The Adventures of Stransky & Steiner - Book 2 - Bretonnia

 The second stop on the adventure is to Bretonnia.  My own army was only about 1,000 points so I was going to be limited with what I could play, but then my buddy Tim decided it was time to unload his army and sent it to me.  Before putting much of it on EBAY, I thought it would be cool for one final hurrah with his Bretonnians vs. my Empire.  Thus, a normal sized battle was born.

The Scenario:  Fighting Withdrawal

Another Flames of War scenario, this one called for the defender (Bretonnia) placing 1 objective and the attacker (Empire) placing two in a zone on the Bretonnian side.  The Bretonnians would set up first, but could hold one unit off in ambush (if it was possible based on the terrain).  If they couldn’t place a unit at least 16” from an Empire unit and out of line of sight, the ambushing unit would have to enter from the back of their table edge.

The trick of this battle is that the Bretonnians will gradually start removing units from the table as they withdraw.  They’re not worth any Victory Points, nor are the objectives.  The removed units just give the Empire fewer units to destroy.  Capturing an objective will end the game, but they weren’t worth any VP either.  So, the idea for the Empire was to chalk up some VP as early as possible without losing too much, then ending the game.

I couldn’t decide if the withdrawal strategy for the Bretonnians would be to remove the knights first (since they’re more valuable allowing fewer VP to the Empire) or withdraw the men-at-arms first since the knights are harder to kill.  I decided to play it by ear and see what happens.

If no objective is captured, the battle ends after the Empire Turn 8.  The score is based solely on VP accumulated, including bonus VP for the General, Battle Standard and captured unit standards.

The Battlefield:

Viewed from the Empire (attacker) side. To the upper left a small stand of trees with an Objective (tent) placed right behind it. A fence separates it from the Empire line. In the center is a wooded hill that has a wagon (second objective) in among the trees. There is a small rise opposite (bottom) on the Empire side.  To the right, a swamp on the Bretonnian side and another low rise on the Empire side.  The third objective (tent) was placed between the wooded hill and the swamp.

Deployment:

Based on Tim’s guidance, the Bretonnian army is made up of two basic building blocks:  Units of 10 peasant archers with defensive stakes, and blocks of 6 Knights of the Realm with full command. Some units have Damsels, which displace the knight in the middle of the second rank. 

On the Bretonnian left (above), archers in front of the objective with a unit of knights to each side (on the wooded hill and in the swamp).  Lilian, a Damsel Champion with the Lore of Beasts joined the unit in the swamp. Note that the Empire deployed a unit of 10 Hunters in the back corner once deployment was done.

In the center, another archer unit in front of the wooded hill and 2 blocks of knights to their right. The unit next to the archers has Loreley, another 2^nd level damsel of Beasts.  The Field Trebuchet set up behind them.

On the Bretonnian right, the 3^rd unit of archers deployed on the edge of the trees blocking the objective. A block of knights set up behind since the trees were the limit of their deployment zone. Tristan the level 2 Damsel of Life joined that unit.  Next to the objective is a unit of 4 Grail Knights accompanied by the General (a hero level character) and Army Battle Standard.  One last block of knights was held in ambush.

Tim called this his “chariot army.” These are blocks of 6 knights that would charge like chariots; two per opponent so that one could get a flank charge. The strategy was to sit back and let the enemy come with the archers and trebuchet firing on them, then charging when the time was right.  Since the Empire’s objective was to attack and capture the objectives early, this seemed like a strategy that would work here.

On the Empire right opposite the swamp, the cannon set up on the rise next to 6 Inner Circle White Wolf Knights and 10 crossbowmen. A detachment of 5 Free Company for the crossbows set up behind the knights.

The Empire then set up in a battle line from the next rise at the center of the table, all the way to the edge.

They consisted of a mortar, 20 swordsmen, 20 halberdiers, the Helblaster Volley Gun, 10 Handgunners and 2 units of Pistoliers led by Corporal Kruger, who advanced in the last battle. Each of the infantry units had a detachment of 5 Free Company as a screen in front.

Captain Stransky on his warhorse with Dragon Bow set up behind the handgunners. Steiner had been demoted to a level 2 wizard with the Lore of Metal for this battle and deployed next to the handgunners.  Magier Brandt was added to the army to diversify the magical attacks. He is a level 2 Lore of Beasts wizard deployed in the front rank of the halberdiers.

