Byzantins et Normands

L'An du Seigneur 1060, le seigneur normand Cédric dit "Le Jeune" débarque sur les plages rieuses de la Sicile pour ravir l'île aux Byzantins.  L'armée du Tagma tente de le stopper quelques ligues plus loin.

L'imposante masse de l'infanterie normande, parmi lesquels quelques paysans arabes désireux de changer de suzerain.  Des kavallaroi byzantins les harcèleront sans cesse et causeront de nombreuses pertes, sans pouvoir les démoraliser.  L'infanterie subit ces attaques mais sinon combattra peu, car elle sert surtout à ancrer le flanc droit de la force de frappe. 

Composé, comme il se doit, de nombreux chevaliers puissamment armurés.  Une partie a été détachée à gauche pour combattre les mercenaires turcs de l'adversaire, cavaliers à l'arc, mais la majorité ont chargé sans retenue sur les skutatoi byzantins.  La ligne de lanciers et d'archers byzantins a d'abord plié, puis s'est rompue et un frémissement a parcouru les rangs de l'Empire Romain d'Orient.

Les Varègues sont restés intacts, cependant, et leur contre-attaque, appuyé par les kataphraktoi, a culbuté quelques chevaliers.  Combiné avec d'autres pertes reçus par-ci et par-là, cela a été suffisant.  Les deux armées ont atteint simultanément leur seuil de démoralisation.  Les Normands sont retournés à leurs plages pour soigner leurs blessures, tandis que les Byzantins se sont repliés à l'intérieur des terres.  D'autres affrontements seront nécessaires pour déterminer le sort de l'île...

Une partie d'Impetus en 500 pts (avec 1 socle de 4cm par unité, selon le format que je joue habituellement).  La règle est toujours aussi plaisante.  Cédric a bien protégé l'aile droite de ses chevaliers, pour empêcher ma cavalerie de les prendre de revers, mais les tirs de ma ligne, et de quelques psiloi bien placés, l'ont affaibli avant sa charge.  Celle-ci fut toutefois puissante, et il ne lui a manqué, à la fin du 7ème tour, qu'une perte en plus chez mes Byzantins pour remporter la bataille.  J'ai pu profiter de l'opportunité d'un 8ème tour pour démoraliser son armée, la mienne affranchissant bien sûr par la même occasion son propre seuil de déroute.  C'est notre deuxième bataille avec ces deux armées et je pense que nous remettrons cela rapidement !

Impetus, Normans et Byzantines en Sicile

Une partie d'Impetus ce soir, avec mes Byzantins "Nicéphore" contre les Normans de Cédric, quelque part en Sicile.

Ici, le moment critique de la bataille.  Au premier plan, mes Skutatoi sont débordés sur leur aile droite par les chevaliers normands, que les mercenaires turcs n'ont pas réussi à ralentir.  Mes Skutatoi devraient écraser l'infanterie lourde adverse, inférieure en qualité, mais n'ont pas eu le temps pour agir efficacement !

Au fond, l'autre corps de chevaliers normands a progressé plus lentement, ralenti par un chef devenu incompétent, et la résistance des kavallaroi.  Les Varègues, déployés bien trop loin de tout sur mon flanc gauche, accourent mais, avec leur Discipline C et donc une manœuvrabilité limitée, c'est bien trop tard.  Au tour suivant, les Normands cueillaient mon centre et c'était la déroute...

Une belle victoire pour Cédric, dont le plan de débordement a fonctionné à perfection.   Pour ma part, j'aurais du mieux exploiter une zone de déploiement favorable à la défense, au lieu de quoi j'ai été trop agressif et cette même zone de déploiement est devenu un handicap.  Il me manquait aussi de la cavalerie moyenne sur le flanc droit.  Cédric, seigneur de Palaiseau, récupère donc de vastes terres siciliennes, mais le basileus Basilee envoie une armée de renfort qui débarquera après les fêtes du Nouvel An...car nous avons tous les deux apprécié cette règle et nous rejouerons !

French vs Burgundians (1430)

The Battle of Wassy, Champagne 1430

Outnumbered and outscouted, the Burgundians also have only one unit of knights. They do however count numerous archers with both longbow and stakes (Picards and English).

The Prince of Orange is able to impose his choice of battlefield on the over-eager French. They choose a site with hills on either flank, and a vineyard between them. This is a strong defensive position, as archers on the hill will be able to shoot up to 40cm distant.

Picardy and Flemish archers and crossbowmen line the hill on the Burgundian left, English longbowmen hold the right, and the gap between the hill and the vineyard is defended by foot knights and Flemish pike. The French plan is to unlock the centre by forcing the Burgundian right. They decide to throw 3 units of mounted crossbowmen and a unit of voulgiers against this hill, accompanied by cavalry and light infantry. If they can take the hill, the Burgundians will have to withdraw onto the second hill and risk being surrounded.

Unfortunately for the French, the two generals commanding the troops on the left are completely bogged down. A shallow stream, with numerous fords, is quickly crossed, but the French leaders are unable to spur their troops forward. The superior range of the English on the hill has arrows quickly falling amongst the milling French, causing great confusion.

