The battle for Serlac Hill

So the other day i decided to continue my Anglo-Burgundian vs French campaign asi really felt like a Dux Brit battle. It also gave me a chance to test out a couple of new chances i made.

So, Steffan, the Burgundian captain, had some success in 1477, but lost his first major attack on the French lands. now it is 1478 and he prepares for another attack.

The French hear of his intentions and march out to halt him, aiming to take the hill (they chose the side with the hill but ended up on the wrong side of the table).

Militia crossbowmen prepare to cross the stream and dash for the hill.

Meanwhile, Steffan had similar ideas, but he was closer to the hill.

View before the first turn. Alain, the French lord, gave a stirring speech to his men that raised his level by 1. Steffan's speech was not so good and lowered his level by 1, but he had no chance to raise it as the French opened the battle.

Vite! The handgunners dash across the stream and spot some Danish skirmishers as they appear from the clump of trees.

Alain throws his men forward, determined to get to the hill before the Burgundians can form up.

Ils sont la! Archers are spotted on the hill.

The English archers spot the French below and hurry to reach the top of the hill.

Not everyone is happy though in the French camp, as Robin decides not to attack and stays put, thinking an attack on the hill is folly.

There's only one way; up. And up into the blades of the waiting men-at-arms.

Some Burgundian halbardiers appear on the French right, threatening the flank.

Steady men! Steffan watches to French coming for him.

Instead of waiting for the French, Steffan leads the charge into the enemy ranks. Both lords join in the melee.

Battered but not beaten, both sides pull back to regroup. But the French still have more men, and Alain regroups them quicker than Steffan.

Not many left, this'll be a piece of cake...

...there's only some English between us and victory!

Meanwhile, Charles attacks some militia who have not closed ranks. Levy not in formation, easy kills.

Steffan attacks the French again, but comes off for worse.

Although better skilled, the French have more men and fight off the men-at-arms. 

Here come the archers, drawing swords and bucklers to drive off the French.

The next time someone says levy not in formation die easily, i'll show them this;  first round, the Brugundians (soldiers, ie warriors) loose 3 MEN and the levy loose 1! The Burgundians charge again and kill a couple more.

Melee generale on the hill and the archers charge the French in the rear.

Everyone flees. The Men-at-arms loose their amphora, as do some French will the rest are at the limit. Only the archers stay.

The English see off the remaining soldiers and turn their arrows on the crossbow men below.

The militia aimed to kill a couple more men to push the Anglo-Burgundian losses from moderate to heavy, but they only kill one for the loss of four crossbowmen, so they quit the field to fight another day.

A +2 win for Steffan and he besieges a French manor, but the French sill be back in 3 months and the manor will fall in 4, so the French have one last chance to save their first manor from falling...

Wagon raid

Continuing my Franco-Burgundian campaign, Steffan decided to conduct a raid into the French lands for some loot before winter. The month is September and with only one month of the campaign year left, the siege would be over winter.

Rolled for a wagon raid, so Alain has the task of getting his column of winter supplies into a small castle. Here the French come onto the table over the hill.

The first Burgundians to arrive are actually the English archers. Using a fate card, the English find one of their groups is composed of untried youths (one group was lowered to 'levy' status). They dash forward and let loose some arrows at the soldiers, who form up on the hill.

Steffan arrives with a group of men at arms and soldiers, and they make their way up the hill, aiming on taking the supplies by force.

Some archers (harassing troops) take cover behind a fence to watch for any reinforcements coming from the castle.

Just afterwards, Perrin Ledoux leads some handgunners, crossbowmen and militia to aid the supply column. They enthusiastically run at the archers.

Steffan aims for the French soldiers, who form ranks and wait for help.

Almost there...

Both sides clash, pole arms swing and despite the uphill advantage, the men at arms manage to push the soldiers back.

(note the 'supply column', made of spare horses until i get some wagons)

Pressing home the advantage, the men at arms charge again next turn, causing casualties. 

View of the table. Alain, the French lord has rode ahead as some Burgundian mounted men at arms appeared to threaten the militia. The crossbowmen on the hill fire at the English, killing one man and suffering two dead in return.

