Well, just as i was building some momentum life went and got all together too busy by half!. Still, i will not be deterred and the saga of the war of the four kings (that never actually happened) shall be told!. But to be fair i have a brief respite over the bank holiday before life goes back on the wonk for a while....ho hum. But, a respite it is and as there is a war on i will not be held back!, on with the next game!! (note the bank hols came and went with only the intro for this post written, it would be almost a week before minis saw felt!)........
THE BATTLE OF ST RONAYS STUMP
1st, the recent movements:
Points of interest:
- The Fossestershire 1st lead by Earl Cobbleholme himself (no less n'all that!) move with some determination to re-enforce the fossestershire 3rd who are moving with impunity toward the Crivenshire 2nd. The Fossestershire forces are all advancing on Crivenshire with violent intent.
-The forces of Crivenshire are also mobilized in order to counter this threat and prevent a full scale invasion.
-The 2nd army of Offenhammeshire are moving towards the border that meets with the two warring counties, their intention or orders so far unknown.
-Burkenshire remain unmoved, it is the wet season after all!.
-The earl of Fossestershire has sent messengers towards the Fossestershire 3rd to hold their position as he is on his way to help steamroller the Crivenshire 2nd.....will the message arrive in time?....
.....Errr, nope!, after the trap at
Phlemm valley failed the leader of the Fossestershire 3rd, Sir Physs, knew his forces position would be discovered in short order, robbing him of any momentum his advance had given. To this end he ordered an aggressive advance to give 'a reet good bloody 'idin' to the opposing Crivenshire force and ordered scouts to range far ahead of his column to ensure the way was clear. His hope was to move with as much speed as he could to deny the local forces the right to choose the site of their meeting.
For his part the commander of the Crivenshire 2nd army, Lord Choppah of Ralligh was delighted to have the report of Sir Crowesfell from Phlemm valley. Not only would he have the honor of facing the invading army in the field before anyone else, he also now knew the position of the enemy and with a little more information from his patrols he also had a good idea of the size of the invading force. His army was larger than the Fossestershire force and the enemy were exposed, he knew the area and decided to take the battle to them to show the silly northerners the folly of their silly little uprising. To this end he split his forces into two, he personally led the bulk of his force to the west of Gibblet to Habituals Ridge, an area where he knew his forces would have the chance to take up an imperious defensive position from which to oppose the oncoming northerners. His other forces he placed under the command of sir Abblidge-Carniguie and sent east of Habituals Ridge to await an opportunity to outflank the Fossestershire army when it made contact with Lord Rallighs force bringing the advantage of numbers to bare and giving the Crivenshire army the element of surprise.
This plan would have been great if the Fossestershire 3rds scouting forces did not have the famed sir Bacckersfordde and his great snow eagle Keith Montgomary as its commander. Sir Bacckersfordde flew many times over the Crivenshire position, reporting on the movements of their troops and the splitting of forces. Armed with this knowledge Sir Physs ordered a force to sit out of reach of the defenders at Habituals Ridge but to make sure the enemy knew they were there. He then sent Sir Bacckersfordde with a large force to meet the oncoming flanking force, reasoning that if he could 'smash the bunch of flankers in their blimmin pampered faces by eck as like' he would break the back of the Crivenshire 2nd and gain his own opportunity to outflank the remaining forces at Habituals Ridge.
The Crivenshire flanking force of sir Abblidge-Carniguie and the Fossestershire troops of Sir Bacckersfordde met at an area known as St Ronays Stump (the name given to a large knotted old tree trunk said to be the site of many miracles performed by St Ronay in the 11th century, most notable of which was turning wine, 5 fish, 2 loaves and 4 bushels of herbs as well as some nice seasonal greens into a lovely cod mornay with a parsley and white wine sauce on a bed of steamed greens, served on oddly shaped plates in portions presented in wankey little piles with drizzles of sauce around them. It was noted the plates while tasty were too small for any of his disciples (who had walked for several days barefoot over rough ground to have an audience with the saint) to actually feel in anyway 'full' causing a small scuffle over the remaining fish heads, stems and bits of loaf. The site is a haven for pilgrims with highly developed pallettes and far too much time on their hands).
The battle is wrongly regarded as the first true battle of the war of the four kings by historians who wish to justify their bursaries by having somthing to argue about. They are, of course, just being knobheads.
Not many reports of the battle remain but as ever the Wronghammer plastic miniature fictional re-enactment society have recreated it using the pieces of information we do have to give us some inkling of what happened on that fateful day, so a big thank you to them for their efforts which have been used to create the report below:
THE BATTLE OF St RONAYS STUMP (AS FAR AS WE CAN TELL)
The field of battle, some areas of interest are shown above in the squares:
A) St Ronays stump itself, site of many slightly pretentious food based miracles.
B) The ruins of the small chapel build on the site after the passing of the sainted Ronay. Later turned into Olde Albilandes first ordained gastropub known as 'The Fish and Fisticuffs' after the famous miracle mornay.
