedly tried to get into formation. They were only partially successful, and when the units hit each other. The fighting was short and savage. Most of Stephen's troops crushed the semi-prepared troops facing them, but one unit fought back and broke the unit facing it. This unit then turned to engage a victorious enemy unit. Both units surged into contact in disorganised mobs and after a brief fight, John's last unit on this flank was wiped out.

Meanwhile, the Shieldwalls on the other flank had finally met. The honours were fairly even at first, but then more of Stephen's levies joined in the melee and started to swing things his way. John sent in his troops who had been delayed by the archers, but it was too late. Although they broke one enemy unit they did not have the strength to resist the enemy masses that were now all around them. John the Weak-Stomach surrendered.

Nothing is yet known of the fate of John. It is believed that Stephen the Indecisive still can't make his mind up what to do with him...

Summary

In our game, both armies gave preference to their right flank divisions, with the result that both right flanks attacked while the troops facing them were still in some disarray.

Bloody combat followed (nothing new in VB!), with some units disintegrating in the first round: levy spear units going into action with a Strength of 4 do not have a very high life expectancy! I lost by a narrow margin when my entire left flank was crushed and my right got bogged down as the enemy fed units into ongoing melees that I was not going to win.

The additional rules worked great, and we're already planning bigger games on the same lines.

John Hills

15mm Romans from Navigator Miniatures

Prelude to Chaeronea (86Bc)

Background

(loosely based on historical events)

Sulla had landed in the Peleponnese in response to the Pontic occupation of Greece and Asia Minor. Athens had joined the revolt as had many Greek states. The Pontic fleet, well supported by Cilician pirates, controlled the seas, for the time being. Many of the Pontic troops were either at sea or in Euboea and were moving to join the main army under Archelaus.  Sulla knew this and wanted to force a battle as soon as possible.

With this in mind he took one legion plus mercenaries on a forced march ahead of the main army to force a vital pass which led to the plain of Chaeronea.

Archelaus was waiting with an adhoc collection of troops…

Thus was set the stage for my first Vis Bellica game:  Mithridatic/Pontics verses Marian Romans at 350 points a side.  The table itself was mainly open apart from some rough ground and the entrance of the pass (wooded hills).

The Forces

Mithridatic/Pontics

Romans

Army sheets are available for the Pontics by clicking here, and for the Romans by clicking here.

The Battle

The Mithridatic/Pontic army deployed in the pass with the Romans advancing across the plain.

The game started with the Romans advancing with the light troops on the left, SubGeneral + I Cohort, legionaries then the cavalry with the false leaders on the right flank. The Pontic forces were deployed with the heavy cavalry on the right, light troops, phalanx behind and light cavalry on the left.

Both forces advanced quickly with the Pontic general realizing the pass was going to restrict the manuevrability of his phalanx. The Pontic LC moved to shooting range of the Roman Cavalry but failed to inflict any casualties. The light troops moved forward and peppered the Legionaries but were obviously using duff arrows as they also failed to inflict any casualties. The Roman Balearic slingers had better luck inflicting a casualty on the Sarmatians.

The following turns were decisive on the flanks as the Roman cavalry charged the Pontic LC eventually forcing them into combat - which of course went very poorly especially when the Gallic cavalry hit the Scythian horse archers. The Pontic cavalry on the other flank charged into the Roman lights destroying the Spanish scutari and slingers while the scythed chariot hit the I Cohort.  Not a good idea. The chariot bounced straight back up the pass.

The next turn saw the legionaries charging in to the thureophoroi and Thracians with the results you’d expect:  both Pontic bases lost 50% or more casualties and routed.

The Roman Cavalry had reformed facing the flank of the Pontic army as had the Pontic cataphracts who now faced the rear of the II/III Cohorts. The Romans again got the charge and slammed into the slave phalanxes. Both performed well but ultimately both routed. The Brazen Shields charged into the II/III Cohorts as did the cataphracts resulting in the best result for the Pontics in the whole battle destroying the Roman unit on the charge.

From here it was all over bar the shouting as the Roman cavalry tore through the already depleted shaken troops on the Pontic flank.

