This is the third game of my Hundred Year War campaign, and we see the full English army in action against a French force defending a town on the English escape route to their ships.
English Units
3 x Bowmen
3 x Mounted Men at Arms
2 x Foot Sergeants
3 x Foot Men at Arms
French Units
3 x Crossbow
2 x Foot Sergeants
2 x Mounted Men at Arms
2 x Foot Men at Arms
 |
| Both sides deployed (including a unit of dice by the looks of it - whoops!) |
 |
| The French right flank took up strong defensive positions in the town. |
 |
| English forces ready for the assault upon the town |
It was for the English to attack, and they did, quickly pushing forward their foot units supported by volleys of arrows from their bowmen. Their mounted men at arms moved forward to threaten the French left flank.
 |
| The English foot surge forward upon the French defending the town. |
 |
| Mounted units square off against their counterparts while taking a few hits from an out of photo crossbow men. |
After some early success the battle for the town soon became a bit of a slog. French units in most cases were holding their ground and casualties were beginning to mounting amongst attacking English units.
 |
| Initial clashes in and around the town. |
 |
| The French defenders and gallantly holding their own against superior numbers and English men at arms |
 |
| French reserves move forward to support both the town defenders and mounted units |
On the other flank both sides mounted units fought it out on the available clear ground. Initially the English held off, but were goaded into attacking after receiving a few effective crossbow volleys. While outnumber the French mounted units gave good account of themselves effectively neutralising the English mounted threat. The greatly remaining English mounted were neatly weakened and of little threat when faced by a fresh unit of Foot men at arms.
 |
| Mounted units fight it out |
 |
| The remaining English mounted units, exhausted after the fight, face a fresh unit of men at arms |
While the fighting was not really going their way, weight of numbers was starting to show in the English army's favour. Especially once their bowmen started to move up and support units battling it out around the town.
 |
| The remaining English mounted unit was quickly removed |
 |
| Fighting around the town had become chaotic |
 |
| The remaining English men at arms critically took control of the town. |
The loss of the town and nearby church saw the end of French resistance. Their numbers had been halved and a withdrawal now would only give a marginal victory to the English. Allowing the French an orderly retreat move on the campaign map to prepare for another defensive battle and buy themselves time while more elements of their army converged upon the area.
 |
| Loss of the nearby church |
 |
| An English marginal victory. |
I was able to use my cheaply made wattle fences in the game. Made them a couple of weeks ago (
here).
Phew! ... the campaign continues. Will those heavy English losses feed into the campaign?
ReplyDeleteSo far I have not given any consideration to casualties flowing through to the following battles in the campaign. As the campaign progresses I will have to include a rule to reflect loss of troops over a series of games. For example, every 3 battles and there is one less unit as part of the standard game set up.
DeletePeter,
ReplyDeleteSplendid photos of the terrain, your buildings and capturing the action- most enjoyable - well done! Regards. KEV.