NOTE: King Constantine Bodin and his Serbs must roll 1-24 when first engaged to remain in battle. If 25-100 is rolled, they retreat in order off the field without interference. The Norman orders were relatively simple; the knights on the flanks should attack the Varangians and their Supports. The Byzantines advanced their first line to meet the initial onslaught, while the second and third ranks had strict orders not to interfere until the preceding rank(s) were fully engaged. The armies advanced in good order for the first 2 turns; the Byzantine ranks maintaining a distance of 60 paces between them. Upon its pre-melee morale test the Norman knights on the left went into uncontrolled advance into the Varangians, while their companions joined them in support. These Knights pushed back the Varangians, disorganizing them. Meanwhile on the opposite flank, the Byzantine Scutatos and Archers withstood their 1st charge and caused the right flank Norman knights to fall back and rally. On turn 4, the Serbs came into combat range and tested to determine whether they would remain in battle. They rolled 52 causing King Constantine to face away and retire ignominiously off the battlefield. Thus, the Byzantine second line was deprived of 60 figures worth 315 points. In the Center, the Macedonian Light Javelinmen charged the Saracen archers, who evaded safely through their Heavy Infantry. The front rank Men-at- Arms charged the Macedonians, hitting them with only 2 figures and causing an inconclusive melee to take place. The Varangians at this point received a tremendous beating (96-22) and routed, taking another 80 casualties on the free swipe. With this rout and the Serb defection, the Byzantine right was thrown into chaos, and a signal was blown to advance the cavalry of the Byzantine 3rd rank to plug the gap. The Norman advance slowed down during the 5th turn. The Byzantine Light Cavalry charged the pursuing Normans, causing one unit to receive this charge disorganized; meanwhile, the second unit of Norman knights followed up the routing Varangians. Unfortunately, a poor dice throw for the Byzantine cavalry reduced its effectiveness, with the dice bouncing into the coffee cup on the table as a signal of disgust at such rotten luck. The Macedonians voluntarily withdrew out of melee, and both sides paused to rally in the center. A second charge by the right flank Norman cavalry met with partial success, as one unit routed the archer sub-unit while the Scutatos threw back the other unit again. The Vardariot Horse Archers had gone into a Cantabrian circle to lend fire support for the Scutatos, and this combination ground the Norman advance to a halt on this flank. After one turn of pursuing the Byzantine Archer sub-unit, the Norman Knights rallied back once again to support their less fortunate colleagues. On Turn 7, the Byzantine Katafractoi finally charged into the fray by hitting the pursuing Norman Knights, causing them to rout. By turn 8, they were hit, in turn, by the rallied companion Knights, and so the fight on this flank bogged down into an inconclusive result. In the Center, one last charge by Norman Men-at- Arms and rallied Knights finally broke the Macedonians, killing their sub-commander in the process. Both sides were exhausted by this time, and the Byzantines retreated in good order, while the Normans, who had lost most of their cavalry's effectiveness declined the opportunity to pursue. The Normans lost 148 points (18 figures) while Byzantines lost 491 points (96 figures including the Serbian defectors)! CRITIQUE Both sides accomplished their objectives to an extent though the battle was judged as a tactical victory for the Normans. The Byzantines contained the Normans, though they lost a good portion of the Varangian Guard and the Serbs defected. One Regular D Class unit of Scutatos Heavy Infantry threw back 2 cavalry charges and did not succumb until attacked a third time by cavalry and men-at- arms. Some bad dice rolling hurt the Byzantines otherwise. The Normans drove back lines #1 and #2 and retained possession of the battlefield, but they lost 1/2 their cavalry (their primary strike force). Historically, they could resume the siege of Durazzo, which had been their original reason for being there. Order of Battle NORMAN Right Flank -- Robert Gusicard Type Unit Figures Points Knights (A) HC (Irg B) Lance (B) HC (Irg B) Lance 12 12 133 133 Men-at-Arms (C) HI (Irg C) LS (D) HI (Irg C) LS 32 32 185 185 Saracens (E) LI (Irg C) Bow 30 85 NORMAN Left Flank -- Bohemod of Taranto Type Unit Figures Points Knights (F) HC (Irg B) Lance (G) HC (Irg B) Lance 12 12 133 133 Men-at-Arms (H) HI (Irg C) LS 30 175 CrossBow (I) LHI (Irg C) CBow 18 97 TOTAL 190 1259 BYZANTINE First Line -- Varangians & Supports Type Unit Figures Points Varangian Guard (1) LHI (ReB B) 2HA 24 178 Scutatos (2) HI (ReB D) LS 24 130 Subunit (3) MI (reg D) Bow/sh 12 41 Macedonians (4) LI (Irg D) Jv 24 73 BYZANTINE Second Line -- Serbs & Vardariots Type Unit Figures Points Serbs (5) LC (Irg C) Bow/Jv 12 109 Serbs (6) LC (Irg C) Bow/Jv 12 109 Serbs (7) LMI (Irg D) StSp 36 97 Vardariot (8) LC (Irg C) Bow/Jv 10 95 Vardariot (9) LC (Irg C) Bow/Jv 10 95 BYZANTINE Third Line -- Emperor Alexius Type Unit Figures Points Katafractoi (10) HC (Reg C) Kts 15 160 Lt.Cav (11)LC (RegC) Bow/JA 15 115 Lt. Cav (12) LC (Reg C) Bow/JA 15 115 Scutatos (13) HI (Reg D) LS 24 130 Subunit (14) MI (Reg D) Bow/sh 12 41 Slavs (15) LMI (Irg D) StSp 24 73 Slavs (16) LMI (Irg D) StSp 24 73 TOTAL 293 1634 Normans in Italy (11th C) Letter to Editor (v2n5) Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. 2 #3 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1980 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com