A Lion in the Holy Land - an English campaign AAR

[econ21]

Part I: Things fall apart.

1080 (Starting balance: 10000 florins.) Prince Rufus stormed York [battle no.1 in table above; henceforth, b1].

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Prince Rufus takes York by advancing his infantry up two streets, then using his escort to attack the enemy archers from rear down a third.

Trade rights and maps were exchanged with France. Robert recruited two mercenary spears and advanced on Rennes.

1082 (6558 florins) Council of nobles gave mission to take Rennes, which Robert began to siege.

1084: (7107 florins) Robert stormed Rennes [b2].

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Although this time, the English have walls to contend with, they employ essentially the same assault tactics at Rennes as they used earlier at York. They assault along two different lines of attack, then - when space is cleared - work their cavalry into the enemy's rear along a third line.

England was rewarded with 4 units of mailed knights: 2 were sent to France; 2 to joined William in marching on Caernarvon.

1086: (7004 florins) Council of nobles gave mission to reinforce Nottingham with 4 units. Relations with France become poor. William and Rufus approach Caernarvon.

1088: (6448 florins) Caernarvon was besieged and could last out for 5 turns. Princess Cecilia established alliance with the HRE, as well as trading maps and trade rights. She had a secret love.

1090 (6033 florins) Cecilia married Augustine of Wellington; Robert felt unappreciated. A second diplomat was hired to replace Cecilia. England observed that the Scots had taken Dublin and had an army embarked off the coast near York.

1092 (6106 florins) Robert married.

1094 (2976 florins) Robert marched on Bruges. Augustine challenged rebels outside Nottingham [b3].

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Although the rebels include longbowmen and English knights, they are swept away by Augustine's army. First, his escort drives off the rebel screen of archers. Then his massed spear militia overpower the enemy infantry and cavalry.

[econ21]

1096 (2810 florins) Council of Nobles gave a mission to send emissary to Milan, which was done this year. Henry came of age. A second merchant was recruited so that a monopoly could be established on the wool trade in Nottingham.

Robert besieged Bruges while Augustine embarked with an army of militia spearmen from Nottingham to reinforce him. The Flemish garrison sallied from Bruges and Robert earned a heroic victory [b4]. The Welsh sallied from Caernarvon, which finally fell when they were repulsed [b5].

Story: Battle report for Bruges, 1096

1096, Bruges Robert, second son of King William and commander of the English forces on the continent, was a young man in a hurry. After the quick conquest of Rennes, the lack of action had left him feeling unappreciated. Some even rumoured there was more to it than that: his disaffection had occurred at the same time his sister Cecilia had acquired a secret lover and tongues wagged that their mutual love was more than merely fraternal. When Cecilia was hastily married off to a undistinguished suitor, Augustine of Wellington, Robert seemed galvanised into action. He himself was married within a year and then gathered a small army to march on rebel held Bruges.

In his impetuosity, Robert had brought only two regiments each of mailed knights, spear militia, and peasant archers. For some reason, he left a strong force of four militia regiments in Rennes, but left only two depleted mercenary spear regiments to hold the strategic castle of Caen. Lacking a spy, Robert had no knowledge of the strength of the Bruges garrison. Consequently, he was somewhat put out when the garrison promptly sallied out to meet him.Against him were two regiments each of mailed knights, Flemish pikemen, armoured sergeants and crossbowmen. Roberts only advantage was his own escort of tough warriors and the fact that his army was deployed whereas the Flemish rebels had to funnel out through the gate. Still, he would have to be sharp and move quickly to prevail.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The forces arrayed at Bruges

“Light fire arrows! Target the knights!” Robert shouted to his archers.

The Flemish knights advanced rapidly on the English position. The regiment of English spear militia on the right flank charged to intercept the enemy cavalry, pinning one regiment.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Flemish army is engaged by English spears on the right, but avoids the schiltron on the left

A large and indecisive melee developed: the English committing one regiment of knights and the Flemish some of their infantry. But on the left flank, the English spears formed schiltron and the rebels were savvy enough to avoid engaging it in strength. Instead, they pursued Robert’s escort which was retiring to avoid contact with an approaching regiment of Flemish pikemen. Robert was forced to about turn and counter-charge the enemy knights, praying he could prevail over them before the pikemen could arrive.

“Target the pikemen! Target the pikemen!” Robert screamed at the archers. Since the Flemish cavalry was now bogged down, the English archers were free to fire into the battle. Their fire arrows did terrible damage on the slow moving and unarmed Flemish phalanxes, often catching them in the flank or rear.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The English cavalry on the flanks evade the Flemish pikemen pursuing them, in the process allowing their archers good shots to the backs of their enemies.

