Jim Patching
United Kingdom
Cardiff
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Although the raid our knights conducted on the Port of Barfleur last year didn’t go exactly to plan, they succeeded in causing enough damage to disrupt French plans and put off any potential invasion of Britain. Now it’s 525 and King Arthur is determined to turn the tables and take the fight to the French. His army is ready to go and he’s managed to amass sufficient ships to get his men across the Channel.
However, Sir Owen has discovered that there is a spy amongst the British ranks and that the French have been made aware of the threat of a counter invasion. King Clovis’s men have been busy the past six months building coastal defences and shoring up their ports.
The big question is where to strike first and how to go about making sure it succeeds?
After a drawn out council of war it is decided to return to Barfleur, capture that port and use it as a beachhead.
(Here’s my remarkably ugly map of the port.)
Sir Hywel comes up with a cunning plan as to how to break through the port’s defences. Not all of the big French troop ships were destroyed in the raid last year. The British only have one ship at their disposal that approaches the size of those big French vessels. Hywel proposes disguising this ship as one of the big French transports (the Le Blank, which the Britons know to be berthed in Calais), making it look severely battle damaged and ‘limping’ it into port at Barfleur with stories of how they were attacked by the Britons and that the invasion is coming. Once they’re within the harbour they’ll then take control of it, lower the chain and allow the rest of the fleet (who’ll be waiting a short distance away) to pour in.
Of course, they’ll need a fluent French speaker to do the talking. Our knights wrack their brains trying to think of someone to do the job. There’s the two Ganis knights Hugo and Pierre (Sir Breakius’s ‘spies’ who opportunistically assassinated King Clovis’s son and started this whole war) … but they’re both unadulterated nincompoops who can barely be trusted to cook breakfast without killing someone. Then there’s that new knight Sir Launcelot … but he’s a douchebag (although the ladies of court would dispute that). No, our knights finally settle on Sir Le Beau, a wily knight who was last seen during the epic Battle of Badon.
Days later our knights stand on the deck of their disguised ship. The hold is full of the best soldiers Logres has to offer and ‘captain’ Le Beau stands at the helm. Despite the fact that Le Beau is wearing a smart captain’s uniform, he still manages to make it look casual. He is unconcernedly drinking from a bottle of wine whilst making small talk with Sir Hywel.
“I knew you father, you know?” drawls Sir Le Beau. “He was a fine man, a good soldier.”
“That he was,” states Sir Hywel.
“Well, when I say ‘knew’ what I mean is I fought in the same battle as him once. I never actually met the man,” qualifies Sir Le Beau, taking a swig from his wine bottle.
“Well, I suppose that’s close enough,” says Sir Hywel uncertainly.
“Your name is Sir William, no? William of Bracksford?”
“No. I’m Sir Hywel, son of Sir Owen.”
“Eh. OK, I guess I didn’t know your father at all. But I’m sure he was a good man. A good fighter. You should be proud of him.”
“I …. Am?” says Sir Hywel, thoroughly confused by the whole encounter. One of Sir Le Beau’s great skills is not really giving a shit about anything but somehow still making it seem like he’s your best mate.
It’s night time when the British ‘Trojan’ Ship arrives at the port of Barfleur. The rest of the British fleet lies at anchor a short distance away, waiting for the signal to attack. Sleek French longboats are launched to intercept the approaching vessel and a spokesman demands to know what business the ship has at the port of Barfleur. ‘First mate’ Le Beau (who by now is quite drunk) never-the-less performs his role admirably.
“Allo!” he calls down from the ship. “We are the Le Blank and have come from Calais. The Britons (he spits into the sea for emphasis) have attacked! We have many wounded. The ship is taking on water. The captain – well, he’s dead. We are … how do you say … c’est fucked.”
Sir Le Beau’s speech, along with the sterling work done on disguising the British ship as the French vessel Le Blank, appears to do the trick as the sentries allow them into the port. It seems as though the French are jumpy themselves – they’ve been waiting for the invasion to start for months and now that it appears to have kicked off they want to know as much of what’s going on as possible. The ship berths near the winch house and our knights and Sir Le Beau disembark.