C) The holy wood of Ronay, so called as many a traveler would throw up his holy gormet burger or lasagne along with his godly 7 pints of Roanys best or other guest ale (Bridgets Apron, olde brownes migraineanator and Badgers famous fuzzy dangler being some noted classics) into its blessed hallows.
The battle
On the day of battle the northern forces of sir Bacckersfordde arrived before the Crivenshire flanking force and put out into a battle line to await them. The scouts of sir Abblidge-Carniguies force crested the ridge, and upon seeing the unexpected army barring the way returned to report back (and change their breeches). Sir Abblidge-Carniguies prepared for battle!.
the Wronghammer plastic miniature fictional re-enactment society line up to show what is regarded to be the positions of both forces at the start of the battle.
The Crivenshire left made up of a company of Crivenshire rangers with their bespoke smocks and bendy javelins. Lead by a section of the brave knights of the Crivenshire 2nd lead by Sir Abblidge-Carniguies himself. Ahead of them are some of the mounted ranger division.
To the right of St Ronays stump holding the Crivenshire center are a proud block of crivenshire pike supported by bowmen arrayed to their flanks. The formation is lead by sir Whitterforde of Gibblet.
The left was held by a rabble of serfs from the surrounding villages eager to 'do thy bitte' in the defense of their homelands, ensuring they did so were a reserve contingent of light horse, driving them on.
(all Crivenshire troops are on blue bases with white trim).
Against them stood:
Two stout blocks of Fossestershires finest warriors supported by bows, lead by the ever dynamic and forward looking (read annoyingly positive) sir Bacckersfordde and his great snow eagle Keith Montgomary.
Guarding the right was the combined forces of the Knights of the Fossestershire 3rd and some light horse lead by the brooding sir Crankerton-Smithe, eager to assert himself after the defeat at Phlemm Valley. These were supported by a large group of northern irregulars conscripted from the settlements on the Fossestershire border.
(the Fossestershire forces have white bases with grey trim).##
THE BATTLE!!
The first action saw the Crivenshire horse move out to launch an attack on the infantry before them.
The rangers make a dash for the ruined church/boozer, a good place to pepper the enemy with pointy sticks!.
sir Bacckersfordde notes this action and states 'crikey, the enemy Rangers have taken up an good position to pepper us with pointy sticks!. Come Keith Montgomary, we shall show them what for!' With that he swooped into the ruins.....
Wiping out the rangers before they could get a volley away!.
In the center the Fossestershire foot advance into bow range of the pike, a missile duel would go on for several turns with no side giving way.
Over on the other flank the Crivenshire serfs take ground, only to stare down the barrel of the enemy horse!.
The horse promptly slam into them!. The one sided contest sees the villagers thrown back but they grimly reform before the enemy!.
The mounted rangers attempt a 'ride by', loosing their arrows at the Fossestershire foot, only to be mowed down by the combined firepower of the northern units!.
'Look yonder, Keith Montgomary' Chimed sir Bacckersfordde, 'The enemy leader and his silly knights!, let us end this battle forthwith!'. He plunged into the cream of the enemy!.
And is driven back by the Crivenshire nobility!.
The Fossestershire horse charge once more into the defiant serfs, clearly annoyed with the filthy commoners refusal to make way for their betters!.
This time it becomes too much for the plucky small folk who turn and run!. Their success is short lived as the reserve Crivenshire light horse take the opportunity to charge them, however sir Crankerton-Smithe is equal to the threat and orders his well trained men to counter charge!.
With predictable results!, left and right the Crivenshire horse bounce off the armoured Fossestershire cavalry!.
Seeing the battle turn away from them sir Whitterforde of Gibblet orders the pike forward!
Which allows sir Bacckersfordde and his great snow eagle Keith Montgomary to fly behind them!.
As the Crivenshire knights watch the eagle fly behind the Crivenshire line they are attacked by a block of northern infantry, taken by surprise Sir Abblidge-Carniguie is unable to order a counter charge!.
And they are driven back with heavy losses by the well drilled warriors!.
On the other flank the Fossestershire knights and horse charge home again, wiping out the hapless Crivenshire light cavalry!.
As sir Whitterforde of Gibblet surveys the battlefield it dawns on him that his pike are surrounded!.
He orders his troops to back up to the holy stump to avoid being outflanked and prepares for a last stand!.
The inevitable charge hits home and despite dishing out damage to the enemy the numbers prove too much and the pikemen break!.
The scene at the end of the battlefield and a convincing win for the forces of Fossestershire!. With the Crivenshire plan is in tatters, what will become of the defenders of Habituals Ridge?.
Well that was fun!. I played this one using my own mass battle rules i am testing (working title Blood, Guts and something, something, something). I love the scale of the battle and it keeps the flow of battle pretty well. My main sticking point at the moment is the basing! (as ever!). The one man represents one man idea is fun and kind of gets over the abstraction multi based games give (not really my thing if i'm honest) but this is somewhat knackered by the fact that although the game itself took about two hours to play it took an hour to pack everything away afterwards!!. Something to give thought to going forward (it may be multi basing for ease of sanity!). Anyway i hope you enjoyed the report.....
......'till next time!.....