Critically, I forgot to deploy Captain Kiesel on his Pegasus (the model was still out in the display case), so the army would be short-handed until I remembered to bring him on in Turn 2.

Turn 1:

It was a general advance for the Empire across the board with all units marching forward except for the halberdiers and swordsmen who wanted a bigger gap between them and their screen of free company.  The Hunters formed a line to lure the knights toward the corner and away from the battle line. In the magic phase, although the Empire had a 6-to-5 advantage, Brandt didn’t have any useful spells and passed (HE should’ve had the Rod of Power that stores dice, instead of Steiner, because he’ll pass a lot in this game!).  Steiner’s one spell was easily dispelled. In the shooting phase, both the mortar and the cannon misfired! Luckily, both were minor with the crew forgetting to load them or something. The crossbowmen killed 1 men-at-arms archer across the battlefield and Capt. Stransky slayed a Grail Knight with the Dragon Bow. Otherwise it was a terrible turn for dice with a lot of 1’s and 2’s coming up for both sides.

For the Bretonnians, the knights in the swamp turned around in preparation to charge the Hunters.

On the far right, the knights behind the woods came out around the outside of them and into their intended position. The space directly behind the trees was one of the only spots on the table where the ambush could be sprung.  With a magic advantage of 8-to-4 Lilian promptly miscast on her first attempt. She rolled a 1 to wound, so she escaped the miscast unharmed, but it drained the magic from the table and the phase ended. The archers were ineffective except for dropping a free company man screening the swordsmen and the trebuchet fell harmlessly between the free company and the swordsmen.

Turn 2:

Corporal Kruger’s Pistoliers swing around the left flank to encroach on the unit of knights anchoring that end of the line. The volley from their pistols had no effect.

The entire Empire line advanced again with the White Wolf Knights closing on the Bretonnian left. If the knights in the swamp choose not to charge, the White Wolf Knights would have a rear charge, so it was to force them off the line. The hunters lined up to get one final shot in before the Bretonnian knights charged. It was here that I realized I’d forgotten to deploy Capt. Kiesel on his Pegasus, so he flew in from the table edge and landed at the base of the hill in front of the mortar looking for where he would be the most useful.

The magic phase was 6-to-5, but with Brandt still not casting it amounted to a 3-to-5 disadvantage. What’s worse, Steiner Miscast taking a wound and immediately ended the magic phase!  In the shooting phase, the Great Cannon misfired again; this time requiring an extra turn to clear the muzzle and reload. That makes 2 miscasts and 3 misfires so far and the troops haven’t even gotten into combat yet!  The mortar fared better, dropping a shell on the peasant bowmen in the woods guarding the objective on the Bretonnian right. 4 were killed, but the General was close by to keep them in line. The crossbows dropped 2 peasant archers guarding the objective by the swamp and Capt. Stransky dropped another Grail Knight, leaving only 2 to accompany the General and Battle Standard.

Handgunners, their detachment and Steiner advancing on the fence line.

For Bretonnia, the knights in the swamp charged the hunters whose bows were ineffective against their armor. It was a shame to sacrifice them, but getting that unit of knights off the line so I could get my White Wolf Knights on the nearby objective was vital. To thwart this, however, the knights on the wooded hill came out and turned to face the White Wolf Knights. What’s more, this opened the opportunity to deploy the one unit of ambush knights in the woods behind the first unit. They too were able to come down the wooded hill and face off against the White Wolf Knights.

Bretonnian Knights charging the hunters in the swamp. In the background left, the Empire White Wolf Knights approach as two units of Bretonnian knights on the right come out of the woods to challenge them.

Grail Knights led by General and Battle Standard swing around behind the objective to challenge Corporal Kruger's Pistoliers turning the flank.

Battlefield view: Kruger turning the flank in the upper left, Bretonnian knights coming down the hill & out of the woods in upper center, Knights charging hunters in the upper right.

With a magic advantage of 8-to-4 Tristan lead off and killed 3 of Kruger’s pistoliers with Master of the Wood. They passed their panic test, which would have run them off the table and out of the game. Lilian attempted to cast The Wolf Hunts on the knights that came off the hill so they could charge the White Wolf knights, but the Empire used all of their dice to dispel it. This left Loreley with a free attempt to cast it again, but she rolled a Miscast! She avoided taking any wounds, but Steiner was able to cast a spell for free in response and there were no remaining dice to dispel it. He cast Burning Iron on the unit of knights next to Kruger, killing one.  The bad luck continued in the shooting phase with the Trebuchet promptly misfiring and being out of service for at least one more turn. That’s 3 miscasts and 3 misfires in two complete turns.  In combat, the Bretonnian knights killed 3 of the hunters, handily winning the combat, but the low die rolls continued as the hunters made a Hero roll for their break test (snake eyes)! When would it end?

