Gentlemen.
I have hoist myself upon the horns of a dilemma ... let me explain.
Spring 1067. William the Bastard is now king of England, but there remain many Saxons who defy the invaders. One of these is Earl Aethoriel - known for his bravery, his nobility and the odd smell of cheese that followed him. To deal with the uppity Earl, William sends one of his trusted lieutenant Guy de Guy, known as Guy Brown Saddle because of his pre-battle nervousness.
Aethorial has put out the word for his troops to gather at the Sniggering Place*, where the main** road for Hiere to Thayar passed through a chain of low rounded hills. Aethorial's troops gathered remarkably quickly (due to a string of good throws) and now stand ready around the Sniggering Place. The only band not present is that of Techno the Undirectioned which is currently approaching Scotland.
Guy Brown Saddle was not so fortunate with the bones, and finds himself with only his heavy cavalry facing the Saxons. Some low archers are near and his offspring Raymond (know as Son Ray) had made contact with the lighter cavalry. All of Brown Saddle's infantry was on the wrong side of the Great River***. They will have to retrace their steps and cross the Great River before they can join their leader.
Gentlemen. Aethorial has the numbers and a good position, but no cavalry. Should he advance onto the flat ground to throw over Guy de Guy before the Norman infantry can rejoin their leader? Or should he stand his ground and await the full force of the King's wrath?
*It used to be know as the Goddess Paps but then puberty set in
**For "main" read "only"
*** They didn't spend a lot of time naming things
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50037257331_8cc6d39852_z.jpg)The Saxons in full array at the Sniggering Place confront the Norman cavalry, whilst over the Great River, Norman infantry look a bit silly.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50036695528_4dfe236cc6_z.jpg)The Norman archers on the correct side of the Great River. The rest of the infantry ... not so good.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50037240836_5345432f5d_z.jpg)Guy de Guy's view. Doubtless Brown saddle will be living up to his name.
Entirly down to you Nobby
Get stuck in and crush the Norman upstarts! :d
I say, take off, and nuke the site from orbit....It's the only way to be sure.
Cheers - Corporal Hicks
I suppose it will come down to the rules and how good an advantage one gets from being on the hills.
Stay put - you have a commanding position, and superior numbers.
Stay put, and give the Normans a good taunting!
If you think the Normans will just sit it out and wait for their infantry, then get stuck in.
If you think the Normans will expect they can just ride you down, then wait. Perhaps a feint of an advance to draw the Norman cavalry forward, then you can deal with them before their infantry arrives.
Quote from: Techno on 23 June 2020, 03:16:23 PM
I say, take off, and nuke the site from orbit....It's the only way to be sure.
Or this, though it may be beyond the Saxon's technology level.
The English have a long tradition* of finding a spot and saying "Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!"
*Well, it worked at Agincourt, not so much Hastings . . .
I think even if you put the order out to 'leave this safe place and lets go into the exposed open and attack some of the best cavalry in the world'
How many would follow!
Quote from: Norm on 23 June 2020, 04:47:23 PM
I think even if you put the order out to 'leave this safe place and lets go into the exposed open and attack some of the best cavalry in the world'
How many would follow!
Again, see Hastings...
Quote from: mollinary on 23 June 2020, 04:14:32 PM
Stay put, and give the Normans a good taunting!
Yeah, and watch out for the sneaky counter-taunts.
Keep your composure and stand your ground, no matter how vexing.
.... especially when they hit you with, 'Your mother was a hamster ....' :-B
I have come to a decision.
Aethoriel shall advance.
Then I shall reset the table and Aethoriel shall stay put.
Two games for the price of one. ;)
Send a PM to Lee via FK, requesting advice I am sure she will know what to do so that Sir Guy gets his comeuppance. :)
Quote from: Last Hussar on 23 June 2020, 05:46:28 PM
Again, see Hastings...
But that was an impetuous counter attack by part of the Anglo-Saxon right wing. It does not look to have been ordered or made as part of an overall attack by the whole army .... i.e. it is doubtful that Harold saw that local counter-attack as a good thing.
Quote from: Norm on 24 June 2020, 10:28:02 AM
But that was an impetuous counter attack by part of the Anglo-Saxon right wing. It does not look to have been ordered or made as part of an overall attack by the whole army .... i.e. it is doubtful that Harold saw that local counter-attack as a good thing.
Then again; we all know how that went so maybe it wasn't such a bad idea had the whole army joined in...
Cheers,
Rob
I await the result.
Well that didn't last long (as the ladies of Runcorn are wont to say to me.)
