Just In Time

After a long march through the rugged pass, the Midlish Earl was surprised when his scouts reported that the enemy was alert and in battle line with dust clouds in the distance suggesting that reinforcements were on their way.

(Note: click on the pictures for a larger version. Click again for an even bigger version.)

After a short survey of the enemy position, the Duke gave orders for his column to deploy for battle.

The sight of the Duke with his companions roused a chorus of cheers
from the warriors from this village, the woods folk and sheep herders,
who had gathered when the Raven came cawing the danger to come.

At last the armies were deployed and the arrows began to fly.

The defenders on the hills fought bravely and repelled the first attack,
but the enemy cavalry and bowmen were working their way around both flanks.
They had to start falling back to less open terrain.

After the break while the armies redeployed the skirmishers continued
to trade arrows. At last,the battle line began to advance again.
 The Midlish knights advanced on their flank, ready to break a tired enemy. 

The fighting was determined on both sides but neither cavalry charges nor infantry were able to break the defenders defending their village.

As the sun began to sink, the Midlish General sent his Herald to offer a parley. After a short exchange, the Valdurian Duke agreed to halt the fighting while the Midlish army retreated back through the pass.

A Festive Surprise

The Midlish plan was to surprise the Valdurians, spoil their New Year's Eve and Day and make up for all of their defeats over the last decade......  

But the heavily armoured column just might have been spotted by villagers and foresters since there was a force of Valdurian levies and Horse Guards deployed upon a ridge. 

"Deploy the column! Cavalry on the right, archers on the left!"

"Where are those bloody archers!?! Cavalry, prepare to charge!"

A Raven's Eye view of the battle.

"Reform and Charge Again!"

"Is that the time? How many casualties have we taken?"....."That many!? How about them?"....."hmm..too much wine last night perhaps......not worth a 3rd charge really...."    "Trumpeter! Sound Retire!" 
".......mumble..basttards..mumble....we'll get them next time...."

Happy New Year To All! 

.....The Hosts Will Gather Again in 2026...

Go Home Iron Men, Go Home or Die!

With the dawn, the Earl's army arrayed themselves for battle, and advanced.

The spears formed into two blocks while archers advanced on either flack to flush out any ambushes and the cavalry followed behind until their time arrived.

As expected, there were light troops lurking in woods and marshes or on the rocky hills but these did not stop the spears in the center from scaling the ridge and throwing themselves against the defending spearmen. The ensuing melee was fierce and prolonged.

On the flanks, the fighting was fierce for a short while but both sides were both more focused on protecting the flanks of their own center than on trying to expose the enemy's flanks.

The Midlish pikemen struggled to climb the hill and push back the defenders and as the day grew shorter, the Midlish line started to shrink despite the commitment of a reserve body of spearmen. The only hope was that the battered defenders had been weakened enough for the knights to break them.

Charge followed charge and the casualties were heavy on both sides but as the defenders right flank appeared to be open, stout body of armoured soldiers shaking their axes and two handled swords in defiance moved up from their hidden reserve position to fill the gap, while the defenders skirmishers finally drove off the last of the Midlish mounted crossbowmen on their right flank and started working around the open Midlish right flank. 

As the sun began to sink, there was time for one last desperate cavalry charge but it also was repelled and the battered Midlish spearmen began to fallback without orders. Fortunately for them, the enemy was too badly cut up and weary to pursue and were glad to rest on their spears and jeer their retreating enemy.

Note: The figures are 25mm from Garrison, Revenge (via Old Glory), a few Minifigs and various individuals from all sorts of places. Some of these were painted and started fighting for me in the 70's, others were painted here and then over the years with a few more still in waiting. Many of the figures have been converted or modified in some fashion

Rules: Gathering of Hosts (2024 version). 

They Shall Not Pass!

OOPS!  I just discovered that I did not finish this battle report from last June! Well, hopefully late is better than never. Good thing I have some pictures at least.

This game was a revenge attack from the Great Raid launched in the previous year against the Midlish Kingdom's Eastern Frontier. (See Fight at the Ford and the stop motion video report on the following clash).

This game followed a year later when the Midlands launched a revenge raid against the Valdurian province of the Northern Federation. In expectations of a counter raid, border guards were posted along the frontier to watch and raise the alarm if, or when, it came, and to hold until relieved. 

