Under strict orders, Volker's army marched in complete silence- not that he held any hope of surprising his foe. No, the formal letter of defiance and challenge from Duke Giles de Bracy was good indication that the renegade Brettonian knew where Volker was and disputed his claim to this section of the Borderlands- in fact, the letter said just that. No, Volker's army marched silently as their general the night before had made the discovery that it is a bad idea to get into a drinking contest with an Ogre nicknamed Andre. The armies are as follows:
Bretts
General- Lance, Heavy Armour, Shield, Grail Virtue, Sword of Might, Vambraces of Lightning, mounted on a Hippogriff.
Hero- Knight package (minus barding), Virtues- Knight and Knightly Ardour (counter charge) leads 8 KotR plus a Champion.
Hero- Knight package (minus barding), Virtues- Knight and Joust, Jade Amulet, leads 8 KotR plus champion
Wizard Champion- Warhorse, Halberd, Dispel Scroll, Skull Staff rides in one of the lances
5 Knights Errant plus champion
6 Mounted Squires with spears and bows, standard bearer
2 X 12 Bowmen
Both of my wizards drew fireball, his wizard drew Net and Teleport Self.
Having completed his studies of the noted Ostland General, Gustavas Frei, Volker felt confident in his battle plan. Strangely, Volker's forces completed their deployment before those of Duke Giles. Perhaps they sensed that the necessity of preparing and cleaning up after a party for the group of Ogres who were Volker's new neighbours and perhaps teammates had taxed his patience to the fullest. The group of the spearmen deployed on the far left flank with their halberds just behind them and the archers beside. Volker and the Dwarves were just behind the archers while behind them on the slopes of a hill was the War Wagon. The pistoliers deployed slightly behind and to the right of the dwarves, while beside them was the trailing block of spears with its archer screen and flank guard of swordsmen. Across the way, the two blocks of archers stood, one slightly in front of the other, across from the leading spears. Beside them waiting a group of knights whose steeds pawed the ground impatiently. The Brett battleline was split by a forest. On the right of this forest (from the Empire view) were the Squires ahead of group of Knights of the Realm. Beside them was another group of young men, errant in their ways, but still more knights than squires. Finally Duke Giles was perched on a hill.
The Bretts knelt down on the battlefield and managed to summon a blessing, though who would bless a renegade duke who had tried to kill the king is still not clear. Wasting no time, the Empire forces marched forward, with the Pistoliers turning to the right just before the forest (love fast cav. rules), ready to threaten and aid in the delaying of the right half of the Brett army. The Long Rifle picked out the Brett champion in the left-hand lance, but the blessing was too much for him, and he could not bring himself to pull the trigger. The minor wizards were unable to harness the winds of magic (WoM- 2 cards) and no spells were cast.
Seeing their chance for some honor and an easy target in the commoner scum, the Knights Errant charged the archers on the trailing flank. The archers hurried fitted cords to nocks and let fly, but the knights were well protected and emerged unscathed from the storm. The knights on that flank advanced to protect the knights errant from a charge by the pistoliers. The squires spurred their horses and passed between the small huts, which anchored the right flank of the Empire line. The general's hippogriff launched from the hill to land behind the spearmen on the right flank. On the left flank, there was little movement. Both archer blocks however launched their shafts at the only target they could see and 6 of 9 skirmishing archers before the leading spear block fell. They were brave men though and stood their ground. The charge of the knights Errant more stumbled than crashed home, and only two archers fell. Volker's shouted commands and the sight of his personal banner kept them in the fight. Again the wizards proved unable to harness the winds of magic (5).
Trusting to their speed the Pistoliers charge the rear of the Knights Errant. The presence of the Hippogriff did not worry any of the nearby Empire units, though the trailing block of spearmen were feeling awfully exposed. They moved up in an attempt to get out of the combined charge arcs of the KotR and the Hippogriff, but could not move quite far enough. The swordsmen turned to face the area where the mounted squires would appear from around the hill. On the left flank, everything again advanced with the skirmished archers forming as long as line as possible to block the sight of the enemy archers. The Long rifle this time hit the Brett champion, but the lead ball was poorly made and failed to penetrate the knight's armor. The man with the repeater handgun proved that he is in woeful need of practice as he missed the archers. The loud reports of the Pistoliers weapons could be heard across the field, and when the smoke had cleared, 3 knights errant lay dead. The remaining knights managed to kill 2 archers, but seeing the arrogant young men of the Empire re-loading their weapons, discretion got the better part of valor and they tried to flee. However, the vaunted breeding of the Brettonian horses was not much in evidence as, borne down by the weight of their armor, the knights were easily run down by the Pistoliers, whose pursuit carried them clear of the charge arc of the KotR (and who claimed a banner). Again the winds of magic proved hard to control (5 cards) and when the wizards tried to form them into their fiery balls of death, all magic quickly drained from the field.