The Frenchman who hailed them from the longship is there to great them.
“Bonsoir,” he says, giving the GM the opportunity to show that he does know a very small amount of French. “My name is Francois. I realise you must all be very tired and in need of some rest but before I can allow you to relax I must ask you to accompany me to the tower over-looking the harbour. Watch commander De Villiers is going to want to know everything you can tell him about this British invasion. Your men are of course free to use the port as they wish.”
“You are most kind,” says Sir Le Beau. The knights of Salisbury ratify this by saying “Oui” repeatedly, even though they have no idea what’s being said. Sir Le Beau waves the troops onto shore (Hans Ollo, the Saxon fisherman who’s been brought along for his nautical expertise, makes his way straight to the nearest whorehouse), whilst our knights accompany Francois to the tower.
“We’re going to have to move quickly,” whispers Sir Breakius to Marshal Arkan. “It’s only a matter of time before someone realises than none of our soldiers are actually Frenchmen.
Francois takes them straight to the top of the tower where they meet Watch Commander De Villiers. A number of alert sentries stand guard and the Scorpion (an old Roman war machine) sits impassively looking out to sea.
“So,” begins De Villiers, peering over his bristling moustaches at the knights of Salisbury. “I hear you’ve encountered the British … ooof!”
He is cut off mid-flow by Sir Breakius shoulder charging him off the tower battlements. Absolute pandemonium breaks out on the tower-top as Breakius’s companions are caught in almost as much surprise as the French are themselves. It’s close quarter fighting, its nasty and quick.
The fight quickly spreads to the whole tower as our knights fight their way down to the ground floor. Poor Sir Owen takes several critical hits during the brawl but he’s still just about on his feet by the time the tower is secured. Chaos has quickly spread outside as the British soldiers realise the fight is on and turn on the Frenchmen in the port. Through the smoke, screaming and clashing weapons the knights are sure they catch a quick glimpse of Hans Ollo running through the confusion with his trousers around his ankles.
French troops from the town garrison are quickly sent to re-enforce the port and for a while the battle is on a knife-edge. Finally our knights manage to secure the winch house, lower the chain and usher in the waiting British fleet (who using their own initiative took the fact that the port of Barfleur was on fire as the signal to move).
The French town is quickly secured and the Britons have their much-needed bridgehead!
Now for the rest of France!
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You can read the previous adventures of The Cardiff Boys on this Geeklist
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I think that the battle for Barfleur is probably the defining moment for the new Team Salisbury, in the same way that the Liberation fo Rydychan was for the original team.
My recollection of the battle is a little different from the official story (as is often the case with major events) though. I shall attempt to relay the story in the keeping with the tradition of these recaps.
Our tale picks up with Team Salisbury and British invasion force dockside in Barfleur:
Francois: Your men are free to stay in the town and recover from their wounds, but you have to come back to the town garrison we me and tell my lord what happened in Calais.
Le Beau: I don't know, the town garrison is a very long way from here and we are hurt. I think we should stay here, have a few drinks, you know?
Francois: I'm sorry, I should have realised. I will arrange for a litter to take you to the town garrison.
Breakius: Le Beau, what's going on?
Le Beau: Everything's cool. We're going to the town garrison. They're going to arrange a litter so we don't have to walk.
Owen: We need to secure the fort overlooking the harbour, not the town garrison. Tell them we might have been followed by British ships, and that you have to warn the fort.
Le Beau: [to François] Hey, you know what? We should go to the fort. The Britishers could be right behind us. Someone should warn them!
Francois: Good point. I'll send a runner immediately.
Le Beau: No, I should talk to the commander in person. The Britishers are tricky, you know? They tricked their way into Calais and we barely got out in time. But we're wise to their tricks now, I can tell the commander what to look out for.
Francois: I guess that makes sense.
