Mirish versus the Brethren

"Yes?" Pereira asked the Brethren Messenger.

"The Grand Master issues a personal challenge to you," the Brother Knight said with a smile. "Surely one so honorable as the General cannot refuse."

"It's a fair fight, the Master wishes I presume," Pereira replied.

"Yes, a fair fight."

Pereira stared at the messenger with no show of emotion. 

"Tell him he will get as fair a fight as he gave those during the Jellway Massacre. He has 1 hour."

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Spring 997- The Bows of Treyine

Sorry to have taken so long on this one, I have decided that going forward I will just play with what I have on hand. Every time I try to get the whole army painted before the battle I fail miserably.

 Grand Master Roderick was a young zealot with a fervor for the old glory of the order. Reactionary elements had ushered him into power and fed his delusion that the Red Sun wanted it's kingdom on Talomir.

 Lord De La Warre had defeated these fanatics before. The orders lands had been reverted to the crown. He would not truck with these upstarts, they would be defeated again.

During the pursuit none of the Brethren were lost. I suspect that the Spear of St. Lindorf was lost when Grand Master Roderick routed. The Wind Maiden was interesting but ended up not playing much of a role in the battle. I counted the air ships as 3 separate flyers for scouting, this gave Treyine a big advantage which led to them becoming the attacker.

 I feel like I have yet to use cavalry effectively. The Brethren Knights charged because of an Enemy Threat Test and then could not score a hit due to poor dice rolling. The odds did seem stacked against them from the start though.

Pride Before a Fall

"He's a devil, you know," the Brother said matter of factually.
"Who?" the commander of the White Company asked.
"General Pereira," the Brother Knight Commander replied.
Sir Geoffrey smiled. "Was he a devil when he was a Brother Knight?"
"That is a story for another time," said the Commander. "Look alive, we move out."

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Across the field Pereira rode up to the unit of mounted men. 
"Hero," he asked. "Is the plan clear?"
The Hero shook his head. "Yes. I and my men would prefer to fight on horseback, but I understand."
As Hero and his men dismounted the elephants lumbered forward.
"Any questions, before I go?" Pereria asked.
"Only one," the Hero said with a smile."Do these beast always smell so bad?"
As Pereira turned and rode back to the cataphracts, Kiana the Witch, smiled and bowed slightly. I hope she's ready, he thought.

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The terrain favored the Treyine Army. This was the third time rolling for terrain as the previous two were no good for a cavalry army like Mirish. For a "C" type army like Treyine it was perfect with a hill to shoot from and secure flanks of rocky terrain and woods. The only approach was down the center third of the battlefield and directly towards the hill.

Maybe Pereria is a devil as luck was with him The 1d6 die roll had the Treyine Army using the Encircle the Flank Battle Tactics. This meant the center would roll forward and engage Mirish with bow fire as the knights smashed into the Mirish left flank. 

Except, I know the strength and weaknesses of the Brethren. When approached by a melee unit starting outside of 4" and moving into 4" the Enemy Threat test is taken. Pass 2d6 - Mounted will charge. And they did, right into the elephants and Hero. The elephants wreck havoc with cavalry and the Hero AC of 8 can absorb lots of casualties. Which meant the knights would retire as they couldn't rout the Hero and elephant. The Crystal Light of Yakub increased the Mirish morale by 1 and the Spear of St. lindorf did the same for Treyine. 

Once they fell back the Mirish Casters fired Blast spells on individual units. Without any enemy Casters to intervene they only had to score the same number of successes as the target, and they always were rolling more d6. This played havoc with the White Company Knights.

With the cavalry gone, the Treyine infantry didn't stand much of a chance against the numerous and fast moving Mirish cavalry. Better to cut the losses instead of having a major defeat.

Treyine losses were 4 Rep 4 archers, 1 Arquebusiers, and 1 N Tropilium Archers.  With 10 faster moving pursuers it wasn't hard to score casualties. As the lowest point units suffer the most, the Brethren Knights and White Company were spared.

