Hello all,
a month ago (time sure flies) we managed to play our first siege game using the Warmaster siege rules. The short story is that it was great fun and the rules really worked. We made a few mistakes, especially in the choice of attacking troops but all in all it was great fun.
Below are a string of pictures that documented the endeavour - all are clickable which will enlarge them. Also, of course, there will be a few comments and armylists/results.
Army lists:
Besieged - The Black Teutonians of Wales
Grand Master, Magister, 2x Brother Knights, 1x Crusader Knights, 1x Spearmen, 12x Crossbowmen, Fortified Gate, 10x Boiling Oil,3x Hoarding, 1x repair, 11x Light Artillery
Besieger - House of York
General, 4x Lords, 1x Mounted Men-At-Arms, 2x Currours, 6x Men-at-Arms, 4x Shire Bill, 9x Irish, 10x Shire Longbow, 3x Siege Towers, 2x battering rams, 60cm earthworks, 12x Ladders, 3x Heavy Cannons, 2x Organ Guns.
The view from inside the fortress.
Right side of the besiegers
The first major event of the siege was that a group of defenders decided they needed to escape and had to be placed outside the fortress (random event roll). This turned out to be a brilliant help to the besiegers as they continued to be a nasty torn in the side of the attackers.
Oh, and thats my oldest son watching our moves carefully - I'll make a wargamer out of him!
A serious attacker - wondering what to do about all those defenders...
All three heavy cannons shot at a section of wall with only one hit point left - a single "6" would have made everything much easier. Alas, no damage and the defenders used a "repair" to make sure the walls held.
The aggressive defenders endanger several siege towers and the entire battle plan.
The
cannonfodder, sorry Irish warbands attempt the first assault using ladders....
Did not go as planned and they were easily repelled.
Skirmishing in front of the gate,
while the defenders kept whittling down anything that came within range.
Notice the smug smile on the defenders face. Indicates everything is progressing well.
The last skirmishes in front of the gate to remove the valiant defenders.
Finally a ram manages to get to the wall, and an ominous pounding begins.
Although there is quite a welcoming committee on the other side...
On the other flank, a siege tower unloads thousands of screaming Irish,
Unfortunately, the cheap warbands are not up to the task and the defending teutonians manage to push them back and destroy the tower in the process
On the other flank, more qualified Men-at-Arms close in on the walls with their own siege tower.
The gate is down to one hit point...
The Men-at-Arms manage to break through, and have taken the walls.
At the same time the gate finally falls, but what to do about all those defenders?
Elsewhere, the heavy cannons have finally pounded a hole into the walls, but there are no troops nearby to benefit from the opportunity.
Instead, a furious battle for the gate begins, with hundreds of brave knights dying in an attempt at getting inside and
plundering liberating the city.
Unfortunately, the defenders win (bloody teutonian armoured tanks!) and surge out to destroy more innocent troops...
On the flank where the Men-at-Arms managed to take the wall, a deadly barrage of crossbows and light artillery concentrate their fire and sends the Yorkian troops fleeing.
With a large hole in the wall they were unable to exploit, several sections of defenders removed but no troops to atatck them, and the unbeatable defenders in the centre rampaging, the House of York decided that this was not the best time to press the attack and pulled back.
Results:
Teutonian Victory!
Although the defenders were decimated on the left flank and were pressed elsewhere there was little the Yorkians could do. A bit more luck with the cannons, better troops in the right place and less aggressive defenders they will be the ones celebrating the next time, perhaps...
Casualties:
Teutonian: 3x Crossbowmen + 1x crusader = 300p
House of York: 1x Siege Tower, 5x Irish, 2x Men-at-Arms, 1 Lord, 1x Currours, ½ Bill: 585
- with penalties that meant the House of York reached a break point of 17 and clearly lost.
Great fun, hope the pictures show it :-). Next time will see much better strategies and more quality troops doing the main assaulting/defending.
All the best,
Kasper
Whats not to love? Combining the two essentials of wargaming; Beer and Terrain!
Missing their most important ingredient, but still looking good. 
