Still wearing his mail shirt and hood, Sir Guy de Bologne looked over the large, handdrawn map. His "division" commanders were also at the table, watching as Sir Guy traced a finger along the blue line which divided the parchment roll. This blueline represented a key river in the northwest of this island country: key for it divided those lands that had been conquered in the two years since the invasion from those lands which had not. His mailed glove slowed its tracing movement and then stopped at the point where a bridge crossed the blue line. In perfect French, he informed the assembled commanders that this would be the objective of their march tomorrow. Sir Guy then proceeded to expand upon this objective, filling in the details of order of battle/march and just how he wanted the engagement to unfold. Set Up An hour later, satisfied that any and all questions were answered, Sir Guy dismissed his lieutenants. They had more work to do. Their leader, rather tired due both to the late hour and the strain of command during the preceding two days, called for his aides to come in and assist him. The mail shirt and hood removed, Sir Guy retreated to the personal "chamber" of his command tent, and fell into a sleep of near exhaustion. INTRODUCTION I am quite certain that Sir Guy de Bologne did not exist, at least in the 11th century. The name is pure historical license and to some readers, perhaps a little humorous. I am just as certain that general combat between the forces of William, Duke of Normandy and the Saxons was pretty much over after the landing and victory recorded in 1066. The subtitle of this wargame narrative simply serves as a kind of pseudo-historical reference point. A more concrete reference point is Mr. Monaghan's article in the May 1991 issue of Miniature Wargames. As related in my last submission, in "VAPNARTAK: Dark Ages scenarios with a difference!" (pages 14-15), Mr. Monaghan provides an introduction, guidelines and parameters for three battles or scenarios which formed the basis of an "Ancients" competition hosted by the York Wargames Club. This is the second piece adapted from the fertile mind of Mr. Monaghan. The Saxons take the field again, but this time against a Norman enemy. And instead of wagons of loot, houses or herds of animals as the prizes, this scenario revolved around a large stone bridge and two equidistant fords. With the first wargame reconstruction, the familiar and userfriendly ARMATI rules were used. For purposes of this particular wargame, the newer and so obviously less familiar Vis Bellica rules were utilized. RULES: A BRIEFING I was first "introduced" to Vis Bellica through an article by the author of the rules, in an issue of WARGAMES Illustrated. After a period of research on the internet, the decision was made to purchase the rule book and one book (there are three) of the Army Lists (Book 2: First to Tenth century AD). I think what appealed to me the most about this new set of Ancients rules (1st edition published in November 2002) were the approaches to command and control as well as the system(s) for combat resolution. If I may quote just a few bullet points from the Introduction by Mr. Avery: What I wanted was a game that incorporated the following systems and principles: A command structure where figures are grouped as regular `brigades' or irregular 'contingents' that report to officers that report to more senior officers. A command system where officers could, on a parade ground, successfully issue a limited set of orders to the figures under their command, but that this ability breaks down rapidly as the fog of war descends during a battle. A combat system that doesn't involve complicated bookkeeping or rolling more than two or three dice at a time. To my knowledge, these relatively new rules have not been reviewed nor mentioned in the pages of MWAN Magazine. It is not my intention to conduct an in-depth review here. I can readily recommend interested readers to the web site, however. For additional information, reviews, pricing, battle reports and so forth, please visit: www.visbellica.com. I brief overview, the Vis Bellica rules book (45 pages of text, including sample orders of battle and a quick-play reference sheet) is divided into three general sections. First, Mr. Avery considers troop classification, ground and figure scales, the organization of troops and point values. He then presents advice on "how to set up the game," explaining that within Vis Bellica, there can be scenarios, set-piece battles and competition games. A PreGame phase is then explained. This phase is rather interesting, as it discusses rules covering: scouting; flank marches; deployment; the writing and committing of initial orders. The turn sequence of the regular game is even more interesting and is also broken down into three sub-phases. First, a mandatory phase addresses routs and current melees. The command phase follows. Here, leader stands may attempt to spot other leader stands and roll for command options. In the last phase - the action phase - charges, shooting, movement and officer casualties are resolved / determined. Admittedly, this was a little more involved than what I was used to with ARMATI, but the rules did appear to be pretty straight forward. ORDERS OF BATTLE In the first wargame report of this planned two-part effort, I admitted to spending some time deciding what forces were to be involved and drafting the respective orders of battle. Being very new to the concepts and processes of Vis Bellica, I figured that I would make this second wargame a little "easier" and use one of the six pairings of armies provided by Mr. Avery. The "Dark Ages" was the general theme of the VAPNARTAK scenarios and so, the selection was readily decided. In this second scenario and first experiment with Vis Bellica, Normans would face off against a force of Pre-Norman British. (In order to save some typing time, Pre-Norman British will be hereafter called or referred to as Saxons.)  