Guy de Guy, seeing the horde of Aethorial arrayed before him twitched nervously in his saddle. He glanced behind him and saw no sign of his infantry. There were some Breton archers but they were Bretons and so fit only for pig herding and cutting firewood. Besides they seemed to have been distracted by the plump geese of that farmstead. Coming up on the other side was Son Ray but he brought only some unarmoured cavalry who should have done a better job on scouting so his bloody infantry hadn't got lost. de Guy would have sat there all afternoon, ignoring the Saxon taunts and exposed, smooth, muscular taunting buttocks, but for the renegade Saxon in his troop. This was the infamous Ae, known to have been differently minded (by the grace of God) and stiff legged (by the grace of a Norse axeman) - yes is was Mad Lame Ae.
"My Lord!" cried Ae, "shall we not sweep these rabble from our path?"
"Do you think we ought?" Asked the Norman. "They seem a bit ... fractious." Ae spat, narrowly missing De Guy's dainty foot.
"They will fly like rabbits before a fox!"
"Have we introduced rabbits yet? Or did the Romans do that? I'm never quite sure." Ae grasped his reins tighter and ground his teeth.
"My Lord. We must charge and sweep these peasants from our path. We may be few, but we are mounted on good horses, and are fully armoured. We charge and they fly and we can enjoy such sport. Besides, Norm says we're the best cavalry in the world."
"Oh are we? That's comforting. Jolly nice of him. What do the rest of the chaps think?
De Guy's men growled their assent, and clashed their spears against their long shields.
Ae grabbed De Guy's arm.
"My Lord," he said excitedly, "they come. Now we must punish their impudence."
It was true. Whilst de Guy was seeking counsel, Aethorial had shifted his post. The Saxons began to advance from the hills, spreading out so as to reach the river with their flank. Silently they came, slowly, determined and in good order.
"Charge!" Screamed Ae spurring his horse forward. The Norman heavy cavalry dashed forward, the hapless de Guy caught up in their stampede.
There was no time to deploy; the Normans charged straight at Aethorial and his Huscarls. These prime warriors stopped to received the horsemen, but the fyrd continued their advances, angling inwards. There was no doubt of the result. The front line of Normans lost their mobility as they were hemmed in by axe-wielding Saxons to the front and the second line behind them.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50047446556_591936e327_z.jpg)Just before the end as the Saxons bend in to take the Normans in the flanks.
What of the Son Ray? Seeing his father's charge, he is reputed to have yelled "by God's Blood! My father may not be a gelding after all!"
He spurred his cavalry forward, attempting to attack the left flank of the Saxons. Then, something remarkable happened. Saxon archers did something useful. I know. Who'd have thought? Anyway, that part of the Saxon army comprised fyrdmen and most of Aethorial's archers. as Son Ray attacked, they loosed as fast as they could. The Normans were more bewildered than anything, but were checked and discomforted. Before they could get to within spear length of the fyrdmen, they unravelled into a confused mess of milling horses and men shouting contradictory orders.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50047446436_ce7e3d12de_z.jpg)Son Ray's cavalry failed to press home their attack.*
It was at this point I called a halt. What would have followed would have been naught but slaughter.
It has to be said that the Normans had some abysmal dice throws. Guy Brown Saddle would never have ordered a charge - so obviously it was the Mad Lame Ae that did it. The Saxons managed to hold it together and were able to deploy without any interference from the Normans. The Normans were on something of a bad path as all their infantry managed to get lost, and the Breton archers decided not to be so daft as to irritate that many shield-chewers.
Well that was fun! I think mayhap the Saxons showed remarkable battlefield maneuvering, but it was the Select Fyrd who did the damage when the Huscarls had stopped the charge. The lesser troops served mainly to extended the line to the river. The big surprise was the effectiveness of Saxon archery. I tend to (unfairly) think of Saxon arrows having rubber suction cups on the end, but this time they did the job. The fact that they outnumbered Son Ray 3:1 probably helped.
*You may be asking who the chap with the yellow flag is. I dislike dice on tables, so use green, yellow and red figures to denote how much trouble a unit is in. Green is "that stings". Yellow is "what are we going to do now?" and red is "as one shepherd said to the other shepherd - let's get the flock out of here."
Guy de Guy's personality evolved until he was a bit like this chap.
(https://66.media.tumblr.com/10e55185a1895df4470742d00e90349d/tumblr_p69ja7de6T1rzbj5mo1_250.gifv)
Ok, why am I getting the blame?
It's sort of implied in the name. :D
Besides, history is written by the winners and the eventual winners were the Normans. The couldn't let Guy Brown Saddle take the blame, so you're a useful scapegoat.
Bit of a Captain Nolan.
History is written by the winners - but only if they can write. If they can't, then history is written by the losers, crossly .... never murder people more literate than you."
- review of Alaric the Goth in The Economist
:) :) :)
Quote from: mad lemmey on 26 June 2020, 05:32:42 PM
Ok, why am I getting the blame?
Probably your fault.