ALARM! SOUND THE HORNS! TO ARMS!

LIGHT THE BEACONS!

 The Northern Federation Horse Guards and some of the local Valdurian tribesmen were first to arrive.

The Valdurian light troops relied on ambush and missile fire to slow down the invaders until help  arrived.

After a fierce and bloody fight, the Black Knight, Captain of the Pass and Commander of the expedition, fell prisoner to the Captain of the Federation Horse Guards and the battle was over.

Legend has it that the ghosts of the fallen rise and fight amongst the woods and fields each year on the night of the anniversary of the battle.

Fighting for Hearth and Home

When word came from the Watchers that the host of Iron Men in the pass had taken the North East road, the Elder of Smawlton was quick to send word to Duke Bedwyr and to set the Villagers to barricading the village streets.

From behind their barricades the village folk watched the long enemy column crawl across the plain with a screen of horsemen scouting ahead. From the woods they could see a shower of arrows rain on the enemy's scouts who replied from horseback with their crossbows. Moments later there was a sudden clamour of screeching and howling as a group of Watchers  rushed from the woods only to be cut down by the horsemen and scattered. A brave folk but rash when their blood was up. Their attack was not in vain though, the Midlish column halted and began to deploy for battle. They had barely started forward again when thundering hooves announced the advance guard of the Duke's men rushing to meet the foe.

The Earl of Oxford urged his men forward, wanting to settle the local force before the inevitable arrival of the Duke. The veteran mercenaries in the wood were doing their job though and company after company of archers were sent back to face them while the light horse were ordered forward to screen the knights from the arrows of the Federate light horse. Eventually the deployment was complete and the Earl signalled for a general advance but it had barely started when trumpets and loud cheers announced the arrival of Duke Bedwyr.

As the Federation lancers rode on and deployed, a young warrior, glittering in gold from his old fashioned winged helmet to his stirrups, rode forward from the ranks.

It was the young chieftain, Prince Wyngnuht, 8th of his name, a descendent of one of the most gallant and least fortunate of the generals of old Valdur and said to be the spitting image of his ancestor and to have inherited his courage and luck. He raised his battleaxe, bellowed a challenge to the Earl, and spurred his horse forward followed by the whole of the Federation lancers.

Alas, the ordered ranks of the heavily armoured Midlish knights were not to be shattered by such wild charges and fully half of the lancers were scattered, leaving the bloodied body of the young Prince on the ground.

Muttering quiet curses to himself, the old Duke ordered his men and set them to foiling the enemy's plans.  He sent the Herdsmen to circle the village and harass the enemy rear while the rest of Lancers and Light Horse kept the enemy cavalry busy.

The Losses of the Federation cavalry continued to mount as charge followed charge interspersed with exchanges of arrows but the enemy cavalry made little progress. It appeared that the Earl preferred to keep his cavalry intact and leave the village to his infantry rather than risking the loss of yet more cavalry so early in his raid.

Those infantry were making little headway though. A prolonged struggle at the barricades was bloody for both sides but the packed ranks of spearmen were not best suited for attacking over such broken ground under a shower of spears, throwing axes, rocks and whatever else came to hand.

To the south, the mercenary Goblins had finally dispersed  the last of the Midlish rearguard and had advanced from the woods, adding their arrows to those of the Herdsmen who galloped past the enemy's flanks to trade shots with the Midlish bowmen. 

Both armies were near exhaustion as the sun sank towards the horizon and the town was not yet taken. The Earl knew that more Federate forces would be marching through the night to meet them and even if his army captured the town as dark fell, he had lost too many men and too much time for the raid to go farther. It was time to pull back into the pass and either entrench and call up reinforcements, or head for home.   

As the Midlish pulled back, the villagers spread out, bringing succour to the wounded. To the Duke's great relief, the rash young Prince, who had been his guest when word of the raid had come, was only wounded. He would live to ride again, hopefully at the head of his own people.

The Battle of Argentium Bridge

To the scholars and Wisemen of the Midlands, it is a Mystery that there are still Free Lands in the West who live without a King and nobles. As the long columns of Knights, spearmen and archers marched west under the banner of the Earl of Cowcross, their armour glinting in the sun, there was no doubt in their minds that this time, the Free Lands would finally be brought to order so that noble and merchant alike could show the wealth that it could assuredly produce.

