John Lackland, King of England, gave a heavy sigh as he squinted into the morning sunlight. There some ˝ a mile away was King Phillip Augustus and the best of the Ile De France's flower of chivalry. Lackland's plan had been so beautifully designed and seemed to be simple enough to execute. All that was required was for his nephew Otto IV the Holy Roman Emperor to threaten Paris from the north calling Phillip away to protect his seat of power there and John would regain his possessions in the south of France. If Otto and some rebel barons along with help from Brabant could defeat Phillip in the field then that would be a bonus. All of this mattered not at all now though because Phillip had not gone north as planned and in fact had trapped John's English/mercenary force along the Loire river.
Enough thought of what could have been, now it was going to be a fight for survival of not only his kingship, but very well his life. John wheeled his destrier around and surveyed the field. Good ground for cavalry, something that he had a disadvantage of vs. the French but there was no where else to go. The French were already arraying into the traditional three battles with two strong cavalry wings and only two small contingents of foot in the center. The English king knew that to win the day he would have to hold on the flanks with his limited horse, crush the French center and take his chances from there.
Due to a lack of noble support back in England, the bulk of John's force was comprised of mercenaries from Normandy and the low countries.
After all was in place there was an eerie calm on the field with very few sounds other than the snort of a warhorse or the flapping of a banner in the breeze. The calm was broken with a blast from the French trumpets and an advance of the French heavy horse on both flanks. Both armies advance their bowmen and a deadly hail of bolts began to kill on both sides. John ordered an all out assault by his stout Flemish spearmen in the center. The French infantry advanced slightly and prepared the onslaught. Meanwhile the English right flank was struck by the full weight of two groups of knights and a third command of sergeants. John's knights withstood the initial impact and through the dust appeared to be holding their own. King John's left flank was yet to engage. "good" he thought, he needed time for his attack in the center to develop. Develop it did, the Flemish swept through the enemy x-bowmen and smashed into the French city militia. As the infantry struggled in the center, King Phillip's knights struck home on John's left flank. John's sergeants and knights were holding their own from what he could see, so he turned his attention back to the center of the field and his hopes of victory. The Flemish made short work of the French spearmen who fought valiantly, but were overwhelmed by numbers and began to break for the rear. The entire French center was collapsing, God may be with us after all, he thought. No sooner than his hopes had arisen though, he saw his right flank and he knew that it was not meant to be. The French had managed to pin his horse with their knights and had flanked them as well with some light cavalry. Despite a heroic stand by one of his units of noble horse, the flank was gone and with it his hope of victory. Even though he had one the center, his infantry could not swing around in time to support the flanks and his army was coming apart before his eyes. One of the king's household guards grabbed his reins and said milord we must get you to safety. John reluctantly agreed and as he was leaving the field, he saw his right flank collapse as the mercenary Norman knights were cut to pieces. All that remained now was for the game of capture and ransom as well as the slaughter of the unlucky foot that were not able to escape the field with their lives.
I fought this game solo using Arty Conliffe's Tactica Medieval rules. I have not had them out in a couple of years so I dusted them off and gave them a go today. I forgot how much fun they were as well as being quick and bloody (perfect for a campaign). I gave the English an extra infantry unit and set the French up first, but still the French horse was too much to handle. Otto is still lurking in the northern frontier, he is just a bit late to help King John.
receives a gift from his wife…
