1066 : Lion Rampant

Through a rather circuitous route I have found another local gamer to play in the dungeon. So as an introduction I had a mind to fight my Normans against my Saxons in a 28 point Lion Rampant Battle. Rules which are easy to pick up and play and don't give too much tactical advantage to either side. This would also be a bit of a test to see if we could use the rules to fight some slightly larger battles in the future.......

Initial setup Saxons on the left

 The Normans fielded a couple of units of mounted sergeants, crossbowmen, foot sergeants and a single elite unit of Norman knights on foot. The Saxons were entirely on foot with a couple of units of bowmen.

The Norman cavalry was slightly reckless looking to exploit a weak flank

Saxons hold their nerve in the face of the charge

 Now normally I would have expected the two cavalry units to make pretty short shrift of the Saxon archers on the hill, but somehow it wasn't to be and even when they had got them into combat the cavalry bounced off ! It took several turns and a gradual loss of numbers before the hill had been claimed.

Saxon reserves pulling across the protect their left flank

 Although the hill had been taken the cavalry threat had been severely weakened so the Normans who had hoped for flank support had to push forward on mass to take the saxon infantry on toe to toe.

Norman cross bows let fly

 The Norman cross bows were able to play a part pinning and weakening some of the Saxon infantry but the results of the push in the centre of the table was inconclusive. With out the support of the Norman Mounted units the infantry became isolated, weakened and gradually pulled back.

Norman Cross bows

 I didn't quite catch the end of the battle but the Norman foot knights got stuck in and started to level the odds, things were actually getting closer and there was a glimmer of hope, but the Norman Lord had been killed back with his cavalry and really it was only going one way. So the Saxons had it in the end when time was called.

Another good battle and hopefully a good introduction to the Dungeon.