Battle Of The Three Armies For Castle Hounding Hex 50.

 Here are photos from today's four hour game which went for fourteen moves. Battle reports will follow.

My Beerstein army, under Prince Sigel faced a large Fezian and Bogavanian army. Sigel was plagued by an evil vapousr which damaged his sinuses and reduced his sleep but he was determined to lead his men to victory. Facing my left flank was a large force of Fezian plate armoured cavalry. Behind them were  two units of light mounted archers and two units of heavy foot, one of these heavily influenced, in style, by their previous contcts with the partially Hellenic forces of Patra. In the castle were Bogavanian matchlock men and facinaag amy right flank was  large force of Bogavanian mounted knights. These were reinforced by Hillmen, one unit with two handed axes and another with swords and shields.

The advantage the Bogavanian and Fezian forces had were their greater numbers (about seventy more men than my force). The also had the advantage of being able to pour matchlock fire into my forces if they neared the castle.

So this was my response: postpone an assault on the castle, position two units of pike in front of his Fezian cavalry which were the closest and most immediate threat, next place two units of my plate cavalry, my wizard and then archers centre left. Further to the right I placed matchlock men and another plate armoured unit, mounted and foot crusaders. Prince Sigel was positioned to stop the crusaders from prematurely charging. On my far right my Great Swords and some of the matchlock men had arrived from a different hex. Whilst there they had secretly claimed this Bogavanian territory and also made a battering ram and ladders from the forest.

As it happened my strategy worked.

My wizard cast spells from his lore of Fire. First spell Batang the Bad cast on move one was number five, Fulminating Fire Cage. This was directed at one of the two foremost plate cavalry. Mat filed to dis-spell it. The result was that this foremost cavalry unit suffered four casualties and could not move for a turn without suffering potential casualties for every figure. I still had sufficient casting dice for another spell and decided on six, flame storm and also doubled the strength of the spell. It required a score of 16+. it meant I had to roll more dice and risk getting a double six. That would mean the spell was cast with irresistible force but that the wizard would face perils of the Warp. So guess what? it was cast with irresistible force and Batang was killed! But THIRTY assorted Fezians, from three regiments, perished in the firestorm!

Nevertheless Matt eventually went on the attack with his cavalry. They received volleys from my longbow men but one unit got through to impact  my lobsters but the latter, although mauled, drove them off.

Given that the pike men, who had advanced, necessitated that the Fezian cavalry veer to their left it exposed them to archery and musket fire. In the end he withdrew this force to do nothing for the rest of the battle!

Adter that the long bows targeted the Bogavanian musket men on the front wall of the castle. The bowmen were out of range of the muskets but the reverse was not the case and they started to suffer casualties. Added to that my two cannons arrived and the regular cannon and siege cannon alternately pummelled the wall, causing damage which resulted in the musket men's saves reduced from hard cover to soft cover and also, hindered their ability to shoot. Eventually they did get a clear shot in at one of the Beersteiner musket units which had swivelled to fire at Bogavanians advancing on the other flank; in the process they came in range and were severely damaged by this shooting.

Meanwhile the Bogavanian cavalry, onthe other side of the castle finally charged. They came under archery and matchlock fire, diminishing their numbers and then they impacted the Great Swords but despite initial casualties among the latter the Great Swords weapons did greater damage, slicing off horse heads and even penetrating the plate armour,

Next, the Bogavanian's Hill men charged but Prince Sigel unleashed his foot crusaders who stopped the advance. Later the mounted crusaders also joined the fray. The Bogavanian attack faltered and ended in retreat, with matchlock men sending a hail of lead after them. One of the Bogavanian leaders was also dead and the cavalry now almost non existent. 

Below: Fezian cavalry impact the Lonsters.

                                                                        Fezians retreat.

   T                               he Great Swords are charged by the Bogavanian knights.

                                            Crusaders advance in support of the Great Swords.

                                                              Bogavanian cavalry

                                                        Bogavanian machlock men

                     Too late, as his cavalry withdraw, Mat thinks of using his heavy infantry to counter my pike men.

                                              The pike men  give the Fezians 'the finger'.

                                                        Beersteiner artillery arrives.

                Bogavanian heavy infantry clash with and wipe out the smaller Beersteiner archer unit.

                                    After the Beersteiner matchlocks wipe out the Bogavanian heavy infantry the Beersteiners advance on the Bogavanians left flank.

                                                                  The Fezian army

          Inside the castle lurks Bogavanian heavy infantry by the gate and matchlock men on the walls.

  A couple of lone surviving matchlock men from the front wall move to the safer position of the tower. They still proudly fly the Maid of Bogavania flag.

CONCLUSION:

That went a lot better for Beerstein than I thought it would Beerstein lost the smaller unit of archers and its Great Swords were reduced to a pitiful few. Casualties were spread through the other units. However, the forces on both sides were close to a par at the end of the battle. That means Fezian, and especially Bogavanian casualties were huge. In fact, a lot of Bogavanians are muttering about the Fezians calling off their assault. That is still a perilous match for an assault on the castle

Are more Beersteiner forces on the way? Do Bears defecate in the woods? Are Fezian relief forces on the way? Methinks much action will occur at he end of our next map move. It could also be true that other Bogavanian and Fezian forces may also be about to face an onslaught, unparalleled in this campaign, and perhaps in all the history of these three nations. But perhaps it is time the Beersteiner juggernaut was checked. You are not going to miss this so stay tuned.