Battle Report: Wrath comes to Al-Qasr, April 5th 1164 AD

Shortly Before Dawn, April 5th

Brother Karl the Flaggelist looked down upon the small village, surrounded by the men of his force, clad in their white robes bearing the red cross of their Order. His Knight Lieutenant turned to him "Is this wise Brother?" he asked.
"The force that destroyed the pilgrim caravan came from this place" Karl responded.
"They came through here, they could have just stopped to get supplies."
"Either way, if this town is destroyed, the pilgrims will be safer. The time for discussion has passed, take your place. We attack before they wake."

The next few hours were bloody as the Knights Templar cut down anyone they could catch before setting the settlement ablaze. As his force reassembled outside the town, Karl heard the bellow of trumpets coming from the east. "SARACENS!" he bellowed, a surge of elation and excitement flowing through him. Around him the Knights took formation as a massive host of the enemy emerged over a ridge ahead. "God give us strength." said the Knight Lieutenant "There are too many for us to slay them all."
"Nothing is beyond His Will." Karl barked back "Doubt not." More trumpets sounded, this time from the west. Karl turned, expecting to see more of the enemy, instead he saw Christian banners. "And thus is His Will clear made manifest. We will smite His enemies here today!" The assembled Knights cheered.

The scenario for this game was that a small force of Knights Templar, led by a particularly zealous fanatic, had raided a small town, Al-Qasr, which they felt was responsible for a recent raid on a pilgrim group. Just as they finished their task, a Fatimid raiding force that had been moving towards the town for supplies and a Jerusalemite force that had been shadowing them arrived, and battle was joined.

The game was played using the Soldiers of God rules.

The Fatimid force arrives.

 

Frankish forces march into battle, with the Templars just outside the now burning settlement

The Jerusalemite forces, with a Battle Plan of Double Envelopment, were composed of:

Right Battle: 

1 unit of Holy Order Knights (3 stands) 
1 unit of Knights (4 stands)
1 unit of Mounted Men at Arms (3 stands)

Left Battle:

1 unit of Knights (4 stands)
1 unit of Mounted Men at Arms (3 stands)

Centre Battle:

1 unit of Men at Arms (4 stands)
2 units of Archers (2 stands each)

Facing them, the Fatimids following a Advance and Harrass Battle Plan was composed of:

Left Battle:

2 units of Mamelukes (3 stands each)
1 unit of Horse Archers (3 stands)
1 unit of Arab Tribal Cavalry (4 stands)

Right Battle:

2 units of Mamelukes (3 stands each)
1 unit of Horse Archers (3 stands)
1 unit of Arab Tribal Cavalry (4 stands)

Centre Battle:

2 units of Infantry (4 stands each)
2 units of Archers (4 stands each)

The battle began with the Frankish forces advancing towards the centre of the Saracen forces and unite with the exposed Templar unit, while the Fatimid light cavalry began sweeping around through rough terrain to outflank the Crusader army, causing some minor disruption to their units as the light forces interpentrated with the Mamelukes on their right flank, which was quickly corrected.

The right flank of the Jerusalmite army rushes to link up with the Templars

Some disruption is caused as Fatimid lines cross over each other.

Light Fatimid forces use the burning town to screen their movements

The end of Turn 1 sees the two forces closing in on each other

The next turn saw the flanking skirmishers of the Fatimid forces move further behind the Jerusalemite lines, opening volleys having no significant impact, while the heavy cavalry of the Kingdom of Jerusalem forces continued to ride towards their targets. Before the Templars could charge, they were themselves charged by the Fatimid's Left Battle's Mamelukes, the fighting slightly favouring the Knights. The Fatimid forces also switched their battle plan to an all out attack, changing their orders to give them greater forward momentum at the cost of order cards that allowed them to fire.

Knights close in on their foes

The Fatimid right sweeps over a low ridge and towards the exposed Crusader flank.

Finding space, the left flank of the Saracen forces move to the rear of the Frankish army.

The first combat of the game sees the Mamelukes take on the Knights Templar, coming off a little worse thanks to some poor dice rolling.

Turn 3 sees the armies closing to engagement distance

The Mamelukes took more damage in the next turn, poor dice rolls not aiding their cause as the Right Battle of the Jerusalemite army repeatedly engaged them, moving up their Mounted Men at Arms as support. Even the defeat of a Templar champion who challenged a Mameluke champion failed to dishearten the Knights.  On the Crusader left, their Mounted Men at Arms managed to contact the Horse Archers and began a melee, which saw both sides take a point of disorder. The Arab Tribal Cavalry then moved up in support of the Horse Archers, and the Men at Arms took a further point of disorder. Meanwhile, in the centre, the two infantry lines closed and exchanged flurries of arrows. 

The infantry forces come into arrow range.

The fighting near the town sucks in more men, still favouring the Christian forces.

The Mounted Men at Arms fail to distinguish themselves in battle against the Fatimid skirmishers

Turn 4: Both flanks are heavily engaged, Fatimid forces have surrounded the Crusader right and the centres close upon each other.

In the next turn, the Fatimid forces found themselves hamstrung by the lack of useful order cards, their outflanking forces being unable to use their missile weapons or charge into exposed Crusader units' flanks or rears. Meanwhile, the Crusaders faced no such issues, being able to repeatedly hammer the Mamelukes and Horse Archers in close combat. The forward Mameluke unit was broken, and routed at the end of the turn, while the Horse Archers were hanging on by a thread. In the centre, the Saracen infantry were able to close in on the Knights before they could muster a full charge. In the ensuing melee they held their own.

The Mamelukes are hammered by the Templars, breaking and running.

The too and fro of the fighting on the hill leaves both sides in a vulnerable state

Saracen infantry decide to pre-empt the knight's charge, beginning a furious melee

Turn 5 opens with the Saracen army reeling under the impact of Frankish Heavy Cavalry

Turn 5 saw a further turn of poor cards and poor dice for the Fatimid forces. The perfectly positions skirmishers again failed to act, while Crusader units hammered the units they were in contact with. The second unit of Mamelukes, clearly stunned by the sudden collapse of the other unit, failed to achieve any hits in a round of melee with the Templars, while taking 4 hits in return, being left in a routing state. Further rounds of fighting would see them flee at the end of the turn. On the hill the fighting swayed too and fro, the Saracens being unable to capitalise on their advantage in numbers. In the centre, the second unit of Fatimid infantry charged into the Mounted Men at Arms supporting the Holy Order Knights, but were soundly defeated in the ensuing melee. The other unit of infantry took an absolute beating from the Knights. Both units would rout at the end of the turn, and with those three units routing the Fatimid army's morale collapsed, leaving the Jerusalemites in control of the field.

Saracen infantry shatter and flee from the knights

Mamelukes and infantry break and flee, and the Fatimid army collapses.

With their centre gutted, the Fatimids flee

Despite the apparently one sided outcome, it wouldn't have taken much for the result to be reversed. The Fatimid side had very poor dice rolls, despite which several Jerusalemite units were close to their breaking point. A few different cards or dice, and it could have been a very different outcome. 

Brother Karl's arms ached, his head pounded and his throat was parched, but he felt a dark joy as the enemy fled before him, not even tempered by the death of the Knight Lieutenant in single combat. Clearly his doubts had led to the revokation of the Lord's protection. Across the field, Christian cavalry were cutting down the fleeing enemy, his Brothers and the men of the army that had come side by side. The enemy would tremble at the news those that would escape would carry. Perhaps now his Order would allow him to lead a larger force into the enemy territory, to claim more land for the righteous. His work was far from done.