The Burgundian valets sent towards the right flank are a continual threat, the French varlets paralysed and unable to see them off. Cavalry charges and evades succeed one another.

An hour into the battle (turn 3) the Duc d’Anjou decides to advance his numerous knights into range of the Picards on the hill, ready to exploit any opportunity. The knights come under heavy fire : twenty minutes later, they have lost an element, are in disorder, and are being driven back towards their initial positions. At the same time, the concentration of French crossbow fire forces the English momentarily off the hill, but they will quickly return. During these moments of respite, however, the French are able to shoot the Burgundian cavalry in the flank and force them off the battlefield, onto which they do not return. It is nonetheless obvious to the French that they are not going to take the hill before weariness sets in (battle restricted to 7 turns).

Having reached the foot of it, they are once more driven back when the English crest the hill-line, and pour down once more their disciplined fire, led by a general with the "skilled shooter" capacity. Even if the hill falls, the knights will never be able to move up into support. The French therefore call off the attack on turn 5. There has not been a single hand-to-hand combat, archery fire has been critical in this battle.

The result is a draw.  Battlefield losses are only one element of knights and one element of light infantry.

French vs. Burgundians (1430)

Battle of Chateau Thierry, Champagne 1430

Battle played with DSC.

The French have greater numbers, but lack heavy troops. They outscout the Burgundians (4-0).

The differential of 4 scouting points was used for a +1 order for two French generals on the first turn – which sadly proved useless.

The centre was occupied by a farm and orchard, in DSC terms a "Wood" which turned out to be sparse. On the Burgundian right flank was a second wood, creating a bottleneck, and on the left were two gentle hills.  The Burgundians deployed their knights in two locations : on the right, and between the hills and the farm. Their left flank was composed of HI archers and EHI foot knights.

The Marshal of Burgundy changed his battle plans after seeing French deployment. His orders were to stall on the left – or let the French knights come and then counterattack – ;shield off the centre with crossbowmen; and envelop on the left.

It was planned that the left flank eventually sweep round behind the farm and either encircle its occupants or pincer the French left.
As for the French, they amassed all of their knights on their left flank. The farm was left to the mass of MI archers and the spearmen. The right flank, inteded to screen, was made up of heavy cavalry, medium and light infantry and some mounted crossbowmen. The French planned on crushing all resistance with their knights, with the troops in the farm threatening and paralysing any Burgundian intervention.

The French right was however surprisingly successful from the outset. Against the ranks of enemy crossbows installed on the hill - and firing with a 35 cm extended range - the French general chose to send his MI and LI. The LI, carelessly ignored by the Burgundians, begin to get flank shots leading to considerable confusion and disorder.  With the Burgundian foot knights too slow to intervene, the French MI were able to close in on the enemy crossbowmen. Expecting a massacre, the French unfortunately chose to alter their entire battle plan, and hold off the assault on the other flank until decision was reached on the right.

An hour into the battle (turn 3), everything went wrong for the French. The attack on the Burgundian positions on the right was a miserable failure, a powerful volley calmly directed by unit officers winning the melee for the Burgundians.  The Gascon MI, who had relied on rear support for victory, now recoiled back into their comrades, disordering everyone. On turn 4, the pursuit by the Burgundian crossbowmen destroyed these hapless south-westerners.

In the centre, the French took a gamble, using initiative to send a unit of heavy cavalry against enemy knights, whilst attempting to bring Gascons out of the farm and onto their flank. This was a bold attempt, but badly coordinated (failed order). The Gascons did not receive the second instructions ordering the flank charge. Left at the mercy of a far superior adversary, the French heavy cavalry were swept aside; the Gascons, milling in confusion out in the open, will be cut down on turn 4. By the end of turn 3, the French right was "moral aggravé 1" and it was decided to shift knights from the left to the centre, ending all hope of a victorious charge.

On turn 4, the Burgundian knights unleashed their charge in the centre. This overran the two French mounted crossbow HI XB units, one on foot and unable to evade, the other mounted but disordered and with poor morale (evade as EHC, ie. 8cm minus 2D6).  This was enough to break the French right, which promptly fled the battlefield.

The French knights moving towards the centre were however able to limit the damage, thanks to the "Valeur Stratégique" of their C-in-C, which enabled them to receive three successful orders, despite proximity to the enemy. Their charge crushed a unit of Burgundian knights and knocked around their French-speaking allies, leading the Burgundian centre to become "moral aggravé 1". Unable because of this state to counterattack by initiative, and with orders failing to get through, the Burgundian onslaught was halted.

Minor Burgundian victory.

French vs. Burgundians (1430)

Battle of Montmort, Champagne 1430

This battle was played out with DSC.  I believe it was my first game using this ruleset.

This battle was a brief and brutal affair. The initial French plan was to entice forward the Burgundians, and then seize on their left flank via the woods.