Archelaus saw that all was lost and sounded the retreat.

Post Match Analysis

Well that’s it. 350 pts a side and completed in under 2 hours.

Some observations:

1)  Leader bases and spotting. Spotting in this battle was pretty much automatic:  no one failed any spotting rolls on turn one. At this point I wondered whether it was worth using them at all. The one thing I did like was that using the leader bases meant that, although the Pontics outscouted the Romans, they were unable to secure the advantage as the heavy cavalry ended up on the wrong flank. This probably decided the battle.  Editor’s Note:  Unless the terrain is dense, I often don’t bother with scouting rolls either.

2)  No officer casualties:  not even one hit!  And this was with Leaders happily joining in combats all over the place.  Editor’s Note:  Can I borrow your dice?

3)  Do any troops except cavalry ever catch routers?  Editor’s Note:  Yes!

Did I enjoy the game - considering it was my first?  Yes!  But I’ve got a lot to sort out rules-wise yet.

Next game:  a 550 point 2nd Punic War battle…

John O

28mm Norman Cavalry from Gripping Beast

(photo courtesy of Justin Curtis of the London Wargamers)

Vivat Rex!

Anglo-Norman Civil War c. 1100

The rebel Lord Odo of Anglia and the loyal vassal of the King, Sheriff Picot squared up with their respective forces (500 points a-side, not quite canon army lists, but rather what each of had in our boxes).  

Lord Odo's forces were heavy in caballeri and some mercenary crossbowmen;  while the Sheriff had dragged along large numbers of reluctant Grantanbrycg spearmen who were placed at the very front while Picot stayed back with the household familia a reasonable way to the rear.

 Both sides committed themselves to an all out advance with generic Attack and Forward orders.

Within a couple of turns Odo's caballeri crashed into the spearmen and and swept four companies of them into an immediate rout, disordering some of Sheriff Picot's familia behind them.

Fortunately, Sheriff Picot and his officers were able to re-organise the lines before the onrushing rebel caballeri reached them, and countercharged the following turn.

Here the fresh royalist cavalry found they had the edge over the rebels, who had suffered some casualties in riding down the spearmen, and in turn broke them and drove them back.

Sadly, the Sheriff's victory was not to be complete.  On the right, the stout constable of Cambridge Castle fell in the heat of battle trading blows with the rebel swine, and the right wing of the royalist army went scampering off after their routed opponents rather than wheeling to sweep away the rebel centre.

Two squadrons of retainers were thrown into the centre to plug the gap where Lord Odo had taken his personal entourage intent on victory or death, but the lighter horse were cut down as wheat before the sickle.  Only the timely arrival of the left wing and Sheriff Picot himself discouraged the rebel Lord and sent him fleeing back to his Fenland hideaway to lick his wounds and rue the folly of rebellion against one's divineley appointed king.  Vivat Rex!

Comments:

1. Reserves are a good idea aren't they? Oh yes!

2. The officer casualties rule is excellent and works really well.

3. Once a unit is shaken then it really is difficult to bring it back from the edge.

4. Evading is a good idea for missile troops.  Bowmen countercharging caballeri is not a good idea, my son, no matter how desperate you are.

5. It looks so easy, doesn't it? Just point the troops and let them get on with it. When you roll three sixes for your command points on the first turn, the command structure looks so easy.  It's when you're desperate to wheel certain units and remove disordered markers on others and one of your leaders is dead and the blasted troops are all just outside 16" that the system really bites!

Conclusion

I like this rule set.

I like it a lot. Thank you.

If you can recreate the tactics of the time and they have a chance at working then the rule system is fine.

I used Bremule and it had the desired result.

Thurlac

Knights from the collection of Neil Fawcett

Second St Albans

A Clash from the Wars of the Roses

This battle report uses the Second St Albans scenario featured in the Scenarios section of the website.  Click here to see it.

The Sides

Naturally I played The Kingmaker, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick.  I was joined on the Yorkist side by Steve, as Lord Montague.  Glynn played the Lancastrians as Lord Beaufort.

