Battle of Hex 124 or 'You Can't Stop the Beersteiner Steamroller'.

Mat and I are now up to map move seven in our second campaign. The last two map moves did not result in a battle. Mat's refugees of five handgunners and their commander from the last battle have successfully emerged from the swamp and into a large friendly farming village which has been occupied by a force of twelve Mongol mercenary mounted bowmen.  The peasants are sick of the Mongols ill-treatment of the villagers and the 'dishonouring' of the women.

Mat also sent a small force into Hex 124 only to encounter the Bogavanian king's army which has been reinforced from his capital. In fact the Bogavanians are here outnumbered nearly four to one. His written orders are to defend this hex until further orders come. The force had a chance on a dice roll of disobeying the orders but failed to do so. (Mat should have had an escape clause in his orders that would say to withdraw in the face of overwhelming force).

As it happened Mat put up a good fight, making use of forest cover and making the Beersteiners come to him. Despite the four units of Beersteiner archers only one of them was able to get in any shots.

BELOW
The Bogavnian force of two mounted heavy cavalry (represented by knights as I did not have the right figures), a unit of Hillmen mercenaries, a unit of chainmail knights and a unit of plate. A cannon arrived from reserve on the second move.

Beersteiner mounted knights, Hillmen and Great Sword mercenaries advance towards the Bogavanian right.

                                               The view from Beersteiner King Long Shanks.

                                                  Beersteiner reserves in the centre

                              Beersteiner chainmail mounted knights with their hammer of Wrath flag

                       Bogavanian Hillmen lurk in the forest. A mounted unnit waits behind the forest.

                                                       Bogavanian knights in the forest

                                                             Beersteiners advance.

                                                       The Bogavanian cannon arrives.

                                                         Beersteiner supply column

                                                    Beersteiner mobile POW cage

      Two out of three Beersteiner mercenary , one Hillmen and the other Great Swords, abandon the army and march off the board. One can only speculate as to the reasons but a rumour has circulated that a particularly amorous Beersteiner noble had been forcing his attentions on to the mercenary leaders' mistresses.

                           The advance on the Bogavanian right wing continues, supported by archery.

                                                   Great Swords retiring from the battlefield

     The Beersteiner cavalry take out the enemy cannon, but only after it punches a hole in the infantry followed by this charge of the Bogavanian cavalry. The infantry hold out until the re-organised Beersteiner cavalry charges and destroys the Bogavanian cavalry.

    A vicious melee occurs in the forest between the charging Beersteiner knights and the defending Bogavanian chainmail troops, who incidentally, were sent by The Duke of Hearts. At first the beersteiners are pushed back with heavy casualties but then the unit of great Swords which did not desert joined the fight, and finally breaking the Hearts.

    Darkness approaches and a unit of Bogavanian knights manages to flee their forest position and back towards the Bogavanian capital.

                                         The Bogavanian Hillman mercenaries hide in the forest.

  Beersteiner forces organise their troops in preparation for further Bogavanian advances or perhaps to assault the nearby Bogavanian capital.

              A Bogavanian allied Hillman peers out of the forest and through the growing gloom.

GAME MECHANICS

The game went for ten moves, after which we diced to see if the game would continue. AS it did not continus we then diced to see what would happen to the remainder of the Bogvnian army. As Beersteiner cavalry was fast approaching there was only a small chanceof the Bogavanians escaping - 10% for the knights and 20% for the Hillmen or a thirty percent chance and forty percent chance of them hiding in the woods. The knights got their 10% and the Hillmen were able to hide. The Bogavanian cannon fell into Beersteiner hands.

Units that either rout or retire off the field can return int future battle but they arrive from reserve and only from turn three and only if a three is thrown.