Sir Amisodarus still felt the stinging words of Baron David of Artois: “You have no honor and you serve a false lady!” The insult had cut Amisodarus’ honor like a knife, and the paladin knew he must avenge the insult or the land of Mousillon would never be able to regain its rightful place. Thus, he had gathered his errant knights to march to Artois, challenging the baron. Despite his disquiet at spilling fellow Bretons’ blood, Amisodarus knew it was the only way.
However, upon reaching the field of battle, Amisodarus realized that the cowardly baron had not even bothered showing up, instead sending a trio of witches in his place (they were not damsels or a prophetess after all, how could they be if the true Lady was on Amisodarus’ side). No matter, the defeat of the baron’s “champions” on this field would prove Amisodarus’s honor. As the Mousillon general send word to pray, he noticed the Artois army was doing the same, no doubt asking their infernal masters for protection.
No matter, it was Amisodarus who seized the initiative, ordering his troops forward. The pegasus knights took the center of the field while the yeomen moved up the right flank. All three errant units moved forward, as did both lances of questing knights, one led by Sir Maris, carrying the army’s battle standard. The peasant archers launched a volley at the enemy’s yeomen, plucking one from the saddle. The mounted peasants also launched a volley at an exposed witch, but failed to strike their target. Since Amisodarus had brought no damsels, the general knew he must rely on his knights and superior tactical knowledge.
The Artois forces showed more evidence of their cowardice, refusing to charge the pegasii or yeomen, both of whom they could have easily reached. Instead, they attempted some maneuvering to gain an advantage. The enemy pegasii moved atop the center ruins while the mounted witch moved back toward the safety of the questing knights. Amisodarus noticed she blocked their ability to charge, a mistake the Mousillon forces would be sure to exploit. A whirlwind of magic erupted from the enemy lines, but most bounced harmlessly off the noble knights’ armor. A large block of granite came plummeting from the sky, crushing an errant knight in Amisodarus’ unit; apparently the curs would only shoot from afar. Suddenly, a strange horn sounded, and all manner of birds flocked to the sky, preventing any flying movement of the Mousillon pegasus knights, yet more evidence of the ‘valor’ of the Artois.
Unable to charge the exposed head witch, the pegasus spurred themselves on into the flank of the knights, skewering two on their lances. The cowards could take no more, and tried to flee but the winged horses, though still tethered to the ground, ran the enemy into the ground. Sir Maris bravely charged up the treacherous slopes of the ruin, and the questing knights accounted for one of the enemy’s flying knights. They also ran, but this time their fright took them beyond the reach of the Mousillon knights, who were left somewhat stranded before the enemy’s own questing knights. All of the mounted peasants failed to hit their targets, though the yeomen were moving to a threatening position. The foot peasants accounted for another enemy yeoman, but they still held their nerve. The unit of erranty knights moved their unit up into the face of the peasant bowmen, ready to charge through their pathetic spikes, while Amisodarus and his remaining units moved forward to charge the enemy as well.
The enemy knights tried to charge the flank of Sir Maris’ unit, but they chose to retreat in order to rejoin battle on more favorable ground. The enemy, undeterred, redirected into a second unit of questing knights. A tough battle ensued, and although the Mousillon knights were the clear victor, the enemy did not flee. The yeomen had the audacity to not only charge the errant knights, but managed to kill one through sheer luck! The peasants still lost, but held their nerve because of the enemy’s standard bearer nearby. Another stone from the trebuchet went off target, and the quivering peasants could not find their mark. Despite having a clear magical superiority, the trio of witches could not accomplish anything of note with their spells, the most damaging of which was dispelled through the latent forces guarding the Mousillon knights.
Suddenly, Amisodarus noticed that Sir Hector and his errant knights retreat from the direction of Sir Maris’ fleeing unit. The general knew that it must have been the young knights that forced the champion to flee, as Sir Hector was the best knight in all the land. Irritated at the rashness of the young nobles, Amisodarus charged his unit forward into the flank of the yeomen, all three of whom were crushed outright. Continuing his momentum, Amisodarus and his cadre crashed into the peasant bowmen, though with somewhat less impetus because of the damned spikes. The questing knights engaged in combat killed two of their enemy for no losses, this time breaking the cowardly foes. Again, the Artois knights could not outrun the wrath of Mousillon’s finest, who took the enemy standard as a trophy. Further, the nearby Artois pegasii panicked at the sight of their brethren being beaten, and retreated toward their back lines. The mounted yeomen moved forward, launching their arrows into the head witch, and even managed to wound the abomination. Lastly, the pegasus knights flew into the back of the enemy’s lines, ready to engage the first target that became available.
