Hi again Troops
I thought I would take the time to pen a account of a Battle I fought at the Easter Tournament held in Wollongong recently and Hosted by Dave "The Evil" Brown. Before I go on to recount how valiantly my Anglo Normans fought on this occasion I would just like to say a very public "Thank you & well done" to Dave on a well run and organised event. Having put together 4 tournaments myself, I fully understand the work that goes into putting these "meetings" together. It is people like Dave that keep this hobby not just alive, but also healthy and growing. Also a big thanks to all the other players, ( I tend to dislike the term "Competitors"), who played in great spirit and in an atmosphere of friendship.
Now on to the real purpose of me putting fingers to keyboard. This was the third game that I played at the tournament. Tthe Rules in use were DBM 2.1, with all armies at 325 AP (Army Points). Up until this point I had unleashed my Anglo Norman host on Scots-Irish (10-0 my way), & Fanatic Berber (1-9 the other way). It was now day two of the tournament & I had draw the army of William the Conqueror, (West Frankish) for the next game. My opponents name was Peter, (sorry Pete but I don’t recall your surname). I will be giving the account of the battle from my perspective only, but if Peter does happen to read this account I would be only to happy to add any comments he might like to inject. I will also take the opportunity now to say that his was also the most enjoyable game I played at the tournament, mainly due to the fact that Peter was such fun to share a wargames table with. Win, lose or draw this game was always going to be a hoot when you had two Fast Knight armies facing each other! The armies were 325 Army Points each.
The Ground!
As you can see from the first map the battlefield was dominated by two large hills, one in my deployment area (south-east corner) and another on my right flank. On my left flank was an area of broken & scrubby ground and another small hillock.
The Deployment!
As you can see I deployed as follows: My left flank consisted of The Duke of Wessex command of himself (Irr Kn (f) Gen, dismounted as Bd (o)), and 16 elements of Malitia Spearmen (Irr Sp (I)), supported by 9 elements of Archers (Irr Ps(o)). My right flank was defended by the King’s command, consisting of the King (Irr Kn (f) Gen), 8 elements of Knights (Irr Kn (f),most of which would be hidden out of sight behind the crest of the hill in my deployment area). Also in the King’s command were 6 elements of Welsh Archers (Irr Bw (I)) and 1 element of Marcher Muntatores (Irr Cv (o), also hidden behind the hill crest). Those knights not hidden (3 elements) were dismounted behind the 6 elements of Welsh archers. I placed my two remaining commands on Flank Marches. On my left flank march I sent the Welsh Allies, which consisted of a Welsh Chieftan (Irr Cv (0) Ally Gen ) and his 10 elements of Welsh Warriors (Irr Wb (f)) and 3 Elements of Javlinmen (Irr Ps (s)). These troops I deemed to be capable of crossing the broken ground on that flank with ease once they arrived. On the right flank I sent the Princes Command which consisted of the Prince (Irr Kn (f) Gen), 4 elements of Knights (Irr Kn (f)), 4 elements of Welsh Archers (Irr Bw (I)), & 2 elements of Welshry (Irr Ax(x)). I envisaged these troops rolling up the Norman \ Frankish spears from the flank and putting an element or two into the Norman \ Frankish baggage.
The Evil Normans (or West Frankish if you care to refer to them that way!)
The Army of William the Conqueror deployed by three commands. The first of these was opposite my Left flank and consisted of about 8 or 9 elements on dismounted Norman Knights who decided to fight this day as Spears. To their right were about 6 elements of javlinmen (Ps (o)) screening about 6 elements of mounted Norman Knights (Irr Kn(f)) in column. The Norman Left flank was made up of about 14 elements of Spearmen (Irr Sp (o)), and 6 elements of Archers, (Irr Bw(o)), to the rear of the spears.
Finally Duke William himself commanded the reserve of about 8 elements of Norman Knights (Irr Kn(f)) and some skirmishers that were held in reserve in the center. Two elements of Light Horse, (Irr Lh (o)), from William’s command were placed forward to assist the Spearmen.
The Battle!
"Well Sire, do you have faith in the Welsh?" The words seemed to sound tinged with doubt. The Anglo-Norman King turned in his saddle to look at the knight who asked the question. "If the come they come; either way we will send these impertinent Norman invaders back across the channel." "My Son’s loyalty is not doubted, and eventually he and his host MUST arrive!"
The battle opened with an advance by the Norman dismounted Knights. Further to their right the Norman skirmishers picked their way through the broken ground; no doubt expecting to find either English or Welsh psiloi waiting in ambush. Behind these came a group of Norman Knights who were determined to fight this battle on horse back.
William’s command moved up in support of this advance and echeloned to their left rear came the Norman spearmen.
In response to these moves I move my supporting archers \ skirmishers away from their positions to the rear of the spearmen and to positions to my left in an attempt to prevent any envelopment of my left flank. Unfortunately for me my first roll for the Welsh resulted in a "1". This meant that the Welsh allies were unreliable.
By turn 4 the clash of shields reverberated around the battlefield as the dismounted Normans crashed into the Malitia spearmen. The Norman right flank was finding the rough ground to their front heavy going, (thanks to a shortage of pips). At the same time Welsh arrows from my CinC’s command started to find targets in the ranks of William’s knights, resulting in a couple of recoils and one element being destroyed. The Welsh Marcher Muntatores moved off the high ground to slow up the advance of the Norman spears. "Where is the Prince, and where are the Welsh; I need them here now!" ranted the Anglo-Norman King. "The Norman dogs are well committed. If my flank marches arrive now he is surely doomed!
"Look Sire! There on the right; dust in the distance!" At the start of turn 5 a "6" on the Prince's pip dice revealed that he would arrive at the start of the next turn. With that news the Norman knights behind the archers mounted their steeds and charged through the ranks of the Welsh archers and straight into the knights of William’s command.This move caused the archers to flee to their rear, (as you would if you were just run down by your own knights from behind!!), but it did get them out of harms way! At that same moment the knights on the high ground came surging over the crest and down towards the Normans below. On my left the battle between the Malitia spearmen and dismounted Norman’s see-sawed. Also the Norman’s on my far left had cleared the broken ground and only some English skirmisher’s stood in their way.
Turn six saw the Anglo-Norman right flank march arrive. Two elements of Anglo-Norman knights crashed straight into the Norman baggage, (which proved to be quite stubborn, and didn’t succumb until the next round of combat). The Archers from the flank march also managed to win the shooting war with the Norman archers. The Prince (flanked by a element of knights either side if him), charged the flank of the Norman spears, but didn’t manage to crash through them until turn 8.
It was at turn 8 that the end came. The dismounted Normans were finally broken as were the knights under William’s control. This coupled with the loss of over half the baggage proved too much for the invaders, and a general rout followed. As the final insult, the unreliable Welsh arrived also to cut off any retreat and finish off any fleeing Normans that didn’t have a horse.
Conclusion
The right flank march proved to be devastating. The Normans suffered badly from not having enough of a reserve back to deal with the flank march once it arrived. I think Peter would have been better served to have kept 4 or 6 elements of spearmen back with his archers to deal with any flank march that arrived. As it was he was not able to turn enough of his spears to face the threat that appeared on his left.
My army went on to win all of its remaining games, either 10 or 9 nil, and finished in second place with 50 out of 60 points. The winner was a Fanatic Berber Army on 51 points, (the same Fanatic Berber’s that beat me in round two!).
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