Second Ager Sanguinis battle

The opening move was made by the Franks who advanced towards the heathen whilst the Seljuk looked on in disbelief. After advancing a way (using all three ‘march’ early in the turn), the Seljuk countered by attacking both flanks of the infidel.

On the Frankish right, a mixed force of Seljuk cavalry and tribal infantry soon came to grips. Following a brief barrage of arrows, the tribal infantry advancing across the valley floor charged home. This put the Frankish right under extreme pressure; the Turcopoles giving way without much of a fight. Only the vigorous efforts of the doughty Frankish foot prevented complete collapse.



Then, on the tree covered slopes behind the flank, Italian screams of terror overcame the general din of battle. Through the trees came hundreds of ‘bronze’ chested men, bald headed and wearing huge black mustaches. The Italian sailors did not stand, they routed from the field yelling “Run for your lives! It’s the Village People!”



Meanwhile on the Frankish left the Turcomans began to harass the infantry there; but to little effect. In the centre the Seljuk cavalry hung back to await the outcome of the battle on the Frankish wings.

Now the tide changed. The Franks began to launch attacks of their own. On the right, they did well, several Islamic contingents were sent running and their cavalry were forced to withdraw as the Frankish foot pressed their attack. The position here was stabilising.



On the Frankish left the pressure was increasing until, as is there nature and without orders, one of the Turcoman tribes (3 units) decided to settle the issue themselves by charging. One after another they were routed by infantry and knights.



The battle was now general along the whole front. The fights on the wings had disrupted the Frankish line to such a degree that it fell to the knights to restore the situation. The Seljuk responded with hails of arrows and counter charges by their heavy cavalry. After stiff resistance the knights, now effectively unsupported by their infantry, were swamped. The King of Jerusalem, after leading three charges, fell with what remained of his bodyguard. What was left of the Frankish knights withdrew from the field post haste, leaving their infantry to be butchered on the field.




In truth, the battle probably had another two turns in it. Neither side had reached zero morale chips. The Franks were certainly in a good position on their right and the infantry on the left were still capable of packing a significant punch. However, it was past 11pm and the table is required for a photo session on Sunday (for Piquet’s Cartouche 2 by Mark Dudley, who controlled the Seljuk left for most of evening, in between sessions rummaging through my bookshelves - 'sticks and stones' are not really his thing) so the figures needed to be cleared away. Below are two pics of the end of the battle as described above – even though this did not actually occur.



The rules, with last week's amendments, worked exceptionally well. I think, hell I know, that this will become one of my favourite war games. The abilities of the troops and general 'feel' of the period are fantastic!

New units.

Before taking a break from painting cavalry I decided to paint one more batch of 48; four units of Seljuk horse archers. Based three to a 60mm x 90mm stand with four stands per unit they have the look of loose order cavalry. No picture of all four units together, but the following shots give an idea of what they look like and how I patterned some of the clothes with simple 'spot' and 'diamond' designs.

This week, fed up to back teeth with horses, I churned out three units of 'Turkish' foot. Very easy to paint! The Azerbaijanis have had some of their swords removed and replaced with spears to make them more 'Turcoman'. I liked painting these so much I'm going to splash out on another unit or two - they took less than 20 minutes each!

Next I plan to do some Arab foot. 148 of them. Two units of (30) Ahdath, two units of (20)Muttatawwia and 4 units of (12) archers. Then more cavalry - ARGHHHHHHHH!

Crusader rules test.

The battle, being used primarily as a rule test and a spur to paint more units, worked well on both counts. The rules, developed from Piquet's Field of Battle by Brent Oman, look like they will be perfect for recreating Crusader warfare. Of course, being a first play test, the game moved from action to action with some discussion, and this resulted in a 'slow' game.

The battle began with an advance by the Turcoman tribesmen. These moved into position to shoot. Never having faced the Franks before, instead of shooting they charged headlong into the wall of shields and spear points presented by the Frankish foot soldiery. This was involuntary move by Peter, both of his Turcoman command groups rolling a 1 on their first combat die; indicating a charge rather than shooting. The results was that the first Turcoman unit managed to draw its first round of melee, thus forcing the rest of the group to charge home in support; two units were routed and one was forced to retire.

Time for the knights! These charged into the faltering Turcoman unit and duly routed it, but even though its die result was 'odd' (as opposed to 'even') it failed to pursue because the Turcomans out paced it. [First rule change - pursuers must move one move of pursuit on an 'odd' melee die result].

From this point on Peter handled his remaining Turcomans well. Whenever they got a double move on a 'march' card they advanced to close range, shot, and then retired to their previous position. But the Frankish foot were tough cookies, and every time they suffered unit integrity loss they managed to turn a 'command' card and successfully rally it back. [We also discovered that against unshielded cavalry the Frankish foot was deadly, especially when shooting during their reactive phase. Next time we play, tonight as it happens, we will not allow reactive shooting versus active shooting; this is a big PK change, but I think the game will be better for it.]

To bring on a general action the whole Frankish force now began to advance. Its knights charged out and got stranded in no mans land surrounded by the enemy. This was a doubly poor move as it allowed the Seljuk Askaris to charge home versus infantry without any support to their rear. The infantry broke leaving a big hole into which the whole of the Turkish cavalry could pour. [It became apparent that a crucial factor had been left out - Cavalry Vs close order spear men in the first round Down 1. It has been added].