Turn 1:

Steve’s face changed from one of quiet confidence to one of alarm as his main army’s morale and discipline disintegrated. Montague got 1 command point and things looked glum.

However, Wenlock’s archers stood firm and repulsed a company of French handgunners that tried to break into St Albans supported by distant Lancastrian bowfire.

The Yorkist footmen on the end of the ridge also surprised everyone by advancing towards the Lancastrian line in a desperate bid to hold up the enemy while Montague sorted his troops out.

Montague also took the opportunity to send for Warwick for help. The Lancastrians started to advance towards the gap and sent a mercenary company on a march east round the front of the Yorkist defences.

Turn 2:

The archers in the town acquitted themselves well routing the French handgunners and giving the retinue archers outside the town short shrift.

The second company of Yorkist archers separated from their main group and moved into the suburb gardens to engage the Lancastrian crossbowmen advancing towards the narrow gap.

The sudden appearance of a hole in the flank, though, came as a nasty surprise especially as the Lancastrians had a large regiment of foot bearing down on the Yorkist position. So far things were going according to the history book. Then things, naturally, went horribly wrong.

The Yorkist foot charged downhill to certain death. In front of them were a second company of Lancastrian mercenary handgunners. Rather than evade allowing the mercenary pikemen behind to take the attack, they stood their ground and fired. The Lancastrian shooting was ineffective and the Yorkists smashed into them shattering them instantly, forcing them back into the pike, who were disorganised, lost the subsequent battle against the foot and then pushed back into a second company of mercenary pike to the rear disordering them. Morale rolls brought shaken status to the pike.

Turn 3:

Despite the snow, the Yorkist archers saw off an attempt to enter the town by the Lancastrian archers while those in the garden were causing major casualties to the crossbowmen and also the shire levy archers to the North.

The Lancastrian foot were redeployed to strike at the Yorkist lunatics hammering the mercenary pike and the defenders of the town breathed again.

Montague was finally getting some of his troops moving West but not enough by a long way.

The Yorkist foot won their melee against the shaken and disorganised pike and routed them, pursuing into a company of now disorganised retinue billmen that were trying to get into place.

The Lancastrian infantry were in absolute disarray especially as the crossbowmen, the only unit likely to enter the gap finally broke and ran.

Turn 4:

The Lancastrian archers attempting to enter St Albans finally abandoned the project and sloped away. Their retinue billmen lost another melee to the Yorkist foot but passed a morale test and were only pushed back.

This allowed the flanking heavy foot finally to attack the Yorkists, who, reduced previously to strength 3, were eliminated with a cheer for their heroism.

By now, the forces of Montague were getting near to the heath and exchanging some desultory archery fire with the mercenary companies sent around the front of the works.

Turn 5:

The banners of Warwick the Kingmaker appeared on the Eastern end of the board and Glynn decided that the Lancastrians would withdraw at this point.

They had failed to force the gap and St Albans looked as strongly held as ever.

Montague’s troops would certainly be able to hold for as long as it took his brother to advance across the field.

Conclusion:

A ripsnorting refight that went completely the wrong way.

On later consideration over a pint, it was decided that not enough troops had been thrown at St Albans initially by the Lancastrians. Nor had the Lancastrian artillery been brought into play having been masked by the sudden melee that erupted in front of them. Just not enough pressure fell on Wenlock’s command to seriously look like breaking it.

The Yorkist advance against the Lancastrians was also a surprise. Historically, the Yorkist foot had dithered on the end of the ridge and been rolled over. Here, they took the fight to the Lancastrians and went down fighting but it stopped the main Lancastrian plan of getting round the flank dead in its tracks.

The forces of Montague were slow to react but did so eventually. They were about two turns away from actually reaching St Albans but the town was not really under pressure and would certainly have held out that long.

The long-term effects of the battle were also interesting. Henry VI remained in Yorkist custody. Warwick still held the reins of power and had no need to install Edward of York as a new King. In some ways, although their army was rolled back, the Lancastrian dynasty benefited by losing here. When Edward of York and Warwick finally fell out, it would be with Henry VI still on the throne.

My thanks to Steve and Glynn for their help.

Thurlac