Hello All,
A repeat of my post on the Fanaticus DBA forums. Enjoy
I have completed three DBA 3.0 battles of Anglo-Danish "English" (III/72) vs Normans (III/52). The map set up was detailed in my "Battle Starts" thread below
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Game #1
In 11 bounds with only a few turns of real combat the Normans Milites were destroyed by the solid line of Anglo-Danish Spear.
The Archers did good service in the woods. Sensing that the blades could not repulse the bow from the woods the English warlord ordered a general advance into the Norman horse. The English general recoiled the first knight unit and it was a uphill fight for the rest of the knights. Two knights were destroyed. The Normans counter charged but failed the breakthrough. The English advanced again to sweep them form the field.
4-2 English Victory
Game #2
In the second installment of the Anglo-Danish vs Norman Saga, the Normans switched out two Knights for Breton Cavalry. It was hoped their extra speed would allow them to prevent the English from closing the gap.
Well, command dice rolls prevented the Calvary from shooting the gap before lots of bearded men with pointy sticks got there. The Norman general settled down and allowed his bows to work the exposed flank of the English line. The Bows did not disappoint.
They recoiled one blade and destroyed another. One bow was lost but the remaining blade unit was pushed against the English line under heavy arrow fire and shot to pieces. Feeling that his flank would soon be compromised the English warlord ordered the line of spears forward against the Norman horse. The English were hoping for some of the same dice magic that had carried them the day before.
At first the magic was there. The Warlord and his huscarls repulsed the first unit of knights. This provided a huge advantage to the spears adjacent to the Warlord. You can all guess what happen next; a 1 to 6 roll.
The knight's counter charge was decisive and broke the spears. The next unit of Knights also broke through and with that the English army was at morale. Victory for the Normans!
In the remaining battles one unit of knights managed to impale themselves on the English spears, but It was not enough.
2-4 Norman Victory
The tally now stood at 1 game apiece.
Game #3
It was a hard-fought last battle. This time the English traded a spear unit for a skirmish unit of "Psiloi" to support the heavy foot in the woods. An English blade unit fell to the Norman arrows early. Despite the loss, the Psiloi and the remaining English blade managed to contest the woods for a long time. In the end the Norman bows proved to be true marksmen. These were not your rabble bowmen, I think they have Elvish blood.
With the camp under threat the English warlord moved to defend the camp; its lost would have ended the game. The English spear moved to close the gap and prepare for the final charge. When the Norman general saw the bows in place against the English flank the Knights charged.
Nothing was guaranteed with even combats all around, But the Normans were banking on their impetus for the quick kills. In the end victory belonged to the Norman knights but at great cost.
6-4 Norman Victory.
It was a fun series and I learned much, from the terrain setup to the use of the different troops. The three bow units in the Norman army were the MVPs of the series working the open flank of the English line in all the battles. I appreciate how irregular troops can act as a quick Reaction force in the bad going to cover the flanks. The Breton Cavalry also presents some interesting options as they can hit the spear line in the hopes of creating breaks without the risk of destruction.
I hope to do more in the future.
Now the neat thing about all these reports is that they were managed all within MS Excel. The maps are in my Dropbox location and you can see each battle turn by turn, along with my notes of each roll off. A unique view, I hope.
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Now some Battlefield photos not done in Excel.