In reply to Finger of Fate (msg # 3):

Seizing him, along with 10 scouts... usual patrol. Role Play it?

So you will have 10 of your scouts seize the messenger and his 4 guards?

Just making sure of what we are doing...

In reply to Finger of Fate (msg # 5):

Yes. They will be dressed as bandits, and will be seeking to kill the guards and messenger, making it look like Fautelroy men...

They will be well in the Count's lands, and will target other messengers as well...

You get away with it... (thus Theo Snidely does NOT know of the call up) But the counts reaction is quick and serious, he sends a mounted detachment of 25 armored cavalry to disseminate the word. amd he has scouts backed by  up to 50 men at arms searching for the culprits.

You quickly realize it is only a matter of time before all those recruiters are found. No more than two days and very likely tomorrow.

In reply to Finger of Fate (msg # 7):

Time to change ideas. With 100 men donning Lord Fauntleroys colours, we will begin moving them towards Lord Fauntleroy's lands. Our scouts, meanwhile, will be also donned in his colours and will be making as many of his scouts disappear as possible. We will keep our distance from the swamp hideout as much as possible.

Meanwhile, we will send 100 men in Lord Fauntleroy's colours to ambush the armoured Cavalry. That is a prize target we want to destroy! The fight will be started by archers shooting the horses, though if riders are hit, not a problem...

All retreats will be back to Lord Fauntleroy's lands.

Confusing post ... so are you moving the recruiting teams or hiding them?

Not sure how you mean to attack the cavalry, but will assume an ambush in a wooded area, any other preparations?

In reply to Finger of Fate (msg # 9):

Moving the recruiting teams.

Attack the cavalry by setting up an ambush with spears in the ground and spikes as they pass through a more heavily wooded area. Crossbowmen and archers in trees, and Medium Infantry with long spears. Idea is to have a hail of arrows kill the horses/mounts. Initial round they will not know the direction, so shields will not be ready. Have archers in trees spread out, using trees for cover as well as bracing for better aiming.

Well given the recent past, these men show up with shields on the left side, most all have 10 foot spears. They ride in three columns of eight with an officer (you'd suppose) out front. All wear a cuirass and helmet, metal arms and greaves, metal covering for the  front and side of the thighs. There are several horses toward the end (say 9), laden with camping  gear and what looks to be padded armor.

Feel free to roll  your shots. call points of aim if you wish with them. I'll assume 25 of your 100 men are light troops.

In reply to Finger of Fate (msg # 11):

Given that we are expecting combat, we would be gathering all the crossbows we could find and equipping medium infantry with them. As such, I will take all of the men, as mentioned above, armed with either a Crossbow or Longbow. I have assumed half half, but if there are more crossbows (because they are cheaper) then we can change some of the attacks to crossbows, and adjust target to hit and damage accordingly (crossbows do +2 damage). All crossbows will have slings attacked so they can be dropped and the spears readied.

Armoured horses, were there any river crossings they had to pass through? If so, we will be there! Otherwise a heavily wooded area with a lot of undergrowth.

Given we are expecting armoured targets, we will use Bodkin Bolts and arrows. Intention is to fire into them, and if they seem ready to attack, then ready spears.

We will have half the troops on either side of the road, about 50 yards apart so we can support each other. Open fire when they are 30 yards away, so they are not quite in between us, but approaching. Orders are to shoot the column closest to you, with scouts targeting the leader. After firing crossbows, recock their crossbows but be ready to sling them and ready long spears. These should be at least 12 ft long, in anticipation of cavalry long spears!

Attacking by squads, ie one roll per 10 men. Range Penalty at 30 yards, -7. Within full damage range for all targets. Braced, extra time as they approached. Note that with extra time, the bonus can do no more than double the base Acc. Hence I will assume with all the time I have, I can get double base Acc for the first shot. These are targeting mounts, as mentioned earlier, so +1 SM to hit! I have put roll and then damage in brackets. Being Bodkin bolts, halve armour, but pi damage.

I should have a fairly good idea of my mens skills after this!

Crossbow squads, Acc: 4, so Skill -7+2x8 = skill +1. (Assume regular Crossbow, ST: 11/12, 1d+2)
 so rolled 14(4), 7(5): (Right column), 13(8), 9(5): (Left column) armour divisor 2
Archer Squads, Acc: 3 so Skill-1 (Assume Regular Longbow, ST:11/12, 1d)
 so rolled 5(6), 8(3): (Right column) 15(1), 7(5): (Left column) armour divisor 2
Scout Squads, Acc: 2 so skill -3  (Assume Regular Bow, ST: 10, 1d-1)
 so rolled 6(5), 12(3): (Leaders Mount), armour divisor 2
Mustafa's attack on Leader, Torso, with crossbow.
Skill 13+8(acc+time)-7(range)=14, of course, minimum damage.

