THOMOND - IRELAND 12TH CENTURY

On Wednesday I was at Hugh Wilson’s for another Medieval game designed by Dave O’Brien.   It was a variant of his previous French raid game this time set in Ireland in the 12th century.  5 players commanded the English supply missions  whilst Dave umpired and commanded the ambushing Irish.  The table was 14ft long and we used Hail Caesar.

 

Map of the layout showing hidden Irish deployments

Background

Henry de Clare Earl of Pembroke finally managed to marry Domnall Mor Ui Briain’s daughter and ‘surprisingly’ Domnall suddenly died leaving all the lands of Thomand one of the largest areas of Southern Ireland to him and he quickly set about erecting castles to protect his inheritance.  The natives have been extremely upset by this and have launched attacks against isolated castles.

 

Player Briefing

A number of knights have been sent to deliver supplies and reinforcements to the castle at Knock.  Each knight has a small force of troops and either a wagon of supplies or herds of sheep or cattle to deliver to the castle, once the supplies have been delivered that Norman player will then take command of Irish troops. 

Each wagon is worth d3x10 VP’s, a sheep is worth 1 VP and a cow 2 VP’s.  Each skirmish unit destroyed is worth 1VP, each formed infantry unit is worth 2 VP’s and each Fianna unit is worth 4 VP’s.  Troop losses will be deducted, mounted knights are worth 10VP’s and formed troops 4 VP’s.

If your character is killed then all VP’s are lost and your troops will disperse and not take any further part in the game.

 

English press onto Knock

Disaster for the first supply group as their cattle stampede of the road

Hugh's group with their flock of sheep cross the last obstacle before Knock

The game was won by Hugh commanding the 2nd supply group who managed to slip into the lead when Tim's leading group was ambushed by the Irish. A situation made worse when his cattle herd repeatedly stampeded.

 

 

 

 

28MM HAIL CAESAR: MORLAIX 30TH SEPT 1342

On Thursday I went to Hugh Wilson’s for a 28mm Hail Caesar Hundred Years War game.   Dave O’Brien produced the scenario including troop ratings for the Battle of Morlaix on 30 September 1342.  Hugh provided the terrain and Dave most of the troops with the remainder coming from the collection of Donald Adamson.

Battle line deployed

I commanded the English force and simply deployed my command behind the line of wolf pits.  The French attacked with 2 of their divisions leaving the knights in reserve of table.  On our right centre the Genoese crossbowmen steadily outshot the facing English longbowmen.  The first attack by the French sergeants on our left was amazingly successful and drove their opponents back into the forest.  The French cavalry then rallied back to regroup before launching a second attack which was also partly successful.  Once the crossbowmen wore down their English opponents then the French knights launched their attack.  One wing of the knights forced back their opponents but when the second wing was ordered to charge it turned its back and fled from the English.

At the end of the game the French had lost 4 units (corrected)  nd the English none but a large part of the English force was heavily battered and had withdrawn into the forests.  I would count the game as a French marginal victory.

A fun game….highlighted by some consistently bad shooting by the longbowmen w.

First attack of the sergeants

 

Background

The HYW has been ongoing for 5 years and apart from the naval action at Sluys 1340 nothing major has happened until Edward III decided to get involved in the dispute over the succession to the Dukedom of Brittany. Edward has decided to support the wife of John de Montfort who usurped the title from Charles de Blois the rightful contender. John has been imprisoned in Paris by the King and Charles has advanced to recapture the towns taken by John and his wife.

An English force under the command of the Earl of Northampton has landed in Brittany and is currently besieging the town to Morlaix when they were warned by scouts that a large force led by Charles is advancing to break the siege. Not wanting to be caught between two forces Northampton has decided to take most of his troops from the siege lines and march during the night to surprise the French. The French had camped for the night outside the village of Lameur and in the morning were surprised to find the English in battle formation on a ridge along their line of march.

The young an inexperienced French commander held a council of war to decide how best to attack the English and it wasn’t until after midday before they finally decided to launch an attack.

The English have drawn up in three battles under the Earls of Northampton, Derby and Oxford while the French have drawn up in three large battles. The main battle of knights is commanded by Charles while another cavalry and infantry force is commanded by Geoffrey de Charny while an infantry battle of Genoese crossbow men and French peasants and militia are commanded by Robert de Guesclin.

