Lion Rampant - Parley and treachery part 1

On Thursday night at the club we managed to start up a second game to follow on from the first. This time there were 4 players but the rules seemed to handle that with no issues.

The scenario sees the Prince William and Sir Henry Bodrum trying to arrange a Parley with Sir Robert de Groucey after their last clash. Sir Robert though has no intention to parley and stalls for time as treachery is afoot. Sir Robert's primary objective is to bring down Sir Henry and thus reduce the number of supporters for the Prince.

The Forces - rebels

Sir Robert de Groucey
Foot Men at arms*
Foot Sergeants
Crossbowmen
Yeoman with mixed weapons

Richard and Malcolm Fitzwalter
Mounted Sergeants*
Mounted Sergeants
Archers
Bidowers

The Forces - Royalists

Prince William
Foot men at Arms*
Expert Foot sergeants
Archers

Sir Henry Bodrum
Mounted Men at arms*
Foot Men at arms
Foot sergeants
Archers

As per the last game we allowed both sides to dice for each unit to move to speed up the game and get down to business.

While Sir Robert and his men advanced towards their enemy, both Sir Henry and Prince William seemed to struggle to get their retinues moving, maybe they sensed the treachery in the air. After much cajoling Sir Henry finally began to advance. His foot men at arms advance through the centre of the town with their mounted counterparts slowly bringing up the rear. Both the archers and sergeants skirted the town to the right.

Just as Sir Henry's archers got into position at the edge of the town they opened fire on the advancing sergeants, killing two and forcing the rest to retreat. On the left the Prince's archers also got into position and loosed a volley at the advancing Yeoman, killing two and forcing them to retreat as well. At this point things were not looking too well for Sir Robert, two of his units were battered and the crossbowmen were refusing to advance.

At this point Sir Roberts' treachery was revealed as the mercenaries Richard and Malcolm Fitzwalter arrived in the rear of the Royalists position. Gearing themselves up a unit of mounted sergeants charged into the rear of Sir Henry and hi mounted men at arms. However the doughty Knight rallied his men for a counter charge, killing 4 for the loss of 3 of his men at arms. He quickly re engaged and felled the last of them but now found himself isolated. The Fitzwalter's then took advantage and charged in with their second unit of mounted sergeants. Despite his valiant efforts Sir Henry was knocked from his horse.

Trying to take advantage of the arrival of the Fitzwalters, Sir Robert quickly advanced into the town at the head of his men at arms. There they were met by Sir Henry's foot men at arms and a bloody melee ensued over a couple of turns with neither side gaining an advantage. Seeing his chance Prince William advanced with his own men at arms to try and cut sir Robert off from the rest of his retinue.

Eventually the rest of Sir Roberts retinue began to advance, obviously inspired by his bravery. This included the crossbowmen who eventually exchanged fir with Sir Henry's archers, forcing them to retreat. Meanwhile the Bidowers and archers belonging to the Fitzwalters slowly moved into position.

As time ran out things are not looking good for Sir Henry's retinue. After taking a bump on the head the rest of his retinue are having a hard time of it. However the Prince's retinue is still largely intact. For Sir Robert things have improved after a shaky start, though casualties are mounting and if it wasn't for the timely arrival of the sell sword  Fitzwalters it could be worse. Next week will be the conclusion