If Treyine would have rolled better tactics things would have been different.

Knife through Butter - Tropilium versus Treyine

The Tropilium General led the pursuit of the defeated Brethren lackeys of Treyine and slew many personally. It was a great victory and ...

The Tropilium orderly shook the Tropilium General a second time.
"Sir, the Brethren are upon us and make to cross the river."
The Tropilium General shook his head. "What? Crossing the river?"
"Yes sir. What are your orders?"

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Outscouted and outnumbered , the  Dice Gods favored the Brethren and they became the attackers. Troplium rolled for terrain and it was pretty clear except for a river cutting the table in half. The Tropilium army deployed with their light cavalry on the flanks, the first rank of missile troops, the next of Legionaries with the right anchored by the Black Company. Let's see how cavalry fared against their pikes. The General was in the third rank on the Equites.

The Brethren plan was simple. A front line of missile troops and the one infantry unit, the cavalry in the second. They would cross the river at speed and hope that their missile troops could weaken the enemy until the Brother Knights could mount a charge at the center of the Tropilium line in hopes of killing their general.

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Here's the set up with the Tropilium Army on the this side of the river.

The two sides fire and eventually the Brethren missile troops are silenced.

As the Brethren cross the river their missile units come under fire and rout off. The Brethren Knights and Sergeants charge across the river, taking casualties. But the Tropilium missile troops and Mages run for it.

One of the Legionaries at the end of the line routs from the Undead cavalry while the rest brace for impact. They exchange casualties but morale waivers (boxcars?!) and the Tropilium infantry rout away.

The Tropilium General counter-charges but one against two, Rep 4 against Rep 6, are no match. They retire from the field. Their light cavalry never enter the fight and the Black Company, having lost their missile men fall back, never having gotten into the fight.

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Casualties were non-existent, the Brethren army too small and slow to provide a pursuit.

Spring 992 - Fighting the Brethren.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring 990 - The Battle of Crabgrass Meadow

Brother Superior, the Grand-Master of the Brethren, climbed wearily onto the rocky outcrop. The faces of the surviving Brethren looked at him, hope still in many of the weary eyes.

It had been two days since the battle of Crabgrass Meadow. He had chosen their last battlefield well, with a single narrow crossing of River Hogan and set his forces on the high ground of Mount McManus. Sadly he knew his own impetuousness had cost them dearly. Since then they had been retreating further and further.

He took off his helmet and wiped his head with his hand. Then looked into the faces of the men before him.

“Brothers and fellow Brethren, it is with a heavy heart I stand before you. You have all fought hard and well. I have just come from speaking to the Treyine General and have reached an agreement with him. The Rock will now become part of the Treyine Empire.”

He paused while this news sank in. A few murmured disbelief, but most just looked blankly at him. A few even seemed to look relieved, which he could understand.

“The Red Sun still has a purpose for us.” He began again. “ Although we will no longer run the border area, we shall still have a presence. Treyine will allow us to maintain our chapels and preceptories, but in a much reduced state. No chapel may have more than 20 Brother Knights and 100 Brother Sergeants at any one time. We must also pledge our loyalty to King Edward IV.”

Again he paused while the murmuring died down.

“I know this is a bitter pill for many of you to swallow, but we will still be able to do bring the Sun's light to bear and protect this land from the Goblins and Orcs. If any of you cannot do this, you have a choice. The prisons of Treyine or Brother Blitzenhosen is leading a party into Zog-Rot and on to Naz-Goth to set up a new land for the Brethren. I myself have given my word to the Treyine that I shall return to them and act as hostage for remaining Brethrens' behaviour. Thank you for your bravery and loyalty. Continue to do The Sun's work and may It's Light shine on you whichever way you travel.”

With that Brother Superior climbed down, mounted his horse and rode towards the Treyine camp in the distance.

The Battle
The terrain consisted of a large hill on the Treyine left flank that was never a feature of the action. A smaller hill lay in the centre of the Brethren deployment zone. An unfordable river crossed the battlefield. It could only be crossed at the bridge. Other than these features the terrain was largely flat.