Bidets lead the French central attack

French knights about to launch the final attacks

 

 

Here are the player briefings.

English Briefing

The French had camped for the night outside the village of Lameur and in the morning were surprised to find your force in battle formation on a ridge along their line of march. The young an inexperienced French commander has held a council of war to decide how best to attack the you and it isn’t until after midday before they finally decided to launch an attack.

What they don’t know is that during the night you dug camouflaged pits 6” away along the front of your troops, any enemy infantry crossing will be automatically disordered and suffer 1 casualty test, enemy cavalry will suffer d2 casualty tests. This might reduce as the pits get trampled on and filled with bodies.

You have drawn up in three battles under the Earls of Northampton, Derby and Oxford,

you are rated as a 9 and the others as 8’s

Victory conditions

Destroy the enemy force 3 points

For each enemy commander killed or captured 1 point

For each enemy unit of knights destroyed 1 point

French Briefing

An English force has under the command of the Earl of Northampton has in battle formation on a ridge along your line of march, you must destroy them before being able to march to Morlaix and lift the siege. Unfortunately your council of war took longer than expected and it is now passed midday before you can launch your attack before it gets dark and the English can slip away.

The main battle of knights is commanded by yourself Charles while another cavalry and infantry force is commanded by Geoffrey de Charny while an infantry battle of Genoese crossbow men and French peasants and militia are commanded by Robert de Guesclin but there is not much you can expect from your militia and levies.

You and all your commanders are rated as 8’s.

Victory conditions

Destroy the enemy force 3 points
For each enemy commander killed or captured 1 point
For each enemy unit of knights destroyed 1 point

Troop Ratings

Type            Clash  Sustained   Short range Long range  Morale  Stamina  Special

Mounted            9            6                   3/0                  0                4              6                    Lance, 6” move

Men at Arms

Dismounted     8            7                    2/0                  0                4              6                    Double handed

Men at Arms                                                                                                                       English are Stubborn

Archers            6            6                     3                   3                5              6                    Longbow

                                                                                                                                           Marksmen

Heavy              8            6                    3/0                  0                5              6                    Spear

Cavalry

Mercenary       5            5                     3                   3                5              6                    Crossbow

Crossbows                                                                                                                         Move or Shoot

Spearmen        7            7                    3/0                  0                5              6                    Long Spears, Militia

Medium Inf     7            6                    2/0                  0                5             6                    Double handed, Militia

Bidets              5            5                     3                   0                6              6                    Freshly raised, Levy

Bidets              3            2                     2                   0                0              4                    Mauraders, Open order

Small unit

Peasants           5            4                     3                   0                0              6                    Freshly raised, Levy

Lance, enemy morale capped at 6 only when lancers charge.

Longbow and double handed weapon, enemy morale capped at 5.

Marksman, reroll one missed shot.

Stubborn, reroll one failed morale test.

Crossbow, enemy morale capped at 5, move or shoot, no closing/traversing shots.

Militia, no move on equal command role.
Freshly raised, check page 100 first combat.
Marauder, ignore distance penalty for command.
Levy, roll 4+ at end of turn to recover disorder.

HAIL CAESAR: The Crossings of Jordan

This week we had arranged our Hail Caesar Biblical game - Assyrians versus allied Israelites and Egyptians.  Donald Adamson came up with the scenario, orders of battle and umpired whilst  Hugh Wilson  provided the venue and terrain.  Suzanne Wilson provided the pre-game refreshments.



Assyrian army get to the Jordan...but does not cross

We used figures from various collections-  Dave provided the Assyrians, Donald the Israelites, Olivier and Hugh the Egyptians.  The figures were all based on Impetus bases or else were put onto Impetus sized sabot bases.  As in our last game we decided that a 12cm wide Impetus base was a standard sized Hail Caesar unit. 

Martin Gibson and Bart Zynda commanded the Israelites, Oliver, Hugh, Colin Jack and Kevan Gunn commanded the Egyptians whilst Dave O’Brien, Campbell Hardie and myself commanded the Assyrians.
How the game Played

Realising that we could not get much of the Assyrian army across the Jordan before the pursuing Israelites and Egyptians caught up with the rear of our widely spread out army we decided to turn and crush our pursuers.



