Juan Valle
United States
Miami
Florida
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Hi Folks,
Taking the chance of this long Thanksgiving weekend and a visit of my in-laws that kept everybody else at home busy, I had a session of the battle of Poitiers, and it was simply incredible.
The battle started with Clermont and Audrehem MMA charge being repulsed by the English LB; then Saarbruchen contingent's MMA had the same fate and Saarbruchen got killed. The Genoese CB moved forward and managed to slain two LB before being eliminated themselves. On their heels came The Dauphin contingent of DMA and these two fell victims of the LB, and the Dauphin got killed as well; several other units got retired. At this point the situation looked grim for the French with 22 FP while the English had only 6 FP.
The Duke of Orleans contingent fled the battle field and King Jean II contingent got activated and started advancing towards the English. With no enemy units around and no wishes to abandon their defensive position, the British passed on several occasions, allowing the French an undisturbed advance.
In the meantime the contingent of The Dauphin rallied, regrouped and moved towards the English right flank, as not to interfere with Jean II men; the English were prepared and ready for the incoming attack.
The French assaulted in unison the front and right of the English position; while the front attack was repulsed by the LB and DMA in the right side The Dauphin men managed to get over the ditch and threaten the wagons; Edward III charged with both his MMA and although managed to move back some of Dauphin men, at the end got disordered and were an easy prey for the French DMA; the two MMA and Edward III got dispatched, as well as one Hobilar and Captal de Busch; the English were outflanked.
At the front the English line was heavily pressed under Jean II men renewed attack and some of Dauphin DMA attacked the LB of Salisbury contingent from behind; one French DMA came adjacent to the English standard. The wagons were captured too and the panic was felt throughout the British lines. At this moment the course of the battle could swing either way: the French had 38 FP, the British 25.
Here it came the climax of this closely fought battle: the French side tried to activated The Dauphin contingent and failed; the English rallied a retired DMA and when checked the flight level, their DR was a 2 while the French side rolled a 7 and had a retired unit, for a total of 46 FP; the battle was over with an English very narrow victory (their FP level for this scenario was 30 points, while the French level was at 45 points).
As mentioned in a previous session, the English LB are a lethal weapon and accounted for most of the French casualties; although the CB showed up a good performance, their modifier at 3 hexes range is -3 while the LB is -1, and it made for a difference in this scenario, and another handicap is the fact that CB cannot perform return fire.
I also realized that DMA are a fearsome weapon system that can sustain a lot of damage, and of course inflict it as well. Almost all the English DMA got disordered and/or retired at some point in the game, but only one of them was lost to the French. Also the fact that French DMA combined in pairs to attack and eliminate the English MMA was a proof of their value in the battle field. Even when disordered, the DMA can attack with a heavy punch.
I did not use the French Cavalry Aggression rule, and the whole scenario last 3 hours and 15 minutes of tense, exciting fun!!
Definitively, one of the closest battles I have played so far with MoI.
Regards,
Jumval
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Ralph Shelton
United States
Bellevue
Washington
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Excellent session report!
Without the Chivalry and Aggression rule, the French can really do some damage.
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Randy Dreger
Australia
Sebastopol
Victoria
I love Melissa, but don't tell her. It's a secret if she can find this. Shhhhh....
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revnye wrote: Excellent session report!
Without the Chivalry and Aggression rule, the French can really do some damage.
But that's just not right  I always find that these special rules are inherent of the unit involved and as important as the written numbers on the chit. Without them, they just aren't French Medieval Cavalry. It's like playing Gauls that don't charge, or Germans that can't overrun.
Interesting AAR nonetheless. 
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Ralph Shelton
United States
Bellevue
Washington
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I must say that I always use the all the special rules, but then I am a glutton for punishment.
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Juan Valle
United States
Miami
Florida
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I normally use all the special rules except the French Cavalry Aggression rule, just to level up the battle a little.
Also at Poitiers there are only 6 MMA while the rest are DMA; however due to the closeness of this battle a rematch will come soon; also I want to try the Crecy scenario using the Cavalry Aggression.
Thanks for your comments, folks!!
Jumval
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