Battle of Golgan's Field - Battlesystem Battle Report

I just finished watching Jack The Giant Slayer, and it inspired a giant battle with my daughter.

Here is the situation.  Giants are advancing from the north towards some unguarded and unfortified towns.  The local lord has decided to meet them as they advance, before they reach the towns.  If nothing else, he hopes to delay them long enough for many civilians to move south, or better yet, reinforcements to arrive.

The Advesaries.

4 Fire Giant Warriors AD 12*10, AR 4, Hits 5
4 Hill Giant Warriors, AD 10*10, AR4,  Hits 4
Hill Giant Chieftain, AD 12*10, AR 4, Hits 5

Humans...

30 Hvy infantry split into 2 companies of 15 each,   AD 6, AR 6, Hits 1 (armed with spears and large shield.  Can form shield wall(-1AR) and second rank can attack.
18 Human Medium Archers, split into 2 units of 9 each. AD 6*6, AR 7, Hits 1
10 Medium cavalry, AD 6, AR 6, Hits 2
There was also a company of dwarves which joined the fight.
18 Dwarves, AD 6, AR 6, Hits 1 - They get -1 AR when fighting giants!

The Battle.

Round 1.

The giants quickly close the gap between the two armies.  The humans decide to hold their ground.
All of the human archers open up at long range.  They score 6 hits, but the giants armor is tough.  One giant takes two wounds.

"Brace yourselves!  Here they come!"

Round 2

This time the humans move first.  They decide to hold their ground again.
The giants move even closer.  Now they are within close range to the archers.  They score another 6 hits, but the giant's armor manages to deflect four of the hits.  Still, with 2 more hits, one hill giant falls!  First blood to the human army

Round 3

The humans go first again.

The battle is joined!  1 giant dead to arrows,
another to archer's swords!

The cavalry declare that they will charge, and they succeed the charge initiation roll.  They charge two of the giants.  The giants see them coming and throw boulders at them.  They manage to hit one of the riders, but the rider is just able to get out of the way enough that it only brushes him!  The cavalry strike with a powerful charge.  They do 6 hits, but the giant's armor is strong.  A hill giant takes two hits!  In return they flail, but only land 1 hit which badly harms one of the riders.

The giants move in and engage across the line.

One giant strikes at the archers on the left flank.  He flails about killing 2 of them, but they strike back with a ferocious attack, and the giant goes down.  They scored 6 hits, but the giant only managed to block 2!

Far to the right, the giants strike the dwarves.  2 dwarves fall, but they manage to injure the giant slightly

First dwarven casualties

There are a few morale tests that need to be made, but the humans and dwarves are determined to hold the field!

Fighting on the right.

Round 4

Humans go first again!
The infantry unit to the far right wheels and prepares to charge the giant which is tangling with the archers.
The cavalry continue to fight the two giants.  The giants get 4 hits, and the riders only save one.  They smash the wounded rider, and send a second one flying.

Spearmen prepare to charge the flank of the giant chieftain.

In the center, 2 giants engage the human spearmen.  The humans manage to get 6 hits, but the giants save all but one.  In return they deal 4 blows, but the human shield wall manages to hold, though one soldier was smashed.

The center

Next to them one giant engages the archers on the right.  He kills 2 men, but doesn't get hurt.

The giant chieftain alone faces the spearmen.

The dwaves again wound a giant, and this time they manage to dodge out of the way of all attacks.

Dwarve engaged!

Round 5

This round was a bloody one!

The cavalry continue to melee around the two giants.  The get 6 hits, but the giant's armor deflect 5.  On the other hand the giants score 4 hits with no saves!  Two riders down!

The infantry on the right declare a charge, but they badly fail their initiation check, and their formation breaks up in confusion.  They fall into an irregular formation, and hold their ground.

The human spearmen in the center manage to get only 3 hits, and the giants save 2 of those.  In return, the giants crush another 3 spearmen.

