PREVIEW: Historical Battles

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We've had Byzantines, Europeans, Castles and the Campaign Map. And now we have historical battles. Now if you're wondering why Adherbal isn't posting this, it's because I'm the one responsible for this small area of the mod, and I intend to make the battle scenarios in Chivalry more numerous and challenging than those in any other mod out there, and because Chiv is largely MP, most battles that I make will have a multiplayer version on top of the normal SP one. The battles that you will see in this preview are only the ones for the early era, and I'm not even showing all of them (so no posts like "Why isn't Agincourt in there? I'm not getting this mod unless it has Agincourt in it!" :P ).
What I'm showing in this preview are the battle names and dates, descriptions, setups and plenty of screenshots. I'm not giving away any tactics until someone's actually played some of them ;) . Just a clue though: strategies that worked well historically should work well in-game. Strategies that failed miserably aren't advisable.

Hattin
4th July, 1187

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The Cross of the Crusaders still stands proud under the Horns of Hattin

Background

Guy of Lusignan became king of Jerusalem in 1186, in right of his wife Sibylla, after the death of Sibylla's son (and Guy's stepson) Baldwin V. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was at this time divided between the "court faction" of Guy, Sibylla, and relative newcomers to the kingdom such as Raynald of Chatillon, as well as Gerard of Ridefort and the Knights Templar; and the "nobles’ faction", led by Raymond III of Tripoli, who had been regent for the child-king Baldwin V and had opposed the succession of Guy. Raymond left Jerusalem for Tripoli. The situation was so tense that there was almost open warfare between Raymond and Guy, who wanted to besiege Tiberias, a fortress held by Raymond through his wife Eschiva, Princess of Galilee. War was avoided through the mediation of Raymond's supporter Balian of Ibelin.

Meanwhile, the Muslim states surrounding the kingdom had been united during the 1170s and 1180s by Saladin. Saladin had been appointed vizier of Egypt in 1169 and soon came to rule the country as sultan. In 1174 he imposed his rule over Damascus; his authority extended to Aleppo by 1176 and Mosul by 1186. For the first time, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was encircled by Muslim territory united under one ruler. The crusaders defeated Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard in 1177, and in the early 1180s there was an uneasy truce between the two sides, which was broken by the raids of Raynald on Muslim caravans passing through his fief of Oultrejordain. During one of these raids, Raynald captured Saladin's sister; Raynald also threatened to attack Mecca itself, and Saladin vowed revenge.

When Guy became king, Raymond made a separate truce with Saladin, and in 1187 allowed the sultan to send an army into the northern part of the kingdom. At the same time, an embassy was on its way from Jerusalem to Tripoli to negotiate a settlement between Raymond and Guy. This embassy was defeated at the Battle of Cresson on May 1, by a small force under the command of Saladin's son. Raymond, wracked with guilt, reconciled with Guy, who assembled the entire army of the kingdom (essentially a levée en masse) and marched north to meet Saladin.


The Siege of Tiberias

Saladin had assembled his own army at Raymond's fortress of Tiberias. When Raymond reconciled with Guy, this assembly turned into a siege, and the town fell on July 2. Raymond's wife Eschiva was besieged in the citadel. Raymond and Guy met at Acre with the bulk of the crusader army, which consisted of 1200 knights, possibly as many as 20,000 foot soldiers, and a large number of mercenaries (including Turcopoles and other Muslims) hired with money donated to the kingdom by Henry II of England. Muslim sources claim that the crusaders had over 80,000 men. Also with the army was the relic of the True Cross, carried by the Bishop of Acre, who was there in place of the ailing Patriarch Heraclius.

Raymond argued that a march from Acre to Tiberias was exactly what Saladin wanted and that Sephoria was a strong position for the Crusaders to defend. Furthermore, Guy should not worry about Tiberias, which Raymond held personally and was willing to give up for the safety of the kingdom. Despite their reconciliation, internal court politics were still strong and Raymond was accused of cowardice by Gerard and Raynald. The latter influenced Guy to attack immediately. Guy ordered the army to march against Saladin at Tiberias, which is what Saladin had planned, for he had calculated that he could defeat the crusaders only in a field battle, rather than by besieging their fortifications.