Cavalry Horses typically have ST: 22, so 22 HP, Heavy warhorses ST: 24, so 24 HP. I would assume that all rounds target the 8 horses on their side, with 2 targeting middle row horses, so each member in each unit hits a different horse.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:59, Fri 02 Oct 2020.

Stuck on my iPhone for much of the day. Your medium infantry is not trained with crossbows and do not have them. They an identity a bow most of the time but have no clue about using one.

In reply to Finger of Fate (msg # 13):

Hmm, historically crossbows are the easiest missile weapons to use, and that is what makes them so dangerous. For siege warfare, that is what most infantry are equipped with (again historically, the English being the exception only in certain periods of their history), and given that is what we are expecting, I was expecting logically they would be prepared. Did not get the second paragraph, so will wait for clarification there...

Home again

Yes, the phone was interpreting  for me...  Basically was saying they could Identify a bow, but had no clue as to using it to any effect, probably couldn't even string it.
Crossbows are simple, but weren't that widely issued based on my reading, certainly every man did not have one. The weapon of choice against horse was the spear/pike.  Crossbows take too long to cock and load, so it's a one shot weapon in close combat.

In reply to Finger of Fate (msg # 15):

Yeah, they are really first shot weapons, and that is how I was using them. But at $150 each, they are quite cheap, and were often readily available, especially in sieges, by both sides. Joan or Arc, for example...but there are plenty of others.

Well we have no sieges and the Boats aren't back with the last request. You have 25 lights with missile weapons, 75 Medium with spears, shields and swords/axes etc.

In reply to Finger of Fate (msg # 17):

Ok then. Far from ideal, or what I asked for initially, but if that is what command gives me, they can deal with the casualties that will result. This would have been made clear to them when they did not provide missile weapons to start with, so perhaps this will motivate them next time...

Since I rolled 10 times, lets go with groups of 2 with the missile weapons. That makes it 8 crossbows, 12 longbows (specialists would not have regular bows if there are so few of them!) rolled previously. Let us assume 3 more crossbows and 2 more longbows...total of 25. Since these guys are specialised, they should be at least as good as Mustafa, better in most cases.

Crossbow squads, Acc: 4, so Skill -7+2x8 = skill +1. (Assume regular Crossbow, ST: 11/12, 1d+2)
 so rolled M1:14(4), M2:7(5), M3:13(8), M4:9(5), Leader:(group of 3):8(4) armour divisor 2
Archer Squads, Acc: 3 so Skill-1 (Assume Regular Longbow, ST:11/12, 1d)
 so rolled M1:5(6), M2:8(3), M3:15(1), M4:7(5), M3:5(4), M2:6(6), Leader:12(4) armour divisor 2

With so few missile weapons, we will focus on the leader and the first four mounts on either side. With all but one group in pairs, for simplicity lets say half hit one side, and half hit the other side, as indicated above. So M1 is the first mount either side M2 the second, and the Leader is both or all three targeting the mount of the leader. I hope that is clear...

Mustafa's attack on Leader, Torso, with crossbow.
Skill 13+8(acc+time)-7(range)=14, of course, minimum damage

OK, A little confused as to what you have provided ... apologize for having to leave yesterday, but supper was ready and I needed to spend some family time.

M1:14(4), M2:7(5)  so M1 is the first man in that column, 14 is the die roll and (4) is the damage?

In reply to Finger of Fate (msg # 19):

No need to apologise for spending time with family! I would do the same in a heartbeat.

M is for mount, so M1 is the first mount in both the left and right columns, since each roll represents 2 men (except the one indicated as representing three). Otherwise, yes, 14 to hit and 4 pi damage, but with an armour divisor of 2 because they are bodkin bolts/arrows. If you want, you can let me know their skill and DR and I can do the calcs for you. Showing rolls and working, of course.

Armor on the men is basically a 5 with open face helmets and leather boots. Horses are not armored at all. They seem clueless and the horses are just becoming a little nervous.
Range is roughly 30 feet, so a -4 to hit.
Figure trained lights so most are 12 skill, For the crossbows, group 2 (14), 3 (13) and the leader (14) each have a better user with his skill in parens.

For the bowmen, average skill is 13 with superior archers in groups M4 (15) and Leader (20)

So 11 out of the 25 men will be engaged?  Be aware that the last three men in each row are leading the pack horses.