The archers on the right continue to go toe to toe with a giant.  They hit 3 times, but the giant's armor saves two of those hits.  He isn't able to land a blow.

The dwarves manage to land 6 blows, all of which are deflected by the giant's armor.  The giants crush 2 more dwarves!

There are a lot of morale checks here, but once more, the defenders refuse to fall back, though they are getting badly beat up!

 Round 6

This round is the Giant's high water mark.  Because of failing morale, it almost looks like they will win.

The giants move first.

On the left, one giant breaks off from the cavalry, and rushes the spearmen in the flank before they can reform.  He manages to crush three men, but they can't hurt him.

Smashing into the flank of the humans!

The cavalry continue to battle with the last giant they are facing.  They get 4 hits, but the armor of the giant blocks them all!  At the same time though, the humans manage to evade his powerful blows.

In the center, the giant king smashes 5 men!, but he gets 2 wounds in return.  However, this is more than the spearmen can take, and they fall back badly shaken.  To their left, the archers there freak out and panic, completely routing off of the field!

On the right, the archers manage to get another wound on the giant, but they are badly shaken and fall back when they see yet another soldier fall the the gaint's blow!

The dwarves have a disastrous round.  Things are looking good when they get enough blows on a fire giant to finish him off.  But they in turn loose 3 more, and then they roll a 20 on their morale check, instantly routing.  They start to flee, deciding that this isn't really their fight.

Defenders fleeing everywhere!

The whole center and right of the line is now falling back before the giants, but the giants have lost so many.  Will they be able to capitalize on their advances?

 Round 7

This is the turning point, and the humans start to rally!

The infantry on the right can't seem to rally themselves, even with the general yelling for them to return.  They flee the field, and keep running.  None are ever seen again!

The general then sees that it is him and the giant leader in the center.  He does the brave thing and charges.  Neither manages to land a significant blow.

The archers to his right manage to rally, and the dwarf leader convinces his troops that they have to help, so they too turn to face the fight.

A giant charges the archers.  He strikes 3, but only one is killed by his blow.  They manage to wound him again.

The giant also charges the dwarves killing 3 more without taking any damage!

Back on the left the cavalry and giant are still engaged, but there is no more bloodshed this round.

The other giant continues to engage the spearmen on their flank.  3 more are killed, and they fall back, shaken from the experience.

Round 8

The humans go first.

The spearmen rally, reform their line and advance into the giant.  They manage to land 5 hits, and the giant saves only twice.  He is now badly hurt, but in his anger, he crushes two more men!  They can't handle this, and once more fall back in disarray.

In the center the two leaders swirl back and forth.  The general manages to injur the giant chiefain even more, but is also injured.

A view of the right flank

To their right, another archer is cut down, but in one last desperate fight, they kill the giant.

Fallen by lowly archers!

Dwarves battle with the last giant on their flank

Another dwarf is crushed, but they land one more blow on the giant.

 Round 9

The battle ends abruptly!

On the left, the cavalry finally manage to land some serious blows.  They get 6 hits, and the giant can only block 2.  With only 2 hits left, he falls!  He only deals one more hit to the cavalry before falling, but they manage to save against that one.

The dead giants on the left

Once more, the infantry manage to regroup and reengage the giant.  They deal 6 hits, and he can only save 4, so he too is felled, though in his last blow he takes out another spearman.

The general is struck for 3 hits, but blocks 2.  He is now down to only 1 hit.  However, he strikes back and also hits for 3 strikes, and the giant leader blocks 2, but he was on his last hit, and it is enough to finish him off!

To the right, the dwarves and giant are engage in one final bloody melee.  Two dwarves are crushed by the giants mighty blow, but they manage to land 6 hits, and the armor of the giant only blocks 3, so it too is felled.

The dead giants on the right

Just like that, the last of the giants fall, and the defenders, tired and badly beaten release a cheer, because they know that their families are saved!