The Battle

The crusaders began their march from Sephoria on July 3, with Raymond leading the vanguard, Guy the main army, and Balian, Raynald, and the military orders the rearguard. They were almost immediately under harassment from the Muslim skirmishers on horseback. By noon on that day Saladin had joined his forces at Cafarsett and sent his army to engage the exhausted and depleted Crusaders. The rearguard was forced to a halt by continuous attacks, thus halting the whole army. The crusaders, after a day with no fresh water, were forced to make camp in the middle of the plain, surrounded by the Muslim army. Saladin's forces set fire to the grass around the camp during the night.

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Saracen Horse Archers probe the position of the Crusaders under the Horns

On the morning of July 4, the crusaders were blinded by smoke, through which the Muslim cavalry pelted them with arrows. Gerard and Raynald advised Guy to form battle lines and attack, which was done by Guy's brother Amalric. Raymond led the first division with Raymond, the son of Bohemund III of Antioch, while Balian and Joscelin III of Edessa formed the rearguard. While this was being arranged, five of Raymond's knights defected to Saladin and told them of the dire situation in the crusader camp.

Thirsty and demoralised, the crusaders broke camp and changed direction for the springs of Hattin, but their ragged approach was attacked by Saladin's army which blocked the route forward and any possible retreat. Count Raymond launched two charges in an attempt to break through to the water supply at the Sea of Galilee. The second of these saw him cut off from the main army and forced to retreat. Most of the crusader infantry had effectively deserted by moving on to the Horns of Hattin. Guy attempted to pitch the tents again to block the Muslim cavalry, but without infantry protection the knight's horses were cut down by Muslim archers and they were forced to fight on foot, and they, too, retreated on to the Horns. The crusaders were surrounded and, despite three desperate charges on Saladin's position, were defeated.

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Muslim cavalry and infantry engage the surrounded Crusaders, while they try to break through to Lake Tiberias

The Aftermath

The Muslims captured the royal tent of King Guy, as well as the True Cross, after the Bishop of Acre was killed in the fighting. Prisoners included Guy, his brother Amalric, Raynald, William III of Montferrat, Gerard, Humphrey IV of Toron, Hugh of Jubail, and many others. Perhaps only as few as 3,000 Christians escaped the defeat, including Raymond, Joscelin, Balian, and Reginald of Sidon, who had trampled their own men while retreating. The exhausted captives were brought to Saladin's tent, where Guy was given a goblet of water as a sign of Saladin's generosity. When Guy offered the goblet to his fellow captive Raynald, Saladin knocked the goblet away, saying that he had not offered water to Raynald and thus was not bound by the Muslim rules of hospitality. When Saladin accused Raynald of being an oath-breaker, Raynald replied that "kings have always acted thus". Saladin then executed Raynald himself, beheading him with his sword. Guy fell to his knees at the sight of Raynald's corpse. Saladin bade him to rise, saying, "Real kings do not kill each other." The Templars and Hospitallers who had been captured were also killed, although Guy was taken to Damascus as a prisoner and the others were eventually ransomed. Raymond of Tripoli, having escaped the battle, died of pleurisy later in 1187.

By mid-September, Saladin had taken Acre, Nablus, Jaffa, Toron, Sidon, Beirut and Ascalon. Tyre was saved by the fortuitous arrival of Conrad of Montferrat. Jerusalem was defended by Queen Sibylla, Patriarch Heraclius and Balian, who negotiated its surrender to Saladin on October 2.



Manzikert
26th August, 1071

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Historically, the Battle of Manzikert was a great turning point in Byzantine history. This victory for the Turks allowed them to capture most of central Asia Minor and plunged the Byzantine Empire into chaos and accelarated the decline that it was already going through.

As the player, you take control of the Seljuk army and try to prevent the onslaught of the Greeks, not an easy task: They outnumber you by about 3:2, and consist of lots of heavy troops. You will have to rely on your speed to outmaneuvre the enemy, and stop your lines from being completely overrun.

