Post by clive on Mar 25, 2023 10:41:25 GMT
This game was played using the following figures. saracen infantry are all Britains made in England or in Hong Kong. the ones made in Hong Kong are cheaper to buy on eBay because they are of less interest to collectors but they're actually better painted. saracen cavalry again are Britains with the exception of the camelry which are Supreme and purchased from Hobby Bunker in the USA.
the crusader cavalry is all Timpo foot knights Timpo and other infantry is either airfix or an anonymous modern Chinese manufacturer.
I bought most of these figures in quite large lots on eBay UK they actually work out cheaper than buying 28 millimetre metal figures and they come ready painted and can just go on the table.
for this game I used the Neil Thomas ancient and medieval wargaming rules but I did make a number of amendments to these.
The Crusaders had 13 units and the Saracens had 15 units, it was a straight up battle.
Saracens took the first turn and were inclined to see what the Crusaders would do however when the crusader crossbowmen open fire and caused some casualties this stung with the Saracens into advancing as quickly as they could. as soon as they came into range they opened up with a volley of arrows along the line which inflicted a sprinkling of casualties on the Crusaders.
The Crusaders retaliated by attacking the saracen cavalry on both wings.
the infantry lines now advanced towards each other continuing to trade arrows and crossbow bolts. one of the crusader crossbow units was quickly illuminated by missile fire.
the lines clashed, the better armour and morale of the crusader Knights started to tell, however the saracen made use of gaps in the crusader line to carry out of flank charges wherever they could. These flank charges did not seem to bother the Templar Knights in slightest.
after a couple of rounds of melee it became clear that the Crusaders were prevailing. on the crusader left flank they had been unable to break through the saracen cavalry, however on the right flank they had broken through and were ready to sweep around and take the saracen army in the rear. at this point we did a count of bases lost and found that the Saracens had lost over 50% of their bases and therefore the Crusaders had won. also they had lost all three of their army commanders in combat.
it was a really good game and using the Neil Thomas rules was played out in only a couple hours.
in retrospect the Saracens probably needed a couple more units to even up the odds and would have benefited from a larger table where they could have used the superior mobility of their cavalry.
Photos are on my blog - jameswargamingweirdness.blogspot.com/2023/03/54mm-crusades-wargame.html