By contrast, the Flemish crossbowmen fell prey to the second regiment of English mailed knights, which was able to reek havoc on the rear of the enemy lines – vainly pursued by Flemish spears and pikes.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The battle in the centre starts to swing in favour of the Flemish. All will depend on the English cavalry acting on the flanks.

Eventually, Robert’s tough warriors prevailed over the Flemish knights and he was able to join the second regiment of English mailed knights in rampaging around the Flemish rear. In that struggle, the mailed knights managed to cut down the enemy general.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The battle swings decisively to England's favour with the death of the enemy general, caught amongst the crossbowmen at the rear of the Flemish lines.

Leaderless, shot in the back by fire arrows, engaged by resilient English militia and subject to opportunistic cavalry charges, the Flemish centre gradually began to dissolve in rout.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Robert had taken a gamble bringing an inferior force to besiege a settlement, but he had won a heroic victory. In retrospect, this battle merely set up England for a fall. Robert’s his army was now out of reach with the strategic castle at Caen, guarded by only two depleted regiments of mercenary spearmen. And the heroic victory encouraged further recklessness amongst the English that was to lead to disaster.

[econ21]

1098 (5448 florins) Council of Nobles offers mission to take Antwerp. England is the largest faction.

1100 (? Florins) France attacked Caen, declaring war.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

A large rebel army is spotted outside Nottingham. Robert pressed on to Antwerp, which would take six turns to fall. Henry took the London levy to Caen, where he fought a fateful battle [b6]

Story: The death of Henry, 1100

“Damn it! The French have humbugged us, by God!”

Henry sat in the palace of Westminster, staring at the communique from Caen. The French had declared war on England, marching a small army of four regiments of cavalry against the strategic English castle of Caen. Already the castle was under siege. Robert, marching on Antwerp, was too far away to return. King William and Prince Rufus were only just returning to Nottingham from taking Caernarvon. Augustine was in Bruges, but had no troops to speak of. What to do? The weight of expectations from his dreaded father bore down on young Henry. He had to act decisively.

“Muster the London levy. Have them board the fleet at Dover. Yes, damn it, all of them! Write to Nottingham and request that they send troops here to takeover garrison duties. Write also to the garrison at Rennes and order them to meet us at Caen. We cannot let the castle fall.”

With that, the Palace fell into a flurry of activity; no one thinking to ask precisely why they need to hurry to relieve Caen when its mighty walls were quite impervious to the French cavalry besieging it.

Henry reached France in good time, but the levy were slow moving and it was clear they would not be able to reach the besieged castle before the French had built siege equipment. Henry decided to ride on, recruiting a regiment of mercenary crossbowmen, and challenge the French besiegers. With the Rennes garrison also on the outskirts of Caen, Henry expected to be joined by there three regiments of spears plus the two in the Caen garrison. However, he miscalculated. Instead of ordering the garrison to sally, which might have given both his men and the Rennes garrison time to reinforce them, he started the attack himself. Consequently, while the Caen garrison would be able to reinforce him, the Rennes garrison was too far away.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The English have rushed forces to Caen and have four (small) stacks in the area. Fatally, however, only two are able to participate in Henry's attack.

Realising his error, Henry felt a frisson of foreboding as he deployed his lonely regiment of crossbows in front of his escort.

“Sire, should we not deploy further to the rear, so that the Caen garrison has more time to join us?” the mercenary captain asked politely. Henry briefly considered that, but was fatally vague about where the reinforcements would enter and dismissed it. When dawn broke, Henry was horrified to see four strong regiments of cavalry within charging distance of his thin line.

Henry sent an urgent message to the Caen garrison to join him, but then resignedly marched his escort forward to face the French cavalry. The French advanced at a walk, three abreast with one regiment in reserve. They moved slowly, but the divide between the two lines was so slow, they would soon be on top of the English.

Damn it, thought Henry: “Crossbowmen – target the mailed knights. Escort – forward, charge!”

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Today is a good day to die, as Henry might have said. But didn't.

The mercenary captain watched in awe as the three dozen English knights charge eight times their number. Fortunately, the French ignored the crossbowmen, engulfing Henry’s escort in mass of cavalry. This allowed the mercenaries to fire into the backs of the French knights, taking a heavy toll on their numbers. But slowly, inevitable, remorsely, Henry’s knights were cut down. Soon – far too soon for the spears of the Caen garrison to intervene – all that was left of the English was Henry himself, a young man in the midst of around two hundred enemy horse.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

A brave man, making a good end. The idiot.

