The Battle of Gripen

We played the concluding chapter of TDM on thursday, and it was a heaving great battle by our standards, which is to say it was not much more than a skirmish by Grimsby standards. We played three a side, with one player coming on to the table as reinforcements later in the game.

Apart from the scale of the fight, this battle also featured two new element types for us. Turcopoles and war elephants.

STARTING

Both sides started in the positions laid out at the end of the preceeding role playing campaign. Sir Adley and his small army of loyalists were positioned to the south and slightly around the eastern edge of a farm. Caught by surprise they were still in column with Sir Adley’s men at the head of the column (to the east of the farm and heading up 'the slope'), followed by Sir Carnog’s men. Sir Roger Flor and his retinue bringing up the rear. The doted line on the table represented the top of the slope.

The Loyalist good guys

Sir Bohemond and his force were travelling in column at the south end of the table, moving from the forest and up to the ridge when the mists faded the two armies caught sight of each other.

The Royalist good guys

Neither side was ready for battle and the first order was to dress the lines as hastily as possible.

The sides were as follows:

Player 1: Palle (Overall commander of the Loyalist army)

Sir Adley De IVES. (Knight in green, grey and orange).
Lambert FERRYWAX. (Squire in padded leather)
6 Mounted in full armour. (Norman cavalry in green/grey)
15 Foot soldiers in full armour. (Norman infantry in green)
20 Foot soldiers in partial armour. (Norman skirmishers in padded leather)
6 Archers in partial armour. (Norman crossbowmen in green)
1 Ballistæ.

45 elements

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Player 2: Rasmus

Sir Reginald CARNOG. (Knight in blue & yellow)
Darcy JARBLE, Squire. (Norman noble with bare head)
Avery CARNOG, Esquire. (Spanish knight in blue)
7 Mounted in full armour. (Norman cavalry in blue)
12 Foot soldiers in full armour. (Norman infantry in blue)
10 Foot soldiers in partial armour. (Norman skirmishers in blue)

(32 elements)

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Player 3: Tracey

Sir Roger FLOR. (Knight in blue & white)
Lady Marigold FLOR (Female turcopole)
Lady Marjory FLOR (Female turcopole)
Lady Meredith FLOR. (Female turcopole)
Pieter HOOGABOOM. (Knight in brown)
9 Foot soldiers in full armour (Teutonic infantry)
4 Archers in partial armour (Teutonic crossbowmen)

(18 elements)

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Player 4: Oleg (Overall commander of the Royalist army)

Sir Bohemond DASHFERN. (Knight in red, yellow & black)
Niccoló SIGISMUNDO (Knight in red)
Inigo (Knight in black)
3 Elephants of War (Elephants)
8 Mounted in full armour (Norman cavalry in red)
12 Foot soldiers in full armour (Norman infantry in red)
9 mounted archers in partial armour (Turcopoles)

(35 elements)

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Player 5: Jan

The FALCON. (Brian Boru)
8 Bros. of the Sacred Grove in full armour (Saxon tribal warriors)
14 Morden warriors in partial armour (Unarmoured Saxons)
16 Morden archers in partial armour (Saxon archers in green & brown)

(39 elements)

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Player 6: Peter

Cedric of Morden (Saxon leader with red cloak)
Voric (Saxon skirmisher with blue & red shield)
Morded (Saxon skirmisher with blue & red shield)
8 Morden Warriors in full armour (Saxon warriors with blue & shields)

(11 elements)

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Chapter 6: Conclusion and aftermath

Mid morning on the 31st Mae. 1623.

The morning mists had lingered long in the shadows of Kelling Wood and as the small army of Sir Adley De Ives approached a burning farmstead, they discovered the long anticipated peasant rebellion had apparently begun. A farmer and his daughter, loyal to the Earl, were being attacked by their own farm hands, rebellious louts, intend on pillage and rape. Rufus of Castelopea, a gentleman comrade of Sir Adley De Ives rode hence and slew the traitors forthwith.

Sir Adley halted his column and the nobles debated what was to be done. The original plan of crossing the river at Lower Gripen to attack the house of the pretender, Sir Bohemond Dashfern was thwarted as scouts returned the news that the bridge had been destroyed by Sir Bohemond’s men. It was decided that the army would take a longer alternative route and cross at the Ford of Marriot whilst Rufus would cross the river with ten men to the east of Gripen and cut off communications between Gripen and Morden Forest. Rufus set off at once whilst Sir Adley’s army got back into formation.

