This is a Tuesday morning game of Barons' War, fought across the dining room table, between a small force of Henry II's loyal northerners and a party of the Earl of Fife's Scots, foraging for much needed supplies.
The scene of the action, with the small English force emerging from a night's slumber!
Tis the year 1173 and our most gracious and beneficent liege lord, King Henry II, is beset by a sea of troubles. His troublesome brood, Henry the Young King, Richard, Duke of Aquitaine, Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany and John, lead by their treacherous mother, Queen Eleanor, are in open and armed rebellion against their lord and master and, in the far northern vastness of his noble kingdom, that perfidious wretch, King William, the Lion of Scotland, has seized upon King Henry's familial woes to raise up his armed host and embark upon a storm of pillage and destruction.
With the season of tribulation fast approaching, both Scot and Englishman are gathering about them precious supplies to see them through the austere days and months to come. Sir Hugh de Morville, skulking in the north, following his damnable slaying of that holy and venerated paragon, Thomas Beckett, has been tasked with guarding vital supplies, gathered at the village of Kimblesworth, before being moved to safer storage with his Grace, the Bishop of Durham.
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| Sir Hugh de Morville, nemesis of Troublesome Priests. |
However, word of these provisions has reached the noble ears of the Earl of Fife, commander of King William's forces in the area and he has despatched his trusted lieutenant, Sir Philip de Seton to drive off the English and take possession of the much needed bounty.
The local levy bowmen prepared to face the heathen Scots, while the knights tumbled out of the farmhouse after a night of relative luxury!
The brave men of the Fyrd were tasked with keeping the cattle safe in their enclosure and out of the hungry hands of the Borderers.
The nimble Borderers had no problem dashing through the wood to confront the Fyrd.
Sir Philip and his knights, the Scottish Lowland Spearmen and the lightly armoured Levy Spearmen advanced, determinedly to acquire the plunder awaiting them in the village.
Sir Philip and the flower of Scottish chivalry!
By the end of Turn 1, the English were in the process of taking up their defensive positions and the Scots were advancing menacingly upon the southern edge of the village.
The English Levy bowmen displayed their inexperience, advancing to unleash a volley into the Lowland Spearmen, who took up a defensive stance just beyond the cover of the fence.
When you have pretty abysmal statistics, you really need to roll some pretty exceptional dice; unfortunately, the English bowmen singularly failed to do anything of the sort.
The Scots, on the other hand, with their +2 defensive modifier, did enough to enable them to pour scorn upon the feeble efforts of yonder bowmen!
To pour salt into the English wounds, the spearmen were able to take advantage of the bowmen's ill advised advance and charge into a very one sided melee.
Fortunately, the Scots proved to be equally atrocious with their dice rolling and were only able to pick off one of the English bowmen.
Meanwhile, on the right of the English defence, the Scottish Levy Spearmen launched the first of numerous assaults against the Bishop of Durham's spearmen, but were unable to make any headway against their staunch opposition. Indeed, this slogging match continued throughout the entire engagement with neither side able to make any progress against the other.
Thanks to Scottish spearmen's inability to put their opposition to the sword, the English bowmen were able to withdraw to the cover of the farmhouse, giving Sir Hugh and his knights the opportunity to charge into the fray.
Having dashed through the wood, the Borderers hurled themselves into the paddock, subjecting the English Fyrdmen to a hail of javelins and driving them broken from the field. The Bishop of Durham's prize herd was in the hands of the enemy and someone was destined to suffer the wrath of the irate prelate.
Another shower of missiles and the Fyrd were slaughtered to a man... things were not looking good for Sir Hugh!
Having forced the Lowland Spearmen to break, Sir Hugh and his knights suddenly found themselves assailed by Sir Philip and his group of irregular knights. The climactic chapter of the battle had begun. The veteran English knights were superior in quality, but the Scots had the numeric advantage and they soon began to force the English back.
The Scottish assault was remorseless and the English knights began to fall under the barrage of blows.
Ultimately, Sir Hugh and his one remaining knight broke under the relentless pressure and were forced to retreat from the fray.
With the English knights in retreat, Sir Philip lead his knights to secure the ultimate prize, before the wild and lawless Borderers could avail themselves of the inebriating liquor.
Victory, then, went to the Scots and it was they who would benefit from the supplies, which had been destined for the Bishop of Durham's storehouses. Sir Hugh de Morville, not for the first time, would have some serious explaining to do. The Bishop, however, was not the type of man to sit back and allow such a slight to go unpunished. The Scots would need to guard their gains adeptly as they could guarantee that the English would soon be back in action to regain their lost provisions.
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