The Iotan War Part Two

Before we moved house back in March, I had completed a little more of my Petaudia campaign - The Iotan War - and fought another battle. Dragon Rampant rules as usual; here it is:

Before the Count of Ethonia encircled Iota after his victory in battle, the Baroness tried to get aid from her neighbours, the Barons of the South and West March. Although the former declined, the latter agreed and set about raising his army. The Baron of the West March intended to link up with two of the Baroness' lords - Kynehelm of Doricourt and Pynd III of Bonese - whom she had sent back to their lands to raise more men. However, Pynd III, who had managed to gather a large force of his peasants, plus his own troops, along with some men from the Exarchal Church's Priory of Saint Crinis, along with a band of mercenary cavalry, set off for Iota before the Baron of the West March was ready. But when Pynd III and his men reached the river bank opposite to Iota, the Baroness did not believe he and his men could defend the town against a siege and so, fearing for the population if the Count of Ethonia launched an assault, she sent the garrison across the river to join Pynd III and surrendered Iota to the invader. Pynd III and his men withdrew back to his lands and informed Kynehelm and the Baron of the West March - these having moved towards Iota - of the turn of events. The poor Baroness was bound in chains and sent off back to Ethonia and any protest from the inhabitants of her capital was suppressed.

The Count of Ethonia was set on conquering all of the East March, so he sent a force, led by one of his own barons, Arldred of Priscia, across the river to attack Pynd III and his army. Once the latter was defeated, the Count intended to turn on Kynehelm and the Baron of the West March. Arldred reached Bonese and found Pynd III and his men drawn up for battle. The latter had an advantage of numbers, but his peasants would be little match for the better quality troops of Ethonia and their mercenaries.

The opposing sides - Ethonians at the top, East Marchers at the bottom, with Pynd III's peasants off-table, waiting to come on behind the centre.

East March longbowmen and spearmen in their black and yellow colours; to the left, plançonmen - big wooden clubs with spikes in the end - and hammermen from the Exarchal Church; the latter keep their own troops to defend their priories and intervene in conflicts where fellow believers are under threat. In this conflict, that meant siding with the Baroness, as the Ethonians are non-believers.

More of Pynd III's men - spearmen and crossbowmen.

The dwarf allies once more, plus the mercenary light cavalry.

Arldred's left wing - hobilars and mercenary longbowmen and a mixed band of mercenary macemen, axemen and billmen.

The Ethonian centre - pikemen and longbowmen from the Count's own household,

along with ordinary longbowmen. Red and green are the colours of Ethonia.

Arldred's right wing - dismounted knights, mounted knights and men-at-arms.

The random monster element! A forest lizard dwells in the woods around the ponds.

Pynd III's bands of peasants.

Hardly had the Ethonians got moving, than the forest lizard charged out of the woods and attacked the mounted knights. The latter were forced to retreat, unsurprisingly!

The Ethonian commander, Arldred, and his banner bearer.

Pynd III and his banner bearer.

Slow progress by the Ethonians, their right wing in some disarray from the attack by the forest lizard.

And again it attacked! This time the longbowmen, who were also severely handled by the creature, forcing them to retreat before returning to the woods. All this was, of course, much to Pynd III's satisfaction!

Over on the Ethonian left, their hobilars ended up in a long action with Pynd III's mercenary light cavalry, watched by the dwarves.

Realising he was not going to get his right wing into action against the East March force if he did not get rid of the forest lizard, Arldred sent his knights against the monster, but they were beaten off resoundingly.

However, his men-at-arms got in a successful charge and injured the creature enough for it to retreat into the woods to lick its wounds..

Not much success for the Ethonians; in fact, Arldred's troops are all higgledy-piggledy and have not even reached the East March line. 

Hobilars and light cavalry still fighting it out.

At last, the mercenary mixed band clash with East March spearmen, but are repulsed.

And still the hobilars and light cavalry fight it out.

And again they clash between the hedgerows!

Arldred's army still all over the place, the centre well up, but the wings not in support.

And yes, they are still battling away!

Again, the mercenary mixed band attack, but the hedgerow helps the East March spearmen and the attackers win, driving back the defenders, but then fail their morale test and have to retire as well. They were then broken by some good shooting by Pynd III's crossbowmen.

Pikemen and spearmen clashing on the road; the latter, fighting better troops,

is beaten and breaks in rout.

Things looking a little better for the Ethonians, but not much; Pynd III still has all his units and is holding his ground.

A lot of dithering by the Ethonians, in other words, they did not pass their activation dice rolls!

Pynd III throws in his peasants to fill a gap in his centre. Men-at-arms against toilers of the soil? Unsurprisingly, the horsemen routed the peasants with little trouble.

Arldred's left wing is still not getting anywhere; his centre and right are pressing forward, but Pynd III's men are still resolute in defence.

Exarchal Church troops engage the dismounted knights, but get beaten back.

And the forest lizard reappears, this time to Pynd III's dismay, as his Exarchal Church unit is caught by surprise and roughed up by the monster before it withdrew into the trees.

Dusk falling, Arldred decides that he cannot beat Pynd III before night comes on. So he called back his foremost units - the pikemen and men-at-arms, and reassembled his force.

The action was declared a draw, although Pynd III's side suffered the most losses, mainly amongst the peasantry. The next morning, both sides were still facing each other, Pynd III bluffing his opponent into thinking he could still beat him. So the Ethonian commander pulled back to Iota, intending to persuade the Count that he needed more men.

