Dux Bel French vs Lowlands battle #1

Here it is, the report for my first Dux Bellorum on the continent game. Posted a bit later than planned, but the pictures take an age to load up! Anyway...

This battle pitched the militia forces of a small Lowland town against the company of a French captain looking for some land to nap and loot for his soldiers. Nothing too historical here.

The French had the following:

Mounted companions

2 units out mounted gendarmes (men-at-arms)

1 unit of mounted coustilliers

1 unit of heavy infantry

3 units of crossbowmen

7 Leadership points (for boosting combat and morale)

The Lowlanders brought the following to the battle:

Foot companions

2 units of heavy infantry with pikes

4 units of militia infantry with pikes

1 unit of crossbowmen

1 unit of mounted poorterij (men-at-arms)

1 unit of mouted coustilliers

2 units of skirmishers

6 LPs

The opening moves. The Lowlanders planned to advance as quickly as possible to stop the French cavalry from maneuvering, with the cavalry to take out the archers (who in this battle were actual archers :-p)

The French captain looks at the advancing enemy while his archers advance to open fire.

Seeing an opportunity, the captain charges a unit of skirmishers that strays too far forward. The infantry are too far away to help and the captain deprives the Lowlanders of an LP.

For every unit lost, you loose an LP, meaning you get less and less bonuses as the battle rolls on, handy way of representing confusion and the chaos of battle.

In the following turn, the Lowland cavalry charge, having taken no losses from archery at the beginning of the turn. The infantry also manage to get into contact. Despite being charging cavalry, the French archers hold (thanks to LPs, used to save losses) excpet on their right where the militiamen force back some archers. The lighter coustilliers, however, are thrown back by the French heavy infantry.

End of third turn view.

Being a brave French man, the captain charges the mass pikes of the Lowlands. Despite the penalties imposed on him by the pikes, he hopes to hold out until his men can win elsewhere on the field.

Meanwhile...

2 units of Lowlanders decide today's a day off, and refuse to pass a bravery test to move.

the following combat does not go well, as he and the gendarms take losses, but manage to inflict enough to get a draw, unfortunately.

The Poorteri slowly cut through the archers, but the coustilliers pull back, battered with a threatened flank. The Lowland infantry on the right just watches.

The Lowland infantry pile on the pressure and hem in on the weakened cavalry. Things are not looking good for the French.

LPs keep the archers in play (albeit at with only 1 or 2 points of cohesion left) and the heavy infantry join in the swing the balance in favour of the French on their left.

On the right, some gendarms ride down the Lowland archers, but the cavalry in the center are suffering. Coutrai all over?

As the French wanted, they now however have 2 units of cavalry ready to attack the infantry's flanks, but in a classic show of dice rolling, both fail, the gendarms even loosing a point cohesion! The captain must fight another round alone in the center.

Pour sainte Denis!

Thanks to their armour and courage (ie, LPs) the French captain holds on, and manages to inflict some casualties. He is lucky the heavy infantry at his flank failed to move.

The following turn, everyone gets stuck in. The Lowland poorterij are driven off, fleeing the field, and in the center the French cavalry crash down on the Lowland infantry flanks, causing enough losses to force the rest of the force to test for morale. Men begin to run, and at the end only a few men stand with the Lowland leader, the rest having run in the general direction of home.

Still waiting to advance, there will be some arguments in the camp about the performance of these chaps!