The advance guard scouts ahead, crossbows at the ready. 

There may have been young nobles in the column who smirked at the sight of the small clump of spearmen arrayed at the far side of the bridge to Argentium. The bridge had been built by some foreign emperor long ago and was a solid stone structure but it was in the middle of nowhere as far as the Midlanders could see. The cry went up to move the advance guard archers aside so that the Knights could sweep these churls aside. 

Archers lined the bank while the advance guard of Tunstall Tower Archers  pushed over the bridge and tripped an enemy ambush.

This was not the Earl's first campaign in the West though and he called forward The Council's Soothsayer and asked him to roll the Bones and see what the Powers Above said. With much chanting and a few puffs of fragrant smoke the Soothsayer studied the fall of the Bones and told the Earl to send his infantry against this lowly foe. 

The Tunstall archers were unable to withstand twice their numbers of fierce hillmen but they gave a good account of themselves. Perhaps if the Mercenary handgunners were less heavily armoured they would have been in time to aid them.

The fighting continued fiercely with losses on both sides but the frustrated spearmen could not intervene until the enemy gave way or only the dead bodies of the mercenaries lay between them.

With the Archers and Mercenaries out of the way, the Spears pushed over the bridge but the soft ground on either side stopped them from deploying until they pushed the enemy back a little farther.

The Hillmen fought bravely, falling back occasionally before charging wildly in again with javelins and heavy battle axes but the hedgehog of spears pushed slowly forward. Eventually the slaughter was too great and a horn sounded in the rear. In a flash the way was open as the remaining hillmen ran back through the marsh where the Midlish foot floundered when they pursued.  Now, only the knot of Spearmen barred the way.

Ar last the eager Sir John and his Black Company crossed over with the Earl himself close behind.

Supported by showers of arrows the Midlish knights spurred forward,  Even once the narrowest defile was passed though, there was only room for two companies. Heavy armour protected man and horse but the hedge of spearpoints made it difficult for them to reach their enemies. As charge followed charge, more spearmen fell but the shadows soon began to lengthen.

The sun is setting. 

Many a Westman lay dead on the field but even more Midlish soldiers lay with them. Even if this stubborn knot of spearmen was broken, this was not a good place for a Midlish army to camp for the night while to attempt to push on through the woods in the dark would be sheer folly.

The Earl ordered his trumpeter to sound the Retreat and led his household back over the bridge.

In the Shadow of the Black Tower

Many months had passed since Sir John of Raven's Wood Tower, Captain of the Pass, better known as the Black Knight,  had led his men across the mountains to make a preemptive strike on the peaceful farmers of Dale. For months afterwards the Warden of the West March stood guard against retaliation but at last the danger seemed to have passed.

Earl of Cowcross, Warden of the West March

The men of the North are patient and canny though. After a suitable delay, the three nations which make up the Federation all agreed to supply troops for a fast moving raid: Dalish lancers and light archers, Valdurian Light horse and foot and Herdsmen Horse Archers. 

Lord Bedewyr with Dalish Lancers and Herdsmen.

The raiders blazed a trail of destruction from the East Pass across the West March to the Great Pass. If the Black Tower could not be passed then there was still a route home through the Forsaken Lands west of the mountains. As the raiders neared the mouth of the Great Pass though and saw the Earl's banners, it was clear that any passage would have to be paid in blood.

The Earl swiftly deployed his men as the Northern horse archers rode forward to harass them. Arrows soon began to fill the air. At this point, a horn blew from the tower and the garrison sallied forth to bar the pass against the raiders that they could see approaching.

To the North, the Valdurian contingent sped ahead, eager to get to grips.  The cavalry were first, upholding their ferocious traditions. The Black Horsemen spurred forward but despite  their armour they barely held the wild horsemen in check and as the lines closed again the Tower guardians were forced back with heavy losses with the mounted crossbowmen fleeing back to the Tower gates.

At the sight of this triumph, the wild Valdurian tribesmen rushed forward from the rocky slopes of the pass, screaming and waving their swords as they charged. The Tower crossbowmen, veterans of many a skirmish and battle weren't rattled and after riddling the enemy with powerful bolts, drew their swords and braced their pavises.

