Henry V (IC) gave the English the initiative and the battle was to be decided in a hilly region of the Middle East.
Some large areas of brush filled the centre of the field with other steep hills and brush in patches around the English base line.
The Seleucid army deployed with the phalanx flanked by Imitation legionaries between the central brush and the English right of the board. These were flanked by Thorakitai light horse and supported by cataphracts. The central brush contained a load of hopelessly outclassed (poor) light foot and the other flank was covered by a lone group of light horse.
The English faced this with a line of Longbowmen across the board, backed with columns of Men at Arms.
The Seleucids advanced down the English right flank and sent the left flank light horse on a baggage raid.
The English line split as a couple of battle groups of longbow demonstrated on the far left in front of the Seleucid advance, before turning tail and running for the main battle line.
The main battle line formed up using the central Brush to hold the flank, which by this point was stuffed with longbowmen who had long since chased off the poor skirmishers. The rest of the line was formed by men at arms with the retiring longbow groups stopping and forming the end nearest the English base edge.
Then it started to get a bit exciting.
The imitation legionaries fancied their chances against the bowmen in the brush, but reckoned without the tenaciousness of the stout English yeoman with his back to the wall. Shooting the first group of legionaries to disrupted before impact, they held their own with the storm of arrows (
) from the rear support shooting and greater, undisrupted numbers in melee. A flank charge from a second group of longbowmen finished them off.As the English line pulled itself together from the various manoeuvre groups the phalanx also managed to reform and face it.
But before the lines were ready to clash a second group of legionaries took matters into their own hands and charged without orders, getting hit by a flank intercept from the bowmen in the brush. The legionaries did not like this much and were broken in the ensuing combats. The victorious longbowmen in their enthusiasm followed up into the lurking cataphracts and were cut down like, well like MF in the open.
The cataphracts though declined to charge the rest of the longbowmen in the brush.
At the other end of the line the thorakati had been shot to fragmented by longbowmen so there was an advantage there to the English. A cunning charge on some LH failed to get the extra variable move to really threaten the uncertain Seleucid flank before the pike went in.
Carnage ensued.
The men at arms held the initial impact, disrupting the last group in line with the support of another longbow arrow storm.
But this was not to last as men at arms started dropping along with cohesion levels. The thorakitai were finally charged and broken which finished off the flank pike block into the bargain.
By this time men at arms were also streaming towards the base line and Seleucid light horse were in the camp.
A pike block crashed into the final reserves of men at arms but were hit in the flank by more rushing from the brush.
With longbowmen within reach of the Seleucid camp and rear charge range of the final pike block it was all teetering on a knife edge – the English were down 9 out of 10 attrition points with a fragmented group in combat with the last pikes and the Seleucids down 10 out of 14 but with the camp about to be looted in the next move phase and the pikes in trouble and cataphracts pinned in front of longbowmen.
A daring charge by light horse prevented the longbowmen from reaching the pikes in time and the English finally collapsed.
A really excellent game to finish the competition.
