I dug out some old Medievals this weekend with the intention of playing another Mini-Campaign in the style of the recent ACW one. I went for some fast, brutal rules (an OHW 3-hit variation) which generally lead to bloody battles, which seemed fitting for Medieval religious conflicts.
Two Bishops find themselves on opposing sides of a schism in the church (neither side could agree on a theological technicality relating to how many Angels could dance on the head of a pin*). The result is armed conflict. (*the answer of course depends on how much space is taken up by the band...)
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| Opposing Clerics |
The first game was a straight-forward encounter.
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Army White quickly got the upper hand (so much depends on initiative) with some high dice rolls.
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Very soon Army Red was overwhelmed and destroyed (one unit of archers hightailed it for the nearest village with a hostelry).
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Battle 2
Seeking revenge for the ignominious defeat, the Red Bishop sent a force to burn down some villages and generally harass the domain of his rival. The White Bishop, getting news of the approaching Red Army, quickly blocked the road with a weak looking force to lure in the Red Knights while his own Knights formed up to attack the flank.
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The impetuous White Knights rushed in a little early...
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and some found themselves outflanked.
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Army Red swept away the White Bishop's Knights
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and then cleared the road of his men at arms and peasantry.
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Battle 3
In the deciding game of the Mini-Campaign, the White Bishop's force found itself surrounded and needing to break out through the Red Army lines. (The objective for White was to get the units off the board to the North).
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The White Commander knew his force would benefit from their defensive spot on the hill, however staying there wasn't going to win the day. He therefore decided to attack and destroy the enemy to the South first, and only then tackle those to the North.
Winning the initiative White attacked
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The plan worked, and White had soon removed the threat to his rear
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In the meantime, Red had attacked the hill, but the defenders were able to hold on with ease.
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All that remained was to chase off the last stragglers of Red's Army and march off the board.
A decisive victory for the White Bishop.
Great reports on 3 quick and brutal games. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Roger, you're welcome.
DeleteFast n furious campaign…🙂. Great stuff! Roughly how long did each battle take to fight?
ReplyDeleteCheers Martin. Took longer to set up than play!
Delete….sounds familiar 🙃
DeleteSadly, back in the old days, obscure theological debates/arguments could easily lead to serious conflict ⚔️
ReplyDeleteThis mini-campaign looks quick albeit with considerable casualties. I wonder whether medieval peasants would be fully “committed to the fight” (they might prefer to continue their humdrum lives and leave any fighting to their superiors) or whether they would unquestioningly follow the “instructions” of their Bishops?
One thought - if all the peasants were dead then who would pay the tithes, plant & gather the crops etc? I suspect in the case of your campaign then this is probably a level of detail you don’t need to be overly concerned with 😉
Cheers,
Geoff
Cheers Geoff. As OHW has no morale testing, I always imagine the destroyed units as being a mix of dead, wounded and routed, so I guess many of the peasantry legged it!
DeleteYou're quite correct, for this type of campaign I'm not concerning myself about losses, just having a bit of fun.
Looks like it was fun. One would have to say God was decisive in his support for the Whites. I would say the bulk of the peasants simply scattered and ran away rather then stand and be slaughtered. In any case it was good to see some 1/72 figures getting an outing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark - yes it was a rare outing for these old figures. They need a bit of a spruce up as many have damaged weapons or are falling off their mounts.
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