Dark Ages - week 5

The scenario we played this week involved lots of movement - the defender was trying to cross from one corner to the opposite one, while the attacker tried to envelope them from the sides. The defender won by getting more than half their points off and the attacker won by routing more than half the defenders points. Following the Pope's ban on crossbows the Flemish have become Norse.

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

This was likely a good scenario for the fast moving Welsh who might be able to out manoeuvre the Anglo-Normans, and so they set-up to push straight down the middle while the ANs had mounted one side and foot the other.

AN knights try to cut-off the Welsh

True to form the Welsh scuttled up the centre with their horse leading the way. Initially it looked like they might escape with minimal casualties and much of the light horse escaped unscathed. Eventually the  ANs came to grips with them were able to kill enough to mean the Welsh could only get exactly half their units off. Draw.  

Welsh foot in a bind

Game 2 - Arthurian / Roman (Defenders) vs Norse (attacker). 

The Arthurian's hugged the northern side of the table looking to avoid the Norse archers. 

Some slow movement from the defenders allowed the Norse to close the gap and bring them to combat in centre field. 

After the struggle the Arthurian's lost over half their points and so were unable to win the game. Norse win.   

Romans and Norse clash

Game 3 - Franks (defender) vs Irish/Anglo-Norman

The attackers deployed with the Irish to the west and the ANs to the east. After initially moving up the centre the Franks pushed all their troops towards the ANs making it a classic hammer & anvil game.  

Franks swing east to avoid the Irish

With the Irish in hot pursuit the Franks engaged the ANs and were able to destroy their elite horse. Meanwhile the Irish warriors mowed down the Frankish archers and engaged their infantry. As the Frankish horse was whittled away it fell to their infantry to try and win the game.  

In a tense finish the ANs final unit of spearmen managed to hold the Frankish up long enough for the Irish Gallowglass to kill more than half the Franks. Irish / Anglo-Norman win. 

AN spears hold the line

      

Campaign situation

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.