"St. Jacob's en Birs: 3rd time nearly charm for Swiss..." Topic

One might ask why a group of miniature fanatics who, due to time demands of work & family, hardly ever get the chance to actually play a game, would choose to keep refighting the same battle over and OVER again. I'm not exactly sure what the answer is but one part is the ever-improving nature of our miniature ST. JACOB'S HOSPITAL -- now portrayed rather perfectly by a "church ruin" from the German building and terrain maker ESLO.

As usual the Hollywood Brigadiers used our beloved TACTICA MEDIEVAL rules (nearing 20 years old) but -- importantly -- we made slight adjustments to the ARMY BREAK POINT on each side…

THE SWISS:

Since the historical battle was a literal fight to the very last man on the Swiss side, the Swiss went from an Army break point of 2 -- meaning when 2 of their 3 "Key" Heavy Infantry units were broken, they lose the game -- to an ARMY BREAK POINT of 3.

THE ARMAGNACS:

In previous games of this scenario we had simply added the English and French Hundred Years War ARMY BREAK POINTS together in order to come up with the number of KEY UNITS needing to be broken in order to defeat them. That total was 5 for the English Army and 4 for the French, equalling 9 Key Units -- the breaking of which by the single Swiss army is a virtual impossibility. Of course, in truth, the Swiss at the historic St. Jacob's battle back in 1422 had virtually no chance of victory either -- but after further consideration we decided to lower the Armagnac Army Break Point from 9 to 8. It may seem like a tiny difference but it had the potential to have a serious impact on the game.

In the end, the Armagnacs managed to pull it out once again but it was the closest fight ever for the scenario and one of the closest fights ever in a Medieval battle for our group. The Swiss actually managed to break 7 French and English units before the Armagnacs finally broke the 3rd Swiss heavy infantry unit. If the Swiss had been able to rout just one more unit of longbows in the early going of the battle, they could very possibly have emerged victorious, despite the overwhelming odds on the tabletop.

One other reason for refighting this battle was a visit from one of my oldest and best friends. We grew up together in Brooklyn, New York, fighting many Medieval miniature battles (as well as endlessly refighting Arnhem with British paras vs. German armor and infantry and pitting British colonials against Pathans) on a table my dad helped my brother and I set up in our basement. It was a great reunion and he and I nearly beat the marauding invaders. Maybe next time…

Here's the link:

test.hollywoodbrigadiers.com

good looking armies!

Always liked that period myself, but I don't nearly as many Swiss as you.

It's an interesting scenario in Tactica Medieval, considering the strength of the Swiss formations versus the numbers they face. It seems like victory is always just within your grasp, but every time it flits away at the last moment…

Inspiring stuff! Great photos too; liked the one of the monk praying over the body of his brother, and the close-up of a (Lucerne?) handgunner, with an expression on the mini's face that reads 'Uh-oh…I don't think we are going to make it' – superb!

Cheers
Paul.

Thanks, Paul!

It's true, the scenario is a good one. The Armagnacs have to struggle with how best to employ their overabundance of forces, especially with the severe limitations -- very historically realistically so, in my humble opinion -- placed on maneuver of any and all heavy units. This was the first time the invading mercenaries were able to employ any of their artillery at all. It was just one or two organ guns but at least they got to shoot. In the actual Summer of 1422, it was the Armagnac artillery, brought up towards the end of the fight, which finished off what little remained of the Swiss forces who had fallen back into the St. Jacob's Hospital and the nearby graveyard. Which is one more nice thing about the ESLO Church Ruin model, it happens to contain several gravestones as well. I think that was what left me no choice but to purchase it!

I'm hoping our next game will be a Medieval SIEGE, using a Hudson & Allen castle which I gave a pretty good paint job. The issue is getting enough siege equipment painted up to give the attackers a halfway chance at victory.

MG – that's what it is all about – good friends, lots of well-painted figures, great-looking terrain, and an exciting scenario. Checking out your photos has inspired me to get a move on with my Swiss – a mate has already made a start on an Imperialist army, while another friend has Burgundians.

I look forward to seeing the photos from the siege :)

Cheers,
Paul.

Thanks for the mention! Indeed, you had a good idea near the start to split off a heavy Swiss unit to meet the massed longbows, you might have broken one more invading unit that way.

Maybe see you again in the winter, so get going on that seige equipment, in your "free" time:)

One other great detail I left out of the initial battle report: Tom's son and my son both played in the game. In fact, Tom's son rolled so well in melee for the Swiss pikes and halberds that the Armagnac players argued to have him banned!

Needless to say, we did not succumb to that argument. Though we did, in time, succumb to their overwhelming numbers.

Just put the siege game pics up, titled: "SIEGE OF HARFLEUR." We're only halfway through the game but the castle and war machine, in my humble opine, look pretty good.