 The shock of the impact could be heard across the valley  but the veteran tower guards held firm, cutting down the unarmoured tribesmen. Their Chieftain, in a desperate attempt to break the shieldwall, threw himself upon it, struggling to seize and pull down a pavise until it was suddenly pulled aside and a pointblank crossbow bolt transfixed him.  The shocked tribesmen turned and ran.

On the plain the Dalish lancers held back while the horse archers darted forward and back, striking the Midlish with devilish accuracy. The Earl knew he had one chance, the trumpets sounded along the line.  Down came the lances as the heavy horse began to thunder forward but the Dalish lancers, fewer in numbers and lighter in armour, were every bit as bold. They spurred forward to meet them. Three times the lines came together while the horse archers darted in and out but at last the Midlish horse broke and rode for safety.

The Duke pulled his men back and turned to go finish clearing the pass.

As the Valdurian troops rallied, the convoy continued to advance, now under a heavy and increasingly accurate fire from the Great Gun mounted on the tower. The convoy archers deployed and prepared to engage the pass defenders when the local levies suddenly emerged from the woods and town. These veteran frontiersmen were deadly shots while the canon added to the havoc. Under cover of the barrage, a small clump of spearmen led by Baron Robert advanced quickly on the convoy. Brushing aside the remaining archers they closed on the carts.

The men driving the carts were Valdurian warriors though and put up a fierce fight. When the Valdurian cavalry joined them, the spearmen were first driven back then finally broken but damage had been done.

Losses had been heavy on both sides but the Federate cavalry was still in good shape. Against them stood only the Black Knight and his remaining handful of knights and crossbowmen. Cheered by the site of the proud Duke at the head of his Household Lancers, the Valdurian tribesmen were moved to rejoin the fray. Charging down from the rocks they caught the crossbows off guard and drove them fleeing back into the tower.

Duke Bedwyr drove his lancers up the hill, screaming a challenge to the Black Knight  who spurred to meet him. Moments later the Duke was cut down and his men scattered.   

Taking advantage of the confusion, the remaining Valdurian tribesmen slipped past the tower and headed for home while the remaining horsemen scattered and headed west before the Midlish forces could organize a pursuit.

For the convoy though, there was no escape and the local archers cautiously approached with an eye to 'securing' the goods. Alas for the North, all the survivors brought back from the Duke's Raid were sad songs and heroic tales.

(see Behind the Black Tower for behind the scenes info)

The affair of Na dallag naomh

It was a frosty December morning when the Earl of Cowcross gave the order to begin the march home.

Cuan na Banrigh
The Queen's Hound, armed with a sharp, heavy axe and protected by enchanted tattoos and the Witch's Brew

The trip to the secret cave holding the sacred Dallag, whose power was said to hold together the alliance of the People of the  Woods and the Men of the Valleys, had been easy. Too easy  really, and the Earl suspected that the enemy would not let them go as easily.

The march begins. The mounted Foresters with their latches leading the way. The Spearmen on the right are carrying the Chest said to contain the sacred relic. 

It took a bit of time to get the troops moving and the enemy was in view before any but the Foresters had  started on the road home. Fortunately the enemy was just as slow to gather.

Some enemy horsemen showed behind his right so the Earl sent his Lances to see them off and they did so in short order. But the enemy rallied not far away as an unnatural mist rolled out of a small wood heading for the Lancers. As the mist rolled over them there was suddenly a ferocious battle cry followed by the screams of men and horses and a stream of bloodied men and horses fled past the Earl  and disappeared up a mountain glen from which none ever returned.

Cuan na Banrigh, hidden in a magical mist, routs the Midlandish cavalry. 

With the Blood Lust upon him, Cuan rushed through the wood and assaulted the Earl's archers who had been sending flights of arrows in amongst the Old Ones, protected only by their tattoos, plaid cloaks and the trees of the forest.  The archers were of sterner stuff than the lancers though and gave hard  strokes before falling back.

The mounted crossbows spurred ahead to seize and hold the  clearing along the road home.  Out of the  woods sprang a fresh band of wild tribesmen and despite boldly defending themselves, the horsemen were forced to fallback only to be ambushed again and scattered to the winds.

