Having been beaten all the way back from Grenzstadt, Pietr was pursued back to the captured town of Pfungzig by Ferdinand's vanguard, his main force following up behind. On the long retreat back to Pfungzig only the Kasotians had maintained good order, the last of the Grand Army's Greatswords having been cut down to a man at the battle of Grenzstadt hills, by their bitter rivals The 3rd Leopold's Own.
As the weary remains of the Grand Army arrived and started to enter the town, news came to Pietr that the Averland van was on them and he quickly dispatched orders to the Kasotian second in command, a captain Gonzalo, to cover their retreat into the town.
Ferdinand himself had sent a company of the 3rd, aided by some knights of the Blazing sun and Tilian hand gunners, to try and catch the foe as they entered the town and beat back any enemy rearguard they encountered, under the command of Raimund his nephew.
This was a game we did using lord of the rings rules. We also wanted to have ago at using almost exactly the same force and seeing how that went.
Kasotian rearguard
Knight's of Kasos...10 knights of Gonder
Kasos hand gunners...30 black root vale rangers (can't remember why we chose them they'r pretty rubbish)
Kasotian pike...30 Dol Amroth men at arms
Captain Gonzalo...Madril
Colour Guard...3 citadel guard
Averland vanguard
Knight's of the blazing sun...10 knight's of Gondor
Tilian hand gunners...30 black root vale rangers
3rd Leopold's Own...30 Dol Amroth men at arms
Raimund...knight of the white tower (hes actually quite good for 55 points)
Greatswords...3 citadel guard
The Kasotains formed up in a tight line on the right, out side the town's defenses.
As the noon sun appeared from behind a cloud, it flashed on swords and armor as the Averlanders arrived.
Captain Gonzalo ordered a swift advance, as the Averlander line pulled up, Sending his hand gunners in first to soften up the enemy. But as they marched forward bursts of smoke appeared from the tree line and men fell from the line, with bloody wounds. The Tilians had already got into position and started to open fire.
The pastures out side the town were soon swept with smoke and men, as the Averlanders sent knights off to the right to try and out flank the foe and the Kasotian knights thundered forward to deal with the men in the copse. One plucky Tilian stepped out of the trees and shot a knight from his horse before rushing back to cover.
The copse soon became a important part of the battle, knights plunging in and sending men flying before they were bogged down and hauled from their mounts and hacked down by halbadiers. Kasotians on the left had lined up to hold off the out flanking knights, but were hard put to as they were charged after a volley from a group of hand gunners to their flank.Captain Gonzalo lead a line of men forward to take on the mainstay of halberdiers. All but himself and a hand gunner were shot down.
A column of pikemen marched quickly to help the knights, as the rest of the knights of the blazing sun charged in to fend off the horsemen.
Bloody fighting continued in the copse as Raimund strode down to lead the battle in the thick of the fighting. The opposing horsemen battled away with each other with the foot men rushed in among them surrounding knights and cutting them down.
The thin line of pikemen battled off the first charge with only a few men lost, knowing they must hold until reinforcements came or the flank would fall.
It was at this crucial moment that disaster fell to the Kasotians and heroism to the Averlanders.
A quickly formed line of men had rushed from the pike column to defend their leader when the halberds had charged! The ensign, colours held high had plunged into the fray and fell upon the Kasotian captain and in a ferocious hand to hand fight cut him down with his sword! The Kasotians started to melt away, men fleeing for the town or countryside as soon as their leader fell.
The Averlander's on the right cut down the last holding pikemen...
...and hunt the routers down.
The Greatswords kill off the last colour guard and Raimund and his men surround the final knight in the copse...
News reached Pietr that the Kasotians had fallen and Averlanders had taken the defenses to the south of the town, knowing he could no longer hold the town with part of the wall taken, he ordered the evacuation of his men. The Grand Army was beaten and fell back to Hardenburg with a small troop of Averlanders on its trail to make sure it was well and truly gone...
Victory to Averland!
The battle had been interesting with the power of battle swaying this way and that, the killing of the Kasotian captain was the clincher though, and the rest of their men began to fail their leadership and disappear. This painting of the battle of Pavia describes the fight in the copse quite well.
The town of Pfungzig was back in Averlander hands for the first time in some months and the Grand Army was out for the count. The Marines, with the prince, were now trapped with no line of retreat, supplies or reinforcements between the armies of Ferdinand and Baron Kastor in the captured town of Bieswang, a peaceful settlement to the war seemed inevitable...
By M
Ensign Claus Glühend, after his decisive and heroic action in the battle, cutting down Captain Gonzalo in hand to hand combat, received a handsome monetary reward, a small acre of land and a distinguished in battle script, the latter he sealed onto his jacket as a badge.
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