Saturday night, I had the opportunity to put toy soldiers on the table and decided my medieval collection needed an outing. The rule choice was easy - my armies are based for One Hour Wargames. For a scenario, I used the same book and a quick roll of a die determined I'd play Scenario 6: Flank Attack.
Per the rules, I diced for the opposing forces:
Red
4 Knights
1 Men at Arms
1 Levy
Blue
3 Knights
2 Men at Arms
1 Levy
The setup: The Redsylvanian prince, having learned of an advancing column of the army of the Kingdom of Mavi*, deployed a small blocking force on the road north of the Twin Hills, while organizing a larger force to stage a flanking attack.
Individual unit location was determined by die rolls for both sides.
The scenario objective: Blue is to get three units off the table via the road by the end of turn 15, while Red is to stop them. The notes suggest that the flank attack needs to strike quickly to prevent the small force blocking the road from collapsing under the weight of the advancing enemy.
In the event, the Mavi army split their effort: with some of the force dedicated to breaking through while the rest focused on intercepting the flanking attack. In retrospect, probably a poor plan.
The worst of the fighting concentrated north of the Twin Hills, and boiled down to a scrum between men-at-arms:
This battle by the hill went on longer than it should have, because I didn't realize the Redsylvanian unit was attacking uphill - which should have reduced the damage they caused. They had clamored over the dead and that put them at equal height with the Mavi unit on the hill. Hence my confusion.
Meanwhile, the Redsylvanian forces blocking the road collapsed - but not before doling out significant damage to the Mavi troops - and the first Mavi unit, the levies, made its way north via the road. However, since the battle by the hills was going to be close, the Mavi commander ordered his last unit of knights, despite being worn out and on the verge of collapse (14 points of damage!), to strike the Redsylvanian men-at-arms from the rear.
Thus caught, the Redsylvanians had no chance. They met their end in turn 11.
This was not enough for a Mavi victory, which required three units off the table before the end of turn 15. The knights, with their 12" movement rate off road (15" on road) had an easy time of it. But the Mavi men-at-arms had a way to go, and with a paltry 6"/9" of movement.
Eyeballing it, I wasn't sure they'd make it, but in turn 14, the Kindgom of Mavi claimed victory.
All in all it was a fun engrossing game, and little more than an hour from setup to tear down. I don't know when I'll get to play again so hopefully this scratches the itch for awhile.
*according to Google, mavi is the Turkish word that means 'blue'
