Field of Glory Renaissance in Usk 2012 - Game 3
The night was an experiment of trying to discover whether the metropolis of Cwmbran was better than the tiny hamlet of Usk. Cwmbran is a new town established in 1949, though there is evidence that Neolithic and Bronze Age people used the area with the Iron Age Silures tribe also occupying the region before being subdued by the Roman legions based at nearby Usk and Caerleon. Extensive investigation shows that the standard of nightlife has not moved on much since those days, with a Weatherspoons pub forming the highlight (in fact almost the only) hub of social activity. On a culinary front, whilst the one Indian restaurant in Usk is not all that special, at least it isn't an all-you-can-eat buffet (like every one of the ones in Cwmbran). So, the search for somewhere better goes on into another year.
The following morning we faced off against an Early Danish army, which is analysed here
The lists from this and all the other games at Usk can be seen here on the FoG:R wiki.
This was a much more open table than any we had seen before - many of the enclosed fields landed near the edges and there was a nice open space in the middle for the battle to take place. The Danes had as expected picked a load of Cuirassiers, and supported them with a flurry of light foote and a nasty looking Superior Lansqunecht Kiel. The Huguenot army comfortably outnumbered the Danes in foote, and so hoped to bung up the middle a with a rapid pedestrian advance then force the enemy Cuirassiers into battle either with our foote or on equal odds with our own.
The table was still too wide for the Huguenots to go pike to pike with their three units, so embedded in the middle of the line was a deliberately weak pount - a unit of Shotte and some commanded Shotte too. This was something we hoped would tempt the enemy horse into the middle of the park.
On the Huguenot right the Swiss were going to move up past the enclosed field, which would be safely occupied by a second unit of arquebusiers. There was still a small gap on our right flank which the reiters could plug - if the enemy even bothered to go for it.
All 3 Huguenot Cuirassier units were on our left, and their flank was protected by another Kiel - it was on the outside but being Swiss, general Leonard Meyerhofer was confident it could go into the flank sector and survive anything the enemy could throw at it. This was all part of our plan to force the enemy Cuirassiers into the middle
The enemy had lots of small units of light foote, who kept ducking as their own artillery shot over their heads.
The initial Huguenot advance was pretty coherent, and pretty rapid. A massive wall of Cuirassiers was trying to outflank the Huguenot positions on the left, but several units of enemy Horse had been sucked into the weak spots in our army in the middle too
The Huguenot Cuirassiers were outnumbered 4:3, but with the Kiels in support the Huguenot troopers were relatively confident anyway.
The Danish Cuirassiers were stacked up deep as they approached - the Kiel looked leftwards as it expected to be asked to help the Huguenot Cuirassiers in the coming combar
Almost immediately the Enfants Perdus fled backwards out of the way - there was a lot of heavy steel motoring towards a conflagration, and they did not want to be in the way !
The Danes were in some confusion - their 2 big blocks of Cuirassiers had split into 3 as one of those on the flank had given up against the Kiel and was coming back int the middle. But the lead unit appeared to have been drawn in against the Huguenot Kiel, and was now being shot at by irritating arquebusiers. Would they be tempted into an unplanned charge to avoid the shooting?
As the two Landsquechenenenenenecht Kiels moved towards each, another unit of Danish Cuirassiers found itself the target of most of the rest of the Huguenot army.
On the right the Danes were moving up a big block of Reiters and a unit of Cuirassiers as well all in an attempt to force a passage - but getting past some Dragoons safe in a wood, and arquebus in an enclosed field would be no easy task.
The cowardly Danes had taken one of their generals and used it to bypass the Huguenot Swiss Kiel. It looked like a bad day to be a Huguenot baggage guard, but in an 18 AP army that was not such a big deal.
Rules hint - FoG:R armies can be quite big in AP terms compared to AM armies, so losing the camp isn't always quite so terminal.
The Lost Children, having fled back through their Cuirassiers, found themselves in a position to pin the flank marching Cuirassiers in a field - the Kiel had even turned around to add to the threat..