A Raven's eye view of the battle field. The Midlandish forces are down to the Earl's Household and 2 Schiltrons. The West Folk have not lost any units.

No sooner had this disaster struck the Midlandish forces when Cuan struck again, scattering the remaining archers. By now the lead schiltron had drawn near to the final patch of the woods and the Queen and her picked companions could no longer control their bloodlust. Like furies they threw themselves onto the sharp spears of their enemy and drove them back.

Unable to resist the urge to draw blood the Queen's Guard drives the Midlandish spearmen back. 

The Earl decided it was time to lay aside the mantle of command and let himself be a just a Knight. Leading his household companions  forward he dashed into unit after unit of savage warriors, bloodied and tired, they had no answer but to melt back into the woods. Then the Queen stood against him but once again good steel and years of disciplined training at arms was more than a match for the fury of wild beasts and desperate warriors. Unable to come near the Earl and with her devoted Lioness wounded, she called her warriors back into the woods and they faded away leaving the scouts to trail the enemy.

The Earl glares at the enemy scouts as his last unit of spearmen lugs the sacred chest to safety.

(Note: The Clerics and Wisemen of the Midlands will soon be analyzing  the armies and the battle and a summary of their debates will be presented here.)

Skirmish on the Border

On that July morning when war came again to the Federation of the Freefolk, it came like a thunderstorm with the flash of polished steel and the thunder of horses hooves.

The Captain of the Pass sent his mounted crossbowmen forth to clear the way while the heavy cavalry flanked by archers formed ranks and steadily advanced. Below them, the garrison of mercenary goblin archers stood to their posts while the outriders strung their bows and galloped towards the enemy. In the village men rushed to arms and struggled to form the shieldwall hoping against hope that help from either Lord Bedewyr or their Valdurian neighbours would arrive in time.

Lord Bedewyr and his household knights.
(Minifigs originally painted in 1974 Northern Gaul, Southron and Rohirrim, touched up and remounted but not yet reflocked

Word soon came that both the Lord and the Valdurians were already nigh at hand and before expected they could be seen forming for battle. For long however, the Valdurian horsemen seemed to be merely watching from afar. Around the fort and village, arrows flashed back and forth with the outnumbered defenders getting by far the worst of it. Midlish light horse began working around the flank and the townfolk fell back to draw the enemy forward then turned and charged to close quarters.

Halfway through the day it looked like the veteran Midlish  troops would sweep the field while the Valdurian light horse looked on from the far table edge. 

On the far side of the fort Lord Bedwyr had arrived and led his household against the Midlish knights. Blood was spilled and much honour was won but neither side had the advantage.

Behind the Midlish line Sir John, the Captain of the Pass, watched and waited to see if the Valdurians would intervene before leading his heavily armoured Black Company forward to finish the villagers. At last he gave the signal and the ground trembled as the armoured horsemen urged their horse into a walk and then a slow trot.

As so often in legends of the past, a flank charge by the Valdurian cavalry swept the field.

Suddenly, the Valdurians must have seen what they were waiting for, in the blink of an eye they galloped forward and swept away the surprised mounted crossbows then pursued forward into the flank of the Midlish archers who were caught while already at hand strokes with the farmers. It was done!

There was nothing left for Sir John but to recall his cavalry and cover the retreat of the fugitives towards the pass. If the rumours of impending war were true, his rash strike would seem likely to have fanned the flames of war rather than smother then.

Heroes of the day!
(MInifig Ancient British cavalry painted back in '74 refurbished and rehorsed along with Garrison Saxons, a few from c'75/'76, the rest recent replacements.)

(Notes: The attacking force consisted of 1 Heavy Shock Cavalry, 3 Shock Cavalry, 2 Cavalry with Crossbows, 4 archers. The defenders on table consisted of 1 archer and 2 Light Horse Archer in the fort and 2 Shock Infantry and 1 Archer in the town. Reinforcements dicing to arrive needing score equal to the turn were General with 2 Shock Cavalry and 2 light Shock Cavalry . The rules published 2 posts ago were updated before then game then again after the game to reflect the game as played. The game itself took about an hour to play. Next step, paint and base! paint and Base! We need more men!....and more games!)