Rearguard at Vallée des Ormes
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 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.
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
- 1st section Capt. Le Bigot
Capel – le- Ferne Battery-
2nd section Lt. Le Gross
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.