The survivors march home, victoriously!

 The lesson I got from this battle, is that points aren't enough of a gauge of an armies strength.  The point values of the giants was actually more than the defenders.  The dice rolls pretty well evened out over the game, so it wasn't that one side rolled better than the other.  Maybe if the giants had stayed in a tighter group they could have pulled it off.

Still, it was a pretty close thing.  Morale nearly ended the battle in the giants favor anyway.

 

 The dead

Defense of Orn's Crossing - Battlesystem Report

Here is a battle that I did with Battlesystem today.  It wasn't a large battle, but it was to recreate a battle that happened in my game world.

The situation:
Orn's Crossing is part of the newly formed Khulzad Alliance.  The Khulzad Alliance was formed between the dwarves of Khulzad, and the humans of the surrounding lands who have been caught in a struggle between surrounding kingdoms.

The kingdom of Herinoch decides to take back part of the lands and sends a force to capture the strategic fords at the town of Orn's Crossing.  They send a force composed of some heavy infantry, and a large number of mercenary infantry.

The forces

Herinoch Army
Army Commander
20 Heavy Pikemen
40 Light Infantry (2 units)
10 Light Cavalry
3 sergeants for the light infantry and cavalry

Khulzad Alliance

12 Medium Infantry
10 Medium Archers
8 Medium Cavalry
A dispatch was sent to the dwarves who have dispatched a unit of 20 Heavy Dwarves along with the regional commander.  (They will arrive on turn 4)

The Battle
Turn 1
Both sides enter.  The Khulzad medium infantry are in the village, and the archers and cavalry are arriving.  The Herinoch army enters and starts moving towards the fords.

Defenders deploying

Infantry and cavalry moving in at the top.

Archers moving in

Herinoch army approaches

Turn 2
Everyone keeps moving.  The Khulzad Medium Infantry deploys near the ford.

Cavalry charges into village.  (Archers in village)

Turn 3
The defenders all reach the village and deploy.  The defenders decide to be bold and deploy their cavalry on the other side of the river.  They are hoping to charge some of the attackers and delay them long enough for the dwarves to arrive.

Cavalry charging to ford

Herinoch is closing in!

Turn 4
The Khulzad cavalry charge the Herinoch cavalry.  The Herinoch cavalry attempt to countercharge but are not able to motivate themselves.  The fight is fierce and 4 of the Herinoch cavalry fall, but they manage to bring down 1 of their attackers.

Cavalry charge!

To the north, the dwarves sound their horns letting their allies know that they have arrived.

Finally the dwarves arrives.

Turn 5
The Khulzad cavalry try to disengage, but the light cavalry stays with them, but it costs them a lot as 4 more of the light cavalry fall, but they kill one of the Khulzad cavalry.  They also hold the cavalry down while the heavy infantry move forward to engage them.

Cavlary fight

Overview of the battle

From another angle

The Khulzad archers fire on the light infantry who are nearing the river, killing one.  The dwarves continue to march towards the crossroads.

Dwarves moving as fast as they can!

Turn 6
The cavalry battle continues and the Herinoch cavalry looses one more, and they break and run.  Still, the heavy infantry with their long pikes now engage the Khulzad cavalry an kill 2, but their morale holds.
The Khulzad archers send another volley towards the advancing light infantry, and 2 fall.  The others fall back a little to regroup as they decide if they want to advance into the storm of arrows, and the infantry on the other side of the river.
The Khulzad dwarves are moving as quickly as they can go!

Infantry nearing ford

The cavalry gets trapped!

Turn 7
The Khulzad cavalry try to disengage, but the Herinoch pikemen swarm them and butcher all but one rider who routes and manages to get across the river. 

Things are bad for the cavalry!  Infantry nearing ford.  Where are those dwarves ?!?

Rush to capture the fords

The Khulzad infantry and archers see the terrifying slaughter, and both panic and run leaving the fords open!