My cavalry form up.. Ark of Covenant in cart in background

We formed with the infantry division commanded by Campbell in the centre, Dave took the heavy chariots and deployed them on our left and I commanded the cavalry on the right flank.  The allies massed the Israelites on their right flank with the Egyptians covering the centre and left.  Campbell did not have time to get his whole command deployed into a single group before it was engaged by the pursuing Egyptians.  Campbell managed to hold of the Egyptians and charged the my cavalry into their chariots.  I drove them back but I then blundered and 3 of my units fled to the rear facing away from the enemy.  The Egyptians pursued with their best remaining chariot unit but my disordered cavalry who had not fled defeated them in melee so saving their more craven comrades.

On our left flank Daves heavy chariots rumbled into the Israelites driving back their front line of infantry and pushing back the troops deployed behind them.  Another move of melees drove the back rank of the Israelites of the table.  At that point ended.  We had broken 2 of the enemy divisions but had not won enough of a victory -  to recover from not getting the Ark of the Covenant of the table.


Egyptians attack infantry division.....

General Briefing
As the Assyrian Empire extends, in the west it begins to rub against the Egyptians, and in particular, their satellite nation: Israel.
The King of Assyria, Da Obron, leads a surprise attack into Israel, and pillages Jerusalem. He retires towards Nineveh with his spoils, including a wooden chest, which may contain the Ark of the Covenant.
Just west of the River Jordan, the Assyrian rearguard spies two clouds of dust emerging from the west. In quick order one resolves itself into the Egyptians led by the famous General of the Pharoahs, Olle Re  The other appears to be led by the Chief Priest of the Temple of Solomon, Colleviticus.
The Assyrians begin the game in a double width column along the road, with its head having just reached the ford. The ford is two units wide.
The game is won by the Assyrians if they can get the wagon train with the Ark of the Covenant off the east end of the table.
There are decisions to be taken.  Players refer to individual briefings on the night.


Infantry division commander inspires his troops......

Assyrian Briefing and OB
You begin the game in a column on the road to the ford. The head of your column has reached the ford, which can be crossed at half pace. It is only one unit wide.
You have a report from a spy that the Egyptians have a force east of the River Jordan. Where it is, or the size of it, is uncertain.

Assyrian Army: 3 divisions
DIV 1  5 Heavy Chariots. Division breaks on loss of 3 chariots
DIV 2  5 Units of Cavalry. Division breaks on loss of 3 units
DIV 3  4 units of spear and bow armed infantry; 2 units of bow and sling armed infantry; 2 units of spear and bow armed light infantry; 1 unit of Elamites; 3 units of bow armed skirmishers; 1 unit of javelin armed skirmishers. Division breaks on the loss of 5 non skirmish units.
Did I also mention that you can also win by routing both the enemy forces (Egyptians and Israelites fight as separate armies), as well as getting the Ark of the Covenant off the board?

Egyptian/Israelite Briefing and OB
The Israelite player gets to roll a dice every turn. On a six, the Ark of the Covenant explodes onto light (you have seen the films) and kills all the Assyrian drivers of the wagon train. The wagon train can only be re-crewed by a unit touching the wagon train, and moving off again next move.
If adjacent to the River Jordan at any point, The Israelite can pray for a crossing, which succeeds on a 6, then a 5 or 6 in the second turn and so on, getting progressively easier. Only Israelite forces can use this crossing. It is one unit wide, and crossed at half pace.
The subsidiary Egyptian force can appear anywhere east of the River Jordan, on the northern edge of the board, but not closer than 30 inches from an Assyrian unit, and only after the Wagon Train is 24 inches east of the ford on the road.

