Deployment variation, Late Medieval era

We enjoy historical match-ups and found the Collision Course variant for deployment has become a welcome addition. The variant allows us to create encounter battles such as Montlhéry (1465) or Fornovo (1495). Players organise their armies in three equal size columns, of which one has marched on the board followed by the lead element of the second. Off table, the third column enters with the proper pip score, an uncertainty for which an opponent can exploit.

The late medieval period is our current interest and this past week we tested an alternative method to deploy our armies. The three columns organised for the collision course variant are now labelled the vanward, mainward and rearward. The three parts would no longer march on the table, but are placed within the deployment zone with players alternating the placement of their groups. The defender placed the vanward first, followed by the attacker placing his; the sequence continued until all groups and mobile baggage were on the board.   

 Alternative Deployment

This offered an interesting alternative to the two deployment systems. The defender placing his vanward anywhere in his deployment zone, this need not be placed on the traditional right of the army. The attacker can select a position opposite the enemy vanward or elsewhere within his deployment zone. The sequence continues until all three groups and mobile baggage are on the board. 

Two points, each element within the group must be in full edge contact with another, forming a column one element wide or a line four elements wide or any combination of the two. Secondly, groups may not be closer than 1BW at the start of the game. On a player’s first bound, further formation changes are done by expending pips.   

Allies form a separate group of three elements giving a player the option to increase one of his remaining groups. Depending on their quality, allies may form the vanward of the army 

Further thoughts.

Last year, I developed a dozen scenarios for the mid-17^th century that could be played randomly and outcomes would generate a rating for both players. The rating influenced subsequent encounters developing nicely into a campaign without the use of maps. Something similar can be designed for the mid-15^th century.

French Ordonnance L-R, vanward, mainward + mobile baggage, rearward.

Burgundian Ordonnance L-R, vanward, mainward + mobile baggage, rearward.

Burgundian vanward

French vanward

Burgundian mainward + mobile baggage.

French mainward + mobile baggage.

Burgundian rearward.

French rearward.

Ready for battle, Burgundy moves first.

Bohemia vs. Saxony

During the Hussite insurrection, some nobles profited from the chaos to seize territories to hold as their own. Diplomatic and judicial measures to recover lost domains failed prompting a number of houses to resolve their dispute by ‘force of arms’. Here follows a tale of one Bohemian coalition meeting a Saxon force on the field of battle.  

Taking a position between an enclosure and small wood, the Bohemians placed the city militia and war wagons on the left, mercenary pike and crossbowmen in centre and the cavalry on the right.

Mirroring the Bohemian deployment, the Saxon host were set for a long and hard-fought battle.  

Both sides advance their lines with Bohemia placing its effort on their left wing while Saxony directing its main thrust at the enemy centre.

As both sides closed the distance, the air filled with crossbow bolts and shot presaging the clash of pike on both sides.

In the exchange of fire, Saxon shooting proved accurate, decimating the Bohemian left and dangerously exposing their centre.

The push of pike in centre turned in Bohemia’s favour however and with the slight margin of success, Bohemia launched its cavalry wing.

The battle shifted to Bohemia’s advantage as Saxony could not exploit its advantage against a weakened Bohemian left, instead its efforts were spent to repel the surge of enemy troops in centre and the cavalry combat. At that moment, Bohemian crossbowmen caught sight of a lone Saxon commander to bring him down and signal the end of the conflict.

 

In a second test, the deployment areas were exchanged. This time Saxony defended and gathered its cavalry in centre with infantry positioned on either flank.

To counter the cavalry threat posed by Saxony, Bohemia placed its war wagons, artillery and crossbowmen in centre, essentially neutralising the enemy cavalry while opening an opportunity to crush the Saxon left.  

The Saxons were caught off balance as the Bohemians bowled over the Saxon left and in centre, the cavalry could make no impression in face of the line of wagons and artillery. Attempts to shift the battle to the Bohemian left were frustrated as the enemy retired to a new position.

The Saxon pike blocks and supporting troops were vanquished from the field, securing a second Bohemian victory..