As Sir Adley was preparing to march, a distant sound was heard. To the east lay Kelling Wood and from its depths came the sound of a great trumpeting cry. All eyes turned to the misty trees and the horses became restless. As the men watched in amazement a large body of troops appeared from the mist moving west, accompanied by war elephants.

The battle began.

Sir Adley de Ives and Sir Reginald Carnog moved their forces to take advantage of the farm, leaving skirmishers and archers to form a line whilst they dressed their cavalry columns. Sir Adley left his ballista where it was to the rear of the archers. Sir Roger Flor moved to take the farm.

Sir Adleys front line evaporates under the Morden archers arrow storm. The Falcon turns his attentionon Sir Roger

Sir Bohemond Dashfern, pretender to the long vacant throne of Takshendal was surprised to find a small army in his path, and having only his personal retinue with him was unsure of victory but he elected to take the chance and fight. This was to be his undoing as his main forces were still behind him in Kelling Wood, and north of the River Glun occupying Snoad and neither would reach him in time.

Sir Bohemond elected to move along the ridge and envelope his enemy, trapping them against the farm with the Falcon and his forest men providing blanket archery cover from the rear. This meant the opening stage of the battle saw Sir Adley De Ives and Sir Reginald Carnog’s front line being annihilated under a constant arrow barrage whilst on the western flank several of Sir Rogers arbalestiers used the tree line as cover to return fire against the Falcon’s line. The Falcon attempted to counter the threat from the western flank by moving a group of warriors up the road, but these were unable to engage the Arbalestiers.

The main fight begins on the right flank, the table edge offering an artifical obstacle.
Sir Bohemonds heavy cavalry engages the Loyalist pike line

Their Pike line obliterated, the Loyalist cavalry charge into the fight

Cedric of Morden, an ally of the Falcon, was flanking the main group with a small band of warriors and hearing the sound of combat he headed for the fight.

Sir Bohemond having divided his force into two lines, with his elephants in the rear, halted to wait whilst the archers cut Sir Adley’s lines to pieces. Amongst the elements destroyed in the arrow storm was the ballista. The battle continued in this vein until the Loyalist force, suffering terrible losses in their centre, decided to counter attack. Sir Roger Flor and his retinue quit the farm and began to position themselves on the road whilst Sir Adley De Ives and Sir Reginald Carnog moved their cavalry and pikes forward.

Cedric of Morden arrived from the tree line behind Sir Roger Flor whilst the Falcon and his men were approaching along the road. Sir Roger, caught between two enemies, elected to engage the one and hold off the other with skirmishers. Together with his yeoman, Pieter Hoogaboom, he charged along the road full tilt and scattered the Falcon’s band of warriors, slaying several. The Falcon fell back to a line of Skirmishers he had pulled up from his archers, but this was to be of little use. Whilst Sir Rogers pike men finished off the warriors on the road, Sir Roger, Pieter Hoogaboom and Sir Rogers daughters, hunted the Falcon down. As the old man fled ignominiously, he was felled by an arrow in the back shot by Lady Marjory Flor.

The elephants engage

Sir Bohemond (in red, white, yellow and black) meets his doom

Incensed by seeing their leader shot, the archery line drew their fire against Sir Roger Flor and he in his turn was unhorsed by an arrow. This fulfilled one of the three criteria for sudden victory for the Royalist side, but there was little time for celebration. The skirmishers to Sir Roger Flor’s rear had brought down Cedric of Morden and his men were milling about uselessly by the farm. At the same time, Sir Bohemond’s right hand line was engaged by Sir Adley De Ives and Sir Reginald Carnog, first with pikes, then with cavalry, and the gravity point of the battle shifted to the right flank. Sir Bohemond brought up his elephants and a pike block in an attempt to out flank the Loyalist charge but to little avail. The right flank quickly turned into a bloodied scramble with first an elephant brought down and then Sir Reginald Carnog. Sir Reginald’s defeat meant the Royalist side had fulfilled two of their three sudden victory criteria. This left only the two main commanders left, and they met in the centre of the right flank battle line, surrounded by the dead and dying, hammering at each other until finally Sir Adley and his men slew Sir Bohemond, dragging him from his horse and hacking him to death.

Sir Adley raised the traitors head on a pike and paraded it for all to see and the battle was done.

The carnage.
Approx half the elements on the table were destroyed.

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