In this scenario the 2 armies met each other along a road, probably of Roman origin. They then spread out either side of the road to take up position with the infantry facing infantry on the right and the heavy cavalry facing heavy cavalry on the left. Chris’s Yorkists had an extra unit of heavy cavalry but less infantry. My Tudor army had a terrain advantage with a low 4 hex hill and a 7 hex escarpment helping to secure my battle line.
Opening moves saw the infantry close on each other while the cavalry held back. Chris pushed his line of longbow forward and the shooting battle commenced. I planned to attack from the hill towards the extreme left of Chris’s infantry line with my dismounted men-at-arms and bill units. Unfortunately for me Chris’s longbow units had been to ‘Specsavers’ and their shooting was excellent. This pushed my infantry attack backwards causing disruption, fleeing units and loss of stands. After this early disaster I shifted into defensive mode and used the hill and escarpment to help form a solid defence. My longbow units planted a line of stakes in the hexes adjacent to the road as protection against the expected Yorkist cavalry charge.
With the Yorkists now enjoying a slight numerical advantage Chris was faced with the challenge of where to land the decisive blow. He sent a unit of hobilars around the back of the escarpment in a flanking move and advanced his longbow units to engage in a shooting match with my Tudor longbow. This time both longbow lines inflicted significant casualties on each other which effectively stalemated the infantry of both sides for a couple of game turns.
While the infantry was re-organising and rallying from disruption the Yorkist cavalry which had been holding back cheering on their infantry moved forward ready to charge. With one unit of my Tudor cavalry pulled back to chase away the flanking hobilars the Yorkists enjoyed a 2 unit heavy cavalry advantage. The massed Yorkist heavy cavalry charge went in. The planted stakes adjacent to the road restricted the point of impact to only a few hexes. However, the Yorkists dispatched one Tudor cavalry unit and recoiled and disrupted another. Only a dismounted unit of Tudor men-at-arms advancing along the road managed to plug the widening gap.
At this point the game was certainly 70/30 in favour of the Yorkists but the planted wooden stakes prevented a breakthrough and I had moved 3 units of Tudor longbow from the centre in order to shoot away the Yorkist cavalry. What followed was a round of shooting which was decidedly in favour of the Tudors. This forced back the Yorkist infantry which was attempting to support their cavalry. Also the hand-to-hand combat outcomes finally halted the Yorkist heavy cavalry and in so doing losing their impact bonuses.
The game then hinged on the shooting of the Tudor longbow which again was excellent. This stopped all support from the Yorkist infantry which left their cavalry fighting the remnants of the Tudor cavalry, a unit of dismounted men-at-arms while being shot by the increasingly potent Tudor longbow units. One by one the Tudor heavy cavalry units began to hit the casualty tray. Chris took stock of the situation and gave the game to the Tudors.
Game Analysis
After the early defeat of the Tudor infantry my Tudor army was forced onto the defensive. And, with the help of the terrain, planted stakes and steadily improving shooting and combat performance managed to turn the tide and grind out a very hard fought win once the Yorkist heavy cavalry charge had been halted.
Written by Paul K.