The sadness of the mercenary captain at watching the young man fall was shortlived – now it was to be his turn, as the massed French horse could finally turn their attention to the men who had been shooting them in the back for the last few minutes.

The mercenary captain looked at the two regiments of the Caen garrison approaching. They would not be here in time:

“Men, stand firm! Don’t run – those are not hobby horses they are riding!” he shouted.

The French spurred their horses at the crossbowmen, who fought gamely for a minute or two but the outcome was never in doubt.

When the tired Caen garrison arrived, there was no sign of the English relief force, except for the dead and dying on the field. The French cavalry charged, but the garrison formed schiltron and beat off their attackers. The French retired to a nearby wood, blocking the return of the garrison to Caen. The garrison commander cursed – it would not be enough to beat off the French, he needed to defeat them to emerge victorious.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The mercenary spearmen can hold off the French cavalry, but to get back to Caen holding them off is not enough.

Reluctantly, he marched his men into the woods after the French but when they approached the enemy horse and were charged, his men’s morale broke. The garrison were wiped out and Caen was left, still under French siege, without a single English defender.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Tired and unnerved by the presence of the enemy horse in the woods, the mercenary spears are quickly routed when they try to engage the French defenders.

[econ21]

1102 (3317 florins) The French took Caen; a half stack French army appeared to the south. Augustine besieged Caen with the London levy and two companies of mercenary crossbows. The Rennes garrison tried to link up with Augustine, but failed. Augustine was attacked[b7].

Story: The fall of Caen, 1102

News of Henry’s death quickly received Augustine, at Bruges. Like his brother-in-law, Augustine felt impelled to act decisively. He joined the London levy and laid siege to Caen from the west, summoning the three regiments from the Rennes garrison, encamped on the west of the castle, to join his force. Unfortunately, he did not anticipate the difficulty of manoeuvring around an enemy held castle and watched in frustration as the Rennes contingent took a large detour south and was unable to reach him before a strong French army arrived to relieve the horsemen, victors over Henry, now inside the castle of Caen.

Augustine was nervous – he was outnumbered, but he had a much more substantial force than Henry and the benefit of a decent hilltop defensive position. He arranged his three regiments of spears in line, with two regiments of mercenary crossbowmen in front, and positioned himself and a unit of town militia in reserve.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The French advance with a strong compact force.

The main French army approached – a balanced force of archers, sergeant spearmen and mounted sergeants. The English crossbows made little impression on the French – they first targeted the French archers who went into loose formation. By the time they targeted the French horse, it was too late and the French cavalry were already charging the crossbowmen. Augustine’s inexperience told: he had assumed the crossbows could automatically withdraw behind the spears in time. However, whether it was the loose formation they had adopted or some other failing, the crossbowmen were caught by the French cavalry and severely handled.

Augustine organised the left part of his line in schiltron and counter-charged with his right. But both results were disappointing. The French did not appear to engage the schiltrons whole-heartedly, perhaps preferring to allow their archers to pepper them with arrows. The counter-charge on the right got bogged down, with the superior French spearmen frustrating both Augustine’s own escort and the manoeuvre element of his infantry.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The English schiltrons on the left start to get worn down, while Augustine's attempt to flank on the right fails to make an impression.

Slowly, the morale of his infantry gave way. Augustine’s only just realised the imperative to flee the battle, barely managing to get away from the battlefield ahead of the hard-riding French mounted sergeants.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The battle ends while the French cavalry are in hot pursuit of Augustine. He escapes battle worn, but in tact. Had the battle lasted a few seconds longer, he would not have been so lucky.

Augustine fell back to the east, towards Rennes – further disheartened to here that the Rennes contingent of spearmen to the south of Caen had been attacked by the same army that had defeated him. Fortunately, the spearmen had been able to withdraw from the battle – but they had headed west and now were nearer to Bruges than Augustine’s own position outside of Rennes.

Back in the England, King William howled in frustration and anger at the news from the continent. He had lost his youngest son, Henry, and with him, a line of his family tree was forever closed. He had lost Caen, a fertile castle whose lands he had assiduously nurtured over the years in the hope of attracting sufficient population to develop a fortress. His armies were weak and divided. William had the core of an army outside Nottingham, but already had spotted a large army of rebels mustering there. Across the channel, Robert was tied down besieging Antwerp. A French move on Bruges would compel Robert to abandon the siege, wasting the precious time invested in it so far. Augustine had only the remnants of a force outside Rennes.

