Spring 989 - The Battle of Three Rivers Crossing

Brother Cedric was fleeing before the Treyine army when he saw the Brethren army approaching. He was saved. But wait, what was that? The thunder of thousands of pony-sized hooves were approaching from the other direction. That looked like Barbax Gutripper's troops. Brother Cedric wondered if he would be able to reach the Brethren army before the Hykari reached him. Their ponies were fast and might well get there first. Suddenly he heard a shout and saw the advancing banner of Sir Alan Fitzhugh.


"Hold, knave," yelled the Treyine knight, " Are you such a coward as would refuse my challenge."
With his retinue around him, Sir Alan couched his lance and charged. As Sir Alan and his retinue tore across the emerald sward, Brother Cedric remembered his duty and:

Brave Brother Cedric ran away.
Bravely ran away, away!
When danger reared its ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled.
Yes, brave Brother Cedric turned about
And gallantly he chickened out.
Bravely taking to his feet
He beat a very brave retreat,
Bravest of the brave, Brother Cedric!

Or maybe it was the sight of Barbax forming her girls on their ponies into neat columns and rushing them across the bridge in a bid to apprehend him that spurred him on his way.


With Brother Cedric disappearing as fast as he could, the heart seemed to go out of the Brethren force. As the Brother Knights and Sergeants charged towards the Treyine forces, the Treyine archers in a well-disciplined move swiftly hammered stakes into the ground before them, a move designed to disrupt the charging knights. At the same time Dennis Moore, who had pursued Brother Cedric summoned a demon right in the path of the knights.


Their horses were spooked and they retired quickly to regroup. The other lance of Brother Knights had passed the demon and engaged the Treyine archers. They fared little better and were driven off but not before many Treyine archers lay dead. In their retreat, a single arrow found its mark and the Brethren general fell to the ground mortally wounded. The Brethren soldiery stood firm. They knew their duty, but the loss of the general was too much and their efforts were disorganised. Soon they were surrounded by yelling girls on ponies and they had to retreat or suffer a fate worse than death.



Meanwhile, on the Treyine right flank the White Company had advanced together with a small contingent of archers. They faced a holding force of girlish cavalry. The archers were confident that their superior range would ensure victory and the knights of the White Company knew that their mounts and armour were superior to those of the Hykari warmaidens. Their confidence was well-founded. Soon ponies and girls were fleeing the field.


The other ponygirls regrouped and considered the situation. With the Treyine archers forted up behind their stakes, a frontal assault would be suicidal. Barbax decided that her search for Brother Cedric was more important. She had gifts of ponies for him that he must not refuse! She led her remaining troops from the field in good order.

Will Barbax get her man? Can Brother Cedric reach safety in time? Tune in later to find out.

Losses
Brethren
General died
1 Brother Knights
1 Heavy Spears
1 Crossbows
1 Peasant Archers

Hykar
4 Cavalry

Treyine
1 Archers

This battle was an experiment that turned out to be a bit of a curate's egg. We tried making it a three-way game using the solo rules, which worked well enough, but the dice led to decisions that disadvantaged Steve's Brethren force too much. They were justifiable within the campaign context but that did not make it any better and they made it rather easy for the Treyine to win. It also meant that the game went on too long and we had to call it before the ultimate conclusion, which was a shame. Still, it has been a while since we played Warrior Heroes and it was good to get back to it. We are now looking forward to the next game, which will feature the Goblins taking on the Mirish army. That should be fun. As a consequence of this game, Steve has decided to try something called 'tactics'. I'm really not sure what he means by that though.