Another game using Simon Miller's innovative game system for Ancient & Medieval battles.
Steve Clarke hosted and set up some of his impressive Medieval/Renaissance collection.
I won the toss and chose the French/Venetian force and Steve had the English opponents.
View along the battlefield, French/Venetians to your left & English to the right
Close up of English archers
Venetian mounted crossbows next to the guns
Venetian artillery
Their opposite numbers in the English army
Mercenary pike block out on the French/Venetian left
faced by light cavalry spearmen
A French hero showing off !
A Venetian commander
Concentrated French cavalry in the middle of the line
Right ! They are on the move ...
After a stirring speech by their General !
The mounted crossbowmen spur forwards on the right across broken ground
English bowmen have advanced into the woods on their left
The French cavalry decide to move ahead of the rest of the army
as the Venetian artillery fire their first shots
The French & Venetian foot watch as their knights up the pace heading towards the enemy
The Venetian mounted crossbows outflank the woods
The knights are almost there ...
The English light mounted troops on the far side decide to counter the moves being made by the French in and next to the woods
French & Venetian centre at this stage
Three groups of French knights accompanied by the army commander arrive in front of the English lining the hills
Venetians exchange pleasantries with the English bowmen lining the woods !
Over on the far side, the first of the English light cavalry decide to take on the Venetian crossbows in their woods
and pay the price, despite the advantage of their lances
Undeterred, the second group try too ...
More French knights are encouraged to advance
The English right wing commander decides to advance his men at arms and pikes
A strong English defensive position along the spine of the hills, seen from the right rear.
The French/Venetians advance looks like a chequer board at this point !
English troops take on the big pike block
Meantime, the first French cavalry charge hits home
Venetian spearmen advance on the right to support their crossbows heading for the woods
The English troops disrupt the mercenary pike block
Here's a view along the line as three French groups of knights battle it out with the English defenders
The pikes are wobbling as they take a second hit (one more and they are off)
Other troops move up to support them on their right
Venetian hand gunners trot forwards to assist their mounted crossbowmen
The tussle on the hill, close up
Some English archers have buckled
The English right flank has now advanced threatening the pikes too
Venetian gunners have had little effect and are now down to just one round.
The pikes have got some order back and inflict a hit on the English infantry
The English pull back to reform
Meantime, French spearmen have rushed forwards to engage English archers
The clash on the hill continues with fortunes switching
The French cavalry start to reduce the opposition
The English right reforming.
All guns now fall silent as they run out of ammunition.
A close up of the French foot engaging the archers
A break through ! French knights have destroyed the English in front of them and now turn to flank the English besides them
The English foot knights refuse to be broken
The English men at arms rebound from the pike block again
English bowmen on the right loose a volley of arrows into the advancing French foot
The French order forwards more knights to try and complete the job in the centre
Just as one French group of knights is destroyed ! (Note the gap)
Time and again the pikes and English foot battle it out
and the French knights are unable to get the breakthrough in the centre that they seek
English bows continue to disrupt the French knights efforts
and men-at-arms hold off the French here
French and Venetian positions on the centre of the battlefield, with disrupted crossbows to the fore, courtesy of the English archers
What a mess ! Both sides have disorganised units now
Once more, the pikemen try to reorganise
The French commander urges his men to make one more effort to break the English line
Tantalisingly close, but time and again the English commander stops the rot
A small English victory on their left as French troops are defeated
Nothing between them though on the other side of the field
English foot on the far left decide its the time to advance and confront the Venetian handgunners
Amazingly, the Venetians get the better of this exchange and their victory is the straw to break the camels back - the English will collapses
This game was a real slogging match but we are getting used to the mechanisms in "To The Strongest" so we were getting along quite swiftly after our break for lunch (as usual at The Chequers pub !).
If you've not played "To The Strongest", give them a go - we are really enjoying them.
(I hasten to add that I am not related to Simon Miller or have any commercial interest in these rules !)
But I have met him a few times and he deserves a pat on the back for what he has come up with here.
RECOMMENDED !
