The Battle of Genoa
Background:
In 1126, Prince Leopold declared war on Count Lothar, vowing to bring him to justice for his defiance of the Kaiser and the Diet. In response to the Prince's army, flush with the wealth of Austria and Leopold's tenure as Marshal, Count Lothar could only flee, back to Genoa. However, the Prince was in strong pursuit. Both sides arrived at the city, yet there was some hesitancy to start a battle just yet. Prince Leopold wanted to keep Genoa in good order lest it become an easier target or the Venetians, and Count Lothar was eager to avoid battle against the superior force.
The peace last shortly though, as on May 27th the Count unceremoniusly departed the city through the east gate with just his personal escort. Many of the Prince's commanders urged that they strike now before the enemy leader could return, but Prince Leopold was adamant about fighting outside the city, and wagered that unless Count Lothar intended to abandon all his worldly possession he would return. However, after some time two of Lothar's mercenary crossbowmen left the city through the south gate. No longer sure of his gamble, the Prince ordered an immediate attack on the Count's forces. In the absence of their leader, and facing the numerically superior army of the Prince himself, Zirn's men were quick to flee in the direction of his mercenaries.
Count Lothar's men were well prepared, having dealt with their nervousness of the Prince's proximity by preparing themselves to leave at a moments notice. This, and their smaller numbers, allowed them to quickly leave the city before contact could be made, with the Count's Treasury in tow. Prince Leopold, being unsure of whether this was a rout or a withdrawal, decided to take the extra time to march his army through the South Gate in good order, hoping to trap them against the Ligurian Sea.
As it happened, Count Lothar had intended to hire a couple of mercenary cogs to aid his withdrawl. He had hoped to retreat without interference from the Prince, and so had sent the Marseille militia back to their home. But now that he was caught by surprise by the Prince's attempted intervention, he quickly received his army and began his own deployment. Fortunately he had been able to hire the ships he needed, but with Prince Leopold's army breathing down his neck the simple withdrawal he had envisioned was about to become much more complicated...
The Rules
1. If there are no objections, I will umpire this battle. _Tristan_ will control Lothar Zirn, and phonicsmonkey will control Leopold. No other players should advise or in any other any way communicate with them about the battle while it is ongoing.
2.This will be fought in the storied tradition of totalwar.org Tabletop battles. The battle will be devided into turns, as follows.
Turn 0: Deployment
Turn 1: Early morning
Turn 2: Mid-morning
Turn 3: Late morning
Turn 4: Early afternoon
Turn 5: Mid-afternoon
Turn 6: Late afternoon
Turn 7: Early evening
If the battle lasts into the night, Count Lothar will surely escape by sea under the cover of darkness
3. Rather then directly units at a regimental level, armies will be grouped into divisions for the course of this battle to more accurately simulate medieval command-and-control. Prince Leopold will be able to command a maximum of six divisions, Count Lothar five. Suggested divisions will be included with the word file, but they can be changed to any combination so long as there are not more than the limit. Excepting the two closest divisions, there is a 1/6 chance each turn that orders will be lost or otherwise not completed, as determined by random.org.
4. Players must send in their orders to me in-character, detailing division orders while including a map to show where excactly they are moving. Keep in mind that divisional commanders are reasonably competent, if you tell them to wheel around and strike the flank for example they will not need further instructions. What orders should cover:
- where to move, inc. facing
- which formation to engage or screen (this will help me determine facing)
- for missiles: whether to fire at will or who to target
- for melee units: whether to charge or prepare to receive a charge
- whether to pursue or hold ground once in place
- issues of sequencing (e.g. do you soften up the enemy with missiles before charging? do you wait till the enemy are committed before executing a flank charge etc)
5. Combat will be resolved using custom battles fought from both perspectives multiple times. Combat will generally take two turns, shorter if it is extremely lopsided and longer if it particularly even.
The Armies:
This word file contains the regiments in each General's army, allong with default divisions. Players are free to organize thier regiments into any combination of division, so long as they don't exceed their maximum amount. Players should cut and paste the regiment pictures from this file onto the map.
The Map:
Deployment
For deployment, the two players need only send me a map showcasing the placement of their divisions and what direction they're facing, as well as how their regiments are grouped into divisions. This is due twenty-four hours after both players acknowledge they understand the rules, either in the OOC thred or in a PM to me.