The Danish Cuirassiers were running around aimlessley - leaving the flank to the Reiters as other units moved back towards the middle of the park. The Danes were gradually being drawn into the area of the table where they could do least good...
It was all shaping up nicely. The Danes were now committed against theoretically better Huguenot forces, and with the Huguenot's doing all the shooting they were in now hurry to initiate combat anywhere. The onus was on the Danes to kick things off.
The Kiel holds off enemy horse
But their manoeuvering had left an equal matchup in the key area of the field - three units against three, and one Kiel against one. The greater mobility of the Danes was worth naught... Only the continuing bombardment of the Danish artillery chipping away at the Huguenot Cuirassiers was spoiling the day for the Huguenots
The Danes initiated battle! Kiel against Kiel, and Cuirassiers against commanded shotte and pistol armed Reiters!
The two Keils crashed together - with almost no effect, as the Huguenots were the only ones to record a hit!
Both Kiels expanded out their halberdiers, as the Danish Cuirassiers bounced off the Huguenot formation of Pistoliers and Commanded Shotte
An equally matched up Cuirassier battle started to add to the sounds of combat in the middle of the park
Things were going our way !!
Another equal-odds battle started between Cuirassiers, as the numerical advantage of the Danes was being nullified everywhere
With almost all the Cuirassiers now in the middle of the park, the Huguenot right wing was able to push forwards from it's defensive position - this caused the Danish Reiter unit to spin around and move toward the middle - and then the Huguenot commanded shotte kurched out of the field they have been cowering in to threaten the danes flank...
Equal battles everywhere that Cuirassiers met Cuirassiers, but the Huguenots were managing to lose everywhere as well - that's going away from the script!
As the Huguenots pushed forward their infantry wobbled under the heavy fire of the Danish gunnes and skirmishing foote - the arquebusiers were paying a heavy price for diverting the attention of the Danish Gunnes away from the Swiss Kiel
The Danish Reiters turned - they grinned smugly as they now faced a 2-base commanded shotte unit in the open, and surely they could ignore those lurking Dragoons as an irrelevance? The Danes were already looking forward to reaching the Huguenot camp ahead of their Cuirassiers on the opposite flank.
The Huguenots pulled across a General, and called in more arquebusiers too - the Danes 3 units of LF could prove a liability if their shooting could be split and especially if a concerted charge by Huguenot MF and LF could possibly catch some of them rolling short
Tactical hint - The Danish skirmishers can't stand up to a MF arquebusier charge, so they have to evade. Charging simultaneously with Huguenot skirmishers and arquebusiers means the Huguenot skirmishers have a better chance of catching the evading LF than the arquebusiers. If it worked....
Things were going from bad to worse in the Cuirassier fights meanwhile...
and from worse to much worse...
Likewise in the other combat - 50% casulaties is never good!
The Reiters charged in - they had been shot to DISR and lost a base in the previous rounds of shooting..... but they were shocked to find that they were not just fighting the arquebusiers, they also stepped forward into the Dragoons ensconsced in a wood! That suddenly made the odds rather less attractive!
Rules hint - The Reiters had to step forward as they were able to contact 2 enemy bases by doing so, as compared to the one they planned to hit - even though some of the Dragoons were in difficult terrain.
Losing by 2 in the impact phase, the Reiter drop to Broken immediately and turn tail and flee in rout !!
The rampant infantry and jubilant dragoons pursue with gusto!
Having forced away the Danish Cuirassiers the Huguenot infantry and Reiters move up into the gaping gap in the Danish lines. The Danish Landskncchtey Kiel is now no longer a Kiel, having lost enough bases in the ongoing grinding combat and is now about to be the recipient of a flank charge... this could be serious for the Danes!
The Huguenot Cuirassiers break - and the Huguenot Kiel wobbles in response. A huge weight now rests on the shoulders of the flank charge, as the entire Huguenot center is in danger of imminent collapse
The Germans look worried as the two puny foote threaten to punch above their weight.
