Late August 1066. Here is our first outing to Stacked On Tressle.
Stevensun's Saga.
So it came to pass that he decided to leave the Norwegian fleet and boldly go forth.
Upon reaching the port of Tresslegeat he recruited a force of mercenaries from the assorted scum and villainy therein.
Heading up the Tressle, looting the small settlements as they go, producing a bow wave of refugees.
At the final stop, the town of Stackton Tressle. Here the forces of the local lord, bolstered by refugee, um, volunteers.
In the shadow of the great Frank Muir lies the river Tressle, later the Tressle canal. A large hill known as the Stack will one day house a Mott and Bailey, then a castle later a county garrison.
The main road parallels the river, turning below the Stack to wind its way up to the Muir.
At the turn lies the market with a Saxon, later Norman church (stone wall) One day the railway station will nestle here, where the sheep market (fenced in area) now stands.
Well that was the plan. I use my wheely cart of Doom for transport and I filled it with a heavy load of metal. Fragile MDF took the loss. I'll do better next time, as I need less metal.
I made one very big mistake. I should have used painted bases for one side and unpainted for the other. Have to admit I got confused once the forces got mixed up.
The mercenaries, from the border raiders list, were too shooty, but I wanted variety. Could have doubled the Vikings.
* I wanted a different unit of skirmishers for the locals, so I made them veteran, from the shooters, and used the slinger rule to knock a point off and advance them to 4+.
Apologies for unpainted troops, but mix of very hot weather and health has stopped me cold.
I had intended to run 30p a side but 24p was my limit! Figures are a mix of Museum Miniatures, Battle Valor and exactly 1 RPE.
Viking Sea Raiders |
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| 4x warriors. 1Sk. 1x Vet HI = 24p |
6p Vet HI | 1 | Move 5+ 6” |
| Attack 4+ Attack V 5+ Defence V 4+ |
Courage 4+ Armour 3 |
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| No wall of spears. |
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4p Warrior Infantry 12 | 4 | Move 6+ 8” |
| Attack 5+ Attack V 3+ Defence V 6+ |
Courage 4+ Armour 2 |
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| Flexible. Wild Charge. Counter charge vs Infantry |
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2p Skirmishers 6 | 2 | Move 5+ 8” |
| Attack 7+ Attack V 6+ Defence V 6+ |
Courage 5+ Armour 1 |
| Shoot 7+ 5+ 12” |
| Hard to target. Arm 2-12” Skirmish/Evade7+. |
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(Border Raiders) Mercenaries |
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| HC, 2LC, 2 LI, 2 Sk. 22p (oops!) |
4p Heavy Cav 6 | 1 | Move 5+ 10” |
| Attack 5+ Attack V 4+ Defence V 5+ |
Courage 4 Armour 3 |
| No shoot |
| Countercharge |
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3p Light Cav 6 | 2 | Move 5+ 12” |
| Attack 7+ Attack V 5+ Defence V 6+ |
Courage 5 Armour 3 |
| Shoot 6+ 5+ 6” |
| Skirmish 7+ any order. Evade 7+ |
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4P Locals LI Javelin 12 | 2 | Move 5+ 8” |
| Attack 6+ Attack V 5+ Defence V 4+ |
Courage 4+ Armour 2 |
| Shoot 6+ 5+ 6” |
| Wall of Spears |
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2p Skirmishers 6 | 2 | Move 5+ 8” |
| Attack 7+ Attack V 6+ Defence V 6+ |
Courage 5+ Armour 1 |
| Shoot 7+ 5+ 12” |
| Hard to target. Arm 2-12” Skirmish/Evade7+. |
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Locals |
| Late Saxon |
| HI, Vet LI, 3 LI, vet Sk 24p |
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7p bloodthirsty HI 12 | 1 | Move 5+ 6” |
| Attack 6+ Attack V 5+ 6=2. Defence V 4+ |
Courage 4+ Armour 3 |
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| Wall Of Spears |
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5P Locals Vet LI 12 | 1 | Move 5+ 8” |
| Attack 6+ Attack V 4+ Defence V 4+ |
Courage 4+ Armour 2 |
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3P Locals LI 12 | 3 | Move 5+ 8” |
| Attack 6+ Attack V 5+ Defence V 4+ |
Courage 4+ Armour 2 |
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| Wall of Spears |
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3p Vet Skirmishers Slingers 6 * | 1 | Move 5+ 8” |
| Attack 7+ Attack V 6+ Defence V 6+ |
Courage 5+ Armour 1 |
| Shoot 7+ 4+ 12” |
| Hard to target. Arm 2-12” Skirmish/Evade7+. |
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Refugees |
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| Vet HI, 3 LI mix, Sk. 23p |
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6p Vet HI 12 | 1 | Move 5+ 6” |
| Attack 6+ Attack V 4+ Defence V 4+ |
Courage 4+ Armour 3 |
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5P LI Mix weapon 12 | 3 | Move 5+ 8” |
| Attack 6+ Attack V 5+ Defence V 4+ |
Courage 4+ Armour 2 |
| Shoot 6+ 5+ 12” |
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2p Skirmishers 6 | 1 | Move 5+ 8” |
| Attack 7+ Attack V 6+ Defence V 6+ |
Courage 5+ Armour 1 |
| Shoot 7+ 5+ 12” |
| Hard to target. Arm 2-12” Skirmish/Evade7+. |
The Game. I used this Temu cloth to denote the built up area with a few buildings etc. to break up the edge.
