Battle of Tel Hafir, with Soldiers of God

A one-off SoG game, pitched battle with 300 pts. The Saracens would fight with 4 units of horse archers on each flank, with ghulam in the centre screened by cheap ahdtah levy infantry (for the MVs) and single Arab cavalry unit guarding the baggage. The plan was to heavily harass the flanks and use the central ghulam to go left or right and overwhelm the weakest flank in an all out cavalry attack. Facing them the Crusaders had their knights and hospitallers on their left, with a strong infantry centre, dismounted knights backed by archers and crossbows, and an infantry right, to just hold, again built around a unit of dismounted knights (the rock).

Both had cautious battle plans, Saracens had ‘hold and harass’, Crusaders had ‘hold the line’ (so a lot of rallying). Just because these were the pre-selected plans, they did not stop use going forwards as we could. 

The field of Tel Hafir. Saracens right, Crusaders left. 

The battle began with the Crusaders moving their knights on the left up, as the horse archers also advanced and started the rolling arrow deluge. The knights shook it off, with a rally card behind them, breaking them would be hard. On the Saracen left, the horse archers moved up through the village, with 2 units swinging hard right and galloping across the front to join the fight on the right, they’d need the extra firepower. The right then would become a mere skirmish, nothing decisive would happen here, with the crusader infantry holding and rallying against the two horse archers picking away at them. So the battle was set, it’ll be decided on the Saracen right. 

Main moves. Saracens in pink. Crusaders in blue, an attack from their left and centre. 

The knights came on, the horse archers falling back (go forwards to come back) and doing some damage, but the hospitallers rallied it all off – ‘God wills it!’. Suddenly, after a march, the knights used a charge and gallop move to catch the horse archers, and the melee was on. Ouch! The archers were in trouble, but then, the nelee cards dried up and after a initial impact, and some rallying, the horse archers held the line, just. The pressure eased and the counter-attack was on.

The ghulam spurred forwards and galloped over the ahdath, (‘out of the way peasants!’) and swung right. With no charge card to get stuck in, but they pepper them with arrows (firing in melee was risky but worth it). Next turn, one unit of ghulam charged into the knights, but not in time to save a horse archer unit from breaking. The first lost unit. The knight though were in some trouble, hit by missile fire and the ghulam, but they rallied (of course).

In the centre, the crusader infantry began a slow advance. On the left, the horse archers had yet to break any of the defenders, but had been hit by a few catapult shots, so it wasn’t all one way.

The right in the centre-right heated up and, in the end, the knights broke first. Things had turned and suddenly his knights were in trouble. Ghulam were ganging up. From a good start, the crusaders were now facing problems. The infantry centre kept moving up, needing to support the heavy cavalry. The ghulam moved on to charge into crossbowmen. Pressure was mounting, but a dismal melee resulted in them taking more hits than giving, and the crossbows then had support, archers moving in behind and foot knights getting flank charge. The ghulam charge looked rash. The knights would swing it and beat the lone ghulam into a rout. The game had swung back again, the tardy knights, still fighting horse archers now gained a few charge and melee cards and finally took it out on the weak horse archers, one unit broken, then another, and even with the arrival of supporting ghulam, the lost MV pushed the Saracens close to breaking.

It was too much of gap, even with breaking a men-at-arms unit on the far right, the Saracens could not recover. Their counter-attack was spent and hadn’t done enough damage, and the attrition was all in favour of the knights and hospitallers, who could just keep rallying. In the end, a solid Crusader’s win, even facing a lot of horse archers. They had come prepared to weather the arrow storm and their plan had worked. Maybe mine was bit too predictable, and the ghluam had ended having to counter-attack his tough knights, not the weaker units, best try something new next time. 

 Pics of the action.

Horse archers move up through the village and along the stream.

Saracen centre, a line of levy infantry, ghulam behind, to go left or right.

Horse archers mob on the right.

Crusader infantry holding the right against the horse archer's harassment.

Crusader centre of infantry and the left ,behind, the knight's strike force.

The knights set-out on the main attack.

The horse archers spring forwards to pepper the knights.

Horse archers from the right gallop across the centre to join the right in facing the knights. Speed and manoeuvrability in use. More archery!

The knights use a galloping charge to reach their targets, big problem for the horse archers.

Ghulam advance from the centre (over the ahdath militia) to join the big cavalry brawl.

Ghulam counter the knights, with arrows and lance,

On the far Crusader right, men at arms hang on against the arrows, but the battle won't be decided here. They did eventually break, but job done. 

The infantry centre surges forward, they can't leave the knights to do it all.

Ghulam swing to meet the infantry and charge in, foolhardy!. But the infantry hold and then overwhelm them.

The last ghulam rush to aid the horse archers, that have held on well, but are crumbling now, with the knight's initially stalling. It's just too late to swing the fight.