This was an unplanned bonus since it would keep the knights in the swamp tied up for another turn, even if I wouldn’t ever kill any of them (but with these dice, who knows?)

Turn 3:

The Knights of the White Wolf charged the closest unit of Bretonnian Knights. Capt. Kiesel on his Pegasus moved into position a bit further behind them so that he could either charge to assist them, the knights in the swamp or head straight for the peasant bowmen guarding the objective.

The Empire battle line came as far forward as the fence with the free company detachments for the swordsmen and halberdiers moving closer to the Bretonnian lines, daring them to charge. The tactic here was to align them on a diagonal so that if the Bretonnians did charge through them, they would be diverted away from my larger units and (hopefully) expose a flank for a follow-up charge.

On the opposite end of the table, Corporal Kruger left with only his musician, moved around behind the Grail Knight unit. They amounted to little more than a nuisance since their shooting was, again, ineffective.

The Empire still had 6 power dice to 5 Bretonnian dice. This time Magier Brandt cast Bear’s Anger on himself in the front rank of the halberdiers since the detachment had moved on ahead and combat could be imminent.  Steiner’s spell was easily dispelled.

[Above] Magier Brandt taking form of the vicious bear in the front rank of the Halberdier unit. This model is from the Beorn’s Bearstruck 5^th Edition Dogs of War unit.

The mortar aimed for the trebuchet and dropped slightly short, killing one of the Bretonnian Knights in the process. Stransky’s Dragon bow continued with a perfect shooting score by felling another knight in the unit beside the woods.

The knight unit in front of the trebuchet became the target for the Helblaster volley gun, but all wounds were saved by either armor or the Ward Save from the Bretonnian prayer to the Lady of the Lake.

With all of those successful saves, it appeared that the dice were starting to roll high (finally).  The knights in the swamp made quick work of the hunters, running them down as they fled off the table edge. The White Wolf Knights found success by killing 2 Bretonnian knights. They failed their break test and turned to flee but were run down by the White Wolf knights before the White Wolf Knights collided corner-to-corner with the second unit of Bretonnian knights nearby.

It looked like the White Wolf Knights would suddenly have the opportunity to roll up the line, so the defending Bretonnians had to adjust to counter them. The peasant bowmen in front of the hill withdrew up the hill, permitting the unit of knights beyond them to turn and face the White Wolf Knights. They didn’t advance since they wanted to keep a distance if the White Wolf Knights pursued through the second unit. I was suddenly realizing how vulnerable these small “chariot” units of 6 knights were if they were charged by a unit capable of getting through their armor.

Further over, the unit in front of the Trebuchet elected to charge the detachment of free company in front of them. If they held, they would overrun into the halberdier unit and if they fled there would be enough room between them and the halberds that the halberdiers wouldn’t be able to charge. The free company did the latter, running through the halberdier unit who held their position despite the panicking detachment.

What to do about Kruger?  The General opted to leave what was left of the Grail Knights unit and picked a position between them and the knights on the flank. The only way they could get out of a charge now would be to round the group to the left. With the loss of a knight unit, it became imperative that the Bretonnians needed to rack up some points so as not to lose the battle. Kruger’s unit seemed an easy target.

Turn 4:

As expected, the White Wolf Knights charged the next unit of Bretonnian knights, who chose to flee since the Empire knights were still under the influence of the Mistress of the Marsh and wouldn’t be able to reach catch them. Capt. Kiesel on his Pegasus charged the peasant bowmen guarding the objective, who fled into the woods on the hill. Although the objective was unguarded, it required a unit strength of 5 to capture the objective and Capt. Kiesel was only 3.  The small unit of 4 free company in the middle of the battlefield charged the unit of fleeing Bretonnian knights from the previous turn, forcing them to flee toward their table edge next to the field trebuchet. The crossbows marched forward along with the entire left line of the Empire advancing. The unit of Pistoliers circled around behind the Empire General and started for the center of the Empire line.

