Romano-British martyrs

My noble martyrs Romano-British took to the table again this week for another gripping game of Dux Bellorum. This time, taking on a very similar force of Romano-British. It seems that Andrew Rex and Princeps Lee felt that the Irish raiders who savaged them in the last bloody draw had used my harbours to launch their attack. Foul lies of course, as those same Irish raiders have savaged my Romano-British many times before.

Andrew and Lee's force (top) consisted of mounted companions, three units of noble riders, three shieldwalls and a unit of bows. My force (bottom) consisted of mounted companions, three units of noble riders, two shieldwalls, a unit of bows and a conclave of monks.

In the opening moves, both Andrew's companions (supported by a unit of noble riders) and my own (with two noble rider supports), charged directly forward and crashed into each other with a surprisingly tender and ineffective lack of crunch. 

Elsewhere, Lee's noble riders wheeled towards the centre of the battlefield and the two shieldwalls sort of shuffled around a bit and moved forward very slowly. My noble riders on the flank and my monks failed to do anything as they traded occasional insults (with each other - not with the enemy).

As the combat started to get much more heated around our respective kings on my left, I detached my additional unit of noble riders and pushed them through the woods hoping to swing around and crash into Andrew's rear. Lee's cavalry swept in on my right and engaged my other noble riders and even got stuck in against my shieldwall. Andrew and Lee's shieldwalls tried some sort of overly complicated maneuver in the centre and ended up scattered across the middle of the open ground. My archers poured a couple of volleys in their general direction but achieved nothing beyond reducing my arrow supplies.

With my 'spare' unit of noble riders still finding their way through the woods, Andrew's companions routed my other unit of noble riders and his own riders forced my companions to fall back. The cavalry fight on my right was also getting nasty. My bowmen fired another couple of volleys and eventually hit the shieldwall bearing down on them...

... and then Andrew's companions, having plowed through my riders, swept down the rear of my archers like a ... I don't know, like a really brutal bastard. Suffice to say, the archer didn't see them coming, and none were left alive to see them go away again.

On my right, my noble riders and Lees continued in their brutal melee, both routing simultaneously. My shieldwall through Lee's riders back, but took a hit themselves in the process.

Then, at last, my errant noble riders made their way out of the woods and charged into the rear of Andrew's noble riders who were already engaged with my companions. He, of course, returned the favour by wheeling his companions into the rear of my own. So in the photo above, we have, from left to right, Andrew's companions, my companions, Andrew's noble riders, my noble riders. Through an obvious clever use of leadership points, my companions survived, whilst his riders were finally smitten.

Unfortunately, that minor triumph was not quite enough to save me. Lee's shieldwall and riders crashed back into my own shieldwalls, one of which crumbled under the myriad blows rained down upon them from the riders. This forces a break test on the rest of my force and saw the monks and last unit of noble riders flee the field. Left with just my battered companions and one bruised shield wall, my forces capitulated handing Andrew and Lee one more for the annals.