YOU SHALL NOT PASS!
Last couple of posts, worked out a scenario for Orewin Bridge 1282, the decisive battlefield disaster for medieval Wales and her prince. I then juggled the time and other available resources, and made progress on needed units for the game, flocked over 30 bases and completing three more needed Welsh units.
For the full table, I rotated #12 90 degrees clockwise, then used #11 and #14 alongside it - #14 was optional, to be played only if there was enough people. The scenario that makes the history is #12, an outflanked bridge defense, as this is one of the best known aspects of the battle.
NOTE: #19 "Blow from the Rear" was another possible choice, but the outflanking force puts a huge amount of sudden pressure on partially inactive defense, making it more of a surprise attack. As the historical record states that the Welsh realigned their front before the battle began, this seemed less suitable than #12.
The laminated cards I use to conceptualize big battles are arranged below:
On the game day table, I used my favorite light-canvas brown cloth which provides a neutral earth color palette that strongly brings out the terrain. I easily obtained the simple terrain features needed for the three "One-Hour Wargames" scenarios I had picked out - #12, #11 and #14 - with what the Host had on hand.
Below is #14 "Static Defense" from the defender's side. At the top are the English, advancing with a unit of Heavy Infantry, a Unit of Heavy Cavalry, and a Unit of Light Infantry with bows [in a wide line]. They must seize either the camp at left or the hill at right. The catch is two units must stay within 12" of those objectives. So the only unit free to move is the small Archer unit in the woods.
Facing them are - from left - a unit of Welsh Heavy Infantry, a small unit of Light Infantry with Bows, and another unit of Heavy Infantry.
A unique ability of the Welsh heavy infantry is that they can move Unformed through woods at half speed, exit and form up again. Something useful given that there are two large woods at board center!
Here, the English Marcher Lords have a strong force composed of a Light Infantry with Crossbows, a Heavy Infantry with Bows, and a Heavy Cavalry. They must seize the crossroads at bottom, in front of the fields and house.
Opposing them are a Welsh Heavy Infantry, a Light Infantry with Bows, and - entering on Turns 3 and 6 as reinforcements, a Heavy Cavalry and a Light Cavalry with Javelins. The Heavy Infantry occupy the important gap between an impassible bog and the woods which may only be moved through by unformed Infantry.
Finally, at #12 "An Unfortunate Oversight", the English have a unit of Light Infantry Archers, a Unit of Heavy Infantry, and a Unit of Heavy Cavalry who have outflanked the bridge. These are opposed by a Heavy Infantry and two Light Infantry with Bow; against the Bridge itself are a Light Infantry with Bow, and a Heavy Infantry in a town.
About to force the crossing are a Unit of Armored Infantry and two Units of Light Infantry with Crossbows. All bow Units have an ammo limit of 6 shots.
Below, looking down the table from the English original position at the bridge. The board objectives are more easily understood from this angle. Victory by the far English forces at top right will threaten / secure the road at left, which is the line of retreat, advance and supply for the Welsh. The two hills overlook the road and provide excellent shooting positions for the English archers. The bridge and town are positions that if lost will provide the anvil for the hammer to strike against.
Below, a rather aggressive toll booth attendant with sword and shield!
Finally, an important part of making the scenario "Orewin Bridge" is the fate of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd the Prince of Wales himself. He will enter as a reinforcement soon after an objective is seized in scenario #14.
Le Strange advanced strongly supported by archery while outflanking the Welsh with his knights. After a punishing series of volleys, the Welsh retreated with heavy casualties from the large bow unit and its supporting crossbows.
Meanwhile, to the right, the Welsh were struggling to hold off a strong advance by English heavy infantry and knights. Below, the knights took significant casualties from the two archer units, and are now at 50%! However, this used up most of their arrows, and the knights have chased off and are pursuing one of the bow units.
The English must seize the bridge and the hill. This makes four terrain objectives.
He will get stuck in as quickly as possible, preferably to hold or take back an objective. However if he dies, that event is worth a victory point.
The total is 5 objectives:
- If the English take 3, they win a minor victory, inflicting a setback upon the Welsh rebellion against their lawful King.
