The Battle of the Iron Bridge

[GeneralHankerchief]

Note: At the close of the battle I will edit this and all future posts to include orders from all parties and umpire notes. For now, you will be receiving basic public feedback in this thread from the viewpoint of our mysterious German Matthias, who is watching the battle from afar. More detailed information will be sent via PM.

Orders
Komnenian orders:

Horse archers of division VI, you will be commanded by Nikitas. He will be lending me the foot archers of his division IV in return for your services. The archers will be rearranged so that the Trebizond archers will compose division V and be lead by Anthimus. The peasant archers will compose division VI and will be lead by Peter. Manuel, Cyrus, Romanos, you know your divisions already.

new army composition and divisional commander names


Romanos, align your men in a column in front of the bridge. You will be leading the first assault when the fighting starts. Cyrus and Manuel, prepare your men to the north-east of the bridge. Spearmen should be in front of the militia. Anthimus, there is an outcrop of land just to the east of the bridge. Hold that position and prepare to fire when the fighting starts. Peter, take the peasant archers to the west of the bridge. I will ride along side the infantry column. God speed, men!
Battle map

I confirm the rearrangement of Divisions between Nikitas Moschos and Andronikos Komnenos as outlined in the papers that were sent to you.

Tagarian orders:

Ioannis Tagaris' Orders

Division I: Stay to the left-hand side of Division II.

Division II: Move up to the Iron Bridge in two rows, with the peasants taking the center.

Division III: Stay to the left-hand side of Division I, while staying within range of the Iron Bridge.

Division IV: Merge with Georgios Angelos' Division III.

Note: Ioannis Tagaris is determined to win or die this day and thus will fight until death.

Ioannis Tagaris' Orders to Aleksios ek Kerkiras (Ibn could not submit orders)

Division I & II: move up to the rear of Ioannis Tagaris' Division II.


The dark red lines on the map represent the makeshift defenses Ioannis Tagaris has built.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

OK, so it will be a simple deployment facing the ford with HA in the front line skirmishing and the rest of the cav in a second line farther back from the shore but still facing the ford.

Orders :

Will take of all my cavalry and add to the HA division the HA from TheFlax (pending his agreement) and march to the ford.

Will bar the way to any crossing by engaging in melee fire any unit crossing the ford (skirmishing) if any manages to cross, other cavalry will engage (only if lone unit manages to cross if more than one crosses at a time, HA will keep whittling them down by skirmishing and will slowly retreat towards main force or other force on our side of the ford).

If no enemy units are in view of the ford, will attempt to cross to make a flanking attack on the enemy.

All you need to do for Turn 0 is deploy your troops - no movement involved.

And just to be clear, the enemy has to cross the ford first. You can't contest it or use it in any way until you've beaten back the flankers.

Note: Ibn-Khaldun is having RL difficulties and thus TheFlax filled in for him.

Public feedback for Turn 0:

On the north bank, Matthias watches as Andronikos Komnenos takes the lead and deploys his men. The aspiring Basileus has decided to personally see the advance action, trusting Nikitas Moschos to back him up. Andronikos is clearly preparing for an immediate assault, lining up his best infantry behind the bridge. Off to the side are his lower-quality infantry, and his archers, plus a contingent of Nikitas's, have taken positions flanking both sides. In the meantime, Andronikos's horse archers are nowhere to be seen. Matthias reasons that he has entrusted them to Nikitas.

More interesting though, to Matthias, is the defense of the Iron Bridge. He watches very closely as Ioannis Tagaris and his allies deploy on the south side. Upon seeing the Tagarian formation, he gives a chuckle. It's nice to simply watch a battle, especially a bridge battle, and not have any interest invested in who wins or loses. As long as a lot of Byzantines die, Matthias is happy.

The Tagarians are crowding the bridge, while not placing any men on the bridge itself. Interestingly enough, Ioannis's front-and-center men are his peasants. Wooden stakes have been placed all around the immediate mouth, with only a gap in the rear. Outside of the stakes, Ioannis has deployed his archers to the west of the bridge, undoubtedly to challenge Andronikos's forces there.

To the far east, Georgios Angelos has taken most of the Tagarian cavalry, ready to meet any potential flanking force that reenters the main battlefield.

And thus the initial forces have been deployed in the Battle of the Iron Bridge. With reinforcements arriving on both sides in the next few hours, the one thing that is certain is that it will be a bloodbath. Matthias smiles at the possibility.

Map:

DEADLINE FOR TURN 1 ORDERS: March 29, 12:00 GMT-5.