By then, the conflict was beginning to widen, as dark forces to the north, from Flamia, prepared to intervene...

As always with Dragon Rampant, a fast and fun game, often in the balance, with rules that are straightforward and ensure a decision to a battle; none of your three turns in four hours and everyone ready to go home, weary from wading through the rulebook or bored from the slow tallying of factors in favour or against!

L'Art de la Guerre/The Art of War 1677.

I have translated and edited the first edition of Louis de Gaya's work L'Art de la Guerre from 1677. It is very much an instruction book for officers and men of all ranks in how to carry out their duties, but it does include sections on the infantry, cavalry and artillery, as well as infantry drill, plus some information on tactics and the defence and attack of fortresses. As a former officer in the regiment Champagne, it obviously concentrates on French practice in the 1670s. It is attached below as a PDF (just click on the link) for anyone who would like to read it. Feel free to download it as well for your own use. I would welcome any feedback.

Gaya's The Art of War

The Trumpeter's Call.

 

Cavalry trumpeter c. 1650

(courtesy www.alamy.com)

Following on from drummer's calls, here are the French trumpeter's calls for the 1670s I have managed to find some information on:

“Bouteselle” - "boots and saddles” -  to get dressed and gather up equipment and tack.

“À cheval” - “to horse” - to mount up.

“À l’étendard” - “to the standard” - to assemble around the company standard.

“Le guet” - "the watch" - to go on guard duty.

“Le retraite” - "the retreat" - to mark the end of the day in garrison.

“La marche” – “the march” - to gather the men together when dispersed.

“La charge” – “the charge” - for a mounted attack.

“La sourdine” – “the mute” - to march quietly.

On the march, the trumpeter was at the head of the squadron, six paces in front of its captain. In battle, they were on the flanks of the squadron.

Some French mounted regiments had also acquired kettledrums by this date, usually having captured them from Imperial cavalry regiments where they were in common use. They took up a position alongside the trumpeter. Dragoon regiments had drummers like the infantry, along with fifes; foot regiments might also have oboes and bagpipes, the latter known as "musetes", which were common in rural France.

ACW Action: Battle of Middletown - Part Five.

So, at the end of Turn 13:

The Union cavalry have won the fight on their right flank, but Blake's brigade is hard pressed in the centre and has lost Bleak Ridge to Merlin's troops.

On the Union left, Coverdale's men are on the back foot, with Mutton's brigade

pushing them back from North Hill.

With Blake wounded, Major General Hill is reorganising his brigade to hold the next line of defence.

On Bleak Ridge, Major General Best watches on as Moon's and Henry's Batteries

pound the Union line.

Hill's remaining artillery, 'B' Battery, 5th Pennsylvania, open fire in defence of the ford.

End of Turn 15 and dusk is falling. On the Confederate right, Mutton's men have reached the fence as Coverdale hastens to rally his regiments. In the centre, Merlin's brigade goes forward against the Union hasty fieldworks.

The 5th North Carolina make a gallant charge, but the 8th New York meet them with heavy fire and they are repulsed before reaching the defence line.

Colonel Stevens of the 4th Michigan takes command of Blake's brigade.

On the right, Mutton's men are brought to a halt as the 17th New York repulse the 1st North Carolina, leaving the Confederate brigadier to urge forward the 16th Louisiana to take the fence line.

On the Union right wing, Mount has erred on the side of caution and halted his dismounted troopers, reluctant to enter the wood for the moment in case they are ambushed by Confederate cavalry.

In go the 16th Louisiana and the 17th New York gives way, abandoning the fence line.

In the centre, 8th New York and 5th North Carolina exchange fire as Merlin's advance stalls before the Union fieldworks.

However, a quick counter-attack by the 2nd Ohio catches the 16th Louisiana off-guard and the Union troops regain the fence line.

Mutton urges forward the 15th Alabama, the 6th Virginia close up in support, and the Buckeyes abandon the fence and retreat for Dry River. 

End of Turn Eighteen and night is falling, with Confederate batteries on Bleak Ridge and North Hill shelling the Union lines heavily. In the centre, Hill is trying to threaten Mutton's breakthrough from the flank by moving across a regiment to the road to the ford. Coverdale's regiments are falling back as Mutton's troops press forward.

End of the game, with nightfall. Hill has managed to hold on in the centre, the fieldworks proving too much for Merlin's men, and while Mount is still hesitating before the wood, he has kept open a line of retreat over South Bridge. On their left, the Union troops are recoiling before Mutton's advance, but rallying enough to prevent the Confederates reaching Dry River. But Best's batteries on Bleak Ridge and North Hill will make holding Middletown almost impossible the next morning, given the Union commander only has one battery with which to reply. So Hill resolves to pull out under cover of darkness and fall back.

So victory to the Confederates under Major General Best.

Hill's infantry brigadiers put up a creditable fight even though they were rated cautious, while his cavalry brigadier excelled himself even though rated average. Hill himself proved better than his average rating suggested as well. On the Confederate side, Best left the fight to his infantry brigadiers, both of whom lived up to their bold ratings, being well-forward with their men and pressing their attacks, while the cavalry brigadier, in spite of one bold move against Bleak Ridge, failed to fulfil his orders. Though he could argue Best should not have kept back his third regiment on the rather feeble excuse of 'just in case'!