Marcher Lord : Battle at Ogmore

Taking inspiration from a recent edition of Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy our game at the weekend was a Dark Age skirmish. The background set out in the article has the local Norman Lord setting out with a force to collect tax from the population. The welsh tribes are not happy and set an ambush.

I adapted the size of the armies slightly adding in an extra unit per side and giving the respective army leaders a small elite unit of retainers.

The Norman force starts on the battle field split by the small Ogmore River which is crossable, they have been distracted by welsh cavalry demonstrating on the distant hill

The rest of the welsh force is hidden in the surrounding woods

The welsh force is mainly archers and light spearmen

The challenge gives both sides something to think about the Normans must avoid their cavalry being dragged into the woods where they will lose their advantages, the welsh force is very spread out and in danger of being defeated peace-meal. Will the Norman crossbowmen be able to go toe to toe with the welsh archers ?

As the Norman move forward the welsh appear from the woods

And pepper them with arrows from the right, this pushes much of the Norman army to move to the left across the river

But one unit of Norman knights crosses the river the other way seeing some exposed welsh to potentially attack 

Normans crossbowmen crossing the river

The unit of welsh spearmen make it back into the woods but the small skirmish unit may be too slow

As the leading unit of Norman knights is forced back form the far woods the Lord advances forward to support them

Some of the Welsh are back in the trees jeering at the attackers

The other Knights are pushing into the woods

Whilst the Norman Lord and his retainers have caught the Welsh cavalry napping and they scatter

The knights in their enthusiasm charge into the trees to cut down more Welsh spearmen

Having now wiped out the Welsh on the far side of the river the axis of the battle has changed and the remaining units are facing each other across the river

The welsh charge through the river looking to finish the Normans off

Showered by arrows two more Norman units flee the field

The rest of the Welsh push forward sensing victory

Surprisingly honourable or foolish the Norman Lord chooses to resolve the combat by single combat

The Welsh commander is however no push over and the Norman Lord is quickly brought down. Only the quick action of his sergeant saves his life as he is dragged back onto his horse before fleeing the field

So a victory to the welsh, but it cost them, I fear the Marcher Lord will return another day but will bring more force with him next time. A fun game, tough for the Normans the Welsh were lucky with very few failed activations which helped.

Thanks for looking next up some WW2 Norway from the weekend

Matt 👍