The Forum

Four armies, each of 150 points including 2 generals. The Teutonic armies were identical in composition and so were the 2 WOTR Yorkist armies. The idea was to create a realistic scenario in which, after an initial consultation before deployment, the 2 commanders of each army must act independently throughout the game without further communication about allied troop movements, tactics etc. In a medieval world without mobile phones, areal views and only slow and semi-reliable messengers, this policy seemed appropriate.
The terrain layout, chosen by Andre, had a single road crossing the battle field and a wide ribbon of woodland on one side of the table and a scattering of small hills. The Teutonic commanders (Tony and Dave), won the die role for choice of table edge and chose the very defendable woodland side. We (Tim and I) deployed second and had the first move.
We (the Yorkists), in our consultation decided that my army should attack the Teutonic right wing where there was less woodland, and Tim should hold back, and hopefully entice the left wing of the Teutonic army out from the cover of the woodland. This would only happen if I could pressurise Tony enough so that Dave would come to his support and then be vulnerable to attack by Tim.
I advanced my 5 units of longbow in a line towards Tony’s Teutonic crossbows with my billmen and heavy cavalry following behind. The crossbow units had pavisses, plus the cover of the woodland hexes which made them a tough target for my longbow. However, my plan was to charge my billmen through the longbow line to try and take possession of the woodland through hand-to-hand combat. Tony saw through this and advanced from the woodland with units of Teutonic spearmen and committed his ‘A’ class Teutonic Knights.
Very soon all hell broke loose as I through my heavy cavalry into the fray in order to hold a small hill and in doing so gain the up-hill advantage in ensuing combats. In the meantime, Tim started to move some of his bill and longbow units across in support, while Dave still held his defensive line in the woodland.
My longbow units were badly mauled by Tony’s spearmen and knights. The A2 armour rating of these troops negating the normally effective shooting of the longbow. However, once my billmen ‘piled-in’ it became a far more even contest and units from both sides were soon hitting the casualty trays with alarming speed!
Dave advanced his Teutonic infantry from the woods and charged his knights towards Tim’s longbow stretched along a central hill. After absorbing the initial hit Tim’s units fought back well and he was able to destroy one unit of Teutonic Knights and use his own heavy cavalry in an effective counter -attack.
The infantry battle between Tony and I had been so destructive to both sides that the 3 heavy cavalry units of both sides were left to decide the out-come of what had been a very fast and furious encounter. In this, the Teutonic Knights showed their metal and despite losing 2 out of the 3 units, my army was effectively demolished by the end of their onslaught, and the mounted crossbow and Teutonic spears were ‘mopping-up’ any of my stray units that had survived!
Tim had stopped and pushed back Dave’s forces towards the woodland, his longbow units shooting better than mine and won the hand-to-hand battle against Dave’s tough Teutonic spearmen. The game concluded with Tony bringing his victorious army across to support Dave, the Teutonic order with the upper-hand and superior tactical position. However, Tim’s force had only lost 2 units, one general and a few additional stands and was quite capable of forming a very effective defensive line. This was our first night in our new club venue and it was time to put things away and allow extra time to do so.


Game Analysis
Quite simply, after a brutal and costly struggle between Tony and I on the left, the remnants of Tony’s force were able to come across and help in the struggle against Tim. And, out-numbered 3 to 2 and with only one general against the Teutonic’s 2, Tim would be well and truly on the back foot!