This scenario pitted an English 100YW longbow army against a French army with a traditional large heavy cavalry contingent. We let the dice prescribe which armies went to which commanders, choice of table edge, first deployment and first move. Both armies had 4 commanders and a points value of 250.
The terrain was flat without any hills but was punctuated by a number of areas of woodland. Chris and Tim deployed their English army with the longbow units to the front. These units were equipped with wooden stakes which they intended to plant closer to our French lines. Tim advanced to occupy a large area of woodland on the English left and sent 3 units of mounted sergeants around the extreme right flank of the French line. Tony responded to this by positioning dismounted men-at-arms to the right with mounted men-at-arms behind.
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I advanced my French through and between the central areas of woodland. Chris initially advanced his English longbow and men-at-arms to meet me before contemplating planting a line of steaks to guard against my French cavalry. By advancing these French heavy cavalry towards the extreme right of the English longbow line and threatening an outflanking movement I think I persuaded Chris to halt. He then bent his line back in a dogleg towards his rear table edge and planted a line of stakes in front of his longbow units.
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On the other wing Tony caught the English mounted sergeants by surprise sending them fleeing losing a number of stands. He then advanced towards the French infantry defending a line along a large area of woodland. This was a strong defensive position for the English which stopped the French advance. Tony then pushed the French crossbow units in the centre forward ready for what turned into an extended shooting match.
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With the line of steaks and longbow confronting my French infantry I took about 3 tactical movement phases to re-organise and re-position ready for an all or nothing attack. Meanwhile, Tim and Tony engaged in an infantry slogging match along the line of woodland with neither side able to achieve a decisive advantage.
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Eventually my French infantry were able to assault the line of steaks. Chris, however had pulled his longbow line back and was able to successfully shoot and stop the French infantry trying to get through the hedge of steaks. Not until the French heavy cavalry charged against the extreme right of this English line was any progress achieve. This also meant committing both of my generals into hand-to-hand combat. This was very risky but thankfully the combat dice delivered for the French!
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Tony’s French on the other wing after a protracted struggle began to gain an advantage over the English infantry in the woods. This enabled him to charge his French cavalry into the now open centre of the English line which started to buckle. What followed was an extended period of hand-to-hand combat across the contact line between the 2 armies. The English achieved some notable local successes, but with the French heavy cavalry now outflanking the English line on my left the English were squeezed back in the centre with limited recoil or flee options left.
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The French assault and capture of the rear area of woodland resulting in many English units being forced back disrupted. Chris and Tim decided enough was enough and gave the win to our French.
Game Analysis
The French army managed to successfully avoid the mass shooting of the English longbows and use its advantage in heavy cavalry to good effect. However, it took a long time to organise the successful French final assault and so the middle portion of the game turned into a bloody and expensive battle of attrition for both sides which could have, for a while, gone either way.