The Commanded Shotte go in - forcing the reiters to simultaneously charge against the Danish Cuirassiers in order to avoid an intercept charge... But the Kiel not only survives the flank charge, it outfights the Commanded Shotte and wins the initial combat from a --/++ disadvantage! The Huguenot Kiel is now living on its wits alone ...
Rules hint - This is all a bit bizzarre, however the Danish Kiel was not a Kiel when it was hit in the flank, as it didn't have 2 files that still had 4 bases in them. However, once the Commanded shotte charged in, the base they hit turned and more pikemen were moved in from another rank so the Commanded Shotte were facing 2 bases. This in turn (keep up...) meant the Danish unit now DID have 2 files with 4 bases in each, EVEN THOUGH 2 of the bases in one of these files were facing sideways and 2 were facing forwards. So, it became a Kiel again, and thus didn't incur a -1 for fighting in 2 directions. I think....
The witless Kiel loses a combat, and loses the will to live in spectacular fashion.
Meanwhile the outflanking Cuirassiers have snuck past the Enfants Perdus and are making their way towards the Huguenot camp
The Danish Horse despatch the camp and move on, as an impotent Kiel chases them from afar
The German Danish Kiel turns its full attention onto the Huguenot Commanded Shotte - and both they and the Huguenot Pistol Reiters are on the way down..
With Danish Horse rampaging through their rear echelons, the last bits of the Huguenot army push forwards
The Commanded Shotte hang on - but the Reiters are already removed from play..
Not for long....
At last! The Huguenots finally get some more points on the board as a unit of LF is broken from shooting
One unit of Huguenot Cuirassiers now remains - with a Swiss Kiel out of shot and out of any sort of area where it might be useful - on on what used to be the left and als o the center of the Huguenot army
The Swiss close in on the Danish artillery - as the routing Danish Reiters are rallied by their general! Only one unit killed and the Huguenots themselves are almost beaten
The Huguenot guns are captured...
The Result is a damned big but not fatal defeat for the Huguenots
Post Match Summary
Ouch - that hurt! I feel that losing loads of equal combats is a rather unfortunate way to suffer defeat and one which clearly abrogates me from any blame.
Unfortunately the Danes appear to have been Catholics during this period, and so I fear that I have opened up a new front in our domestic war which will see glorious French cuising sullied by an influx of picked herrings and strange dry bread based snacks
The saving grace is that it is entirely possible to see this game replayed with us coming out on top, as with some luck in the even odds combats the outcome would have been decidedly Huguenot-ish
Onwards and upwards - maybe we just peaked too soon before Leonardo had actually invented the Submarine eh?
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
Silence that fellow, I would he had some casuse to prattle for himself! For prattling is what you are doing well here, Generalship is certainly not amongst the skills you demonstrate
How many times can I repeat - trusting into evens odds combats is not a strategy, it is a lottery and with all the tools at your disposal in this magnificent multifaceted army, committing your men to a lottery is as strong an admission of failure as surely would be seeing your own head on a spike on the walls of the castle where your lord abides
One wasted Kiel, one frittered away chasing gunnes - and one committed against a better quality enemy Kiel of equal size. What sort of effort is that? A huge swathe of your army did nothing save rout 4 light foote, but this is not because your enemy scuttled away, it was because you chose not to reinforce your main Kiel - oh, not until they were already at the point of defeat...and then you did so with 2 MF gunners, and to do so needed to commit sme poor Reiters to a combat they were bound to lose. Paltroon!
This was a poor allocation of resources, and an abdication of initiative that was fully yours to sieze. You deserved to lose by a bigger margin, that's the only conclusion here.
Click here to see what happened next as the Early Imperial Spanish with some amazing Tercio's are the next enemy in the final game!
- Game 1 vs Later Imperial Austrians
- Game 2 vs Muslim Indian
- Game 3 vs Early Danish
- Game 4 vs Early Imperial Spanish
- Match Reports Index
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