Irish Mercenaries face the French

A Headless Body Production

Venue:   Walt's house
Event:    Weekend at Walts
Armies:  Anglo-Irish played by Phil Gardocki
                   Hundred Years War French played by  Dan Hazelwood

Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 200 points per side.
Theme:   Open
This is the second round of L'Art de la Guerre at Walt's house, April, 2017.

Scenario:  Random draw.

The Forces:

Anglo Irish circa 1400: Commanders  Larry whoth dost infect thine eyes, Darryl the ill-roasted egg, all on one side and Darryl  who hath not so much brain as ear wax.
      6 Galloglaich, Heavy Swordsmen, 2HW (elite) 
      6 Longbowmen,stakes
      1 Heavy Knights, Impact (elite) 
      1 Irish Nobles, Heavy Cavalry
      1 Light Cavalry, Javelin
      4 Irish Foot, Javelinmen, Javelin
Breakpoint...20
In medieval times, a group of units was referred to as a Battle. 
The Battles were organized as follows:
 Larry's Battle: 2 Galloglaich, 2 Longbowmen, 2 Javelinmen, and a Heavy Cavalry.
 Darryl's (ill-roasted egg) Battle: 2 Galloglaich, 2 Longbowmen and a Light Cavalry
 Darryl's (ear wax for a brain) Battle: 2 Galloglaich, 2 Longbowmen, 2 Javelin men and a Heavy Knight.

Hundred Years War French
      10 Heavy Knights, two of them dismounted, and lots of Crossbow.

       Break point,  20

 

The Board:

The Anglo-Irish win the initiative and will attack in the plains.
Deployment:

The official Military Observer, Motaba from Howandaland observes from a nearby hill.

The French are well deployed between plantation and village.

 

The Anglo-Irish commands, are organized as 2 Longbow, 2 Galloglaich and 2 Javelinmen per battle.

The view from Larry's horse.

Turn 1:

A general advance on the Anglo-Irish.  An Ambush is revealed from behind the hill, 2 Longbow and 2 Javelinmen.  They double time to catch up with the line.

Otherwise just an orderly advance.  Very uncharacteristic for the Anglo-Irish.

The left flank is an elite Galloglaich.  But further secured by Light Cavalry, and the Irish Nobles on horse. 

The Irish camp is not so much fortified, as inviolate. 

The French are not willing to stay in their deployment area, and march out to meet the Irish.  The French Knights are well protected from longbow by their own crossbow skirmishers.

The armies are of equal size.  But the French seem to have left 3 units behind, and have 6 skirmishers.  So it looks like the Irish have the benefit of a longer battle line.

But the knights do look magnificent.

Turn 2:

The Irish line stops exactly 4 UD's from the French Skirmishers. 

Skirmishers take hit after hit.

Irish Horse is probing the flanks.

On the right, Darryl sends his Javelinmen to the plantation to investigate the ambush marker.  Longbow positioned for enfilade fire.

The French Knights hold back, but send their skirmishers forward.  Hits now fall on both sides.

Longbow vs Crossbow.  Longbow has the advantage, as Crossbow treats all their targets as a protection value of 1, while the Longbow treats the Crossbow as a zero.

Turn 3:

Not a lot of excitement so far.  This is looking well in favor of the Irish.  The French seem willing to come in to the field lacking support on both edges.  They even held back their Knights for a turn, giving the Longbow more time to shoot down the skirmishers.

The French ambush was revealed to be nought but a few peasants shaking the trees, Irish Javelinmen turn and face off with the Crossbow.

Larry attempts to rally his troops, but proves uninspired.

Darryl advances for to assist the Light Horse.  The Crossbowmen takes a hit.  When he gets a couple of command points together, that will be a good target for the Irish Nobles.

The Knights have been released!  They see the weakness between the first and second Battles.

The French Foot Knights approach to charge reach.  Their skirmishers take another hit, but their job is a success, as the Foot Knights will come in undamaged.  Also they will be well positioned to crush the Longbow.

Impetuous French Knights charge, running off one of the Irish Javelinmen.

Turn 4:

Darryl, with a surplus of command points, turns the flank of the French Knights.  A charge of one Longbow runs off a skirmisher, revealing a Knight, which is disordered by shooting from the other Longbow.

And again, Larry's words prove uninspiring, as two rallies again fail.

Stakes go out for the Longbow.  But the Crossbowmen prove plucky, and score a hit.

A lousy photo, sorry.  The French Knights charge.  The Damaged Knight veers right.  The Longbow ties the numbers and so lives for another day.  The Galloglaich Clan Stewart takes a fresh Knight with support, in the teeth for 3 hits.

Knights catch evading Javelinmen and plow them under their iron shod hooves.  Their brother knights charge the Galloglaich clan Ramsay, and disorder them for 2.  Foot Knights chop one longbow to ribbons, alongside them a mounted knight rides down the other longbow.  The remaining Foot Knight challenges the Galloglaich clan McGregor for another point.

On the Irish right, Impetuous Knights charge Clans O'Lyre and Stafford, winning both their fights for 2 and 3 hits.

Turn 5.

Turn 4 started off looking well, and turned into a disaster quickly.  There was little luck involved. The French were just that well played.  The score is 13-6

Mainly, the battles continue.  The Galloglaich Clan Ramsay is destroyed, along with Clan Stafford, and another longbow.  The only highlight was a French Crossbow unit is caught and destroyed by Irish Javelinmen.  The score is 17 to 8.

French Crossbow charge Longbow, and destroy them.  The routers damage the Galloglaich clan behind them.  Darryl joins the combat with Clan Stewart.  Successfully rallying but then losing the next combat.  But Darryl can turn this around if he gets enough command points.  He only needs to roll anything but a 1.

Yep, anything but a 1.

The center and right are collapsing fast.  Clan O'Lyre's muse is scattered to the winds.  A Longbow unit charges a Knight's flank, and is rebuffed with two hits.

The Galloglaich Clan McGregor is taken in the flank, but is holding on.

Clan Stewart, also taken in the flank, is destroyed. 

With the destruction of Clan Stewart brings on the near fatal wounding of Darryl, the Anglo-Irish hit beyond their demoralization point of 23 out of a needed 20, to the French's 10.

An embarrassing defeat for an army I though would hunt down knights and kill them. 

To give credit where credit was due, the Hundred Years War French was masterfully played.  Dan covered and controlled his knights like a virtuoso until he was ready, and when the rush came, it was all over but the counting.