I’ve been experimenting with a new skirmish scenario set in the Welsh Marches. An English force of men-at-arms and archers has stashed a McGuffin in a village in the woods. Little did they know they were being watched by dastardly Welsh rebels! The Welsh wish to capture the McGuffin, because it is symbolically important/worth a lot of money. One night, Welsh forces surround the village. When the English cavalry ride off McGuffin stealing in the morning, they prepare to launch an attack on the archers left to guard the village. The English have only just finished breakfast when flights of arrows streak from the woods and gangs of spearmen emerge and charge through the mist. There is just time to send a page on a swift horse to find the cavalry.
Forces
Welsh: Three units of spears, three units of longbows
English : 2 units of Men-at-arms, 2 units of longbows, 1 unit hobilars, camp followers
Set up
The Welsh set up in the woods(A&B) either side of the village (C ) The woods should come no closer than 1.5 moves from the village edge but less than a longbow shot. The village can only be attacked or defended by one unit per side. The cavalry will return at D. The Welsh must exit with the Mcguffin at E.
The Welsh and the English garrison should be considered deployed at the start of the game (Having the English in disorder tips things too far toward the Welsh).
The English cavalry should return on a dice throw. This is one which could be quite rule dependent. What you are looking for is time for the Welsh side with luck to overrun the English in the village before the cavalry return. Or, if unlucky, they will be in mid attack and find themselves fighting on two fronts. I’d suggest 5-8 moves. I used a count down method, throwing 1d6 and deducting from start total each move. Multiply the number of moves you want by 3.5 to get the total (the average score on a d6).
If the Welsh neutralise the garrison before the cavalry arrive, reward them with a free reorganisation phase where they can redeploy where they wish and place the Mcguffin ready to leave the village. The Mcguffin must have at least one escort unit. It will move down the road at half infantry speed.
I divided the English into two morale groups (garrison and cavalry) but kept the Welsh as one.
The play through
I divided the Welsh into equal groups either side of the village. I set all the spearman to attack, supported by two archer units, the third archer unit being on roadwatch at the extreme tip of wood A. The English archers took some long-range casualties from the longbows in the woods but brought down some of the Welsh spearmen. The leading spears hit the village together and a melee broke out. The Welsh, having better difficult terrain factors, had the better of it. On move three, the third spear unit broke into an undefended side of the village and fell on the baggage teams. These made a heroic stand and managed to win an initial round of melee. Unfortunately, at that point, the two longbow units collapsed and the pursuing Welsh swept away the gallant servants. By move 4 the Welsh had the village (quicker than expected – both English units put in a sub-par performance). No sign of the cavalry, so the Welsh got their redeploy move. The Welsh archers fell back to concealed shooting positions by the road near D. One spear unit held the village, the other two set off with the Mcguffin transporter. The English cavalry seeing the fleeing Welsh set of in pursuit, running a gauntlet of archery. One MAA unit was very badly handled, partly because it had to manouever more to bypass the village. The other unit was luckier and chased down the first escort unit, which turned to face it. Lances couched, the cavalry ploughed into the Welsh and shattered them in one blow (they had been weakened in the fight for the village and, in an open field, they stood little chance). Victory seemed certain for the English – the transporter was unguarded. All it needed was for the cavalry to pull up and wheel left next move. Instead, the cavalry pursued their erstwhile opponents off table. But still it was looking like an English win. Only the second escort stood in the way of the other men-at-arms and they were just as vulnerable. But no! The second unit of MAA had been badly shot up. If they were unlucky and the Welsh very lucky, they’d break. They broke. The English had one final chance – the hobilars. The hobilars were less than a charge move from the transporter and the transporter was one move from safety. They could intercept. But, being now the only English on the field, they needed to pass a morale check first. They fled.
It only remained for the spearmen left in the village to burn it to the ground and everyone could march off home singing.
Developing the idea
Probably the weak point was how quickly the village fell. It wasn’t implausible – a dawn attack quickly swamping the defences sounds like an ideal raid outcome. But it did mean that the game split into two, rather than allowing a heroic relief effort. Potential stretches include boosting the garrison up to three English units (perhaps not all longbows) or making the Welsh cover more ground while being shot at.
Obviously, this could have been fought in other periods. I thought of making it all Edward I and having crossbows garrison the village. Another idea that struck me while playing through is that it could be Robin Hood v. the Sheriff’s men. Doubtless there are more options. I will return to this idea again.