- If they take 4-5, they win a major victory, defeating the Welsh and thwarting the rebellion of its leaders.
- If they take 1-2, the Welsh have held their own in the field of battle, proving their cause is just in the eyes of God, which will grow the rebellion.
- If the English take none, then as above, plus a huge setback for English arms and the reputation of the Marcher Lords as a force to be reckoned with, perhaps even a free Wales under a king!
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The game had a slow start, with players showing up late, so we didn't get started for over an hour. Below, the main effort to seize the vital crossroads and trap most of the Welsh army against the river is being lead by their general Hugh Le Strange [known for his eccentric personality, of course].
On the hill, the two sides are locked in a slog, with the Welsh having a small uphill advantage against an identical heavy infantry unit.
Interestingly, the key to the position is the open flank of the Welsh Heavy Infantry, which was being well guarded by the two small Light Infantry Archers, who wisely kept distance, forcing the knights to come farther to them. They are, however, still within charge distance of the Welsh Heavy Infantry flank, so must be driven off.
To the left, the English make a bold and well coordinated attack with their Heavy Infantry supported by archers, while their knights move to outflank the Welsh and threaten the camp. Arrows fall upon the Welsh causing several casualties, and reducing their figure count from 24 to 20. This also reduces their future combat total against the English Heavy Infantry by 20 points, an impactful amount.
After just a few turns - far faster than I expected, the dismounted English knights forced their way into the town, causing the Welsh to fall back some distance. This is a huge accomplishment as it outflanks the Welsh on the hill, and the Welsh Heavy Infantry are decisively outclassed by the English dismounted knights unless they occupy the town. They have no chance of seizing it back.
After a couple of rounds, with time running out for the game, we concentrate on the single combat. Both knights manage to wound each other [they have three wounds] but neither is ready to give up.
A bit later, the knight units have lost 3 figs each, but Llewellyn takes a second wound!
"Save the Prince!" his retainers cry. Grabbing his horse's reigns, they retreat quickly, leaving the befuddled English to see to the wound of Le Strange.
With tough fighting happening in the center and right, the English took the camp on the left. Llewellyn arrived and attempted to re-take it since it is important to morale as well as having most of his treasury!
Here, I used a combination of the battle rules [the two knight units] with the two general figures fighting beside them using the Man-to-Man combat rules.
"Leave him be, the traitor is mine!" shouts Le Strange.
"Get your greedy hands out of my camp!" shouts Llewellyn back.
As one would think, the identical knight units are slowly attriting each other. Meanwhile, the two knights hack away at each other in personal combat.
Overall, this was a fun scenario that was cut short by several time delays, leaving the main part of the fighting uncertain - it could have swung either way.
As for the rules, the most important thing I took away is that the split-move shooting sequence is just too confusing. It must have been explained 5 times at least, and was still tripping up players and slowing down the game. With all due respect to Lords Gygax and Perren, I will change the turn sequence a bit to take care of this but retain the original design goals as much as possible.
Some other thoughts on the rules... I was uncertain that shooting was effective enough at times, but a lot of it had to do with the ranges and shots the players took. In other words, some of the shots the players took appeared marginal to me, and they would have been better off saving their limited arrows for another opportunity.
Given that some shooting was very effective, and other shooting was a lot less so. I'm going to try and make it just *a bit* better. After all, I have aggressively limited the number of shots to 6 [conveniently counted down with one black die] so the fewer shots should be a bit more impactful. Overall, shooting has been reduced to about half as effective, and with an ammo limit that forces the archery units to enter melee at some point if the objectives are still in doubt.
Another aspect I want to clean up is the integration of Man-to-Man combat into the main rules. Much is made in the rules to differentiate the interaction of various armor types and weapons. As most medieval single combats will have the fighters similarly equipped, this is a wash and easily handled.
The players were willing to give the rules another go, so I am considering whether to re-play the same battle with a few changes to get a decisive conclusion within the allotted time, or try a new battle. I'd also like to finish a few more units and individual characters, as well as their banners and flags, to give the whole event a bit more spectacle and color. We'll see what 2025 brings!
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