Background information

During the 1060s the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan allowed his Turkish allies to migrate towards Armenia and Asia Minor, where they sacked cities and plundered farmland. In 1064 they destroyed the Armenian capital at Ani. In 1068 Romanus IV led an expedition against them, but his slow-moving infantry could not catch the speedy Turkish cavalry, although he was able to capture the city of Hierapolis. In 1070 Romanus led a second expedition towards Manzikert, a city in eastern Turkey's province of Muş, now known as Malazgirt, a Byzantine fortress that had been captured by the Seljuks, and offered a treaty with Arslan – Romanus would give back Hierapolis if Arslan gave up the siege of Edessa. Romanus threatened war if Arslan did not comply, and prepared his troops anyway, expecting the sultan to decline his offer, which he did.


The Preparations

After some campaigning, Romanus captured Manzikert on August 23. The next day some foraging parties under Bryennius discovered the Seljuk force and were forced to retreat back to Manzikert. The Armenian general Basilaces was sent out with some cavalry, as Romanus did not believe this was Arslan's full army; the cavalry was destroyed and Basilaces taken prisoner. Romanus drew up his troops into formation and sent the left wing out under Bryennius, who was almost surrounded by the quickly approaching Turks and was forced to retreat once more. The Turks hid among the nearby hills for the night, making it nearly impossible for Romanus to send a counterattack.

At the night of 24th August Alp Arslan's light raiders attacked the Byzantine camp. At the camp, they established contact with their Pecheneg and Kypchak relatives, and the Turkish mercenaries switched sides and joined the Seljuk Army. After this, Alp Arslan sent an envoy to Romanus and requested peace. Romanus rejected the Seljuk embassy and attempted to recall Tarchaneiotes, who was no longer in the area. There were no engagements that day, but on August 26 the Byzantine army gathered itself into a proper battle formation and began to march on the Turkish positions.

The Battle

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The Byzantine centre under the command of emperor Romanus consists mainly of heavy troops


With the left wing under Bryennius, the right wing under Theodore Alyates, and the centre under the emperor. Andronicus Ducas, who Romanus had decided to take along despite him being a well-known political enemy (the Emperor probably took him along to keep an eye on him), lead the reserves in the rear of the army. The Seljuks were organized into a crescent formation about four kilometres away, with Arslan observing events from a safe distance. Seljuk archers attacked the Byzantines as they drew closer; the centre of their crescent continually moved backwards while the wings moved to surround the Byzantine troops.

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Turkish archers open fire on the Byzantines


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Horse archers move around the Byzantine right flank, trying to pull Bryennius' cavalry away from the main battle


The Byzantines held off the arrow attacks and captured Arslan's camp by the end of the afternoon. However, the right and left wings, where the arrows did most of their damage, almost broke up when individual units tried to force the Seljuks into a pitched battle; the Seljuk cavalry simply fled when challenged. With the Seljuks avoiding battle, Romanus was forced to order a withdrawal by the time night fell. However, the right wing misunderstood the order, and Ducas, as an enemy of Romanus, deliberately ignored the emperor and marched back to the camp outside Manzikert, rather than covering the emperor's retreat. Now that the Byzantines were thoroughly confused, the Seljuks seized the opportunity and attacked and surrounded the whole Byzantine army with a crescent formation. The Byzantine right wing was routed; the left under Bryennius held out a little longer but was soon routed as well. Romanus was injured, and taken prisoner when the Seljuks discovered him.

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The Turks attack the weakened and scattered Byzantines and deal them the final blow


The Aftermath

Despite the defeat, Byzantine casualties were apparently relatively low. Ducas had escaped with no casualties, and quickly marched back to Constantinople where he led a coup against Romanus. Bryennius also lost few men in the rout of his wing. Since the battle had not occurred until after nightfall, the Turks did not pursue the fleeing Byzantines, which probably saved most of them. The Turks did not even recapture Manzikert itself at this point. The Byzantine army regrouped and marched to Dokeia, where they were joined by Romanus when he was released a week later. The most serious loss seems to have been the emperor's extravagant baggage train.

Years and decades later, Manzikert came to be seen as a disaster for the Empire; later sources greatly exaggerate the numbers of troops and the numbers of casualties. Byzantine historians would often look back and lament the 'disaster' of that day, pinpointing it as the moment the decline of the Empire began. It was not, however, an immediate disaster; most units survived intact and were fighting in the Balkans or elsewhere in Asia Minor within a few months. On the other hand, the defeat showed the Seljuks that the Byzantines were not invincible — they were not the unconquerable, millennium-old Roman Empire (as both the Byzantines and Seljuks still called it). The usurpation of Andronicus Ducas also politically destabilized the empire, and it was difficult to organize a resistance to the Turkish migrations that followed the battle. Within the next few decades almost all of Asia Minor was overrun by the Seljuks.