To add to Williams’ woes, the Pope – his supposed ally – had ordered him to stop attacking the French and instead organise an army to crusade on Antioch. An army to crusade on Antioch? Where did the Pope think he could the men? Did he think he could manufacture them?!

[econ21]

Part II: England resurgent, 1104-1128

1104 (4049 florins) The Pope demanded a ceasefire with France for 7 turns and called on England to join a crusade on Antioch within ten turns.

Story: William’s dilemma

King William took the news of the debacle at Caen with equanimity, after he had overturned tables, screamed at courtiers and cursed the memory of his naïve son, Henry. When he had composed himself, William was left to consider his invidious position.

The Kingdom had but three armies of consequence, each of around 600 men organised in 8-9 regiments. There was the King’s own army, now at Nottingham, having returned from occupying Caernavon. There was Robert’s army, tied down in a protracted siege of Antwerp. And there was Augustine’s forces, which had retired to Rennes.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Englands armies after the fall of Caen. Captain Perkins’ men are the Rennes detachment of three regiments of spear militia that played such a pivotal role, for both good and ill, in the first war with France. The repeated failure to link with this contingent led to the fall of Caen but the survivors would play a key role in halting French expansionism at Bruges.

With these meagre resources, William had to first defeat a large rebel army outside Nottingham, then secure Rennes and Bruges from French assault. The greater aim was to retake Caen and form a mighty crusade of twenty regiments to send to Jerusalem.

It was the challenge of forming the crusade that loomed largest in William’s mind. Should he send a smaller crusade early in the hope of winning the race to Jerusalem? That idea appealed, but seemed impractical - given the scant forces on the ground, it would be hard to send even a small crusade early and anyway, such a force would find it hard to make much headway alone against the full might of Egypt. Instead, William decided to delay sending the crusade. The likely crusade leaders - Robert and Augustine - were currently tied down in France. William planned to see to the rebels outside of Nottingham then move his entire army to France. He would retake Caen, relieve Robert and Augustine then launch the crusade. This strategy had the added advantage that it would give time for the bowyers in Nottingham to adopt the yew longbows that had impressed William in Wales.

His strategy decided, William sat down to write letters to his commanders. Robert was to maintain the siege of Antwerp. He was not to break off and move to join the Rennes detachment - three regiments of spear militia that had twice failed to join the critical lost battles around Caen. The spear militia were expendable. As consequence, the hapless Rennes detachment was routed by the French army that had crushed Augustine[b8]. By good fortune, the detachment was not completely eliminated. Some fled the field, to Bruges, to be joined by those caught who were released in an act of magnamity that the French would soon come to rue.

1106 (3541 florins). Reinforced by the London levy, King William effortlessly crushed a large rebel army outside Nottingham [b9]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

With ample cavalry, William is able to pull off a double envelopment of the rebel army outside Nottingham.

England’s merchants resist a hostile takeover by the Scots, instead latter buying out the over-eager Scottish merchant.

Encouraged by its rout of the Rennes detachment, the French army that defeated Augustine moves on to besige Bruges. This is a step too far, and next turn leads to their excommunication by the Pope.

[econ21]

1108 (3740 florins) The French attempt to storm Bruges.

Story: the defence of Bruges.

Captain Josias, commander of the Bruges town guard, was nervous. The French army besieging it had defeated three English armies in succession and was now preparing to storm his town. Prince Robert had refused to call off his siege of Antwerp and come to the aid of the defenders of Bruges. He claimed that the shortage of infantry in the French army would be their undoing when they attempted to assault Bruges. Horses could not climb ladders and lightly armed peasant archers would be cut down if they tried. Captain Josias had been somewhat reassured by this opinion, until he realised that the simple expedient of a battering ram would allow the fine French cavalry and archers to come into play.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The balanced French army that defeated Augustine outside of Caen has been worn down and now is critically short of the infantry that are decisive in siege encounters.

Captain Josias reviewed his garrison. He had two regiments of town watch, who would do well holding the walls. The critical defence of the town gate he assigned to the remnants of the Rennes detachment of spear militia. On paper, these were three regiments but after their earlier rout, they were barely the equivalent of one full strength regiment. The spearmen were formed into three small schiltrons, waiting for the likely breach of the gate and the arrival of the French cavalry.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The English deploy the remnants of the Rennes detachment in schiltron around the gate, while the town militia hold the walls.

