North-East of Al Qosimah, March 4th The Year of Our Lord 1168
Sir Egburt's great march to the south had sounded like such a good plan to him when he'd agreed to raise a force to support it. Now James, Son of Mathew, was becoming to undermine the moniker he had gained. "The Calm" was beginning to feel an increasing frustration at this march, their scouts had seen signs of enemy cavalry moving in the area, but there was no sign they were willing to offer battle. If they couldn't be forced to fight soon the army of Jerusalem would be forced to turn back, short of food and water, having accomplished nothing but expending vast quantities of money.
A rider came bounding over to him. "My Lord, Sir Egburt begs you join him for a council, the enemy army has been sighted near the town." The Calm reasserted itself.
The Game
This game pitted a Crusader States army against a Fatimid Egyptian army in a straight up fight, using the excellent Soldiers of God rules. An additional complication for the game was the fact that the commanders were tasked with accumulating 'Honour Points', mostly at the arbitrary whim of the umpire, and had to roll on a dice listing the seven deadly sins and seven heavenly virtues, each of which could lead to different outcomes.
The Frankish force consisted of two units of Knights, two units of Mounted Men at Arms (one of each in each flank battle), two units of archers and a unit of Foot Men at Arms in the centre battle.
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| Jerusalemite forces deploy. The left battle will make an uncontrolled move forward under the urging of their commander who was driven by his rage. |
The Fatimid forces consisted of two units of Mamelukes, two units of Arab Tribal Cavalry and two units of Horse Archers split evenly between the two flanks, two units of Archers and two units of Infantry forming their centre.
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| The army of the Fatimids marches onto the field |
The opening moves of the game saw the two armies advance upon each other, before first contact was made when, on the Crusader left, a unit of knights hammered into a unit of Horse Archers they caught in the open, and the Mounted Men at Arms, backed up by their general, smashed into the Mamelukes on the right flank of the Fatimid line. Despite the massive impact of the charges, the Fatimids held on, if barely.
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| Fighting erupts on one flank of the battle, while other elements close upon each other. |
Not to be outdone, the Frankish right flank stormed into the Saracen forces, their knights smashing into the Mamelukes, who were backed up by a unit of Horse Archers, giving them a serious bloody nose in the process. Meanwhile, the Mounted Men at Arms charged into the infantry forming the front line of the Fatimid centre, nearly shattering the unit in a single turn of fighting.
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| With their cavalry wings fully committed, the Crusader infantry pushes forward. |
On the Fatimid right, the Mameluke unit became disordered, breaking up from close order to open order, while, to the astonishment of all, the unit of Horse Archers managed to survived their ongoing melee with the knights.
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| The knights fail to break the plucky horse archers, while the Mamelukes begin to suffer in their ongoing fight. |
The infantry lines continued to close upon each other, exchanging flurries of arrows in the process, meanwhile the cavalry fight reached a critical moment as the Mameluke unit on the Fatimid right collapsed into rout.
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| The Mameluke unit ends up in dire straits and breaks |
On the far right of the Jerusalemite line meanwhile, the knights facing the Mameluke and Horse Archers took an absolute beating, becoming unformed in the course of the fighting.
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| The knights attempt to hold on after taking a savaging from their opponents |
Meanwhile, the Mounted Men at Arms fighting the infantry mass found themselves on the receiving end of several Fear cards from the Fatimids, as well as some dire dice rolls, and broke and fled, leaving Sir James the Calm alone to face the horde alone.
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| Sir James the Calm puts his moniker to the test again as his cavalry force disintegrates around him. |
On the Jerusalemite left, the Mounted Men at Arms went out of control and charged into the Arab Tribal Cavalry, getting involved in a brutal melee. Both units were battered to breaking point in short order. In a single turn, the Mounted Men at Arms, the Arab Tribal Cavalry and the Christian knights on their right flank all broke and ran, leaving the Frankish right completely open.
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| Holes appear in both sides' lines as the armies bloody each other. |
Going into the final turn, the situation could be best described as precarious, with the Fatimid Army morale at 2, the Franks at 1. In a scrabble for survival, the Horse Archers on the Fatimid right held out against the knights, their stubborn resistance impressing all.
The final fight of the game took place in the centre, with the command group of Sir John the Calm taking on the infantry ahead of them, both sides inflicting one point of disorder. Both sides then spent their last cards to recover this point. Critically, this left the two Fatimid infantry units with as much disorder as they had bases, taking a point of morale off for each of them. The Fatimid army, at 0 morale to the Jerusalemite 1, collapsed into flight.
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| A gallant stand by Sir John the Calm sees off the Fatimid army, much to the relief of the Franks |
While it was technically a victory for the Crusaders, they were an utterly spent force, the losses to their cavalry arm undoubtedly rendering the army unable to continue their campaign.
The final tally saw the commander of the Fatimid right, and the stubborn horse archers, squeaked to first in the Honour Points tally, winning a personal victory even as he and his men made their escape.
The figures used in the game were from Baccus 6mm.
March 6th, Dusk, Outside Al Qosimah
Sir John the Calm's arm ached, his head was pounding, sweat soaking into the lower layers of his armour. Around him lay the broken bodies of men and horses from both sides, the cries of the wounded and dying drifting over the carnage, the sounds cruelly juxtaposed with the silence and stillness of the dead.
Dust clouds marked where the enemy forces were withdrawing, the remnants of the Christian army were too exhausted to pursue the foe and were staggering around, looting what could be stolen, some aiding the wounded, or disposing of the fallen enemies.
It was clear the campaign was over, so many brave knights lay slain, or with their horses lost. Without cavalry, the army could not advance. A return home was all that could be expected now, after so much blood and gold had been expended, for no real gain. No doubt a great fuss would be made about driving the infidel from the field. Sir John was sure it would be a great comfort to the men lying dead all around him.
