Friday 30 May 2008

BoB1 Highland & Isles vs Feudal English

Battle of Britain 1 (BoB1), the Blade heavy Highland & Isles Mob versus the Knight led Feudal English. Jack took the English, while I the Highland Lads. Jack defended & set the terrain, a marsh, a hill & a wood.
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Feudal English set up, the attack would be led by the Horsemen, while a group of Spears & Hordes formed the other flank. Fearful of the Bows being 'chopped up', they were kept as a reserve in the centre.
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Knowing that the English attack would be a straight charge, one flank comprised a Blade/Bow combo. The Warband nutters would head up the centre & 4 Blades made up the other flank.---------------------------
Battlefield overview & direction of attacks.---------------------------
The English Knights charge headlong into the Attack, King Henrys Skill adds +1 PIP per round.

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Pips are good for the Highland & Isles Lads, even though they are penalised by Magnus Bearlegs poor skill ( -1 PIP per round)

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'They came on in the same old style....'
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The Battle would have two phases, the left flank & the right flank.

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Arrows fly into the English, but with no effect. ---------------------------

Highland & Isles Lads on the right are about to crash into the English.

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Advantage to the Highland & Isles Lads with overlaps. Jacks General is the Green Knight in the middle...crafty lad.

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Early success, the English spears recoil.---------------------------

Surprisingly the English Hordes put up a good fight.

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Crash, Bang, Wallop, in go the English Heavy Horse.

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The Battle is shaping up nicely.

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Oh dear, TWO English Knights bite the dust against the Highland bowmen!

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.A Highland & Isles Blade crashes. In the confusion Jack forgets to advance the Knights..whoops!

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Jack looks worried as there's a few too many Blades now.... ---------------------------

The English Hobilars are in trouble (circled) ---------------------------
Meanwhile, the Spear/Horde combo is putting up a mighty fight! ---------------------------

It's too much for the Hobilars & they fall in combat. ---------------------------

One more Kill for Victory... Magnus Bearlegs is not that daft after all. ---------------------------

Jack is forced to commit his Bows

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However the arrows fail to make an impression against the Warband. .---------------------------
Jack retreats the remnants of the English Horse. ---------------------------

Nice view of the English LongBows. ---------------------------

Eventually the English Spears go down, Victory for the Highland & Isles Lads!!

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Final Battle positions ---------------------------

Final view from the English side

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Disaster for Jack & the Feudal English. He didn't play that one well, the loss of the Horse was too much & eventually the English Spear/Hordes Combo failed to hold out against the Highland & Isles Blades.

So Magnus Bearlegs, despite his penalty, takes an early lead in our Campaign. Nine points for the Highland & Isles Lads & a lowly 1 point for Henry & the Feudal English. Next up will be the Welsh against the Scots Common Army...!

Battle of Britain 1300AD

Now for something completely different… We had some spare time & decided to have a game. While looking through the Armies, we couldn’t decide which ones to use. I took one of our A4 Army boxes from the shelves which had four Armies inside. Jack commented that ' it would be MINT to use all four' (Translation : MINT = youngsters term for something good..). The Armies in question are Feudal English, Scots Common, Welsh & the Highlands/Islands. So a cunning plan was hatched, ‘Why not use all four?’
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The Fazzies (Jack & I) ‘Battle of Britain’, a mini tournament using all four Armies, battling out in turn against each other. Four Armies with one scrap against each other gives a total of SIX Battles overall. Jack & I would take turns commanding the various forces. We selected the initial match ups randomly (Kates pulled the names out of the hat!). Obviously this campaign is fictional....
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Champions of Britain would be the Army with the most points at the end of the six games. Scoring as follows:



  • +5 for winning a battle.
  • +2 for enemy general destroyed.
  • +2 for looting a camp.
  • +1 for each enemy element destroyed.

    Mind you getting Six games of DBA played in the next few weeks is going be tough! The Armies have an emphasis on MIXED troop types, just to liven things up! Looking at the lists, I can see an early favourite.... Anyway here are the Armies involved, in NO specific order.

IV/16 Scots Common 1x3Kn(Gen), 6x4Pk, 1x3Bw, 1x5Wb, 2x3Wb, 1x2Ps


IV/23 Feudal English 1x3Kn(Gen), 3x3Kn, 4x3Bw, 1x4Sp, 2x7Hd, 1x3Cav
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III/77 Scots Highlands & Islands 1x4Bd(Gen), 8x4Bd, 2x3Bw + 1x5Wb



III/19(c) Welsh 1100-1420(North) 1x3Kn(Gen), 8x3Sp, 2x3Lb, 1x2Ps


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Also to make things extra juicy, each General or King has a special ‘attribute’ or ‘super ability’. A D6 was rolled for each one & match against the following chart.

1 IDIOT = -1 PIP per round.
2 WISE = +1 PIP per round.
3 SWIFT = +100 Paces to own GROUPS move
4 RASH = Can make Double move but must end in Combat (own element).
5 SCRAPPER = Extra +1 to Combat rolls (own element)
6 ROCK HARD = Any KILL result drops to a RECOIL (own element, once per battle)


The results were as follows:


Magnus Bearlegs King of the Highlands – IDIOT.
Henry
King of England – WISE .
Robert the Bruce KING of Scotland – SWIFT .
Owen King of Wales – ROCK HARD….


Let the Battle of Britain commence!!!!!!!!

Saturday 24 May 2008

DBA IV/45 Mamluk Egyptian 1250-1517AD

Screaming Mamluks!!! Here's our fearsome Mamluk Army, mega heavy on the Cavalry, so lots of mobility. Two elements of Light Horse with the option of another gives an impressive TEN bases of Horse Warriors. We've used these in some of our battles & they have performed very well.

DBA IV/45 Mamluk Egyptian 1250-1517AD
1x3Cv(Gen), 6x3Cv, 2x2LH, 1x2Ps, 1x2Ps or 3Wb or 3Ax, 1x7Hd or 2Lh.


Mamluks ready for battle
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Close up of the Mamluk Cavalry
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The Cavalry - Sword, Lance & Bow.
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The General



Light Horse.

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The 'oddbodds', Warband/Auxillia, HORDES & Psiloi. .

Love these figures, paint job straight from the Osprey Men-at-Arms 259 'The Mamluks', African Handgunners 1517 AD.

Our Mamluks have appeared in following battles...

http://mrfarrow2udba.blogspot.com/2008/02/bbdba-ain-julet-mongols-vs-mamluks.html

http://mrfarrow2udba.blogspot.com/2008/02/dba-ottomans-vs-mamluks.html

Friday 23 May 2008

DBA IV/17 Later Crusader 1128-1303AD

Here's our Late Crusader Army, based on the Christian Military Holy Orders. Lots of Knights & Spears, with some firepower in the form of XBows & Bows.

IV/17. Later Crusader 1128 - 1303 AD
1x3Kn(Gen), 2x3Kn, 1x3Cv or 3Kn, 5x4Sp, 2x4Cb, 1x3Bw


We used this army in our Crusader vs Ayyubid Egyptians fight....
http://mrfarrow2udba.blogspot.com/2008/02/dba-ayyubids-vs-crusaders.html


The Crusaders arrayed for battle
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Knights Hospitallers & Templars .
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General, Grandmaster of Templars
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Five elements of Spears!
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Hospitaller Spear elements
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Templar Spear elements