Wednesday 9 March 2022

Battle of Morella 1084 ? El Cid and the Reconquista

After the success of our previous reconquista battle and the exploits of El Cid we wanted to further explore more of his battles. The challenge I have found is there is little information on the details on many of his battles. Like much of the history of this period it is fragmentary and mainly written at least a generation if not more later than the actual events. This is bad in some respects as it is nice to have something to go on but on the other hand it gives a pretty free reign to develop balanced scenarios. The Battle of Morella is one of those battles where there appears very little information. What we do know is El Cid probably wasn’t wearing Late Medieval armour as he is shown in this picture.

From Wiki 

“The Battle of Morella southwest of Tortosa, was fought between Sancho RamírezKing of Aragon and Navarre, and Yusuf al-Mu'taminKing of Zaragoza, while the former was engaged in a campaign of conquest against the latter. The encounter was a defeat for Sancho and sparked a brief reversal of fortunes in the Navarro-Aragonese ReconquistaRodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid, was a general for al-Mu'tamin at the time.

According to the Historia Roderici, El Cid and the king of Zaragoza, setting out from Monzón, perpetrated a five-day raid on Aragon. Then El Cid targeted the southeast of the Taifa of Tortosa, ravaging the territory around Morella, even re-fortifying the castle at Olocau. Sancho, who had avoided confrontation during the raid on his own kingdom, joined with Mundhir al-Hayib, the ruler of the united realms of DeniaLleida, and Tortosa, and camped by the Ebro. El Cid reportedly replied to the king's demand that he retire with an uncompromising message, and when the two armies joined in battle the former scored "an overwhelming victory".

This is pretty much all I have found on the battle

The location of Morella
As this was to be a remote game I set up the hex system, having googled the potential battlefield it is clear it probably wasn’t a flat area. On the near side Sancho Ramirez with his Muslim allies to his right. On the far side El Cid leading the Zaragozan army. We would be playing with Jon’s modified Impetus rules, with victory points awarded for either wiping out or forcing back enemy units, with a bonus for capturing the enemy baggage if possible. So onto our battle
Cavalry advancing on the Zaragosan left flank, the hills causing some disruption
Both forces advance, Sancho has more heavy cavalry but less archers
Early on in the battle the Cid and his Mercenary cavalry are charged by Sancho and his guard
Both lines begin to crash into each other and break up
A fierce cavalry battle begins in the broken ground which carries on for much of the battle
Behind them Muslim infantry advance through the trees
The Cid initially wins the combat in the centre and Sancho narrowly escapes with his life. He joins another unit and charges back in
This time forcing the Cid back badly mauled
A tense and chaotic phase in the battle, on the far side Aragonese cavalry breaks through but fierce fighting everywhere else
The Aragonese army initially takes the lead forcing much of the enemy cavalry back, but they hold on a regroup
In the centre the Zaragoza army is forcing the Christian infantry and crossbowmen back, although close to breaking they are stubbornly holding on
And then the battle turns against the Aragonese who are pushed back again in multiple locations and with a surge of victory point El Cid has won a famous victory. Repeating history yet again !

A really fun and engaging battle we are both becoming more familiar with the rules, the scenario was balanced and although not exactly a historical recreation due to the lack of information it gave a great battle which hung in the balance for several turns. We will see some more of these Reconquista battles at some point and if somebody is aware of a better source for details on El CId’s battles let me know. I know hexes are not to everybodys taste but they give a “clean” and enjoyable gaming experience using figures which enjoy getting out on the table.

Not much painting this week as I have been prepping German infantry and we are away this weekend so no game but hopefully some landscapes 😀

Matt



22 comments:

  1. A fine looking game, although the hex set up is not as visually pleasing as your usual table it is as you say ideal for remote games.

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    1. Oh, come on. I think the game looks great and plays even better!

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    2. Thanks Phil an enjoyable battle. It’s all about aesthetics and finding a hex based set up which looks and feels as good as it can, but is clear enough for remote gaming 👍

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  2. Matt, this was a terrific clash! It was a close contest until fortune turned away from the Aragonese. These Basic Impetvs battles (both Reconquista and Samurai) on a hex grid have been some of the most exciting games played in a long time.

    Thank you for hosting!

    For those keeping score at home, Matt WON this battle handily.

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    1. Thanks Jon an enjoyable battle indeed, hard fought and the dice rolls didn’t abandoned me! More to come 😀

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  3. Nice game Matt, and it seems as though you have a better time of it as a medieval commander than an AWI British general.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence it was reassuring to know the dice gods haven’t completely abandoned me 👍

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  4. Yes, that's lovely gaming in very interesting period!

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  5. A great looking and sounding game Matt... I do agree hexes are not as aesthetically pleasing as your usual tables, but hex games do have certain advantages and must definitely make remote gaming a lot simpler to manage fir movement, shooting etc.

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    1. Thanks Keith you have hit the nail on the head. The trick is getting the balance between aesthetics and functionality 🤔

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  6. The hex terrain is visually second rate when set against your more usual set up, but it is undoubtedly well suited to the remote gaming environment. Nice to see the armies out on the table as you say.

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    1. Thanks David always good to get the armies on the table 👍

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  7. Nicely done, the base size is perfect for the hex.

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  8. I don't mind the pared down aesthetic of the hexes, which certainly work brilliantly for remote gaming, but then I don't mind the look of classic old school games either. As long as their is a cohesive look to the whole game, then I'm happy.

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    1. Thanks Steve both work for me, as you say a cohesive style is perhaps the most important thing 👍

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  9. Nice report and an interesting period.

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    1. Thanks George a very colourful period with plenty of scope for expansion 👍

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  10. A nice looking game Matt…
    This is really a period I know very little about… something I should really try and rectify.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks Aly a great period with lots of scope for small and quite large battles. It appears that much of the documentary evidence is pretty scant a mix of Arabic and Spanish sources.🤔

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  11. Nice action, how big are your hexes side to side?

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    1. Thanks, the hexes are 10cm across flat side to flat side so they can comfortably fit bases upto 85x50 . The majority of infantry bases where I have multi base figures are 60x60, cavalry above are I think 50x 50. I wanted to be able to use the system flexibly for as many different figure sizes, so it also works pretty well with 28mm figures on 40x 40 bases 👍

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