Egyptian Main Force: 3 divisions
DIV 1  4 Chariots; 4 chariot runners. Break on 3 or more losses of chariots
DIV 2  2 Egyptian spearmen; 1 Kushite; 3 bow armed skirmishers. Break on loss of 2 or more non skirmishers
DIV 3  2 Egyptian Axemen; 1 Sherden Guard; 3 bow armed skirmishers. Break on loss of two or more non skirmishers
Israelites: 3 Divisions
DIV 1  4 chariots; 4 chariot cavalry out-riders. Break on 3 or more chariots lost.
DIV 2  3 Judean spearmen; 2 bow armed skirmishers; 1 javelin armed skirmishers. Break on loss of 2 or more non skirmishers.
DIV 3 3 Judean spearmen; 2 javelin armed skirmish infantry ; 1 bow armed skirmish unit. Break on 2 or more non skirmishers
Egyptian flank force
DIV 4  2 chariots; 6 Egyptian spearmen. Beak on the loss of 5 units

HAIL CAESAR 28MM GRECO-MACEDONIAN-PERSIAN WARS

This week we had arranged our  Hail Caesar Greek, Macedonian and Persian extravaganza.  Donald Adamson came up with the scenario, orders of battle and umpired whilst  Hugh Wilson  provided the venue and terrain.  Suzanne Wilson provided the welcome refreshments.

We used figures from the collections of Donald Adamson  and Dave O’Brien.  Dave provided the hoplites, Donald the Macedonian pike blocks and shared the cavalry Skirmishers and Persians.   The alluring temple maidens were definitely Dave's!  Angus Konstam, Martin Gibson and Colin Jack  played the Greco-Macedonian commanders whilst I was the General of the Persian Army with Dave O’Brien and Hugh Wilson in command of the Greek mercenaries.

The figures were all based on Impetus bases or else were put onto Impetus sized sabot bases.  As in our last game we decided that a 12cm wide Impetus base was a standard sized Hail Caesar unit.  The skirmishers were classed as small units.

Persian central divison...

Here is my briefing as General of the Persian Army.

The Temple of the Golden Virgin…..
Being an introductory Hail Caesar! scenario for six gentlemen set on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, immediately prior to Alexander’s invasion.

General Briefing
The Macedonians have landed a force on the coast which is intended to seize the temple complex of the Golden Virgin which is just inland of the landing site. There are three passes from the coast to the temple, and the three Macedonian divisions manoeuvre to take these passes. Equally, there are three Persian divisions defending these passes. However, Greek mercenaries from Corinth, Athens and Sparta form a sizeable proportion of each force, and in moments of financial stringency at home, the Greeks may not be entirely trustworthy?
The Golden Virgin has great religious significance for the Aegean Greeks, and they are more than aware of the legend that when a barbarian from north of Greece makes love to her, then the Persian Empire shall fall. For this reason, there is a strong temple guard of Persians, plus the King of Kings is marching to save the Virgin. The Macedonian raiders have one day only to achieve their mission.


One of the Macedonian divisions

Player Briefing
Barius – Commander of the Persians and General of the central division.
Your task is to hold the barbarians away from the sacred temple complex. You have two units of temple guards (sparabara) plus a central division. If the Macedonians have not reached the complex by night-fall, then messengers tell you that the advance guards of the Great Army will be with you by morning. The central division has four units of bow-armed sparabara, four units of Persian medium cavalry, and one unit of skirmishers.
You also have a sizeable treasury and have offered a massive bribe to Trionidas of Sparta, who you know has little love for the Macedonians. As the day starts you do not know if the bribe has been accepted.

Companions charge sparabara...

How the game played
My bribe to Trionidas of Sparta (Angus) failed whilst the Macedonians successfully bribed by left flank Corinthian Division (Dave) to change sides.  Luckily Angus in his second move blundered with his cavalry and rolled 6 - a maximum charge.  Donald ruled that this meant he charged the Corinthian skirmishers who had just changed to his side.  This unfriendly action gave Angus no option but to accept my bribe and join me.

The battle was notable for the poor performance of my General who rolled double 6 and blundered and with his reroll blundered again!  My 4 units of Persian cavalry took on Daves  2 units of equivalent Corinthian cavalry and in the first round 3 of my units broke!  Whilst this disaster was unfolding my general had joined my sparabara in resisting an optimistic charge by the Macedonian companions and he was promptly cut down and slain.

Phalanx closes on Persian battleline....those are very long pikes

The Macedonian Phalanx charged my sparabara and after a heroic struggle broke all but one unit - these heroes were forced to give ground repeatedly and were pushed of the table shaken.  On the flanks the left flank Macedonian division (Colin) was held of by Hughs Athenian mercenary hoplites whilst on the other flank the Spartan and Corinthian hoplite phalanxes fought themselves to a standstill with both units in one drawn melee breaking and fleeing.  However any partial successes on the flanks were more than outweighed by the crushing of my division.