The victorious questing knights were, however, charged in the flanks by both the enemy’s grail knights and questing knights. Seven of the Mousillon men fell, and understandably broke from combat. Fortunately, the pursuing questing knights could not catch them and the grail knights restrained themselves from pursuing. Amisodarus’ morningstar lashed out, crushing two of the peasants’ skulls in. One of the little maggots had the audacity to strike back at the general, though his club bounced harmlessly off Amisodarus’ shield. The fools fled, and Amisodarus saw no glory in running down some peasants, so held his unit back. The enemy’s first spell was again dispelled, and when the head witch tried her incantations, a silence descended on the field as her powers failed and drained the land temporarily of its magical winds. Being within a few horse lengths of the enemy catapult, Amisodarus noticed that they were attempting to launch their deadly ammunition straight at him—their calculations were spectacularly off, and they nearly pummeled themselves with the slab of granite.
Sir Hector rallied his brash companions, and Amisodarus and his tandem unit of errant knights both charged the fleeing peasants, so as to avoid the dangerous forest where one of the witches were lurking. The yeomen move forward, turning to face the rallied enemy pegasii, and all missed with their bows. The Mousillon flying knights charged the exposed head witch, who attempted to outrun them, but in the end wound up being crushed beneath their hooves.
The enemy countered with two charges; the pegasus knights charged the yeomen and the questing knights charged the Mousillon flying cavalry. Both decided to retreat, leaving their enemies exposed. The mounted witch and enemy standard bearer continued to move around, dodging and hiding from the Mousillon forces. Finally the forest witch got a useful spell off, felling one of the retreating pegasus knights. The catapult’s ropes snapped, failing to launch its ammo into the air, and the grail knights moved further from the field of battle, apparently afraid of Sir Maris and his questing knights.
Amisodarus moved back onto the field, as did the supporting unit of errant knights. He turned just in time to see Sir Hector’s lance crash into the flank of the questing knights, piercing two of their breastplates with his lance. Unable to fight back, the Artois cowards fled, but yet again, the righteousness of Mousillon proved telling, and they were stampeded into the ground. Sir Maris moved out of his unit to try and hunt the skulking witch down, and the pegasus knights rallied on the other side of the ruins.
The two remaining Artois flying knights charged into the lone errant knights, killing three, yet the stalwart youths held their ground. The lone enemy standard bearer finally charged into combat, and the Mousillon pegasii lost the melee, outrunning their pursuing enemy. The mounted witch pelted Sir Maris with a storm of thorns, but the paladin’s armor held true. A similar storm of magic pierced the visor of an errant knight in Amisodarus’ cadre, and the general began to question the wisdom of forgoing a damsel’s support.
The mounted yeomen charged the flank of the enemy pegasii, who predictably panicked and fled, though they did not outrun the peasants. What could be a more fitting end for a dishonorable enemy than being killed by mere serfs? Tiring of the trebuchet’s antics, Amisodarus charged into the crew, dispatching two more while his bodyguard accounted for the rest. After the Mousillon pegasii rallied once more, the peasants pummeled the lone standard bearer with arrows, one of which lodged in the fool’s shoulder.
The enemy paladin again charged into the pegasus knights, killing one outright, and the sole survivor fled the field of battle. Both witches failed their incantations, and Amisodarus knew the day was his.
Truly, Amisodarus’s honor had been restored, and the cowardly Baron David would publicly pay for his irreverent insult.
_________
Result: Massacre for Mousillon (1450 pts)
Mousillon Forces:
1. General Amisodarius (paladin, morningstar of fraccase, antlers of the great hunt)
2. Sir Hector (bret lord, silver lance, virtue of the ideal)
3. Sir Maris (paladin, BSB, sword of power, virtue of duty, questing vow)
4. 8 Knights errant (x2)
5. 9 knights errant
6. 8 questing knights
7. 9 questing knights
8. 5 yeomen w/musician
9. 12 men at arms w/std, musician
10. 3 pegasus knights
11. 10 skirmishing archers
Artois forces (to my best recollection)
1. Prophetess
2. 2 damsels (1 mounted)
3. 6 questing knights w/cmd
4. 6 grail knights w/cmd
5. 6 knights of the realm
6. 5 yeomen
7. 10 archers
8. trebuchet
9. 3 pegasus knights w/std
10. bsb w/virtue of duty