Our Norman assault on the well positioned Saxon shield wall failed to break through, and the all conquering Saxon Huscarls decided the game with an excellent fighting performance to defeat our best infantry in the centre.
Saxon v Norman
Saxon v Norman
Saxon verses a Norman army is always a favourite historical classic and so for a 4 player club game I constructed 2 large 270 point armies each with a composition constructed from the H&H Medieval army list as typically historical examples. The Saxons therefore had 4 units of Huscarls, 6 units of select fyrd, 10 units of greater fyrd, 5 units of missile troops and 5 generals. The Normans had 3 units of armoured cavalry, 4 units of unarmoured cavalry, 5 units of armoured infantry, 5 units of unarmoured infantry, four units of archers and 4 generals. The Normans had a total of 21 units and the Saxons 25 with an extra general.
The terrain was selected before the players knew which armies the dice roll would bestow on them and the table was reasonably open with a sizeable central woodland and a couple of other smaller woods set back towards the Saxon table edge. A cluster of small hills set to the side of the table completed the modest selection of terrain pieces. Tony and Joe, a new club member, took command of the Saxons and James and I the Normans.
The Saxons deployed second and moved second which gave our Normans the opportunity to race for the central woodland. Once this central bastion was secured we sent our Norman cavalry to either wing and advanced the infantry in a line with the 4 missile troops to the fore. In response the Saxons did as expected in that they occupied the 2 smaller areas of woodland on either wing and concentrated most of their units in the centre.
James established his shooting line and extended this across and in front of the far right small area of woodland which was already brimming with hordes of Saxon greater fyrd. I slowly advanced my infantry and cavalry on the other wing and positioned the armoured infantry units to attack through the central woodland. Joe, in response, doglegged his Saxon warriors from the centre to the other small wood creating a strong defensive line. The Saxon huscarls advanced towards the central large wood – this was where the best infantry from both sides were always destined to meet head-on!
The shooting line exchanged missiles and the armoured infantry got stuck into combat in the woodland. James rolled some excellent shooting dice and the Normans gained the upper-hand in the shooting match. It took a few turns of movement but the Norman cavalry were in position ready to charge the Saxon line. In the next Saxon movement phase they simply stood and held their strong position and so the Norman all or nothing charge went in! The Huscarl units fought at a standstill with the Norman armoured infantry in the first round of hand-to-hand combat. Both sides then committed 2 generals each into this epic struggle in the wood. At the same time James was holding the line on the Norman left with some good shooting preventing any Saxon advance.
The Norman cavalry charge went in! Unfortunately so did the Saxon Huscarls ! What should have been a pretty even fight in the central wood turned into a route for the Norman heavy infantry which were pursued through the wood by the victorious Saxon Huscarls . Our Norman plan of catching the Huscarls in a salient between our cavalry and armoured infantry was in tatters! The 2 armies fought toe-to-toe for the next 3 rounds of hand-to-hand combat inflicting heavy losses on each other but the Saxon battle line held and the Normans lost a general to the onslaught of the Huscarls .
The pendelum of battle swung both ways for a while but when the Saxons committed a couple more generals into the combats the Normans started to give way in the centre. Both Norman wings were doing fine but they were soon separated by the Saxon success in the centre which eliminated another Norman general. This created some command and control challenges for our Normans and although we sent a Saxon general and his unit to the casualty tray we still had only 2 generals to the Saxons 4.
With the Norman centre defeated, the Huscarls and select fyrd units then turned left and right to assist the wings which had been a pretty even contest until this point. This quickly tipped the balance in favour of the Saxons and after a particularly bad round of hand-to-hand combat for our Normans James and I conceded the game to the Saxons.
Game Analysis
Our Norman assault on the well positioned Saxon shield wall failed to break through, and the all conquering Saxon Huscarls decided the game with an excellent fighting performance to defeat our best infantry in the centre.
The terrain was selected before the players knew which armies the dice roll would bestow on them and the table was reasonably open with a sizeable central woodland and a couple of other smaller woods set back towards the Saxon table edge. A cluster of small hills set to the side of the table completed the modest selection of terrain pieces. Tony and Joe, a new club member, took command of the Saxons and James and I the Normans.
The Saxons deployed second and moved second which gave our Normans the opportunity to race for the central woodland. Once this central bastion was secured we sent our Norman cavalry to either wing and advanced the infantry in a line with the 4 missile troops to the fore. In response the Saxons did as expected in that they occupied the 2 smaller areas of woodland on either wing and concentrated most of their units in the centre.
James established his shooting line and extended this across and in front of the far right small area of woodland which was already brimming with hordes of Saxon greater fyrd. I slowly advanced my infantry and cavalry on the other wing and positioned the armoured infantry units to attack through the central woodland. Joe, in response, doglegged his Saxon warriors from the centre to the other small wood creating a strong defensive line. The Saxon huscarls advanced towards the central large wood – this was where the best infantry from both sides were always destined to meet head-on!
The shooting line exchanged missiles and the armoured infantry got stuck into combat in the woodland. James rolled some excellent shooting dice and the Normans gained the upper-hand in the shooting match. It took a few turns of movement but the Norman cavalry were in position ready to charge the Saxon line. In the next Saxon movement phase they simply stood and held their strong position and so the Norman all or nothing charge went in! The Huscarl units fought at a standstill with the Norman armoured infantry in the first round of hand-to-hand combat. Both sides then committed 2 generals each into this epic struggle in the wood. At the same time James was holding the line on the Norman left with some good shooting preventing any Saxon advance.
The Norman cavalry charge went in! Unfortunately so did the Saxon Huscarls ! What should have been a pretty even fight in the central wood turned into a route for the Norman heavy infantry which were pursued through the wood by the victorious Saxon Huscarls . Our Norman plan of catching the Huscarls in a salient between our cavalry and armoured infantry was in tatters! The 2 armies fought toe-to-toe for the next 3 rounds of hand-to-hand combat inflicting heavy losses on each other but the Saxon battle line held and the Normans lost a general to the onslaught of the Huscarls .
The pendelum of battle swung both ways for a while but when the Saxons committed a couple more generals into the combats the Normans started to give way in the centre. Both Norman wings were doing fine but they were soon separated by the Saxon success in the centre which eliminated another Norman general. This created some command and control challenges for our Normans and although we sent a Saxon general and his unit to the casualty tray we still had only 2 generals to the Saxons 4.
With the Norman centre defeated, the Huscarls and select fyrd units then turned left and right to assist the wings which had been a pretty even contest until this point. This quickly tipped the balance in favour of the Saxons and after a particularly bad round of hand-to-hand combat for our Normans James and I conceded the game to the Saxons.
Game Analysis
Our Norman assault on the well positioned Saxon shield wall failed to break through, and the all conquering Saxon Huscarls decided the game with an excellent fighting performance to defeat our best infantry in the centre.