Unfortunately, the commander of the right wing was paralysed for the first two turns of the battle. On the left, the French knights had advanced too far forward to rein in.  A concentration of bow fire on the right, including the Spanish in the woods, decimated the Flemish pikemen, but the left could wait no longer. Its commander preferred to charge the Burgundians before they charged him.

A wave of steel crashed into a wall of iron, as several thousand horses thundered over the plain. Four rounds of combat were fought. One unit of French knights had startling success, crushing its Burgundian adversaries, then rolling over a hapless unit of Flemish crossbows. The other, however, failed dismally : and in so doing, left the French commander-in-chief exposed to the wrath of the enemy (he was leading the unit).

At the end of the turn, the Burgundians were only a half point away from rout; as for the French, the loss of their C-in-C saw them flee immediately from the field.

Civil War in Gascony (1384)

Both armies deployed among the range of broken hills which the pro-English attacker had chosen to fight in. The principal corps of both armies deployed opposite one another, the pro-English choosing to invest the steep hill in the centre with their Ax(S).

pro-English Gascons 1384
1st Corps
1	Irr	Kn	(O)	G	C-in-C		20
8	Irr	Kn	(O)		Gascon Men at Arms		80
2	Irr	Kn	(O)		Navarrese mesnaderos		20
5	Irr	Ps	(O)		Navarrese slingers		10
16		EE's:	13,5		Dem Lvl :	4,5	130
2nd Corps
1	Irr	Kn	(O)	G	General		20
2	Irr	Kn	(O)		Gascon Men at Arms		20
6	Irr	Ax	(X)		Gascon Brigans		18
4	Irr	Ps	(S)		Gascon bidets		12
6	Irr	Bw	(O)		Gascon crossbowmen		24
4	Reg	Bw	(S)		English longbowmen		28
12	Irr	Ax	(S)		Navarrese javelinmen		48
35		EE's:	33,0		Dem Lvl :	11,0	170
3rd Corps
1	Reg	Kn	(I)	G	Free Company Ally General		20
1	Reg	Kn	(I)		English knights		10
6	Reg	Bw	(S)		English longbowmen		42
4	Irr	Ax	(X)		Gascon Brigans		12
2	Irr	Ps	(S)		Gascon bidets		6
1	Reg	Art	(S)		Bombard		10
15		EE's:	14,0		Dem Lvl :	5,0	100
		Total :	60,5		Army Dem Lvl :	30,5	400

The pro-English Gascon knights were deployed in a mass on the left flank. This as good as excluded from the battle, although, paradoxically, they played a decisive role at the end. The pro-French also put their knights to the rear. The pro-French acquired a substantial deployment by negating the Bw(S) on the pro-English right flank with a surprise line of dismounted Bd(S).

pro-French Gascons 1384
1st Corps
1	Irr	Kn	(S)	G	C-in-C		22
7	Irr	Kn	(S)		Nobles		84
5	Irr	Bw	(O)		French crossbowmen		20
2	Irr	Hd	(O)		Peasants		2
15		EE's:	14,0		Dem Lvl :	5,0	128
2nd Corps
1	Irr	Kn	(S)	G	General		22
3	Irr	Kn	(S)		Nobles		36
6	Irr	Ax	(X)		Brigans		18
3	Irr	Ps	(O)		French & Spanish XB		6
10	Irr	Bw	(I)		Archers		30
1	Irr	Hd	(O)		Peasants		2
24		EE's:	22,0		Dem Lvl :	7,5	114
3rd Corps
1	Irr	Kn	(S)	G	General		22
7	Irr	Bd	(S)		Dismounted knights		84
4	Irr	Ps	(O)		French & Spanish XB		8
1	Irr	Hd	(O)		Peasants		2
13		EE's:	11,0		Dem Lvl :	4,0	116
		Total :	47,0		Army Dem Lvl :	23,5	358

The battle was quickly and heatedly engaged in the centre, with archers taking a heavy toll on the Ax(X) of both sides.

The pro-French archers had a hard time fighting off the Navarrese Ax(S) streaming down from the hill, especially as PIPs had to be wasted in the centre to hold up the knights there and prevent them suicidially charging English archers.

On the right flank, the pro-English were quickly in trouble. Gascon Ax(X) had to be sacrificed to keep the Bd(S) away from the English archers. In the end, however, both enemy commands on this flank had poor PIPs. To make matters worse, the pro-French general was killed an hour into the fight, although his command did not demoralise.

On the pro-English left, the horde of Gascon knights was unleashed. Realising that disaster would strike as soon as the Gascon Kn hit home, and with their left flank virtually immobilised, the pro-French now fully engaged their centre. This decision paid off, as French knights wreaked havoc among the enemy.

The pro-English right was broken as its general went down under the onslaught of the French lords, and the battle was now in the balance. After an two hours of heated combat (6 turns) the Gascons hit home, breaking the pro-French centre command. On the very same turn, French knights killed 2 English Bw(S), breaking the English centre in turn ! Both armies were demoralised, and after this blunt and brutal combat, broke off the engagement : a 5-5 draw.