Medieval Donnybrook AAR #1

Here follows the first Donnybrook AAR in my medieval swedish setting. My danish freind Sören naturally comanded the Unionist/Pro-Danies fraction and I comanded the Swedish rebels.

Background and OOB:

One very nice thing with the Donnybrook rules are the additional character to the different fractions, they adds a lott of flavour. I just used some that I thought was appropriate for the different sides in our medieval Swedeish setting. We altered a or added a few more things like rules for crossbows, handguns and different kind of armour.

Calm before the storm...Both forces was advancing at each other along the road...

The pigs feelt it was war in the air and started to move home...

The first units start to appear...The rebell comander sent his councilman to the enemys to try to negotiate and see if some of them was keen to switch sides...but apperantly he wasn´t as connected as he had claimed...

...as all the Archbishops forces started to marched along the road,  without saving any cards in the sleeve...

The mercenary pikemen was keept in close order formation...assume they would have run home otherwise...

The rebell comander Nils Boson Sture seemed to be more cunning keeping some of his units out of sight, only deplying the darlecarlian allmoge in open order for swift advancement and supported by some Skärmytslare (handgunners) and Lätta stycken (light artillery)...

The Union skyttar (mounted crossbowmen) took the short cut throught the newly harvested field...

...and the Pro-union Swedish nobleman Ivar Gren advanced with the Frälse (Knights) on the right side of the road...

The Mounted crossbowmen made a quick advance to the small hill and made a  ride-by shooting and then they made a evade manouvre behind a small forest to be able to reload their weapons...

After the Mounted crossbowmen had reloaded their weapon they once again rode in front of the Allmoge and decided to make a charge in open order... might not have been the best of ideeas as they was run away after a short fight...

It was a some fast and intense turns and I got caugth up in the gameand forgott the pictures...sorry...

As the fight had continued for some time one of the Allmoge units had managed with a flanking manoeuvre and was advansing throught a small forest...

In cover of the trees the allmoge started to shoot crossbow at the Union Knights, unfortunaly without effect...

Also the Rebells skärmytslare started to fire away at the union forces, the Mounted crossbowmens was chase away...

Even more rebell reinforcements a third group of Allmoge soldiers under command of some dissmounted frälse...

The unionists started to become desperate...at least it feelt that way... then the Mounted Knights started to form a close order formation and move forward the allmoge in the forest...

apperantly with the intent to charge...and they did !

Even in the protection of the forest the allmoge was vulnerable but they still managed to get one of the Knighst down...Thanks to their musicians from Orsa they managed to hold the line...they also started to try to create a Bråte (Wooden barricade)...

Down they fell the trees...in a matter of seconds the Allmoge had created awall to take cover behind...

With the cover of the barricad the Allmoge soldiers could continue the fight and slay all the Union frälse...only Ivar Gren managed to get away...

As the rebells cheer for their victories the Unionist slowely advanced with their well drilled German mercenarys...

The Archbishop himself was in command of the foot troops...

The Rebells advanced within shooting range...

...and started to form up to be able to recist the upcomming assault from the union mercenarys...

The intense shooting from the rebell allmoge depleted one of the mercenary units...

(Arrow marker represent units needing to reload their crossbows.)

Cheer on by the clergy the german mercenarys in the sevice of the Unionists charges the allmoge

An intense fight that would last for several activations started...

The pikemen got support from the remains of the Mounted crossbowmen that had rallied...

The Allmoge took a real beating, but also the Unionists had their fair share...

...untill just the Heroic rebell leader Nils Bosson Sture from the house of natt och Dag remained...

Nils Bosson Sture choose to disengage from his heroic fight and join the remaining allmoge unit just as they was charged by the second unit of Mercenary germans...

Even the Archbishop joined this fight, boosting the morale of his mercenarys...

The allmoge soldiers coulden´t withstand the charge of the German mercenarys...they started to run even as Nils Bosson Sture tried to get them back...

Union victory...the Archbishop had saved his estates in Uppsala and Nils Bosson Sture had to retreat to Västerås to gather new forces...

It was indeed a very nice game, the Donnybrook rules turned out to work greate for my medieval setting with a few rule changes. 

Next time we might use just a 120x120 gaming board for a 4 point game as sugested in the rules, thought I needed a bigger table due to the bigger bases, but I think it would have worked as fine in a smaler one to, and the troops wold have engaged sooner, was quite much movement in the first 5-10 turns.

Expect more Medieval Donnybrook games, especially as it seems like Barry, Clarence and David Imire (Claymore Casting) are planing a medieval source book for Donnybrook...might even includ a bit of dodgy Swedish warfare if all turns out well...

I hope you all will have a realy nice weekend !!!