All in All - The Barons' War AAR

This past weekend I finally managed to meet back up with the Army of Central Maryland group. 

The game of the day was The Barons' War, with miniatures, terrain, and rules guidance provided by Mike.

The scenario was an ambush. The attacking warband, caught unawares while passing through the village, would score points for units moved off the opposing table edge. The defenders would score points for each enemy unit removed. 

The attackers had fewer numbers but consisted of mercenary units that were generally well equipped, along with with monks and local guides. The defenders had a core of knights, mounted knights, and serjeants, but were supplemented by a larger amount of quickly scrapped together levy.

The attackers advanced with their levy and monks leading the way, marching through the town. The defenders, having spread out in deployment, started to shift towards their left. 

The Barons' War uses alternating activations with most units able to perform a single action in a turn: move, fight, rally, etc. A commander and his retinue has more actions, and can divvy out those actions to other friendly units within a certain range, though this causes the unit to become Weary (a detrimental status where all dice rolls are at -1 and requires a morale test to remove). The attackers' commander, for example, could use his actions to order his crossbow units to shoot a second time in a turn. This would prove useful when the crossbows moved into close range. 

The attackers continued forward under a steady hail of arrows, with the monks and levy catching the worst of it. 

Meanwhile, a single unit of mercenary crossbowmen hunkered down in the middle of the town. They managed to take out a single mounted knight, but the defenders' use of the village's walls generally kept them safe. 

The main engagement occurred on the other side the village. An attacking unit of serjeants led the assault on the wall, but between the defenders' mounted knights and bow levy, the serjeants were repulsed.

In the distance, the defenders' commander, his retinue, and the well-armed serjeants rushed to bolster the levy units behind the wall. 

However, the rest of the attackers' units charged in together. Both of the defender bow levy units, as well as a unit of spear levy, were broken and began to fell back, leaving only the defenders' commander, his retinue, and a unit of serjeants left to defend the flank. The mounted knights were also finally brought down.

We ended the game there for time. Post-game discussion left the situation ambiguous; if the attackers only had a limited number of turns (I believe Mike said it was 5 turns total) then there was no way to get any units off the table in time. However, the defenders were going to have a difficult time winning in combat against the attackers' remaining units, especially with the crossbows shooting twice at close range. Further, it was unlikely they would have completely removed any units before the game ended.

Overall we enjoyed the game. Once we got the rules down it moved pretty quickly, and nothing felt off-kilter. I wouldn't mind seeing more of The Barons' War on the table.