Rearguard at Vallée des Ormes

I am always amazed at how fast time flies, I didn`t realise that it had been over two years since I last did anything on my Lace Wars project.  I have, like many wargamers, been distracted by too many other projects to mention, but I found myself wanting to return once more to the never-ending conflicts between the forces of the Kingdom of Volgar and the Confederation of the Five Duchies. 

I thought that it was best to ease myself back into things, so I decided that Neil Thomas` One-Hour Wargames were in order.  I am still surprised by how good a game these simple rules always give.  The last time I used them I opted for my smaller 2` by 1.5` table, today I thought I would use my 3` by 2` board to try and expand the manoeuvre options for both sides.  This idea was rather scuppered when I rolled scenario 24-Bottleneck, but that was the way the die rolled.  The result was not a complete loss, as it allowed me to link this battle with the last one. 

In the previous battle, the forces of the Kingdom of Volgar were soundly defeated and forced to retreat.  So, I imagined this battle revolving around the forces of the Confederation of the Five Duchies trying to pursue the retreating army and push their way into the Kingdom of Volgar. 

I have had to resort to using my river sections to represent the road down the centre of the table as I don`t have enough road pieces to serve the purpose.  Making more road sections will have to go on my to do list.

The Battle

Theodoric Von Martinez wiped his brow at the thought of Queen Dragomira Zedwitzové`s reaction to his latest failure, even as the Queen`s uncle he was not immune to her wrath.  What he needed to do was to bloody the nose of the perfidious Philippe Le Duff and stop him from penetrating into the Kingdom of Volgar.  Luckily for Von Martinez, Le Duff had rashly followed him into the Vallée des Ormes unable to control his desire to ravage the outlying Volgan provinces.  The Lord Warden of the Confederation of the Five Duchies had given the old soldier a chance to redeem his reputation.

Smiling to himself, Von Martinez turned to Colonel Lara Akyne and instructed her to take her Grenzers and occupy Elm wood.  The general was sure that the lioness of Volgar would not let him down, her Grenzers would make Le Duff pay.  The rest of his forces would wait at the end of the bottleneck, between Elm wood and the impassable Elm hill, to see what forces Le Duff had managed to muster and how he would dispose of them.

The Confederation of the Five Duchies` army under Philippe Le Duff

General - Lord Warden Philippe Le Duff, Duke of Monfort

The Ouestbourg Regiment- Col. Wadoux

The Maison Dieu Regiment - Col. Bricourt

The Duchess du Burgoyne`s Own Fusiliers – Col. De la Côte D'or

The Montfort Dragoons – Col. Douker

Capel – le- Ferne Battery - 1^st section Capt. Le Bigot

Capel – le- Ferne Battery- 2^nd section Lt. Le Grosse

 

The Kingdom of Volgar`s  army under Theodoric Von Martinez

General -Theodoric Von Martinez

Fouksten Highland Regiment - Col. Huss

Feweszem Regiment - Col. Chomski

Sytynbon Lancers - Col. Dragos

Sendgyt Grenzers - Col. Akyne

 

 

The Lord Warden Philippe Le Duff, Duke of Monfort sighed to himself as he saw the waiting Volgan forces.  A look of boredom crossed his face as he realised how easy this battle was going to be.  The old dog, Von Martinez, would be taught a lesson on this day.  With a slight movement of his hand, Le Duff sent his aide de camps off with the orders for his forces.  The guns would pound the Volgans from this position, the Duchess du Burgoyne`s Own Fusiliers, and the Montfort Dragoons would form the lead forces while the Ouestbourg Regiment, and the Maison Dieu Regiment would deal with the skirmishers in the wood.  The battle should be over before teatime.

The Capel – le- Ferne Battery hoped to please the Lord Warden with a concentrated barrage and opened fire on the line infantry ahead of them.  Captain Le Bigot cursed under his breath as the first shots were mostly ineffective, the mist coming down from Elm hill obscuring the gunners aim.  The fire from the forest was much more effective, as the sharp eyed Sendgyt Grenzers let loose their first volley, cutting down many members of the Maison Dieu Regiment.

Colonel Dragos, and his lancers swept down the road looking to smash into the Cherry Blossoms, but they were intercepted by the Montfort Dragoons.  The brief melee was indecisive, the heavy cavalry leaving many of the saddles of the light horse empty with their sword play, but the courage of the lancers never faltered.  As the two cavalry regiments separated, Colonel Dragos saw an opportunity to attack his original target and spurred his men forward.   The Sytynbon Lancers crashed into the Cherry Blossoms their lances causing untold carnage to the unit.

The staccato crack of musket fire from into and out of the woods drowned out the sounds of the wounded and the dying.  Both the Ouestbourg Regiment and the Maison Dieu Regiment were being cut down by the accurate fire of Col. Akyne`s Grenzers.  Reluctantly, Le Duff decided that his line infantry was better employed with dealing with the Volgan line infantry and marched them past the Grenzers.

Colonel Wadoux shook his head in frustration as his regiment ground to a halt behind the Maison Dieu regiment.  Too many of Le Duff`s men were trying to fit into too small a space.  Withering fire spat out from the woods dropping many of the brave men of the Ouestbourg regiment.  The Montfort Dragoons moved forward to try and relieve some of the pressure on the infantry, but the Sytynbon lancers blocked their path to the Feweszem Regiment.   Once more the brave rovers were able to fend off the heavy horse.

The Maison Dieu regiment moved past the forest straight into a deadly fusillade from the Fouksten Highland Regiment, and the Feweszem Regiment.  Col. Bricourt couldn`t hold his men together and the proud regiment fled from the field. The disbelief on Col. Wadoux`s face as his sister regiment fled was quickly turned to horror as he saw the ferocious Sytynbon lancers bearing down on his regiment.

The loss of the Maison Dieu regiment and the reckless charge of the Sytynbon lancers broke the spirit of the Confederation of the Five Duchies army.  Le Duff failed to keep control of his remaining forces and the retreat turned into a rout.  A rout that the Sytynbon lancers were able to take advantage of, and cut down the last of the Duchess du Burgoyne`s Own Fusiliers.

Theodoric Von Martinez smiled to himself; the battle had gone better than he could probably have hoped for.  His plan to delay the enemy with his light forces had worked well, both the grenzers and the lancers had been crucial in stopping Le Duff from pushing his superior forces forward.  But Le Duff`s own incompetence had helped in the defeat.  Countless times the artillery couldn’t be brought to bear, as other regiments had come between them and the Volgan forces.  Von Martinez had handed Le Duff a sound beating, taking care of half of the army the Lord Warden commanded at the loss of only around a third of his force, most of which came from the Sytynbon lancers.  The brave rovers would take some time to rebuild their strength, but their sacrifice had been worth it.  Colonel Hans Dragos star was in the ascension, one that he, Theodoric Von Martinez could make use of.