As the soldiers are pushed further back, the supplies are moved down the hill in an attempt to get away from the grasping raiders.

Horse race across the table. The French just miss their target (by an inch or two).

On the hill, the French soldiers under Robin either run or die, leaving only three left who back off with no chance of recovery. Steffan leaves them and turns his attention to the supplies...

Sneakingly, the Burgundian men at arms slip away again from the French with the Evade card, and are ready to charge some militia crossbowmen caught in the open. In the background, the English have advanced on the supplies, defended by only four crossbowmen.

Perrin and his militia watch the horsemen pass by from the safety of a fence.

The situation on the hill. The French feel slightly outnumbered...

'Screw this!' (or 'Merde!') The militia try to panic the horses then leg it, deciding discretion is the best part of valour here.

The Anglo-Burgundians get away with the loot, but are harassed on their way home, seeing their victory being reduced from +4 to +2.

I played this out the other week but only how have loaded up the pictures. I'm getting the hang of Sharp Practice now too, so i'll probably be playing more of that. I may continue the campaign with Sharp Practice, maybe i'll even finish it (don't hold your breathe though)!

First attack

   We counted the dead; thirteen. Not a lucky number.
   With wounded men and empty arrow bags we returned to our base, the small castle on the border. Yesterday we had left here confident of an easy victory, but the wheel of fortune turns and God was not with us and Steffan's speech was less than inspiring. Even the drink did not help us and only made our aim worse.
   We had gone north, attacking into a lightly defended estate protected only by a manor house. The French knew we were coming and had marched out to meet us, and we, confident in victory, went to meet them. The French waited in a good position; with their crossbowmen on a hill and some fields to their front. We lined up opposite them with our tight on some houses. I was with the archers and John on the right, while Steffan and Charles held the center to face the enemy men at arms.
   Steffan tried to raise our spirits with a speech, but it did the opposite to the men. A priest was called to bless us and even then God turned away for the priest spilled the holy water and hurried the rest of the blessings. We eventually passed round the ale and the men took up their weapons, hoping the French were even more scared than we were.
   They weren't, and they advanced with confidence. Their crossbowmen rained fire on our men at arms and killed one, while we the archers aimed at the handgunners that took shots at us. One hit my neighbour  Nicolas, straight in the face, broke his nose and teeth and went through the back of his helmet. I put an arrow on my string, aimed at a smoke cloud and let loose, and when the smoke cleared i saw a crawling Frenchman with an arrow in his chest.
   The men at arms then got to grips, and to my horror our men we being pushed back. Not many were dying but the French were brave and eager, while we were nervous and more soldiers came towards us through the wheat fields. We loosed volleys at them, some of our shots going wildly wide while some found their mark and the French soldiers began to waver. Our men at arms fell back and before us five French lay dead or wounded by our arrows.
   Urged by their success, the crossbowmen approached along their hill, raining fire if our men at arms pulled back too far, and i saw our horse holders coming up. Steffan was planning on retreat. I saw four of our scouts behind the enemy and they chased off the handgunners and turned on some spear men, who suprised them and killed their horses with their spears. They dispatched the riders and we returned the favour with a volley.
   The men at arms managed to hold off the French long enough to force them to stop, and then in a sudden mounted up and galloped away. Steffan shouted at us to follow, and we stepped back, loosed a final volley and ran back to our horses too. John grumbled that the battle was far from lost and that Steffan was a coward, but he decided to follow us when we retreated.

   Back at the castle, John began to argue with Steffan and he called me over to translate. He could speak French but when he was angry he spoke English and he asked me to translate for i spoke French better than any of the other archers.
   John did not bother to argue long and instead strode away shouting at the archers and kicked a loose helmet.
   "He has no control over his anger." Steffan told me quietly. "I won't how he became a captain."
   "Luck, lord." I replied.
   "Or gold."
   "Perhaps, lord."
   "He is a rogue," Steffan continued after a pause, "but he brings men, so i need him, even if i don't like him. If we loose again i imagine he'll leave us, taking you with him."
   "I would stay, lord." Steffan looked at me surprised. I liked John, but liked Steffan even more for he was kind as well as stern and he could be generous with plunder. John was a good soldier while Steffan was a better leader.
   "We shall stay here until we get more men. I want you Thomas to scout to the west. Take three men with you and report what you find."
   "Yes lord."

