A Little Bit of Northern Harrying

Well, we had a refight of Hastings planned for October but it never eventuated but this weekend we found that the campaign season was still in full swing so the Normans decided to get in a bit of Northern Harrying whist they had the opportunity. To this end my brave Anglo-Saxons, lead once again by Ætholguy the Seeker, stood against the might of the Norman invaders to save hearth and home from excessive, wonton harrying.

The stage was set; Ætholguy deployed his troops to defend a ford close to a nearby steading. The defenders held high ground on the northern bank and the woods to the west of the settlement. The Normans deployed to the south with a strong infantry centre and mounted knights on either flank.

My opponents on this red day of battle were Darryl, Ian Jeff and Piotr (D and P commanding the cavalry on the flanks). On the English side were Myself on the left and centre and John on the right. There was only on crossing point on the river however, each river section could be scouted in order to try and find alternative crossing points by expending one unit action and rolling a 5 or 6 on 1d6. The rules we used were Hail Caesar.

The Anglo-Saxons had a few allies in this fight in the form of two units of Irish mercenaries with javelins and a squadron of "Not-The-Riders-Of-Rohan" (because we were a little bit short of figures). We deployed our forces up to the line of the dirt track which included the steading and small wooded area.

The small wooded area to the west was surrounded by smaller streams which could be crossed but would inhibit movement. Ætholguy stood at the centre between the steading and the high ground with his housecarls and a small reserve. Our position looked strong but the Norman host looked large and intimidating.

The Normans took the initiative and advanced on their left (west) bringing their archers and crossbows into range. Their shooting took no toll on the defenders but they did cause disruption in the ranks of those troops defending the steading.

The Irish mercenaries took up positions to defend the ford and faced a lot of formed archers and crossbows but they held their ground.

On the Norman right their skirmishers set out but their knights sat their mounts, content at this stage, to watch the battle unfold.

Likewise, in the Anglo-Saxon centre, Ætholguy the Seeker watched the initial stages of the battle; hoping that his shield walls would hold the invaders at bey to protect their people and his beloved Judith of Durham.

The first Norman assaults came against the western woods where the light troops of both sides cashed in hand to hand combat. One of the Anglo band held and the other fled which opened the way for the Normans to walk their mounted knights over the brook and through the woods. Ætholguy sent the greater part of his reserve to block any potential breakthrough.

The Norman line continued to advance although those troops to the east were finding the going harder so they didn't advance in a solid line. The mounted knights had still not advanced putting less pressure on the Anglo line. 

At the steading the Earl D'Arryl pressed the Norman attack but John's doughty thegns held their ground and pushed the knights back over the stream with heavy casualties. The fighting in this area was hard and heavy with both side pushing forward and falling back throughout the day..

Near the centre the Normans under Baron Jeffery found a crossing point and began to cross in a dense column lead by their crossbowmen. This presented a fine target for a charge and Ætholguy ordered part of his shield wall off the heights to drive the enemy back over the river.

Unfortunately the Anglo charge failed to reach the enemy bowmen which gave them the chance to form a perimeter (gamewise: it was a matter of who gained the initiative in the upcoming turn). This was a crucial part of the battle.

Back at he western wood the Norman knights formed up for another push to break the Anglo flank.

Along the river the Normans' searched for more crossing points whilst the Irish struck at them with their javelins. However, it was only  a matter of time before the enemy found a way across the to the northern bank.

The Normans got the initiative and formed a small perimeter, thus enabling the heavy foot knights to begin their crossing of the river. Ætholguy ordered this thegns to charge the thin line and drive the enemy back to the opposite bank.

As the men from the high ground charged into the front men also poured from the steading and hit the side of the Norman perimeter. They would be crushed and hurled back in a great slaying with red swords winning the day!

Anticipating the breaking of the Norman centre the thegns on the height advanced towards the river with a mind to cross and bring their strength to bare when their enemy became shaken from the riverside attack.