On the town walls, Josias felt a sense of dread watching the confident French approach, their many banners reflecting the valour and standing they had gained from their past victories. However, scaling ladders put the French sergeant spearmen at a severe disadvantage and the town watch were able to hold them off. All now depended on the entrance to castle, which the French battering ram forced open.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The English town militia on the walls are able to fend off the French sergeant spearmen.

The French cavalry gamely attempted to storm the castle entrance, hacking at the English schiltrons that barred the way. The Rennes detachment fought back doggedly, determined to redeem the reputation it had lost in its lamentable journey across northern France.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The fine French cavalry inflict terrible damage on the schiltrons at the gate, but the depleted English regiments hold.

Eventually, numbers began to tell and when Josias ordered the town militia down from the walls to join the fray at the castle gate, French morale gave way. The English defenders were left victorious, but at considerable cost.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The English are left victorious at the town gate, amid a mass of dead horses and men.

[econ21]

1110 (3547 florins) King William landed his army near Caen. Venice and the HRE declared war on each other.

The Flemish garrison sallied from Antwerp (b11). Robert defeats them, using similar tactics to those he employed against the comparable sally from Bruges (b4). For occupying Bruges, the Council of Nobles reward England with four regiments of mailed knights - a body that will be invaluable in the crusading army soon to be formed.

1112 (4118 florins) England is the largest army. Venice is excommunicated. A large rebel army is spotted near Caernarvon. The English mainland is virtually devoid of any troops, but William adopts a response of watchful neglect. He will not be deterred from besieging Caen.

1114 (4662 florins)

King William storms Caen (b12). However, his choice of siege engines - three rams - is foolish. As a castle, Caen has only one gate so the usual English assault tactic of using rams to open up multiple lines of attack cannot be employed. Moreover, the French garrison is almost exclusively composed of cavalry: four regiments of mailed knights, two of mounted sergeants and only one regiment of archers. Since such a force could not be expected to mount a proper defence of the castle walls, siege towers would have been more appropriate.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The French garrison of Caen is formidable, but wholly unsuited to a siege defence.

The French set fire to one ram and a small detachment of cavalry sally out before a second can reach the gates. The detachment is easily defeated and soon the mass of English infantry swarms into the castle, to find the many French horsemen milling around the central castle square. William orders his spears into schiltron and brings forward his archers to rain fire arrows down on the French horse. He is in no hurry.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The French horse mill passively in the castle square as the English archers fire on them, protected by schiltrons of spear militia.

Over time, the French knights - enraged by the fire arrows falling on them - attempt to engage the schiltrons. The fighting is hard, but gradually the horsemen are worn down. When William judges the time right, he drives into the centre with his escort and that of Prince Rufus, ending the battle.

1116 (4809 florins) Prince Rufus adopts Roger Bennett. A large German army is spotted near Antwerp.

1118 (3902 florins) The HRE betrays its alliance with England, laying siege to Antwerp. In response, England allies with HREs enemy, Venice.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The HRE betrays its alliance with England by an opportunistic attack on Antwerp.

1120 (4435 florins) The Germans attempt to storm Antwerp (b13). However, they employ much the same approach as the French tried earlier at Rennes and are stopped by similar English tactics. The success of the defence of Antwerp (and earlier Bruges) leads England to change its defensive strategy. Previously, England had used token garrisons - such as the two weak regiments who held Caen before it fell - and relied on field armies to come to their support. Now, England decides to provide stronger defences - around half a dozen regiments - who might be able to fight off besiegers unaided. Each settlement is also to be given a small contingent of cavalry, so that it is able to capitalise on any successful defence by pursuing routers.

After having first collected longbowmen from Nottingham, Prince Robert is able to assemble a mighty crusader army of twenty regiments outside of Caen. The army embarks to sail to the Holy Land.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The army that is formed to crusade to Jerusalem.

The Pope sets a mission to recruit a priest in York. England swaps maps and trade rights with Spain.

Augustine adopts Robin Lambert.

1122 (8822 florins) Seemingly without any diplomatic intervention, a truce is established between England and France. This frustrates the most obvious avenue for England, now the strongest faction, to expand her territories. Despite this show of peace, an English spy spots two French assassins and one French spy outside Caen.

The Pope sets a mission to break England’s alliance with Venice.

1124 (6670 florins) Byzantium and Egypt ally; Byzantium is recognised as Europe’s strongest power.

1126 (7190 florins) Spain declares war on England. Two regiments of longbowmen and one regiment of crusader knights are lost at sea from the crusade. A bad year.

1128 (5270 florins) King William dies. France is at war with Spain.