NORMANS (500 total points / 22 scouting points) Map ID Command / Composition A Leader / 2 units of Caballarii: 1 Elite and 1 Veteran; both units are Hvy Cav / 1 unit of Retainers - Average and Med Cav / all units are armed with lance and shield; all units in Open Order B Leader / 2 units of Caballarii: Veteran and Hvy Cav / 1 unit of Retainers - Average and Med Cav / all units are armed with lance and shield; all units in Open Order C Leader / 1 unit of Caballarii: Veteran and Hvy Cav / 2 units of Retainers - Average and Med Cav / all units are armed with lance and shield; all units in Open Order D Leader / 2 units of Spearmen: Average and Med Inf; armed with light spear and shield; in Open Order / 1 unit of Archers: Average and Light Inf; armed with bows; Skirmish Order / 1 unit of Crossbowmen: Average and Light Inf, armed with crossbows; Skirmish Order E Leader / 2 units of Spearmen: Average and Med Inf; armed with light spear and shield; in Open Order / 1 unit of Archers: Average and Light Inf; armed with bows; Skirmish Order / 1 unit of Crossbowmen: Average and Light Inf, armed with crossbows; Skirmish Order F Sub-General (Sir Guy de Bologne ?) - overall commander of the 5 "Brigades" NOTES FOR NORMAN ORDER OF BATTLE: The strongest unit on the Norman side was the Elite base/unit of Caballarii, with 15 strength points. Other bases/units/stands of Heavy Horse numbered 13 while the Retainers averaged 11 strength points. The roster for the spear-armed infantry numbered 10 points per unit/base and the skirmishers - missile troops mustered just 8 strength points. SAXONS (502 total army points / 6 scouting points) Map ID Command / Composition A Leader / 1 unit of Huscarls: Veteran and Hvy Inf; armed with two-handed weapons and/or shield; in Open Order / 2 units of Select Fyrd: Average and Hvy Inf; armed with light spear and shield; in Open Order / 1 unit of Veteran Great Fyrd: Average and Med Inf; armed with light spear and shield; in Open Order / 1 unit of Archers: Average and Light Inf; armed with bows; in Skirmish Order / 1 unit of Slingers: Average and Light Inf; armed with slings; in Skirmish Order B Leader / 1 unit of Huscarls: Veteran and Hvy Inf; armed with two-handed weapons and/or shield; in Open Order / 2 units of Select Fyrd: Average and Hvy Inf; armed with light spear and shield; in Open Order / 1 unit of Veteran Great Fyrd: Average and Med Inf; armed with light spear and shield; in Open Order / 1 unit of Archers: Average and Light Inf; armed with bows; in Skirmish Order / 1 unit of Slingers: Avg and Light Infantry armed with slings. C Leader / 1 unit of Huscarls: Veteran and Hvy Inf; armed with two-handed weapons and/or shield; in Open Order / 2 units of Select Fyrd: Average and Hvy Inf; armed with light spear and shield; in Open Order / 1 unit of Veteran Great Fyrd: Average and Med Inf; armed with light spear and shield; in Open Order / 1 unit of Archers: Average and Light Inf; armed with bows; in Skirmish Order / 1 unit of Slingers: Average and Light Inf; armed with slings; in Skirmish Order D Sub-General with Army Standard NOTES FOR SAXON ORDER OF BATTLE In the original presentation, Mr. Avery combines all the missile troops into one "contingent." When asked via e-mail if these units/bases could be divided among the `regular' infantry, he responded that it would be fine. Accordingly, one unit of archers and one of slingers were added to the main force of each "contingent." In so doing however, the command and control of the leader was affected. With respect to strength points, the Huscarls entertained 12 points per base. All the Fyrd units numbered 10, and as with the Norman missile troops, Saxon missile units/bases held 8 points. Both provided orders of battle listed two (2) false leaders, but these were ignored for the sake of this experimental wargame. The pre-game operations of scouting and flank marches were also ignored. The emphasis for this particular wargame would be learning the procedures and sequence of the main game rules. DEPLOYMENT AND TERRAIN Initial deployments, proposed routes of advance and terrain are marked on Map I. As with the previous scenario, the tabled is laid out symmetrically. It is also less "busy" than the prior field: there are no wagons of loot or herds of animals to "control." The field of battle is a gentle plain, rather severely divided by an "S" shaped river. There are three crossing points: two fords (at opposite ends of the field) and a stone bridge in the center of the field / table. To the right and left of this bridge, a small copse divides the Norman and Saxon battle lines in half. These woods are simply named "east wood" and "west wood." On the north and south borders of the field, there are two gentle, one-level hills. Sir Guy de Bologne's plan can be deduced from the deployment of his forces. With the concentration of his mounted arm on the right, it appears that a kind of envelopment was considered. One "division" or "brigade" of cavalry (C) would secure the bridge while the other two units (A, B) would force the northern ford and swing left to "run down" the rest of the Saxon host. In support of the advance/assault on the bridge, Sir Guy posted a "division" of infantry (D). These men were supported in turn, by a unit of archers and a unit of crossbowmen. Flung out to the far left of his main force, Sir Guy placed another "division" of infantry (E). This force consisted of a similar mix of spear-armed medium infantry and missile troops. Though quite detached from the main force, Sir Guy's thinking was that these men would secure the southern ford and either add to the pressure on the Saxons, or prevent the possibility of his own flank being turned by impetuous Huscarls and Fyrd. With respect to the plans of the Saxon commander, three "objectives" matched very nicely to the composition of the force. The leader of each contingent had orders to simply secure the ford or bridge that was to his front (in that specific sector of operations). The anchor of each force was the veteran-classed Huscarls. And though each "contingent" lacked the offensive punch of armored horsemen, each command did have a number of archers and slingers in the ranks. In summary: the Saxon commanders were well aware of their vulnerability. But they were also aware of the advantage afforded by the nature of the terrain. The Normans - however many on horseback - could only send so many over the bridge at once or across the ford at once. If there were to be a wall of shield, spears, long swords and axes waiting for them ... Briefly stated, the Saxon plan centered on moving up to each "objective" and defending same. The burden of attack and of victory would be placed on the shoulders of Sir Guy and his Caballarii. Trumped at the Bridge: Wargame Replay Back to MWAN # 129 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2004 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com