It was at this time I realized that the last 2 moves from Corporal Kruger’s unit were illegal. Both times I had march moved the Fast Cavalry within 8” of Bretonnian units. Now I had to figure out how to remedy it. They hadn’t caused any damage and had taken 3 casualties from Tristan’s Mastery of the Wood spell. I decided the best choice of action was to back them around beside the Bretonnian unit on the flank (where they’d been in the previous turn before moving around behind the objective). They could make a legal move from there. I chose, instead, to bring them around the front of the trees.

Because the General and Grail unit had reconfigured responding to Kruger, I put that unit back together where they’d been before the last move as well. Since the Bretonnians were waiting for the Empire battle line to come within charge range, and the Grail Knights wanted to get away from the Helblaster, it seemed everything was in an acceptable position. (Kruger would be ineffective for the rest of the battle anyway).

With Lilian still off board, the Empire had a 6-to-4 magic advantage. Steiner dropped his Bear’s Anger aspect to cast Oxen Stands and rallied the fleeing free company. Brandt’s Burning Iron spell was dispelled and 2 dice were stored in the Rod of Power.

In the shooting phase, the mortar fell short of the trebuchet, but the cannon hit the advanced unit of knights, killing one.

Next up, the Helblaster unleashed a terrible volley on the forward unit of Bretonnian Knights, completely wiping them out.  Stransky’s Dragon Bow picked off one of the knights at the end of the Bretonnian line and Kruger dropped one of the peasant archers in the nearby woods.

In the Bretonnian turn, the fleeing knights next to the trebuchet rallied. The other unit of knights who fled from the White Wolf Knights last turn failed to rally and ran through the trebuchet on their way off the table with Loreley among them. Luckily the trebuchet crew relied on their peasant duty and held their position. The peasant bowmen who’d fled from the Pegasus on the hill also rallied to face him once again. The half-strength unit of knights on the end of the line crept forward to line up a charge on the Empire General, or the units on the fence if Stransky moved away (which he likely would).  The knights who’d pursued the hunters off the table made their way back and started trudging through the swamp.

With Loreley gone and the Empire holding 2 dice in the Rod of Power, the magic phase was an even 6-to-6. Lilian had the Wolf Hunts spell, which would have allowed the Bretonnian knights next to the trebuchet to charge the White Wolf Knights, but she was in the swamp and out of range. Instead, she attempted casting Beast Cowers, which would hold them in place next turn, but it was dispelled. Tristan did what she could by casting Master of Wood and killing one of the White Wolf Knights.

In the shooting phase the trebuchet dropped a boulder right on the back corner of the halberd unit. It killed 7 of them and caused them to flee. Steiner was in this unit as well, so the Empire couldn’t rely on the Oxen Stands spell to rally next turn.

The peasant bowmen on the hill made their own small contribution; inflicting 1 wound on the Pegasus and killing one of the White Wolf Knights. (Note the 2 banners the White Wolf Knights captured).

At this point I realized I’d missed another key element of the game. Starting on Turn 3 the Bretonnians were to remove one unit from play (since the scenario was a Fighting Withdrawal, units should have been withdrawn at the start of the turn).  After the mishap with Kruger and because it looked like the momentum was with the Empire, I just let it go and didn’t put back any casualties caused by the unit once I chose to remove it. But now, I had to choose two units.

I chose to remove the peasant bowmen facing the Pegasus and the 2 remaining Grail Knights in the unit with the General and Battle Standard Bearer. This prevented the Empire from getting the VP for the full unit of Grail Knights and they were in a precarious position opposite the Helblaster anyway.

Although these withdrawn units didn’t grant VP to either side when they are taken off the board, they do reduce the size of the army fighting which could make Route tests at the beginning of the turn happen sooner. (Since this is a Flames of War scenario, the Route Test is a morale check to see if the force withdraws and concedes the victory once they are reduced below 50%).

Turn 5:

The inevitable move was the White Wolf Knights charging the Bretonnian knights by the trebuchet. The Halberdiers rallied before they even reached their free company who’d fled before them. Most of the Empire army began marching forward, except Captain Stransky who predictably withdrew to get away from the encroaching Bretonnian knights.  Captain Kiesel on his Pegasus landed behind the Bretonnian knights in combat and Kruger along with his remaining musician moved behind what was left of the knights on the end of the Bretonnian line. I thought these were well positioned for when the Bretonnians broke or fled, but then looked it up to find that a unit had to be unit strength 5 to block and eliminate a fleeing opponent. 

The magic phase went quickly. With a 6-to-4 advantage, Steiner cast Bear’s Anger on himself again and Burning Iron from Magier Brandt was dispelled. Two dice were stored in the Rod of Power.

