"Dismounting and remounting during battle" Topic
6 Posts
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Griefbringer | 06 Jun 2015 8:21 a.m. PST |
Reading through a number of battle accounts from late medieval times, I noticed that sometimes cavalry that had dismounted at the start of the battle would remount later on, or that cavalry unit that entered a battlefield mounted could choose to dismount before launching an attack at the enemy. Of course being able to remount would require that the horses were kept within a reasonable distance, rather than taken far into rear. The riderless horses not only required quite some space, but they also provided a prize targer for sneakier sort of enemy to steal. I cannot think of many game rules that provide for such mounting/dismounting options. Usually player has to opt before the game whether to field the cavalry mounted or dismounted, and then the brave men-at-arms are expected to remain that way for the rest of the game. I can see the practical side of things, though – being able to dismount/remount in a miniatures game would require having multiple versions of the same unit: mounted version, dismounted version, and possibly even one more unit of pages/squires/valets holding riderless horses. Do you have experience with rulesets (commercial or homemade) or house rules that allow for cavalry to dismount and remount during the game? What sort of experiences have you had with them? Was there much benefit from dismounting, or did the enemy light cavalry just rob your horses? |
MajorB | 06 Jun 2015 8:26 a.m. PST |
In the Wars of the Roses, armies on the march were mounted if possible but fought on foot. There are only a few examples of the use of mounted troops in combat in the wars (e.g. the "200 spears" at Tewkesbury). Of course, once an enemy was routed pursuit would be mounted if possible. So no real need for mount/dismount rules in games, at least in the WOTR. |
Spooner6 | 06 Jun 2015 8:29 a.m. PST |
DBM had mountings/dismounting options. This option was very situational, and most of the time the option was taken at the start of the battle. For example a late medieval French would pick some MAA to start dismounted. Chris |
Great War Ace | 06 Jun 2015 8:31 a.m. PST |
Hastings started with the English issuing from the trees on Caldbec hill mounted, dismounting and leaving their horses in the rear of the shieldwall. As they routed off at nightfall, they grabbed whatever horses they could and fled. Hardly what the OP is asking for, however! I don't know of any specific battle, i.e. I don't remember one, where in the course of a "game" the cavalry could mount and dismount at will. But I should think that mounted crossbow would be the obvious first choice for effectively using this ability. Knights, or MAA, would naturally be stuck on foot for the duration of the battle. If for some reason they called for their horses, it would take enough time to bring them forward to make the next phase of the battle into another scenario…. |
Griefbringer | 06 Jun 2015 9:11 a.m. PST |
Some historical examples (taken from Ian Heath's Armies of the Middle Ages. 1.) Sempach, 1386: Austrians had three battles of men-at-arms. The first one dismounted in the beginning of the battle. The second battle was initially mounted, but dismounted later in the battle (once the first dismounted battle had been pushed back by the Swiss). Third battle remained mounted, but never engaged the enemy – deciding to flee instead after seeing how badly the other two battles got mauled. 2.) The Battle of Herrings, 1429: The English force dismounts in the beginning of the combat and places their horses in the middle of an improvised field fortification (consisting of wagons loaded with herring barrels). The French and Scottish cavalry remain initially mounted, while their crossbowmen and artillery start pounding the English positions. However, the Scots get tired of waiting, dismount and attack the English positions (with poor results), followed by a French cavalry attack (with equally poor results). The English exploited the situation by remounting and doing a counter-attack that routed the French. 3.) Arbedo, 1422: Milanese cavalry initially launches a mounted attack against the Swiss, but this does poorly. The Milanese pull back, dismount and launch a much more successful attack on foot, though the Swiss managed to get away from the battlefield eventually. |
Aubrey | 07 Jun 2015 6:49 a.m. PST |
To add to Spooner6s comments I remember a game of DBM where my opponent dismounted mid-game. These were 1HYW English bowmen but I guess the principle is the same. He used the mobility to get into a good position on my flank and then poured fire into me. I seem to remember he did have to be careful about the threat from my cavalry on that wing though. I was quite impressed with the tactic I seem to recall. |
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