Nevertheless, in hindsight historians are practically unanimous in dating the decline of Byzantine fortunes to this battle. It is also considered one of the root causes for the later Crusades: the West saw Manzikert as a signal that Byzantium was no longer capable of being the protector of Eastern Christianity.

Bouvines
27th July, 1214

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The Battle of Bouvines, July 27, 1214, was the first great international conflict of alliances among national forces in Europe. In the alliances, which were orchestrated by Pope Innocent III, Philip Augustus of France defeated Otto IV of Germany and count Ferrand of Flanders so decisively that Otto was deposed and replaced by Frederick II Hohenstaufen. Ferrand was captured and imprisoned. Philip was himself able to take undisputed control of the territories of Anjou, Brittany, Maine, Normandy, and the Touraine, which he had recently seized from Otto's kinsman and ally John of England.

The city of Bouvines is between Lille and Tournai, and in the 13th century was in the County of Flanders and is part of modern France.

The Prelude

The campaign plan seems to have been designed by John, who was the fulcrum of the alliances; his general idea was to draw the French king away from Paris southward against himself and keep him occupied, while the main army, under emperor Otto IV, with the counts of the low countries, should march on Paris from the north. John's part in the general strategy was carried out at first, but the allies in the north moved slowly. John, after two encounters with his mortal enemy of France, turned back to his Guienne possessions on July 3, however, perhaps in one of his fits of despondency. When, three weeks later, the emperor finally concentrated his forces at Valenciennes, John was out of the picture, and in the interval Philip Augustus had countermarched northward and regrouped. Philip now took the offensive himself, and in maneuvering to get a good cavalry ground upon which to fight he offered battle (July 27), on the plain east of Bouvines and the river Marque. The imperial army drew up facing south-westward towards Bouvines, the heavy cavalry in the new-fangled plate armour on the wings, the infantry in one great mass in the center, supported by the cavalry corps under the emperor himself. The total force is estimated at 6500 heavy cavalry and 40,000 foot solidiers. The French army (about 7000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry) took ground exactly opposite in a similar formation, cavalry on the wings, infantry, including the townsmen (milice des communes) in the center, Philip with the cavalry reserve and the royal standard, the Oriflamme, in rear of the men on foot.

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Flemish spearmen stand ready

The Battle

The battle opened with a confused cavalry fight on the French right, in which individual feats of knightly gallantry were more noticeable (and better recorded in the chronicles) than any attempt at combined action.

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French knights charge the enemy

The serious fighting was between the two centers; the infantry of the Low Countries, who were at this time almost the best in existence, drove back the French. Philip led the cavalry reserve of nobles and knights to retrieve the day, and after a long and doubtful fight, in which he himself was unhorsed and narrowly escaped death, began to drive back the Flemings. In the meanwhile the French feudatories on the left wing had thoroughly defeated the imperial forces opposed to them, and William Longsword, Earl of Salisbury, the leader of this corps, was unhorsed and taken prisoner by the fighting bishop of Beauvais. On the other wing the French at last routed the Flemish cavalry and captured Ferdinand Count of Flanders, one of the leaders of the coalition.

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The fighting in the centre starts to become very bloody...

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...as is the battle between the knights on the flanks

In the center the battle was now a melée between the two mounted reserves led by the king and the emperor in person. Here too the imperial forces suffered defeat, Otto himself being saved only by the devotion of a handful of Saxon knights. The day was already decided in favor of the French when their wings began to close inwards to cut off the retreat of the imperial center. The battle closed with the celebrated stand of Reginald of Boulogne, a former vassal of King Philip, who formed a ring of seven hundred Brabancon pikemen, and not only defied every attack of the French cavalry, but himself made repeated charges or sorties with his small force of knights. Eventually, and long after the imperial army had begun its retreat, the gallant schiltron was ridden down and annihilated by a charge of three thousand men-at-arms. Reginald was taken prisoner in the mele; and the prisoners also included two other counts, Ferdinand and William Longsword, twenty-five barons and over a hundred knights. The killed amounted to about 170 knights of the defeated party, and many thousands of foot on either side.

