French Hundred Years War v Ottoman Turks

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Paul K
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French Hundred Years War v Ottoman Turks

Post by Paul K »

In tune with the ‘terrain fare’ policy the terrain layout was decided and all elements placed before the players knew which armies were to be engaged. This policy was very important in a game such as this with the Ottoman army’s strength in missile armed cavalry pitted against the slower French mounted heavy knights and sergeants. The Ottomans would favour the more open battlefield in this case the open centre of the table was surrounded by a scattering of small woods and a very useful 8 hex escarpment.
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The choice of table edge fell to Tony, James and I, which gave us an opportunity to pick the side which gave the most cover for our French army. Dave and Tim (Ottomans), did quickly advance in their first move to occupy the open centre of the field but were confronted by small, French filled woods. Between these were stationed the French crossbow units behind a wall of pavisses. Quite a formidable barrier the Ottomans who also had the steep slope of the 8 hex escarpment facing their left flank. Because the steep slope was unscaleable with cavalry we positioned our weakest French units, 3 peasant hordes behind this obstacle.
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The first half our of the game saw both sides tinkering with their dispositions in response to anticipated attacks which did not materialise. I condensed my 3 peasant hordes into 2 units of 6 stands and sent them over the steep slope of the escarpment on what was supposed to be a suicide attack. James advanced his crossbows and dismounted men-at-arms in support and to our surprise we managed to defeat the Ottoman infantry and take control of the wood below the escarpment. Our early success was short lived as more Ottoman spear units piled into what became a costly encounter for both sides.
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Meanwhile on the other wing Tony was playing cavalry cat and mouse with Tim’s Sipahis and Akinci cavalry, eventually sacrificing units of French mounted sergeants to keep the Ottoman cavalry pinned. The French heavy knights kept back in reserve waiting for their opportunity to strike! The Ottomans had 1 unit of Quapikulu ‘A’ class heavy cavalry armed with lance and bow. Once this tough unit was committed the French knights would have their chance to charge.
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Two units of Janissary halberdiers were giving the French infantry and peasants a hard time and when they were joined by the Quapikulu cavalry, we French had little choice but to throw caution to the wind and throw everything forward. James’s crossbow units through away their pavisses and joined the hand-to-hand combat. The extended line of Ottoman Azab archers was soon demolished only to be replaced by Ottoman spear units which again redressed the balance.
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Tony’s cavalry had cleverly engineered their way into hand-to-hand combat with Tim’s Spahis cavalry and once they had survived the bow shooting on first contact they had the better of the close quarter fighting. The game had descended into a fast battle of attrition in which the French had more units committed in the centre whereby sheer weight of numbers they gained the advantage. And once the Ottoman centre started to crumble there was little chance of an Ottoman fight back with help from the wings, which were fully engaged and like their French opponents depleted in numbers. The Ottoman commanders accepted defeat. It was hardly a glorious victory for the French, we were more the survivors of a slogging match!
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Game Analysis
The French army used the terrain advantage to help neutralise the Ottoman bow armed cavalry and eventually won the game by getting more units into local combats more quickly than the Ottomans which were hampered throughout the game by quite poor shooting. If they had been to ‘Specsavers’ it might have been a different outcome.
Kind regards
Paul

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