Observations

The tests were a delight to play using two recently refurbished armies and new terrain items. The second test demonstrated the advantage of deploying last as the Bohemia amassed its firepower to decimate the Saxon cavalry.

By way of an experiment, the single command was organised in three divisions following the practice of the time. This would prove useful when playing the collision course option, but would offer players to use a modified deployment of alternating placement of a vanguard, followed by the main battle and rear guard. More to follow.

Late Imperial Rome – East vs. the West

Photos of the Late Imperial Roman army (western) were posted recently and between painting sessions decided to test them against their rivals, an eastern army. Troops of the western army can be seen on the left of photo and opposite, the East. Neither side made use of allies.

The battle opened with each side advancing their right wing; for the West, this attack consisted of cavalry supported by infantry while the East sent their infantry supported by artillery for their flanking maneuver.  

First to make contact, the West gained the upper hand. To support further gains, their light horse was repositioned to support the assault. The departure of the light horse opened a path for the equites Alani to launch their attack against the eastern cataphract.

Despite all their bravado, the equites Alani received a severe drubbing necessitating a rescue attempt by a unit of light horse.

As the battle lines closed, early gains by the West were overshadowed by events in centre and their right flank. The destruction of the Alani and light horse sent a tremor to the West’s centre as it collapsed under the weight of Eastern legionnaires and auxilia. Unable to recover, the West fled the field, 8-4.

Sides exchanged deployment zones and using the same terrain proceeded with a second test. The Eastern army, on the defense, placed cavalry on both flanks of their infantry centre. The West mirrored the opposition, but reinforced its right wing to place its main effort on that flank.

As the lines closed, the cavalry of the West were the first to engage in combat followed quickly by the infantry of right centre.

Both lines, locked in combat, could gain no perceptible advantage, the battle seemed destined to become a slogging match.  

For nearly an hour (4 turns), casualties mounted evenly bringing both sides to breaking point. In an act of desperation, the eastern magister charged down a unit of legionnaires to destroy it and seize a narrow victory, 8-7.

Observations.

The second test developed much as I had expected, a slogging match with casualties falling evenly on both sides. Both sides enjoyed good pip scores with both sides close to victory, presenting the Eastern magister with a do-or-die decision. 

Test one, however, exemplified the uncertain nature of the game with the collapse of the western army. The issue was not due to any shortage of pips, but how West utilised its advantage to make many tactical moves by single elements. The resulting combats did favour the West, but left them hopelessly out of position falling later to an enemy’s retribution. Scrambling to recover the survivors meant little or no pips were left to move the reserve line.

Late Imperial Rome - western

Deciding to add the western version of the Late Imperial Roman was not a difficult decision to make as a third of the needed elements were done. Adding the legionnaires, cavalry and generals arrived quickly, but painting was delayed pending which shield patterns to paint. In the end, the selection was based solely on unusual patterns and colour found among units serving in Gaul and Africa.

All figures are Old Glory with the exception of the equites Alani from Blue Moon manufacture. Two elements of legionnaires represent a palatine unit (with draco standard) with an optional third representing the limitanei. The mounted wing are two units of equitatae.

A second command are of different units but mirror the composition of the first. These will eventually clash with the many barbarians crossing the Rhine and Danube and engage the eastern Roman in the civil conflicts that punctuated the 4^th century AD.

Ireland 1450 – A Collision Course game

The Medieval Irish and Anglo-Irish are recent additions to the War of the Roses project; these were recently used with both sides scoring a victory. Both games used the collision course variant and I decided today to experiment further.

Both armies appeared on the field and deployed for battle. The Anglo-Irish vanguard deployed to line and awaited the arrival of troops to form the left flank and the Irish auxiliaries on the right. At the opposite end of the field, the enemy were in a state of confusion as units were slow to move into formation.

As the Irish formed their line, skirmishers took cover in the woods positioned on both flanks.

Ready for battle, the colonist moved forward and once in range, began showering the Irish ranks with their arrows. On the Anglo right, Irish auxiliaries moved in the wood to clear the enemy positioned there.

Unfortunately, the conflict in wood took an unexpected turn as half the auxiliary units were put to flight. Seizing the moment, the Irish centre launched their attack on the vanguard aided by skirmishers on their right flank.

