Well I had my 3rd battle yesterday. It was a cracker, even though I lost, so I decided to post a battle report.
My Medieval Germans fought a Medieval Portuguese army.
Having the advantage of local knowledge I gained the initiative.
Deployment
The evil dogs Portuguese deployed his light foot hand gunnners in the enclosed field on my left flank and insider of them some medium foot, behind the open field. Then strung out across the centre were three battle groups of long bows, with two battle groups of superior knights behind. Then on my right flank was on group of dismounted knights, disguised as halberdiers and then a battle group of longbow. In front of them was a battle group of light horse and behind them a battle group of knights.
I place my lighter men-at-arms (cavalry with lances) on my left flank and a battle group of eight crossbow on the steep hill. In the centre I placed a block of 16 pike, with a battle group of four halberdiers attached to them and eight light foot with crossbows in front of the pike. On their right was a battle group of two war wagons. On the right flank I deployed a battle group of six cavalry with crossbows and behind them two battle groups each with 4 feudal man-at-arms in each (knights superior, undrill).
Initial Moves
On my left flank his medium foot and light foot did a merry complex dance of meaningless moves and I advanced my lighter men-at-arms forward to exploit the opportunity to charge the medium foot in the flank. My crossbowmen advanced off the steep hill, so they could shoot at left flank of the bowmen.
In the centre three battle groups of long bows advanced aggressively towards my pike. I responded by advancing my pike. The long bow attempted to get rid of the light foot screening my pike, but the light foot withstood several cohesion tests. It helped that a general was within command range. The war wagons to protected the right flank of the pike.
On the right my cavalry with crossbows deployed to take on the light horse. However, he counted by positioning a battle group of long bows so they could shoot at my cavalry. I advanced the knights to have crack at his dismounted knights. However, one battle group of knights was diverted to help the cavalry.
The Middle of the Battle and Breakthrough
My lighter men-at-arms entered the open field. They were disrupted by the light foot shooting on their left flank. However, the general managed to bolster them.
My steady pike burst though the light foot with general at their head. The light foot routed, because they had been fragmented by the long bows shooting. The crossbowmen on the left flank also charged into the long bow. My pike steadly degraded the long bows. They broke one battle group of long bows and fragmented another.
On my right flank things were not going so well. My cavalry with crossbows was routed by the shooting of the light horse and long bow. It then successfully evaded the light horse and was rallied by my general. A battle group of knights came to their aid, but was only able to get one base on the long bows and had to break off, because the long bows passed their cohesion test and remained steady.
End of the Battle
My lighter men-at-arms were charged by the medium foot in the front and light foot in the flank (the light foot were allowed to charge the lighter men-at-arms because they where in rough terrain and disordered). The lighter men-at-arms lost the combat. They routed and were caught by the light foot, because they rolled a one for evade and because of the angle they were at. They reached their auto breakpoint and were removed.
In the centre the light foot routed off the battlefield, because the general was busy with the pike.
On the right flank my knights charged the dismounted knights and did nothing. The knights facing the bow unsuccessfully attempted to charge the long bow again. They lost a combination of three of four bases to shooting and combat and auto broke. The light horse charged the the fragmented cavalry armed with crossbows. The fragmented cavalry failed its cohesion test and routed.
We called it time, because we had been playing for four hours (I think we could have completed it, if I had not been taking photos). While my army was not broken, it was clear I was going to lose, so we called it victory for the Portuguse.
Lessons learned
Army Composition
Good
1. The inspired commander worked very well.
2. The war wagons worked well.
Bad
3. Change to Mercenary knights and add Hungarian light horse in the army. The army was bit to stretched by dropping the Hungarians. The additional control accorded by mercenary men-at-arms would have outweighed the disadvantage of being average.
Fighting the Battle
Good:
4. The light foot in front of the pikes, to protect pikes from shooting worked well.
5. Having a general with the war wagons, advancing and the putting them at right angles worked well.
Bad:
6. I should not have advanced the cavalry with lances into the uneven ground. The terrain meant I lost POA for lancers, it also allowed the light infantry to charge me them in the flank. They caught by light foot charging them in the flank and the medium infantry charging them frontly.
7. Make sure evading route for battle groups that can evade is clear. My cavalry with lancers got caught by the his light foot because the angle they were at. If they had been able to evade straight backwards they would not have been caught.
8. I should have had the general with the light foot, instead of the pikes. This would have allowed the general to attempt to bolster the light foot and still allowed the battleline to move twice.
9. Avoid getting the cavalry with crossbows isolated. They should have been placed in front of the knights, with enough room between the two knight battle grounds for them to evade route through.
10. I should have attempted to advance the war wagons towards the long bows a second time. I was lucky Greg did not charge the battlewagons. The battlewagons should have stayed at right angles. They could easily protected my flank from this original position.
11. I let the two battle groups of knights get committed piece meal. They were committed separately and with one battle group only one base of knights got into combat.
12.I have should used the space provided by the cavalry armed with crossbows to position knights they could be committed together for maximum effect. Cavalry could then have protected the flanks of the knights once the knights were committed.
13. I should thought at least three moves ahead. The situation with cavalry with lancers, war wagons and knights and cavalry with crossbows were all examples of not thinking:
i) how will my opponent react to this (e.g. cavalry with cross bows).
ii) what will I achieve by this (e.g. war wagons).
iii) what affect will the position and terrain have on my troops (e.g. cavalry with lancers).
14) Overall I just deayed on the flanks and only attacked in the centre. It was attacking on the flanks that lost me this battle.
