Battlelore Battle of Agincourt

         I finally got a game in using Battlelore. Originally my plan was to use Peter Laing figures for the game, but decided to use the figures that came with the game. One reason I bought the game was the playing pieces. After reading the rules, it is suggested that you start by playing the Agincourt scenario. It seemed like a good place to start.

         I really don't know much about Agincourt except that it was a battle between England and France during the Hundred Years War, a battle the English won. I was going to research it, but for once I resisted the temptation and figured that  I would play the game out instead of trying to recreate it.

The English are on the left, they have banners. The French have pennants.  The different colors represent the unit strength; green for light troops, blue for regular troops, and red for heavy troops.

A view from behind the French line looking towards the English.

A closeup of the French knights charging forward.

The French mounted knights hit both English flanks. If cavalry can make an enemy unit retreat, they can "pursue" and battle again. The French push back one unit of archers. They pursue and hit the next archer unit.

The English right flank is being forced back.

The French knight unit hitting the English left flank crushed one regular infantry unit (not shown) and turns on another regular infantry unit.

The French knights on the English right forces back both archer units to the edge of the field.

The French on the English right destroys another regular unit. The English in turn manages to eliminate the French knight unit.

In Battlelore victory goes who collects a certain number of the enemy standards. At this point the English are down, two to one.  For this scenario the first side to capture four standards wins the game. Now the French knights hope to win the battle. All they need to do is force both units to at least retreat over the edge of the board. At this point it hadn't been much of a battle. As with the Battle Master game played last week, the knights were just riding down the enemy.

However, the French charge didn't break through the archers.  At this point I realized that I missed an important rule.  If any figure takes cover in woods, both attacker and defender are limited to rolling a maximum of two dice. Now the regular rules are green units roll 2 dice, blue units 3 dice, and red units 4 dice. By the English archers moving into the woods, the French knights have lost their most valuable asset. And now the archers manage to kill one knight and made them retreat.

What I thought was going to be a rather dull game got very lively. And now the French had to bring forward their infantry. There have been several turns at this point where both sides have failed to gain any advantage.

Looking down the line, one can see where the different forces are by the banners and pennants. Notice the two closest units. One French regular infantry has managed to get between an English archer unit and the back line.

The battle was decided in the center. The English had one heavy infantry unit, which was causing havoc amongst the French. However, the French finally manage to surround it and wipe it out. (The soldier lowering the standard is for dramatic effect.)

Another view of the battlefield at the end of the game. The French won,  capturing 4 banners to the English capturing 1.

This game turned out to be more fun than expected. I believe  I might have made a few mistakes with the rules, but maybe a couple of games should help.  I also think that these rule could be used with Peter Laing figures and Heroscape hexes for a more 3D battlefield. I also found a website with  a great many historical and fantasy scenarios that could keep one occupied for a long time.