(source: Men in Tights 1993)
First rays of summer, first signs of heat, what better way to celebrate than to sit in doors and play some ADLG!
The goodies! Count them up, thats 10 medium sword longbow. I am excited! I will make the fight in the shade! The knight on foot gives some kick when the enemy gets close, though am not sold on including brilliant generals. Heavy spear to die slowly and extend my battle line. The final command is to pin a flank down. Or possibly go on a flank mark. I forgot that one of my light infantry was elite, don't think it had any effect on the game.
That is a photo of a medieval Spanish list.
Corps I - Competant
2 Knight on foot
1 heavy knight impact - Elite
3 Heavy spear mediocre
3 Light Cavalry Javelin
Corps 2 - Competaent
2 Knight on foot
1 heavy knight impact - Elite
3 Heavy spear mediocre
2 light infantry bow
Corps 3 - Competent included
2 Knight on foot - Elite (general in one of these)
2 Crossbow pavise
2 Levy
Heavy foot list with two knights for a bit of kick. Six foot knights that don't really fear much, mediocre heavy spear for padding. Not the worlds most maneuverable list that is for sure, but packs a punch.
We opened up the bay doors and were playing in streaming sunlight. With a cold beer in hand, a pleasant 30 degrees and some interesting shadows across the table we were ready to begin!
The Spanish put down a coast a plantation and a field fell in the middle of the battlefield. The spanish set up defensively and waited for the English to attack.
Foot knights are not what a longbow army wants to see. The odds of hurting a foot knight with a longbow is not great, an elite foot knight... well it drops to a very unimpressive 8% chance of your arrow hitting something important. So what was my plan? errrr....
The English advance... or half of them anyway. I think the weak point of the Spanish is their East flank. While longbows may not like foot knights they really get excited by mounted knights. So hoping to take on the knight and the three mediocre heavy spear.
The Spanish are having none of this and are going to get their knights stuck in hard hoping to collapse the English before they start losing flanks.
I can't imagine how hot it would be fighting in 30 degrees in full plate armour. I was bloody hot commanding the forces with the ice in my rum and melting at speed, was considering playing pantsless, but my opponent didn't think we were at that stage in our relationship... prude. These Spanish knights took a brief break in the shade to collect their breath.
The Spanish have pulled their mediocre spear out of the lines. Its a wall of knights. Not a long wall, but a tough wall. Four longbows gang up and put a hit on a foot knight. Nothing like investing 40points to get a single cohesion hit.
Spanish come closer. In the West the longbows are losing the archery war to the crossbow. Fun fact. Pavaise stops longbow. (eg the -1 does not effect the pavaise protection)
English roll maximum pips and they need them. Longbow in the plantation all move individually allowing the middle one to flank charge a Spanish knight! Another longbow joins in the fun and the damaged knight is taken down in one round!
Go medium sword longbow! Victory for the English!
Got so excited forgot to mention and mark that a longbow had been shot to death by crossbow in the West, which means the English were about to loose a flank. The English charge! And take out a foot knight on contact to the English Foot Knight General! These Spanish foot knights, armour like paper. Weapons like weeds.
...or not. More Spanish foot knights join the fray and the markers start to appear on the English line. Worse, an English heavy sword falls to the weedy Spanish weapons. Could the tide be turning?
The English are closing in the North East, they are winning the light javelin war in the East, but the centre and West are a mess.
Those coloured markers behind the English line are not a good sign. Pretty, but not a good sign.
Elite Spanish Knights flank charge mediocre English heavy spear. The English spear don't die! They come bloody close, but they dont die! In the West, well in the West the English line collapses..sad face... Its being held by the English Foot Knight Generals who has lost three cohesion.
The English Foot Knight General smashes the Spanish! Maybe he can hold, the Spanish are so close to breaking maybe he can go home to his wife, three children and dog. Mediocre heavy spear and longbow double team a Spanish knight in the centre and rout him! In the North the English lines, finally, hit the mediocre heavy spear/ It goes really well, apart from the final combat in the far North which sees the only English loss in the combats. In the far East the English fail to land a killing hit on any of the three light horse. Both sides are close to calling it!
The Spanish spend some quality time rallying, every pip is vital at this point. The battle in the North is almost all English, apart from the Far North as a mediocre heavy spear routs an English longbow. In the centre the English General routs... he fought long and hard and will be remembered, but with his death the English drop five morale points and the rest of the army flees the battlefield!
Victory to the weedy Spanish!
Was close, so close, but a miss is as good as a mile and I left the battlefield a loser... I mean I lost, I am of course still awesome. What went wrong? Hard match up true, but mistakes were made. I shouldn't have sent my other Foot Knight General chasing mediocre spear. It was simply too long a walk and he would have been far more useful engaged in the Southern melee and shoring up those lines. I also managed to shift my line in such a way that two crossbows were shooting at one longbow and it was shot to death in four rounds of fire! Unlucky, but could have made if less likely to happen if I had positioned better. Am wondering if I need some cavalry with each command, just to give it some maneuverability. Will change the list a little for next time.
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