No photos of the battle, sorry.

The Anglo-Burgundians were defeated. It didn't start well, with their morale plunging from 8 to 5, but some over indulging brought it back up. The French were in a better mood and evidently God was on their side.

The French lost men, but only Light losses while Steffan lost thirteen, Moderate losses. Alain cannot become a Knight yet but, if he needs to, he can hire some mercenaries for the next battle. For now the harvest shall be gathered without worry of raids and the fighting shall continue in September.

The shortest Dux game ever?

First off, the characters for my sort of Historical campaign in France.

The heroes of France:

Left, Perrin Ledoux. Son of a Doyen (esquire), Perrin is 25 and is out to make a name for himself. He is Devout and is of Average build. He leads the militia crossbowmen.

Centre, Sir Alain Le Grande. Alain is 21 years old, tall with the Constitution of an Ox and good looks. He is the younger son of a noble family with no inheritance and for the time being has been left on his brother's estates while he fights elsewhere against the Burgundians. Now is Alain's chance to shine.

Right, Robin Vallet. A professional soldier, he is 30, short and a Master of Arms after years of fighting. He leads Alain's soldiers.

The Burgundian raiders.

Left, Charles. He is noble, but now he has nothing and has been forced to become a mercenary to live. He is short and a heavy drinker, and he hopes he can take some land worthy of his ancestors. He is 23.

Centre, Steffan Vogel. Son of the gentry, Steffan is 26, tall, a Devout Christian and ambitious. He fights for Burgundy and Marie and leads the mounted men at arms to battle.

Right, John Stafford. An English mercenary, John is Gentleborn of the rough sort. He is Lustful and has a Lust for Power (-3 loyalty!), and is tall and strong. He wants gold and land and leads a band of English archers just as rough as he is.

The forces i 'm using in this campaign are slight modifications of the normal lists (thanks to Jim for the lists he made). The French can assemble: 6 men at arms, 12 soldiers, 6 militia and another 12 militia armed with crossbows. Alain also has 4 skirmishing handgunners.

The Anglo-Burgundians have 12 men at arms, 6 soldiers, 12 English archers and 4 light horsemen (replaces missile troops).

March, one year in the 15th century (i'll think of one some time soon)

Alain has received good news; Robin is returning with some men to support him against the routiers some of the farmers had spoke about. These raiders have been seen scouting the border lands and Alain has assembled the militia and his few men at arms at a tower, both to watch out for the Burgundians and wait for Robin's return.

A sentry spots Robin and his men and Alain goes out to meet him. (The brown strip is a river, i need to cut out some blue fabric to make a proper one!)

Robin and his men, glad to be home.

What's that? A glint of metal? A whine of a horse? Robin forms up his men against the threat.

There is a mighty war cry, and suddenly twelve mounted men at arms burst from cover, lead by Sir Vogel himself.

Ahhhh! Unpainted men!

Robin and his men are caught unawares and half the men fall wounded or dead. Robin himself is wounded.

Not even the cover of the fence can saw them as some cavalry rides around the house and kills another 4 men. Robin and the wounded surrender. Alain watches in disbelief from the stream.

Steffan ransoms the men back for a Soldier's Pay and puts the French out of action for 2 months. They could have contested but down on 10 men Alain would not risk it. Instead Steffan amasses much plunder and by June has an eye to capture a manor close to the border...

Two turns. The Burgundian lord was the last to activate on the first turn and the first on the second, effectivly giving him a double go. His cavalry, aided by cards, devastated the French soldiers. In these changes, men at arms can mount and dismount so we keep them at 6 man strength, which also makes them very hard on the charge.

Steffan, after 2 months raiding, is now promoted to a Knight and can commence battles (yes, already!) So we all know what's coming next...