The Brethren had chosen to place their infantry on Mount McManus, while the cavalry waited to catch anyone unwary enough to try crossing the bridge. Naturally, the Hykar ponywomen obliged by galloping across the bridge, ribbons streaming in the wind and cavorting lasciviously in front of the Brethren, whose vow of celibacy might have wavered a little that day. Sir Geoffrey Chambers led his own mercenary knights and the Troplian Equites over the bridge somewhat more sedately, but with no less determination.


Battle was joined. The Brother Knights and Sergeants eagerly joined the fray, knowing that they outnumbered the enemy at this time. A small unit of peasant archers also advanced on the Hykari ponygirls, who only noticed them at the last minute.


Sir Geoffrey fought off the Sergeants, who could not withstand the assault of his hardened mercenaries, while simultaneously holding his ground against Brother Superior and the flower of Brethren chivalry. The Tropilian Equites acquitted themselves less nobly and many died trying to cross the river. As this fight was going on Sir Alaric Fitzhugh was following the dashing Sir Geoffrey across the bridge and two units of mercenary handgunners were also manoeuvring to cross the bridge. Meanwhile the arrows of the Hykari slatterns had driven off the peasant archers.


The fighting was hard in front of the bridge. Sir Alaric drove off a unit of Brethren just as the other unit rejoined the fray. Brother Superior's own Brethren Knights charged once more at Sir Geoffrey and crushed his knights, who were now exhausted. They routed and Brother Superior pursued right into the first unit of handgunners who were now on the bridge. Their guns crashed. Knights and horses fell, but it was not enough. The handgunners were ridden down. Flushed with success, Brother Superior lead the charge into the second unit of handgunners, who were also ridden down, but again at the cost of some knights and horses. The charge continued towards a line of stout Treyine yeomanry. The yeoman archers loosed their arrows at the oncoming knights and this final volley was too much for them. Brother Superior's horse spooked and ran from the arrows. His knights followed and the Brother Sergeants joined the rout.


With the Brethren general and knights gone, the Treyine army formed up into column and began to troop across the bridge as the Hykari valkyries raced towards the Brethren infantry on the hill. Screaming and baring their chests they taunted the Brethren. While they did so Sir Alaric was marching his band of stout hearts towards the men on the hill.


Sir Alaric reached the Brethren line in time to realise that a Cleric stood among the ranks of the spearmen. A blast of eldritch sunfire flew from the Cleric towards Sir Alaric but his squire dived between them, taking the full force of the blast. Sir Alaric was enraged and charged the Cleric and his men down. The force of his fury was too great to bear and the Brethren spears fled.


Another unit of Brethren heavy infantry could take no more of the Hykari taunting. The raced down the hill in pursuit of the bare-breasted myrmidons, panting slightly and feeling strange urges in their codpieces. Unfortunately, as they approached the Hykari swiftly rode away from them, drawing them from the cover of the hill. While they did this, Sir Alaric turned to his right and rode down the spearmen that now stood in his way. His wrath was not yet fully assuaged.


The girls danced around the unit that was chasing them, while Treyine longbowmen took up position to bombard the troops on the hill. Sir Alaric took advantage of the distraction caused by the Hykari to charge and rout the spearmen.


With the archers now flooding across the river, it became clear to the remaining Brethren that their position was untenable. They surrendered.

This was our second RRtK game and it went more smoothly than the first.

Magic feels very different and much weaker because of the reduction in range and the changes to the way that it is cast.

Massed missile fire is deadly. The Brethren general basically destroyed three units in one turn but was brought down in the end by the casualties already taken and the power of the Treyine longbows.

Skirmish troops seem more effective now too. They are able to run up to troops, harass them, draw them out of line and then evade more easily than they could previously, or so it appears.