John returned to England to face the barons whose possessions in Normandy he had lost. After Bouvines there were no important wars in Western Europe until the 1290s.



Hastings
14th October, 1066

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The Prelude

On September 28, 1066, William of Normandy, bent on asserting by arms his claim to the English crown, landed unopposed at Pevensey. Upon setting foot on the beach, William tripped and fell on his face. Saving face, he rose, grabbing handfuls of sand and shouted "I now take hold of the land of England!" On hearing the news, the Saxon King Harold, who had just destroyed the Norwegian army under King Harald Hardråda at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire, hurried southward, gathering what forces he could on the way. He took up his position, astride the road from Hastings to London, on Senlac Hill some six miles inland from Hastings, with his back to the great forest of Anderida (the Weald) and in front of him a long glacis-like slope, at the bottom of which began the opposing slope of Telham Hill. The town called Battle in the modern county of East Sussex was named to commemorate this event.

The English force was 7000-8000 strong, and consisted almost entirely of infantry. The infantry mostly comprised the English men-at-arms (thegns), along with some local peasant levies (fyrd) and a core of the king's bodyguards, the Housecarls. The thegns and housecarls, most probably veterans of the Stamford Bridge battle, were armed principally with swords, spears, and in some cases the formidable Danish axes, along with their shields. They took the front ranks along the line, forming a 'shield wall' with interlocking shields side by side. Behind the thegns and housecarls, the fyrdmen armed with whatever weapon was at hand took up position along the ridgeline and would have filled the front ranks if necessary as the housecarls fell.

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A typical Anglo-Saxon battleline

On the morning of Saturday, October 14, Duke William gathered his army below the English position. The Norman army was of comparable size to the English force, and composed of William's Norman, Breton and Flemish vassals along with various Norman nobles and their retainers. The nobles had been promised English lands and titles in return for their material support. The army was deployed in the classic medieval fashion with the Normans taking the centre, the Bretons on the left wing and the Flemish on right wing. Each battle comprised infantry, cavalry and archers along with crossbowmen. The archers and crossbowmen stood to the front for the start of the battle.

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The armies stand ready on Senlac Ridge

Legend has it that William's minstrel and knight Ivo Taillefer, who had accompanied the army across the English Channel, begged his master for permission to strike the first blows of the battle. Permission was granted, and Ivo Taillefer rode before the English alone, tossed his sword and lance in the air and caught them, then charged into the English line and was promptly slain.


The Battle

The battle commenced with an archery barrage from the Norman archers and crossbowmen. However, as the Norman archers drew their bowstrings only to the ear and their crossbows were loaded by hand without assistance from a windlass, most shots either failed to penetrate the housecarls' shields or sailed over their heads to fall harmlessly beyond. In any event, the archery failed to make any impression on the English lines.

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The Norman archers fire their first volleys at the English

The Norman infantry and cavalry then advanced, led by the Duke and his half-brother the Bishop, Odo. All along the front the men-at-arms and cavalry came to close quarters with the defenders, but the long powerful Danish axes were formidable and after a prolonged melee the front of the English line was littered with cut down horses and the dead and dying. The shield wall remained solid, the English shouting their defiance with "Olicrosse!" (holy cross) and "Ut, ut!" (out, out).

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The Normans make contact with the English line

However, the Bretons on the left wing advanced too far forward of the other battles, coming into contact with the shield wall first. Inexperienced and unprepared for the savage defence of the English, the Bretons broke and fled. Possibly led by one of Harold's brothers, elements of the English right wing broke ranks and pursued the Bretons down the hill in a wild unformed charge. On the flat, without a defensive shield wall formation, the English were charged by the Norman cavalry and slaughtered.

This eagerness of the English to switch to a premature offensive was noted by Norman lords and the tactic of the 'feigned' flights was allegedly used with some success by the Norman horsemen throughout the day. With each subsequent assault later in the day, the Norman cavalry began a series of attacks each time, only to wheel away after a short time in contact with the English line. A group of English would rush out to pursue the apparently defeated enemy, only to be ridden-over and destroyed when the cavalry wheeled about again to face them away from the shield wall.