We were impressed again by the rules -  this was the first time that Angus, Colin or Dave had tried them - so our next big game in 2 weeks is going to be a follow-up Greek, Macedonian and Persian game.  So will the Great King arrive the next day?

Priestesses of the temple await the coming of the Macedonians...

More photos and descriptions at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bill26048/sets/72157630233071832/

HAIL CAESAR 28MM WARS OF THE ROSES

This week I arranged 2 big games which were tests for us of Hail Caesar from Warlord games. They were both versions of a fictional 28mm War of the Roses action - the Battle of Corbridge 1461.

Having been reading Hail Caesar for ideas to use in our BP games I decided that we should try a game of Hail Caesar. It is quite some time since I played an Ancient or Medieval game. A couple of my friends were keen to try out recently acquired WOTR armies. Given everyone could not get there on the same day I decided that we would have a game on Sunday and Tuesday. I provided the venue, terrain and orders of battle. We used figures from the collections of Donald Adamson, Martin Gibney, Dave Imrie and Dave O’Brien. Everyone brought refreshments…..

Retinues charge archer line supported by retinue...

The Setup and Gaming Experience
The basic scenario was that a battle of Lancastrians following their defeat at Towton retreated north and made a stand at Corbridge . In both battles the Lancastrians were reinforced by the Northumbrian shire levies. They were pursued north by 2 Yorkist battles. In the first game we played both sides were reinforced by a small battle. The Lancastrians by Scottish Interventionists and the Yorkists by Burgundian Mercenaries. In the second game the reinforcements were omitted as some had to march to a wargames show this weekend.


Game 2 - Lancastrian main battle advances



Game 2  - Lancastrians advance from hill to face flanking enemy

 The figures were all based for Impetus or else I put them onto Impetus sized templates. We decided that a 12cm wide Impetus base was a standard Hail Caesar unit.

A brief OB is given below. The basic troop types in each army were retinues (nobles and high quality billmen), billmen and bowmen. The troop ratings I adapted from a WOTR troop list found on the Hail Caesar forum. We used few special rules - retinues were Valiant, levies were Militia and Levy 2+, Scots spearmen were Spear Phalanxes and billmen had double handed weapons. Each battle was a Hail Caesar division. The commanders were all rated as 8s.

Both games proved to be enjoyable and I think everyone came away impressed with the rules. Since only 2 of the 9 players involved in the 2 games had played Hail Caesar once before there were things we got wrong. Mostly because we were thinking that the rules are the same as Black Powder which they are not. The main differences are in melees were support works completely differently and in the break tests. I like the close combat as fighting units and their supports get steadily exhausted as excess hits are not simply discarded as in BP but are passed onto any supporting units. The concept of losers giving ground in melee also works well.


Scots spears from Dave Imries Claymore Figures charge a retinue

We were impressed enough by the rules that our big game next week is going to be a Greek, Macedonian and Persian extravaganza.

Here are links to more photos with descriptions on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bill26048/sets/72157630035679357/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bill26048/sets/72157630052231797/

This is the OB that we used for the first game. As I said for the second game I omitted the Burgundian Mercenaries and Scots Interventionists.

YORKISTS
DIVISION 1 YORKISTS 11 UNITS
3 RETINUES
3 BILLS
5 BOWS
　
DIVISION 2 MAGNATES 8 UNITS
2 RETINUES
6 BOWS
　
DIVISION 3 BURGUNDIAN MERCENARIES 7 UNITS
2 MERC MTD MaA
MERC HANDGUNNERS
2 MERC XBOW (SMALL)
2 BOMBARDS

LANCASTRIANS
DIVISION 1 LANCASTRIANS 10 UNITS
2 RETINUES
3 BILLS
5 BOWS
　
DIVISION 2 NORTHUMBRIAN LEVIES - 13 UNITS
3 SHIRE BILLS
5 SHIRE BOWS (Sm)
3 HOBILARS
2 BOMBARDS
　
DIVISION 3 SCOTS INTERVENTIONISTS 6 UNITS
4 SCOTTISH SPEARS
1 SCOTTISH BOW (Sm)