The mounted squires made it around the houses emerging at the rear of the Empire army. The archers fired, killing the last of the Empire skirmish screen and 4 of the front block of spears. The knights turned and tried to move around the back of the forest [a mistake at this point]. Angered at the loss of the young knights, Duke Giles and the KotR both charged the trailing block of spears. Knowing his role, Ludwig, the Empire hero, stepped forward and issued a challenge. The Brettonian hero, knowing his named would forward be dishonored if he refused, turned his horse towards Ludwig. Three times did he ride past the Empire hero. On the first pass, his lance was intercepted by Ludwig's blade, on the second by his shield, and on the third by the combined efforts of both (failed to roll wound). Meanwhile the wedge of knights and the general manage to slay 7 spearmen. The Champion of the spearmen, a huge bear of a man named Heinz, manage to push his spear through the breastplate of one of the knights, and a pistol shot from the wizard brought down another. The Spearmen couldn't stand before this double assault, and they broke. Again the breeding of the Brettonian warhorses proves to be lacking as the spearmen outdistance both the Hippogriff and the knights. Magic is again uneventful, though the winds finally were about average.
The battle was now well and fully joined. The Pistoliers showed their superb horsemanship by executing a quick turn, changing into a 4X2 formation (love those fast cav. rules) and spurring their horses to move directly behind the KotR who had so recently battled the spearmen. The Dwarves and I also turn and positioned ourselves to the side of that unit. The leading block of spears charged the forward wedge of archers, the War Wagon (barely) charged the knights as they tried to make their way around the forest. The swordsmen (barely) charged the squires. The spearmen rallied, turning to face the knights and the hippogriff. The Halberdiers turned back to protect the rear of the leading block of spears. The spearmen easily broke the archers and their pursuit carried them into the next archer block. The War Wagon only killed three knights (3 for impact hits, one save on a 6, then one kill from the big flail [ball and chain]), but stayed in combat. No one fell in the battle between the squires and the swordsmen, and despite the numbers of swordsmen pressing in (+1 for rank) the squires stood their ground. The winds of magic now roared across the battlefield (11), but no spells could be formed from them.
The Hippogriff charged the Halberdiers, who stood and absorbed the charge, but could not stand firm in the face of so many deaths. They broke and were killed. The KotR charged the rallied spearmen who decided to flee (a mistake now that I think of it). Seeing they would never reach their foes, the knights pull up short, much too close to the Dwarves and pistoliers. The KotR eventually beat the War Wagon. The block of spears continued their rampage through the archer units, breaking the second block. The squires and swordsmen continued their half-hearted battle. (We were running low on time, and there were so few points there we ignored the battle- though I did have an advantage, it was too small to be conclusive [10 swordsmen 5X2, vs 6 mounted squires [with standard]- I had better WS, and better armor save]). Magic was again a non-factor.
Night was falling and the time had come. The archers from the trailing block (still 5 strong) had no targets and so slipped away to claim possession of a distant section of the field. The pistoliers and dwarves charged the rear of the KotR. 3 knights fall. The rest (including a hero and a mage champ) break and flee. They run but not that far (10" about average). Whooping with delight, the pistoliers spur their horses, but after an entire day of fighting, the horses are tired and do not manage to catch their foe (only pursued 10" arrgggghhhh, there goes the decisive win).
Magic was again a non-factor. In the gathering darkness, the knights manage to find their courage and rally (Note that sometimes it is actually easier to find courage in the dark, as the courage may emit a soft glow marking its position). The general returned to the field on his hippogriff, but in the dark could not find any targets. Instead he and his men quietly gathered up the dead knights, and perhaps the bodies of a favored servant or two, and slipped away leaving the Empire in possession of the field (barely).
Final score- Empire 620 (knights errant, two units of archers, one standard, one table quarter)
Brett- 322 (Halberdiers, War Wagon, archers)
Call it a draw.
If I had been able to catch those damned KotR, it would have been about 1320 to 322, oh well.
MVP would have to be the Pistoliers (and gunpowder in general, which inflicted most of my wounds on knights). Their fast cav. abilities were incredibly useful. Charging from the rear is fun.
The War Wagon again proved that it is not worth 150 points. The inability to take scythes greatly hurts its combat abilities and the weapons inside are too diverse to all pay for themselves. 3 are useful in HtH (though one is just a halberd) and the other 3 are shooting, but the blunderbuss has such short range it is not that useful. So in theory this looks good as you can fire as you move into charge range, but with only BS 3, you hit on 5s at best as you move up, and with a bad roll on the impact hits, you don't do well in HtH. For support only.
For those wondering, the Swiss tactic seemed to work well, but not in the way expected. The Bretts provide an very strange army for it to play against as most of their units don't have flanks to attack, and can have incredible deadly charges with a large rank bonus, so the flankers had to be used as screens to keep the main units alive. As for set-up, my idea worked in that by deploying the pistoliers (who have sufficient speed to reposition themselves if you decide to change flanks from the initial idea of deployment) first and the trailing block (who goes in the middle) second, you can sufficiently disguise your intentions. Further the tactic works because just as the Swiss sought in restricted areas, so is the warhammer battlefield restricted as you can anchor your flank (on the first move) against the table edge.
As always comments are appreciated.