Francois escorts Le Beau and a small group of British knights to the fort. On the way a plan is hatched. Once inside the fort Pierre, Hugo and Sir Lancelot (who has been dubbed "The Rookie" because it's his first battle) will hang back on the ground floor while Team Salisbury go to see the commander. When things kick off their job is to alert the troops outside and secure the ground floor of the fort.
The team find the French commander, a man named De Villiers, on the top of the fort. Seizing the moment Breakius attempts to hurl De Villiers into the street below, but the moustachioed Frenchman manages to cling to the battlements.
It's now on like Donkey Kong.
Arkan and Breakius quickly dispatch the soldiers guarding the Scorpion siege weapon, while Owen and Hywel duel Francois and De Villers respectively. Sir Le Beau meanwhile faces off against a bottle of wine he's found.
Annoyed that Owen and Hywel classify letting him stab their opponents in the back as a breach of chivalry, Arkan and Breakius head back downstairs to help secure the fort.
When the duels conclude Owen and Hywel take stock of the situation in the port. Seeing that British troops have secured the winch house and lowered the chain they attempt to signal the fleet.
Owen: We're in luck the Scorpion's already loaded. We just need to set the stone alight and launch it to signal the fleet.
Hywel: There's a barrel of that pitch stuff. We can use that.
The pair light the Scorpion's pay load.
Hywel: Okay, it's on fire. How do we launch it?
Owen: I don't know. I thought you knew.
Hywel: I don't know. Where's Breakius?
Racing downstairs the duo find Arkan and Breakius embroiled in battle with several French soldiers. Hwyel begins fighting the soldier attacking Breakius, allowing him to head back to the roof of the tower.
Despite the fact that the Scorpion is now on fire, Breakius is able to perfectly place the shot to single the fleet to commence its attack. Looking out over the town he can see that the battle is starting to turn against the British as reinforcements arrive from the town's garrison. He heads downstairs to rally the troops. Upon reaching the ground floor he finds Lancelot praying over the bodies of his fallen foes.
Breakius: What the hell are you doing?
Lancelot: Praying for the souls of those I've killed.
Breakius:I don't know if you've noticed, but the battle isn't over. Get your head in the game, Rookie! There'll be time for that after we've won.
Breakius heads outside and inspiring the embattled British troops with his valour pushes the French forces back to the harbour wall.
Meanwhile the fort has been secured, although Sir Owen has been knocked out by a mighty blow meant for Marshal Arkan. After tending to Owen's wounds they reinforce Breakius at the harbour wall. Arkan and Breakius favour pursuing the retreating French troops into the town but Owen is more concerned about the counter attack being launched against the winch house. Before they can reach a decision they're ambushed by a group of crossbowmen, with Owen sustaining another nasty wound (which fails to kill him, much to everyone's suprise).
Team Salisbury opt to split their force with Arkan and Breakius leading the charge into Barfleur proper while Owen leads a small team to relieve the troops at the Winch House.
At the winch house the arrival of Owen's team is greated with cheers by the British and they handily route the attacking French, but not before Lancelot sustains a slight wound.
In the town, flush with impending victory, the British troops begin to loot the town. Breakius tries to stop them, but it takes the fearsome reputation of Arkan the Widowmaker to bring them into line.
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Jim Patching
United Kingdom
Cardiff
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Nice one. I left writing up this session report too long - we played this one two weeks ago, I have trouble remembering what happened yesterday! I'd forgotten half the stuff you wrote up here, although I'm fairly sure I cracked open the Sloe Gin that night so perhaps that explains it.
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panzer-attack wrote: Nice one. I left writing up this session report too long - we played this one two weeks ago, I have trouble remembering what happened yesterday! I'd forgotten half the stuff you wrote up here, although I'm fairly sure I cracked open the Sloe Gin that night so perhaps that explains it.
Didn't we crack open the champagne around the time we got to the top of the tower?
Champagne was definitely involved one week.
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beer, wine, champagne and slow gin was all involved i believe
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