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Norman cavalry engage the worn-down English (notice how the Huscarles have had to be reinforced with Fyrdmen)

The Normans retired to rally and re-group, and to begin the assault again on the shield wall. The battle dragged on throughout the remainder of the day, each repeated Norman attack weakening the shield wall and leaving the ground in front littered with English and Norman dead.

Toward the end of the day, the English defensive line was depleted. The repeated Norman infantry assaults and cavalry charges had thinned out the armoured housecarls, the lines now filled by the lower-quality fyrdmen levies. William was also worried, as nightfall would soon force his own depleted army to retire, perhaps even to the ships where they would be prey to the English navy in the Channel. Preparing for the final assault, William ordered the archers and crossbowmen forward again. This time the archers fired high, the arrows raining upon the English rear ranks and causing heavy casualties. As the Norman infantry and cavalry started forward yet again, Harold received a mortal wound, previously believed to have been pierced through the eye by an arrow (through a misreading of the Bayeaux tapestry), but in fact shown being cut down by the Norman men-at-arms (note that he is wearing a crown).

The renewed Norman attack reached the top of the hill on the English extreme left and right wing. The Normans then began to roll up the English flanks along the ridgeline. The English line began to waver, and the Norman men-at-arms forced their way in, breaking the shield wall at several points. Fyrdmen and Carls began streaming away from the battle as the English forces finally broke, the Normans overrunning the hilltop. Harold's personal guard died fighting to the last as a circle of housecarls around the king and the battle standards (the Dragon standard of Wessex and the Fighting man of Harold himself). Harold was struck down in the fighting and probably emasculated by his attackers.

The Aftermath

Only a remnant of the defenders made its way back to the forest; and William, after resting for a night on the hardly-won ground, began the work of the Norman Conquest.

Some of the Norman forces pursued the English but were ambushed and destroyed in the forest.

Battle Abbey was built at the site of the battle, and a plaque marks the place where Harold fell.

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the events before and at the Battle of Hastings.

The Battle of Hastings is also an excellent example of the application of the theory of combined arms. The Norman archers, cavalry and infantry co-operated together to deny the English the initiative and gave the homogenous English infantry force few tactical options except defence.

Notes:
Most of the text is the work of Wikipedia. As mentioned before, these are by no means all the battles that'll be in the early era, let alone the high and late eras. Thanks go to imageshack for hosting all the pictures

Older Previews

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Nice work, it should be fun to play some good historical battles again. A question, aside from Manzikert I didn't see which factions we'll be playing in the other battles; does that mean all sides will be playable or is there only one playable side per battle (as in all RTW battles)? And will there be multiple armies per side in some battles? It looks like the Normans have more than one army, but I can't quite see clearly enough.

most (all?) battles will only have one playable side. if both sides are playable then either the battle becomes easy for both sides, or very easy for one side. I prefer battles that actualy take multiple attempts - trying a new strategy each time - to beat, then battles you can easily beat at the first attempt.

Some battles will have multiple armies on one or both sides. Depends on how many nations took part of it or if we need more then 20 units for one side.

Looks very impresseive, once again...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by [cF]Adherbal

most (all?) battles will only have one playable side. if both sides are playable then either the battle becomes easy for both sides, or very easy for one side. I prefer battles that actualy take multiple attempts - trying a new strategy each time - to beat, then battles you can easily beat at the first attempt.

Some battles will have multiple armies on one or both sides. Depends on how many nations took part of it or if we need more then 20 units for one side.

---

Thanks, that's exactly what I was hoping for.

With most of the battles I make, one of the sides was historically at a disadvantage, and this is the side the player takes control of. In case of a reasonably equal battle, I generally cheat slightly and give the AI extra valour (it needs all the help it can get lol ~D ). You can generally see individual armies marked on the setup picture: The name underneath the coloured square is the commander. Saladin also has two armies at the Horns of Hattin.

Is Chiv for BI?
if so the shield wall feature would be very useful for hastings

p.s i realise that you have probably heard this loads of times before

Yep, Chiv is going to be for BI unless it proves to be completely impossible to convert it (something which probably isn't the case). And yes, the shield wall will be implemented for units that used it historically, such as huscarles. At the moment, they simply have a very tight formation, which isn't really the same thing but looks good enough as a temporary mesure.