As predicted the crossbowmen were swept away and the armoured Anglo thegns surged forward to take the attack to the Norman foot knights crossing the river. The thegns charged and the Normans "locked shields" (this is a tactical option in Hail Caesar which decreases the defenders ability to cause casualties whilst increasing their defensive value). The Thegns were stopped in their tracks and forced to take a Break Test (they lost the combat by 1 point meaning I got a -1 on the dice roll).

"Just Don't roll Snake Eyes." quipped Earl D'Arryl...

The Anglo-Saxons broke on the Norman shieldwall and fled the field. There was now a big hole in the line and the Normans would soon begin to pour across the river. The only troops in place to stop them were some light archers and Ætholguy the Seeker with his hearthguard.

It was now that the Norman eastern wing surged forward as their light troops searched for a possible crossing point. The men who had vacated the heights were seriously thinking they might have made a major mistake.

The men who had sallied forth from the steading were targeted by Norman archery and forced back into the cover of the walls. So, with a heartfelt speech reminiscent of Théoden King, a cry of "Follow Me! " and the appropriate dice roll, Ætholguy lead his hearthguard with their long Dane axes into the fray. First they hewed down the last remaining Norman crossbows on this side of the river and realigned themselves to drive the drive the foot knights back so that the river ran red with their blood.

The English Earl and his men then hurled themselves at the real target. but as they clashed more and more Normans joined in the fight and their numbers began to tell heavily against the brave hearthguard. (This was a matter of Jeff throwing more units in as supports to the combat before any dice were rolled).

Meanwhile the light archers attempted to stall  more Normans from crossing the river. They had no chance and were easily brushed aside by the heavy foot knights.

Meanwhile, at the western wood John had pushed back all opposition and pressed into the Norman left flank. His thegns attacked a group of light horse who decided to stand and use the high ground of a small hillock to hurl their javelins. This did them no good and they were routed from the field.

All along the river the Normans began to cross and there was no way to halt them. The Anglo-Saxons had yielded the high ground and were now in danger of total defeat.

The fighting at Ætholguy's front intensified and he put his full energies into throwing back the invaders (committed 3 dice to the melee which, in turn, increased his chance of being wounded or killed). Jeff decided on the same tactic and locked shields: This paid off if only a little. The major issue was that Ætholguy fell and was wounded. This added to the losses of the hearthguard and they had to take a Break Test. No worries. 

Break Test: They rolled a 4 with a -2 to the score - Break/Rout!

No worries they got a re-roll...

Another 4 (with -2).

And so the Anglo-Saxon centre broke. The hearthguard dragged their wounded earl from the field as the Normans poured across the river to continue their harrying. The North is lost.

Alackaday!

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What a great game that was. A few hundred figures on the table and a great bunch of blokes. Darryl and I sort of ran it none of us really had a solid handle on the rules. We sort of knew what we were doing and decided that so long as we kept things consistent then all was good. We had to go wading through the horribly written Hail Caesar rule book on a few occasions.

I actually like the HC rules but they are so awfully written. Why used a sentence to explain a rule when you can stretch it out to a few paragraphs? Why write a paragraph when you can write a whole page? It's so difficult to find anything in the rule book and you can't skim over anything when you're looking because that tid bit of info you need might be buried in amongst several paragraphs of verbosity.

Enough of my whinging... It was a great game even if we got hammered (and I was to blame). The battle was never a forgone conclusion. Jeff pulled off some heroic saves for his troops in the very teeth of certain defeat and definitely saved the day for the Normans.

All the troops were provided by myself - the Anglo Saxons - and the Darryl supplied all the Normans. A lovely army by anyone's standard.

We have a rematch planned for next year at the first February club meeting.

And for those of you that don't know and maybe wondering:

Earl  Ætholguy the Seeker is based on the bass player

from the Seekers. The first bass player I'd ever heard of.