Bloody Barons

We have had a few games with this rule set now and one thing you can be certain of, nothing is certain! The allocation of 'purses' (points), meant that I was the attacker and therefore started with all my troops on the table. My opponent had to roll dice to determine which of his forces arrived and the dice let him down. All his Household troops were delayed, plus his mounted retainers. In addition only one of his foot units reached the field at full strength. As we deployed I was faced with enemy facing me on the wings, but not in the centre.



Subsequent special events meant that my generals were placed on the baseline and the general commanding my left flank, (with which I had intended to attack), was 'in a huff' and would not do very much until 'motivated' by the commanding general. Threatened with execution perhaps? However, I decided to advance my centre, comprising my Household troops and gain ground before the enemy centre arrived. From this point on Lady Luck went on her holidays. The commanding general moved with great reluctance (ie low dice rolls) towards his recalcitrant subordinate, but just far enough to make it difficult to motivate his own troops. My mounted Household troops did advance but suffered heavy casualties from the enemy artillery and fell back in disorder. On my right the levy troops engaged in a long range archery duel with their opposite numbers, neither side causing much damage throughout the battle.



The left wing did eventually get moving and the mounted retainers charged a small body of enemy foot. Against the odds, they lost and routed from the field. This rout affected one of the supporting foot units which became disorganised and was then hit by a veritable 'arrow storm' which eliminated half its bases. In no time at all my left wing was reduced from 22 bases to fewer than 10 and the strategy now was to hold onto the hill and deny victory points to the enemy. This they manged to do, defeating a determined enemy push.



Indeed he was now moving from defence into attack. The troops which had been delayed now arrived and the pressure on my centre increased. A unit of foot was routed, forcing my handgunners to retire and the rout encouraged my artillerymen to flee the field. My mounted Household troops charged their opposite numbers and were soundly beaten and, you guessed, routed. The only remaining unit in my centre, the Household foot charged the enemy's Household foot. In a tight melee they lost by one base. The morale dice decided their fate. Being elite, they would need to pass on only one of the four dice to be rolled (ie get lower than a 4). I shook the dice and looked at the result, double box cars, 4 sixes on 4 dice. The foot routed and the day was lost.