In reply to Finger of Fate (msg # 21):

Ok, in that case, M4 will be the ones leading the pack horses. Yes, will only engage actually 9 of the 25. Peppering more but not taking down any is a much worse problem. If we take down the mounts of those 9, given they are in the front, the others will have to disentangle in order to engage. I had assumed a range factor of -7, so -4 means pretty much all hit. They should, with all the time to prepare...if we saw the horses were unarmoured in time, we would replace the bodkin ammunition with regular (imp) ammunition. All rounds target the torso...

Crossbow squads, Acc: 4, so 12-4+2x8 = 16. (Assume regular Crossbow, ST: 11/12, 1d+2)
 so rolled M1:14(4), M2:7(5), M3:13(8), M4:9(5), Leader:(group of 3):8(4) armour divisor 2
Archer Squads, Acc: 3 so 14 (Assume Regular Longbow, ST:11/12, 1d)
 so rolled M1:5(6), M2:8(3), M3:15(1), M4:7(5), M3:5(4), M2:6(6), Leader:12(4) armour divisor 2

Mustafa's attack on Leader mount, Torso, with crossbow.
Skill 13+8(acc+time)-7(range)=14, of course, minimum damage

So damage, without multipliers, is as follows...

Leader : 23 damage
M1 (1st in column on both sides): 10
M2 (2nd in column on both sides): 14
M3 (3rd in column on both sides): 12
M4 (last in column on both sides, leading packs):10

Cavalry horses have 22 HP, Heavy Warhorses 24 HP.

No Difference from one side or the other?
Seems odd that they should be the same ... for instance the M1 Archers rolled a 5 and does 6 damage ... assume you are just rolling once for each group on each horse, so this one would suffer 18 points of impaling damage, right?

Am I missing something?

In reply to Finger of Fate (msg # 23):

In that example, I rolled a 5 to hit, and 6 damage. Forces are split into two, either side of the road, so I figure 1 of each group on either side. Each group is two, impaling damage does x2, so it would be double damage in that case. Taking no chances with the leaders horse, as you can tell!

Make sense?

If we double the damage for impaling, all 9 horses go down.

Crossbow side;
M1 manages to get clear of his horse and stands.
M2 & M3 are struggling to get free (and will soon).
M4 steps clear
The leader on that side is pinned under his horse and yelling for help.

Bow side:
M1 & 2 &3 get clear and stand,
M4 & 5 (marked as a second 2) are struggling to get disentangled.
Leader is also pinned

The Overall leader also gets tangled in stirrups and stuff and is struggling to get free.

The Unengaged riders do a good job of controlling their animals and get ready to fight.

In reply to Finger of Fate (msg # 25):

Ok. Not going to stress on details, but half crossbowmen and half archers on each side. Archers are handed arrows by footmen, and medium infantry hold position, ready to raise spears at a moments notice, or if any cavalry approach or start charging them. All forces, including crossbowmen, archers and spearmen, split 50/50 each side. Crossbowmen start reloading, archers using regular arrows and targeting horses. They will aim this round.

Did those holding the reigns of the baggage horses keep hold of them? Any guys fallen drop or break weapons?

All baggage horses were retained and calmed, no weapons broke as none were drawn. Only the spears were out and they don't break easily. It might be hard to get a dead horse off of one... but it isn't broke.

Several men are yelling , two, start forming the troops, urging the mounted men to go spear the ambushers... the dismounted men to go and keep the mounted men safe from ground troops... all three leaders seem to be tangled at the moment, but the two column leaders seem to be almost clear... the main leader is not clear yet, still tangled.

In reply to Finger of Fate (msg # 27):

Targeting the mounts of those nearest and attempting to rally troops. Again, assume targeting both sides equally, so each roll is for a pair of archers on either side.

Archer Squads, Acc: 3, Range -4, skill 13 so target to hit 12, (Assume Regular Longbow, ST:11/12, 1d)
 so rolled M5:11(3), M6:8(2), M7:12(2), M7:7(5), M6:6(6), M5:11(1), Leader:8(6)

Hence mount damage
M5 on both sides: 4 imp
M6 on both sides: 8 imp
M7 on both sides: 7 imp
One predominant Leader: 12 imp

Idea is to create blockages around the middle column by surrounding them with fallen/panicing horses, hopefully spooking the mounts.

Crossbowmen should be nearly recocked. They are loading bodkin bolts when done...

Edit: We should have 37/38 spearmen on each side as well. There is a pre-arranged signal for the spearmen in the other group to form up and charge behind the cavalry if one group is attacked by all the enemy. The other plan is for crossbowmen to target head shots when the attackers get close to them, or vitals if the attackers turn their backs to attack the other group, all with bodkin bolts, but crossbowmen are always to take clear shots of the nearest target, to avoid hitting their own men! Archers are to continue to hit the mounts until we are all on foot!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:56, Sun 04 Oct 2020.