Better prepared for a rematch with the Spaniards from a few weeks back, but Tim didn't make it to the club.
So, Andrew cobbled together an army (Later Hungarian, 1491+)from club bits and we started 90 mins later than intended, with Nigel at the helm of his cavalry left flank.
This battle report is not well written, so I apologise in advance. It was much later in the evening than anticipated, and despite being a bank holiday, had been very busy.
I brought a proper army list, which admittedly needed some tweaking as I don't find the rules totally clear on baggage ME points. Please ignore the corrections in green, as I ended up re-correcting!
Andrew's hastily put together army list as below...
Terrain was deployed with a number of items being left off table, favouring Andrews fast moving cavalry, but generally I was fairly happy with it all.
Matching 2's on weather meant no adverse effects and Andrew set up first, which suited me perfectly.
Turn 1
Hungarian LH streak into a flanking columns on both flanks
Their Spear(Inferior) and Bow(Inferior) move forward with some Ps, with a force of Ps moving into the wooded terrain on the flank (If i recall, this was a wooded hill)
Rolls of 6,4, and 3 allow Knight (Superior) and Cavalry (Ordinary)[Ordonnance archers upgraded to cav.)to move forward, Psiloi (S)(Handgunners) to push out and Crossbows move forward in the centre, with Blade moving out to secure the left flank, a few pips go unused.
Turn2
Nigel rolls a 3,1,1 Pips for the Hungarians, painful for them!
Some of the LH manages to form lines against the French Kn and Cv, but with limited Pips, the others have an impetuous advance as a broken line, with some Knightly support
The column of Light horse(F) on the French left flank keeps moving steadily around
In the shooting phase a French bombard pushes back a Knight and the crossbows push back a Light Horse (S)
The French roll 6,5,3 for Pips.
On the left flank, the Blade & general rearrange, and the organ guns turns to face the LH(F) threat
My Cv(O) engage the enemy, with Kn(S) turning to face
I move my central body of Pk up, along with a serpentine, leaving 2 PiPs unused
In the shooting phase the French manage to push back a Hungarian knight
But an unpleasant combat phase leaves 2 units of French Cavalry dead
Turn 3
The Hungarians roll 4,1,5 for Pips.
their LH moves towards a fight
Their Kn advance towards the French lines
Their LH make their flanking manoeuvre clear and terrify the French commander (me)
The remaining IrLH(S) moves impetuously forwards
A bombard fires with French crossbowmen at Hungarian knights, for no effect.
The serpentine at the edge of the pike line fires at the Hungarian Knight wall and pushes a unit back, splitting the contiguous unit
On the left, the bombard and serpentine team up against Sp(I) and do... nothing.
In the combat phase, LH(S) against Crossbows ends in a draw
LH(S) vs Kn(S), gives a French win and some dead LH(S)
LH(S) vs Cav(O) gives another French victory and more dead LH(S)
Rolls of 5,3 and 2 lets the French cavalry command move into combat everywhere. In the centre the organ gun forms up with the Pikemen
On the French left flank, the rear rank of Pikemen 180 & move to address the flanking LH(F)
In my shooting phase;
Bombard and crossbow draw against their combined target with no effect
Serpentine pushes back
Bombard & Serpentine combined push back IrrSp(I)
Serpentine beats Bw(I)
In the combat, a LH(S) is killed by the French, Kn(S) are pushed back and LH forced to flee
My remaining Cav(O) kills a LH(F) and my Handgunners (Ps(S)) kill a LH(S), which ended better than I had expected.
Turn 4
Hungarian LH moving into the back of French knights
Hungarian knights hit French crossbowmen
the rest of the Hungarians follow up
the Hungarian regular infantry move in
A serpentine misses the Hungarian crossbows, and they press forward
The serpentine and bombard separately shoot at Sp(I) but have no effect
The central organ gun and bombard target a knight together and push it back
A crossbow unit is killed in combat with Hungarian Knights
I lose a Kn(S) and Cav(O) from my Command #1, and it is disheartened
Rolls of 3,2,2 for Pips means
French Command 1 (cavalry) attacks everywhere it can
French command 2 (centre) moves pikes in
French command 3 (left flank) wheels the rear rank of pikes to face the oncoming LH(f)
In the shooting phase, of the 2 bombards and 2 serpentines, all but one serpentine have no effect, with the serpentine pushing back a Hungarian crossbow unit.
In combat, the French quick kill a LH(S), the French CinC Kn(S) kills a LH(F), the adjoining Kn(S) uses the inspiration to kill another LH(F), disheartening that Hungarian command.
My pike men draw in their fight, making no progress.
Turn 5
Nigel has left us due to prior commitments at this time, but we soldier on.
Hungarians roll 5,3,5 PIPs
LH(F)+(S) attack my Ps(S)
Ir LH(S) subgeneral attacks my Kn in the rear
Hungarian knights move into my turned pike units
LH(F) moves into my serpentines
And the Hungarian crossbows form into line with their other infantry
The Hungarian Bow (I) kill a pike unit
Yet again, my serpentine and bombard have no effect on their target
Another lone serpentine misses the crossbows, and they press forward
In the combat, French hand gunners Ps(S) beat LH(S) in a fight, spending them...
With no recall, some Ps(S) are killed by LH(F) with no room for recoil
The Hungarian IrLh(S) subgeneral kills the Kn(S) which it hit in the rear, breaking the French command #1
Amazingly, My bombard wins it's melee, pushing back the Hungarian IrrKn(O)
My serpentine isn't so lucky and is lost to Knights, along with 2 units of pikes killed by the knights.
French PIP roll of 5 4 and 3 allows minimal movement into contact- this is the end game so no more strategy, just awaiting combat outcomes
I apologise for the terribly blurry photo
2200 hours, its time to call it quits. I finish turn 5 with shooting and combat.
I manage to push back a Kn with a bombard, but otherwise no effect on the enemy.
In the combat my CinC is pushed back, a unit of crossbow kills a LH breaking the Hungarian command.
My Pikes kill a Knight, push back 2 more, and win against a Lh (F), meaning it's spent.
I lost 30.1% of my army, and Andrew 32.3%.
Although clear than in another 2-3 turns, without extreme luck in my favour re Dice, Andrew would have won - at the closing of the game, losses meant 13-12VP in the French favour
I've since got proper Ordonnance archer models, which allows me to up my knight count and drop the cannon count, thankfully! Hopefully my next engagement will be better!