Heroes are massively powerful. One hero can destroy a standard unit of infantry really easily with little fear for his own life. The Blast spell from the Cleric caused the only hit on the hero that any unit took. The main problem is their high armour class. The only way to defeat a hero with AC8 is to mob him with several units, which can prove difficult, especially if the hero dictates the pace of the game. The other option would be to shoot him to bits. Massed missile fire should be able to hurt a hero quite badly if you can bring it to bear.

Autumn 989 - Go to Jail, Go Directly to Jail

Dear Griselda,

First off apologies for the length of time it has taken me to write to you. I have been having to save paper to write this. Sorry about the size and thinness of the sheets, still at least they are quilted. Sorry also about the reddish ink. Again this is another of the reasons for the delay in writing, rats seem to have very little blood in them.

Well the battle didn’t go quite to plan, in fact not to plan at all. The invading Treyine greatly outnumbered us and the fiends were using magic. I did the only sane course of action and surrendered to them. This at least would save the men.

This means I am now a guest of the Treyine. Although their idea of hospitality does seem a little strange. Still the cell does remind me of my first room when I joined the order. If anything the food is slightly better than the priory.

It was hard also to see the spear of Saint Lindorf go back into enemy hands. Still while there’s life there’s hope. Speaking of which, they are talking about hanging me in a week's time. Something to do with murder, robbery and spoiling the sanctity of holy ground. Still as I said while there’s life etc …

One of Barbax’s messengers came to see me today. They are seconded to the Treyine army at the moment. She offered any help they could to the ‘Father of the Nation’. I didn’t quite understand that, but it seems I’m still a bit of a hero with the Hykar. Not sure what help they can give as apparently they are having quite a bit of trouble at home. Something about not recognising an illegitimate son as a prince, I think.

Any way I’ll have to finish now as the crow is getting restless and is starting to peck my hand. Sorry about the handwriting.

Yours in bondage,
Brother Cedric

The course of the battle
The armies deploy for battle. The Treyine anchor their left flank on the woods and deploy their archers in the usual hedgehog pattern designed to take advantage of Brother Cedric's known propensity for charging headlong into everything:


Brother Cedric charges as expected. The Treyine cavalry attempt to flank the Brethren infantry while their wizards cast a Stench of Weakness on the Brethren left flank:


Sir Alaric Fitzhugh rides out to meet Brother Cedric in single combat as is only proper between heroes, while the Brethren cavalry contacts the Treyine infantry but is driven off. The rest of the Brethren army fragments:


The Treyine sorceror summons a demon that frightens the Brethren cavalry's horses. They are last seen heading north at high speed. The Treyine archers move out to support their cavalry and cut Cedric down if he wins the single combat:


Brethren dart hither and thither and Brother Cedric finally decides to save the lives of his men by surrendering:

Summer 989 - Cedric Takes Charge

Dear Griselda,

Hopefully I should be on my way home soon. We met up with the Brethren Army and they seem to be having a few problems. General Miles Kristi has died, so when the Mirish came across us I had to take command. You would have loved it they had elephants and everything.


We met at the boundary of Hergest Ridge and the plain outside Levin-on-the-Jett. I must admit that this whole thing of being in charge of an army, seemed a little daunting. Still, I put the years of tactical training my father had given me into practice, and we charged to meet the enemy.

At first things seemed to be going badly, with, our allies, the Goblin wolf riders turning tail and fleeing the battle, never trust a Goblin, unless he’s dead. The spearmen were having difficulties in the centre against the elephants. Even my fellow brother Knights were forced to leave the field.

Eventually I managed to break through and attack their general, who turned tail and fled the field taking a lot of his men with him. This just left a little mopping up for us to do. Unfortunately the scouts have said the Treyine army is now heading this way.

Hope things are well at home and I’m sure I will quickly be able to sort out the Hykar Lawyer.

This game saw Brother Cedric pounding the heck out of the Mirish army. The rest of his troops were not particularly spectacular in their performance, but Cedric was awesome. I suspect it is because I allowed Steve to use a 28mm figure to represent Cedric rather than the more proper 6mm figure that it should have been.