Dark Ages - week 4

In this weeks battles we played Sausages with mustard - where the attacker is raiding the defenders supply lines. There are 4 supply points in the centre which can be burnt for 2 points by the attackers. Any that survive when half the attackers points are destroyed score 2 points for the defender. The defender starts with 1/6 of their points in the centre as guards. 

Game 1 - Anglo-Norman (defender) vs Saxons (attacker) 

The Saxons moved forward as quickly as possible, aided by some slow movement from the Norman knights, and managed to burn one of the supply points. Their matches were a little damp though and they were unable to burn more before the main body of the Anglo-Normans arrived.    

A tough fight around the village saw heavy casualties on both sides with the defenders winning 6-2 

Game 2 - Flemish (defender) vs Anglo-Norman / Franks

The slow moving Flemish placed some of their feared Crossbows in the village with the rest of their infantry moving up. The quicker attackers looked to flank in the east and attack through the middle. Early on the attackers made progress but could not get the supplies to burn, must be the climate!     

A hard fight followed as the Crossbows dominated the centre field and the fighting mostly occurred in the woods. With the attackers unable to burn any further supplies the defenders won 6 - 2   

Game 3 - Irish (defender) vs Norse (attacker)

The Irish deployed some of their slower moving Gallowglass in the centre with the rest looking to move quickly to the west side of the village. The Norse spread pretty evenly across the table. The Irish were looking to focus their forces to eliminate the attackers quickly, but were gambling on them taking a few turns to destroy the supplies closest to them.

The Norse had some superior fire starters in their ranks and were able to set fire to two supply dumps before the Irish could get to them. The Irish flank attack was able to cut through the more spread out Norse and prevent any further damage. Draw 4 - 4  

Campaign Scores

 

    

Dark Ages - week 3

The scenario this week involved both sides racing to secure a crossroads and hold it against the enemy. 1 point was scored for holding the objective at the end of the turn with the first to 5 the winner. Destroying the enemy scoring 5 points.

Game 1 - Welsh vs Flemish

 In this game both sides boasted a lot of shooting with the larger Welsh army also the quicker of the wo, but with shorter range shooting.

Flemish leader consults his trusty field guide

The Welsh hordes

The Welsh arrived at the crossroads first and took an early lead before being pushed back by Flemish heavy infantry and shooting. They then countered with their own heavier units but were unable to shift the defensively minded Flemish. 

I lost the vital parchment so we're calling this a 5 - 3 Flemish win.

Game 2 - Anglo-Norman vs Anglo Norman (Viking style)

This game was a mirror-match with the only difference being the Viking-style army had 1 each of Elite cavalry and foot whereas the other had 2 Elite cavalry.  

Charge!

As befits a grudge match both sides got stuck in and it was the cavalry army who took the crossroads first. The objective changed hands multiple times.    

The junction changed sides frequently 

The Viking-style army squeaked a 5-4 win. 

Game 3 - Norse vs Frankish

The Frankish advanced was more cautious and ordered than the Norse and so the Vikings were able to get a heavy infantry unit in shield wall onto the crossroads first. This proved very tough to shift and so racked-up some points before being routed.   

Frankish host

Norse attempts to attack beyond the crossroads into the Frankish archers proved unsuccessful but their own archers did hold off the Frankish heavy cavalry for most of the game. 

The Norse were able to hold the crossroads by feeding units successively into the fray and so won a convincing 5-0. 

Norse hold the crossroads

Campaign situation

A few people are carrying are carrying upgrade "badges" from previous games where they did nt use them. 

 

Dark Ages - week 2

This week's scenario was "The Stampede" - the defender starts with some troops encamped in the middle of the table whilst the attacker's army features a unit of stampeding animals being herded towards the camp. 

Game 1 - Norse (def) vs Welsh (att)

The Welsh army has lots of fast moving skirmish units so can muster a fair bit of shooting but is not very durable in combat. So a good contrast with the rock-hard Norse. The Norse put their archers and leaders unit in the camp.  

Norse camp

The Welsh moved forward quickly and once in shooting range open-up a barrage of missile fire while the sheep attacked the camp and gnawed at the defenders. 

Norse approach the camp

The Norse proved unable to come to grips with the elusive Welsh and with casualties mounting they could nt land the killer blow they wanted too.    

At the end of the game the Welsh ran out 12-8 winners. 

Norse chasing shadows

Game 2 - Anglo-Norman (att) vs Flemish (def)

The Flemish placed their heavy infantry in the camp and looked to move their crossbows into a supporting position. The Anglo-Normans attacked straight up the middle but their elite cavalry were slow to get going.     

Flemish camp

This tardy start allowed the Flemish to pull back their encamped units and form a strong defensive position that the Normans could not break.  

The Flemish managed to win this one.

Tally ho

Game 3 - Irish (def) vs Franks (att)

The Irish began with their Gallowglass in the camp but these quickly withdrew into rough terrain as the Franks failed to move for the first 2 turns. 

This tardy start left the Franks having to pursue the Irish into rough terrain where they were isolated and ambushed. Irish win. 

Irish lying in wait

 Campaign situation

The diagram below shows the current position with each armies cumulative total and the number/size of one-off  the "boosts" available from winning games.

Dark Ages - week 1

This week's scenario was "The Fugitive" in which the defenders must find an escaped prisoner who is hiding in one of six rough areas and escape. The first area searched needs a 6, the second a 5+ and so on. An attackers win is worth 3 valour and defenders 5 valour. 

Games 1 and 3 - Irish vs Anglo-Norman

I've listed this as two games as we managed to play through the game twice, swapping roles for the second game. Both had a similar result with the defender finding the prisoner in a wood closer to their base edge and managing to escape for a 5 point win.   

Irish Warriors escort the prisoner

In the first battle the Anglo-Norman attackers were slow moving so the Irish were never really under pressure.  

In the second the attacking Irish moved rapidly and came close to at least engaging the fleeing prisoner. In both game the Irish Warriors proved effective in attacking the Norman infantry.   

 

Irish and Anglo-Normans clash

Game 2 - Norse vs Frankish / Saxons

The Norse were the defenders in this much longer game. Initially they did well with their archers and hurt the Frankish cavalry, but failed to find the prisoner. 

Frankish horse

The Norse only found the prisoner in the very last zone searched and so close to the attackers baseline. Once found the attackers (mostly Saxons) quickly converged to attack the berserkers guarding the prisoner.    

Saxons lie in wait

Crucially the berserkers became "battered" (low morale) and started fleeing towards the base-edge and a possible escape. When only 1 move from safely their morale failed completely and they routed, handing the win to the defending Franks/Saxons right at the death.      

The decisive moment the berserkers rout

So after week 1 the scores are:

• Stu and Chris - 5 valour
• Roy and Mike - 3 valour