Routing cavalry!

Everyone runs!

Turn 8
The dwarves quickly move through the village and deploy on the far side facing the river.  The Herinoch light infantry see that the fords are open and rush across as the rest of their army moves up behind them.

The Khulzad archers suddenly realize that the town is about to fall, so they stop and turn to fire a volley at the advancing infantry, and a devastating volley it is!  5 of the infantry fall in the river.

The fords are falling!  Finally dwarves!

The commander of the Khulzad infantry is trying desperately to rally his troops, but they are continuing to run.

Turn 9
The commander of the Khulzad infantry finally calms his troops and gets them to turn so that they can rejoin the fight.  The dwarf commander challenges his troops to charge the infantry who are swarming across the ford, but the dwarves are just too tired to move.
The Herinoch light infantry hold their ground as their allies move up, but the Khulzad archers target them once more, this time killing 2.  This is too much for the infantry who break and run.

The infantry are fleeing, but the fords are in trouble

Turn 10

Crossing the river.  It is harder to cross away from the fords, but still fordable.

More infantry cross the river now.  The Herinoch pikemen advance into the dwarves.  A pitched fight erupts, with the dwarves taking down 3 of the pikemen, but loosing 4 to the longer reach of the pikes.  They fall back to regroup.  As they fall back the Khulzad archers fire on the pikemen to cover their retreat.  They manage to take down 2 of the Herinoch pikemen.

Herinoch is across the river!  The dwarves and pikemen join battle!

Farther down the river the second unit of light infantry cross the river.  The commander of the Khulzad infantry tries to get his troops to charge, but their confidence is still shaken.

Turn 11
The dwarven commander once more is not able to get his tired dwarves to charge.  The Herinoch pikemen advance back into contact and continue to punish the dwarves.  They kill 4 while the dwarves drop 2 of them.

The Khulzad infantry finally realize how desperate their situation is becoming, and charge the light infantry who is now across the river.  Still, their confidence is not great, and they only kill one of the infantry while they loose 3.

Khulzad infantry vs Herinoch light infantry.  Bloody battle!

The situation is looking bad for the Khulazd alliance.

Turn 12
The dwarf commander catches sight of the Herinoch commander and charges him through the swirling battle.  The leader of the Herinoch army smiles and spurs his horse forward.  The two exchange a few blows but can not bring the other down.
The dwarves see their leader fighting and advance back into the pikemen.  4 more dwarves fall, but they kill 3 of the pikemen, and this time they fall back from the fight.  The Khulzad archers take advantage of their withdrawal and fire, killing 2 of the pikemen.

The Khulzad infantry regain their composure and press into the light infantry killing 4 of them.  The light infantry are only able to bring down 1 of the Khulzad infantry.

Turn 13
The two army commanders are still locked in combat, and the dwarf manages to bring down the Herinoch leader's horse.  Now they are on even footing!
The Herinoch infantry regroup to charge but hesitate.  The Khulzad archers fire on them again killing 2 more, and now the pikemen decide that they have had enough and retreat.

Herinoch attack starts to crumble.  The two leaders are locked in battle.

At the same time the Khulzad infantry continue to hammer on the Herinoch light infantry killing 3 more and loosing 1.  Now the light infantry sees their other allies falling back, and they also break and run.

The rest of Herinoch flees.  Khulzad survives!

The commander of the army of Herinoch sees his army fleeing, and realizes that he is in serious danger, so he throws down his weapons and begs for mercy.  The dwarven commander thinks for a moment, and raises his axe, but decides to take him prisoner instead of ending his life.

The survivors of the battle, and the two leaders facing off.

Aftermath
The battle was a tough fought one.  It teetered back and forth at several moments.  The worst was when the Khulzad cavalry broke and cause the archers and infantry both to break.  It looked like it was over then, but the archers were able to rally, and they were the deciding factor in the battle!