The cannon and mortar fired on the knights coming through the swamp and both missed. The Helblaster, however, unleashed a volley more intense than the previous one (causing 30 hits!) which evaporated what was left of the knights on the end of the battle line along with Tristan.

In close combat, the unit champions fought their obligatory challenge and neither scored a wound. Neither side would score a wound and the Empire won by 1 point since they were holding the Bretonnian Knight’s banner from when they’d fled before. The Bretonnians failed their break test, but a re-roll allowed by the close proximity of the Battle Standard paid off and they remained deadlocked.

It was getting near time to throw in the towel for the Bretonnians, however, I felt that getting the General and Battle Standard to charge the White Wolf Knights might be enough to turn that combat. Defeating those knights might be enough to move into a Draw.

The Bretonnians had to withdraw another unit, so this was the last peasant bowmen unit on the hill. The General and Battle Standard charged the White Wolf Knights (but didn’t get credit for charging a flank since they were less than unit strength 5) and the “Swamp Knights” were finally almost out. In retrospect, sending the knights in pursuit of the hunters was a bad idea. I should have sent the peasant bowmen and guarded the objective with the knights.

There was still hope going into the magic phase. The Empire lost the 2 dice in the Rod of Power so it was a 4-to-4 proposition. Lilian tried to cast Wolf Hunts on her own unit of knights to get them out of the swamp and possibly charge the crossbowmen, but it was dispelled.

The close combat continued to be a comedy of errors. Neither side scored a single wound, but this time the Bretonnians won combat by 1. The White Wolf Knights held.

Turn 6:

Capt. Keisel on his Pegasus charged the rear of the Bretonnian knights. The rest of the Empire line advanced, looking to throw more weight into the combat, capture the unguarded objective and get in position to cut off the swamp knights if they made it that far. 

Magier Brandt was finally able to change his spell selection and cast Transmutation of Lead on the fighting Bretonnian knights. This caused them to have a -1 to hit, to wound and to their saving throws. Hopefully this would be enough to swing the combat.

The mortar and cannon continued to miss the swamp knights. In the close combat phase, Captain Kiesel and the Battle Standard Bearer exchanged wounds. The Bretonnians won the combat by 1 again, and this time Captain Kiesel fled off the table edge while the Bretonnians held. A small victory in the twilight of the game.

The Bretonnians had to make their first Route roll and failed. This meant the army was pulling back and the game was over.  The final score was Empire 1,213 to Bretonnia 313.

Debrief:

The MVP unit of the battle were undoubtedly the Knights of the White Wolf, racking up 2 units of Bretonnian Knights, one Damsel and capturing 2 banners. More importantly, it was their success charging in from the flank that completely disrupted the Bretonnian line and caused chaos for the rest of the battle. Experience earned from the battle advanced their Initiative 1 point to a 4.

Although happy with an Empire victory, I’m more disappointed in my performance with the Bretonnians. I expected a closer game than this. I’ve only played one game with Bretonnians before and it was 25 years ago (a resounding victory against a Wood Elf player). So, the performance here shows how much work I have to do to be able to field a respectable Bretonnian army. When the adventures of Stransky & Steiner conclude, the Bretonnians are the next I will have to take on the tour just to get some experience under my belt.

My biggest mistake was that I over-estimated the defensive capability of the Bretonnian Knights. With a Saving Throw of 2+ followed by a Ward save of 5/6+ I thought they were rather impervious. At the same time, I under-estimated my White Wolf Knights. After a lackluster performance against the Beastmen, I felt they needed a little more punch so I made them Inner Circle Knights (Strength 4) and gave them a banner that adds +d3” to their charge. When they went up against that first Bretonnian knight unit, they were attacking with a Strength of 6 due to their cavalry hammers. They continued to attack at Strength 5 even when they weren’t charging. So, this was an eye-opener regarding them.

The Helblaster also performed rather well. Historically, I never felt very effective firing at long range and a Misfire always messed things up. I had two misfires this game, but one happened on the last barrel of the first volley (resulting in that barrel not contributing any shots) and a “Kaboom” result on the next turn resulted in all 3 barrels firing with the full 10 shots each!

Obviously I’m happy with the mix of the Empire army after this round. However, I had to make some adjustments for the Initiative 4 in the White Wolf unit. I dropped one of the knights, put one of the wizards on a barded warhorse and gave the other unit of Pistoliers a musician. On to the next battle, a road trip to Cathay!