The battle hung in the balance (3-3), but Anglo persistency prevailed and the colonist would claim a pyrrhic victory (4-3). Nonetheless, the Irish felt satisfied at having struck a heavy blow against their rivals fighting on the other side.  

 

Observations.

This exercise lasted 13 turns. Poor pip scores hampered the Irish deployment, but in hindsight this worked well to draw the colonist closer to the Irish position. In the third hour (turns 9-12), the luck of the Irish returned, nearly turning the tide of battle bringing the score even. Certainly, worth a repeat.

Medieval Ireland

Adding the Anglo-Irish and Medieval Irish army came about by accident and not by design. Reorganising and refurbishing the collection to build a Yorkist and Lancastrian army, I ended with extra elements of longbowmen. Thinking how best to use them, I recalled the Duke of York spent time in Ireland prior to the Wars of the Roses and looked to the Anglo-Irish list for a possible solution. Other boxes with extra elements, I found enough to build a basic army. 

I had planned to order Medieval Irish from Donnington Miniatures, then remembered the Welsh army (III/19a) in the collection were actually Donnington Irish Kern. It did not require much thinking, the unbeaten “Welsh” were transformed into Medieval Irish (3 x LH, 3 x 3Ax, 6 x Ps). With little rebasing needed, the Anglo-Irish have an opponent. Extra elements of kern were used to fill the army of Anglo-Irish. Packing a lighter punch, the Medieval Irish should offer an interesting challenge to use. 

The armies complete, I spent time researching Irish history of the late 15^th century, the reverse of my usual approach to building any army. Conflicts between the two did not reach the same scale as in England, these being mostly skirmishes, raids, and a few sieges (Dublin). Of interest were the various clans aligning with one or the other faction, sending mercenaries on a number of occasions. The feuds among clans, such as the FitzGeralds and Butlers are covered in the Irish Medieval History channel. The bloodiest medieval battle, the Battle of Knockdoe (1504), is offered on the same channel, see link below.   

Readers wishing more information about Irish medieval history, I found the below listed topics extremely helpful. 

Recommended reading or viewing.

History of Ireland (1169–1536)

The Statutes Of Kilkenny

Irish Medieval History Channel

Clans and Dynasties Channel

Battle of Knockdoe, August 19, 1504.

French, Burgundian Ordonnance and German armies

The reorganisation and refurbishing of the late medieval collection have moved along nicely. All armies are double size or 24 elements strong to play the larger game or offer players a civil war option for a game. An element of mounted crossbow is missing from two commands and these have been ordered to complete the army. Finding a manufacturer with miniatures compatible to Legio Heroica was not easy, but two were found.

The Italian Condotta are last on the project list. There are more than enough crossbowmen and spear to fill out the infantry and cavalry will be ordered on Mirliton, their Condottieri look superb.

French Ordonnance IV/82b

With the exception of the Old Glory artillery, all figures are Legio Heroica. Next to the Swiss pikemen are French pike, based on a 40mm x 40mm stand as they are classed as horde and have nine figures to improve their appearance as solid horde. An element of skirmishing crossbowmen remained in their box while photographing, a slight oversight. Flags were remade giving a neater appearance to the whole.

Burgundian Ordonnance IV/85b

The ‘b’ sub list represent the Burgundian Netherlands army of the Maximillian era and for that reason I have Flemish pikemen in place of the German mercenary. This army has yet to be tested but should prove an interesting opponent for the later German armies.

Medieval German IV/13d

The ‘d’ sub list represent the Imperial armies of the Italian Wars and feature landsknecht mercenaries for the units of pikemen, swordsmen, handgunners and artillery.

Medieval German IV/13c

This sub list offers a better representation for the clerical, city-state or princeling armies that fought within and outside the empire. For our games, I have used the DBMM army list to modify the composition of infantry and the number of cavalry in wedge formation. Both commands lack an element of mounted crossbowmen and these have been ordered on Blue Moon miniatures. 

Fine Tuningthe Medieval German Army

WedgeFormation in DBA3