It was now 11pm and time for Peter to go home. The game ended. Notes on the rule amendments were hastily scribbled [a few more than has been mentioned], and it was agreed that the armies should be re-set for a second go. I have added the amendments to the rules, and the game has been reset with three extra units - newly painted Turkish infantry.

All in all a profitable evenings play. I can't wait to be the Turk!

First battle with the new collection

Now the first half of the collection is painted (I have well and truly broken the back of the cavalry now - 240+ down and only 120 still to do) I feel there is enough to do a game. It will be a simple affair. Seljuk Turks versus Franks. We will be using a set of rules largely based on Piquet's Field of Battle by Brent Oman. The mechanisms used in this set of rules are fantastic but, as they cover 18th and 19th centuries, I have written my own version covering this specific period (covering the First Crusade up to the Second Crusade, roughly 1095AD - 1050AD) and called them Ager Sanguinis (Field of Blood); both FoB - I'll slap myself on the back.

The Franks have deployed in three 'divisions' with their right flank anchored on a hill and their left flank 'somewhat' refused. They have deployed their infantry in front. These are composed of five close order mixed spear and bow or crossbow units, and a unit of loose order crossbow armed Italian sailors. Their cavalry is deployed in support. It comprises three units of close order knights, two in small units, and two units of Turcopoles. They are led by the King of Jerusalem, who has persuaded the Bishop to join him with the True Cross.

The Seljuks are deployed in four divisions. In the valley on the Seljuk right, six units of wild loose order Turcoman tribesmen have deployed in two divisions - all in whirling mass unit formation. Next to them (centre) a lesser Emir with his close order Askar bodyguard and two units of loose order Seljuk horse archers has deployed facing the enemy centre. The Seljuk left has deployed on a hill overlooking the enemy. Here a lesser Emir with his Askar bodyguard and two units of Seljuk horse archers has deployed in front of his Commander-in-Chief, who stands in reserve with his own Askaris. The Seljuks have no infantry (none painted yet!) so must rely on speed and archery.

The deployment map below gives the full deployment.

As this is the first 'play-test' of the rules the victory conditions will be simple. To win, the Franks must either hold the field for six turns losing less than 50% of their units destroyed or routed, or drive the Seljuks from the field. Anything else is a Seljuk win.

The difference in troop types will either prove very tense and exciting, or terribly boring. Of course I hope the former, but the main 'saracen' army will be a Syrian one anyway with a good mix of cavalry and infantry. If the Seljuk end works it will be a big bonus! I'll let you all know what happens and if the rules work later in the week.

Crusades Project. First of the Saracens.

Well, the first half of the Saracen cavalry are now completed. Just enough to photograph for you to take a peek at. All figures are Perry Miniatures painted with enamels. The flags are from a variety of sources and, as with all of my armies, have been scanned, mucked about with on MS Paint, sized on MS Word, printed, stuck glued and sealed with a layer of PVA and then painted with enamels

Some command stands first, from left to right, Turkoman tribal leader (horse tail banner out of shot), Seljuk 'General', another Seljuk 'General' and two shots of an Arab 'General'. All are sub-commanders.





Next some Turkomen tribal cavalry / horse archers. The last shot shows the basing layout. The stands are 60mm x 90mm and each unit, strangely, is 11 figures strong (the 2 tribal leader stands had to come from somewhere - after thoughts!).




Now we get to the good stuff. Three units of Ghulam cavalry. Each 18 strong based on four 60mm x 90mm stands (4,5,5,4). This, I think, looks great; they look like two ranks of cavalry on the move, but only a third of the figures of each unit are actually based (on the same stand as the 'front' rank) in that 'mixed up 2nd rank'. Cunning!






So what will the 'Saracen' army look like overall. Well I decided to collect a 'Syrian' and a 'Seljuk' army with mutually usable troops for fighting my Franks (see previous post), but with enough troops to fight amongst themselves with or without Frankish / Armenian allies. The combined force equates to:

The Cavalry. (All based on 4 60mm x 90mm stands per unit).

3 units of Ghulam (lance & bow armed) heavy cavalry, each 18 figures strong.
3 units of Arab / Kurd (lance armed) heavy cavalry, each 18 figures strong.
8 units of Turcoman tribal horse archers, each 11 figures strong.
4 units of Seljuk horse archers, each 12 figures strong.
2 units of Bedouin cavalry, each 12 figures strong.

The Infantry. (All based on 4 60mm x 60mm stands per unit).

3 units of Adhath militia, each 30 figures strong.
4 units of Arab foot bows, each 12 figures strong (Musketeer Miniatures).
2 units of Arab 'Muttawia' foot, each 20 figures strong.
2 units of Seljuk tribal foot, each 20 figures strong.
1 unit of Ghazi fanatical volunteers, 20 figures strong (you have to use those Azerbeijanis for something!)

The Armenians. (For use by any side.)

1 unit of heavy cavalry, 18 figures strong.
2 units of spearmen, each 22 figures strong (I used 4 figures as Arabs).
2 units of foot bows, each 12 figures strong.

I almost have enough painted to play with now. First game in a month or so I reckon. I'm still on target for it all being done by Sheffield Triples in March 2009. That will be two years to the day to paint the lot.

Western Desert, Operation Crusader 1941 next. Researching and beginning to buy stock for the project already. Life moves swiftly on.............