Kings of War Crusades Campaign - battle of Turbessel

Siege fails, Saracen relief force defeated 

Our campaign begins with the northern-most of the Crusader armies attacking the town of Turbessel. As we were down to 2-a-side the forces were cut to 2500 and the table to 8 feet. The scenario selected for the relief force battle was Kill! So the side routing the most was the winner.

The Crusaders fielded; 4*Regt heavy cavalry, 2*Troops light cavalry, 2*Regt crossbows, 1*Horde spearmen, 1*Regt heavy warriors, 2*General. Their erstwhile Byzantine allies fielded; 2*Regt spearmen, 1*Regt bowmen, 1*Troop skirmisher, 1*Troop light cavalry, 2*Regt lance & bow cavalry, 1*General.

The Saracens mustered; 1*Horde spearmen, 1*Regt heavy spearmen, 2*Regt bowmen, 2*Troops skirmishers, 1*Regt warriors, 2*Regt cavalry, 2*Regt lance & bow cavalry, 2*Troops light cavalry, 2*Regt horse archers, 2*Regt Mamluks, and 2*General.

For this campaign we have introduced a new troop-type of Lance & Bow Cavalry to cater for the heavy cavalry used by both the Arabs and the Byzantines of this type. They are costed at 160 points for a Regiment.

Unit	Sp	Me	Ra	De	Att	Ne	Special
Lance & Bow (Trp)	8	5+	5+	4+	7	10/12	Short Bow, Nimble
Lance & Bow (Regt)	8	5+	5+	4+	14	13/15

The Saracens deployed second and so tended to match the Crusaders unit-for-unit, with a strong infantry centre.

Saracen left

Archers hold part of the centre

Mamluks on the Saracen right

The Crusaders deployed with the Byzantines on the right, supported by a unit of  knights. This would be the main assault for the Christians. The centre was occupied by infantry with more knights on their left.

The Byzantines 

Crusader infantry in the centre

All mounted Crusader left

The opening moves saw a slow advance by the knights and light cavalry on the Crusaders left, whilst the Byzantines focused on shooting-up the Saracens opposite them. Supported by the crossbows they quickly dispatched a couple of the mounted units opposing them

Crusader left slowly edges ahead

Byzantines focus their fire 

Looking good for the eastern Christians.

Whilst the Byzantines made good progress on the right, their Crusader allies became involved in  a charge / counter charge battle with the main Saracen cavalry force. Things swung to-and-fro with honours pretty even and the Saracens managing a few flank charges.

Crusaders are flanked-ouch

Centrally the Saracen infantry attempted to put pressure on the Crusaders but were subjected to a barrage from the crossbows that allowed the spearmen to follow-up and push back the Arabs.

Crusader spearmen clear the wood

Crusader missile troops lay down fire

In KOW when the end comes it pretty brutal and about 4 moves in the Saracens suffered a collapse across the line, with about half the army routed. We did nt bother with a final tally but it was clear the Crusaders has achieved a resounding win.

Our post-game analysis was that the Crusaders although mostly slower has been able to time their charges better and so gain a decisive advantage on the enemy.