Hundred Years War Campaign - Game 2

The second battle of my Hundred Years War campaign has a French force under the command of Duc Bonnet catching up with the English rear guard commanded by the Sheriff of Lockdew. The term rear guard is being used very generously here as it was achieved by the Sheriff being the slowest element of the English army.

The terrain was open on the campaign map so consisted of two areas of rough terrain and two of wooded terrain, and each feature consists of two adjoining squares. These features were randomly placed based upon dice rolls. Both woods were located on the far left and were to play no part in the game.

The opposing forces line up

The English deployed there first line of troops followed by the French placing all their units, before the English placed their second line. The defensive army must put at least 50 percent of their units in the first line when deploying.

English forces lined up ready to face the pursuing French

The Sheriff of Lockdew has at his disposal:

• 3 x Bowmen units
• 2 x Foot Sergeants
• 1 x Foot Men at Arms
• 1 x Mounted Sergeants

The Sheriff placed himself with his trusted Men at Arms.

The French eager for action after all their chasing

The Duc Bonnet's chasing forces arrives with:

• 3 x Crossbow units
• 2 x Foot Sergeants
• 2 x Mounted Sergeants (The Duc is located with one of these units)

French Crossbow units push up on their left flank while foot Sergeants move forward in the centre.

The game started with the French pushing their crossbowmen up on the flank and causing a fair bit of damage to the English longbow men. Both units of Sergeants pushed up in the centre, however one was more successful that the other and actually made it to the English line.

Duc Bonnet observes his mounted unit joining the attack

English mounted Sergeants push back their French counterparts who had successfully disrupted the English line.

On the right-hand side of the battle field the first unit of French mounted Sergeants charged into the English line causing damage and disorganising foot sergeants and bowmen units. Their English mounted counterparts countercharged to restore some semblance of order. Then continued to follow up the retreating French before being confronted by the second unit of French mounted Sergeants and being few in number they were quickly dispatched.

The game at this point was pretty much even and also saw the elimination of foot Sergeants units on both sides which had slogged away at each other to the point of exhaustion.

The English mounted Sergeants following up and eliminated their first mounted French unit only to run slap bang into the second unit lead by Duc Bonnet.

While the mounted units were charging and countercharging the Sergeant units in the centre had been slogging it out and both were to fight each other to a standstill and destruction. 

The final stage of the game had the remaining French mounted unit of Sergeants charge the English line which was now bolstered by the foot Men at Arms. The supporting French units failed to support the mounted unit lead by Duc Bonnet who attack the English alone. It was only a matter of time until this unit was eliminated. The Duc was lead away under protest by his retainers to safety.

Duc Bonnet leads a charge at the depleted English line

The French mounted unit was eliminated and the Duc Bonnet leaves the field ("Tis but a scratch")

The final stage of the game saw another French unit eliminated reducing the French unit strength to less than 50 percent. It was at this point I introduced the rule lose 50 percent of your force and a commander and the day is lost. So a hard fought victory to the Sheriff of Lockdew who quickly sent a messenger off to Prince Riddick informing him of his successful rear guard action against the overwhelming French forces of Duc Bonnet.