I formed up before the invaders. Locals in a column in the centre of town, HI, skirmishers and vets to the rear.
Refugees are to the flank.
The rampaging Viking hoard, imagine the table edge as the river Tressle, with longboats a bobbing, and marshy land up to the road. Green bit is a field.
At the long end comes the mercenaries, making an L shaped insertion.
Locals advance. We had a debate about movement rate in BUA, based on personal experience of medieval troop handling.
Refugees manage to for line before the Vikings turn up, only the skirmishers get in some shooting.
The refugees do better than expected against the Vikings wild charges, 2:1 broken. Maybe 24p was a better option after all--.
Stephen made the rear warband his general rather than the HI, one of the 2 units not broken--.
The broken refugee unit gets pushed into the Viking skirmishers range and gets shoved into the path of the advancing locals.
The Viking incursion. Skirmishers top right and warband at bottom right.Locals move to plug the gap and heavies clash!
A further wild charge and the Viking heavies are gone, refugee heavies close to half. One refugee unit hit by a recovered then wild charged unit that broke them before going to skirmish shooting.The raiders arrive. Blue chit = wall of spear. Javelins start to fly. The remnant 5 unit at the front is the refugees being in the way and bounced--. I am reminded of St Albans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_St_Albans
Infantry charge cavalry in the gap. Sees them off but with casualties.
The cavalry win through to the sheep pen and the veteran lights are now the front line.
Meanstwhile, the Viking incursion has been stopped in the churchyard in the centre of the town, but at a high cost-.
The Viking leader is isolated and his unit is depleted, the refugees use their shooting.
This is a battle. Messy and confused.
The refugee heavies move towards the mercenaries. Viking leader advances into the storm.
Mercenaries clash with the veterans in the churchyard.
Victorious but battered.
Cavalry loose in the town! not good!
Refugees under pressure, their heavies broken, withdraw.
The mercenaries now hold the town. The refugees retire to the Stack. Well that was an interesting game that the participants enjoyed and/or found challenging. The flanking and moving-shield wall rules might have made a difference, but we haven't tried them, so I'll save them for a more open engagement.
In modern times, demarking the edge of the Watford Gap demilitarised zone and served by 3 B's, a C and an unadopted roads it is hardly a strategic location.
Mayhap, dearest reader, some future historian whose species is yet to emerge from the (local) primordial slime will explain in learned terms why this town was the focus of so much of the action during the Time War on Earth?
The Ixx were the first: https://unitrecon.blogspot.com/2013/08/troublet-mill-beingadventures-in.html
Next a strange zombie invasion! https://unitrecon.blogspot.com/2018/08/fl-battle-of-stackedon-trestle-elvira.html
Then a nefarious villain! https://unitrecon.blogspot.com/2021/02/flying-lead-clacking-contraptions-of.html
Dearest reader, I plan to run this battle twice, if not thrice! Same location, different time and an evolution in buildings. I'm not sure how much this applies to other countries, but building plots (particularly in built up areas) in the UK can follow original Roman and Medieval footprints.
