DBMM New Zealand : Medieval Polish vs Serbian Empire - posted by Vince Cholewa, 24 July 2022

How an organ gun won a battle! Thank you so much to John van den Hoeven for a great game of toy soldiers at the Hutt Club yesterday and to Wayne Watts for driving us from Horowhenua. After 21 bounds in four hours, the game ended as a 19-6 win to my medieval Polish vs John’s Serbian Empire. But it could so easily have gone the other way. 

By bound 20 (which was John’s), John had one command broken and routed off the table, I had two disheartened commands and there was a mad swirl of knights, cavalry and light horse in a tangled melee. In bound 20 we had two crucial combats of his superior knights vs my ordinary knights, in both cases with overlaps or hard flanks in John’s favour. If either of my knights died it would have been game over - their command would have broken and the other knight’s command would also break for seeing its friends running. However, my knights survived and Serbian losses in bound 21 broke them, instead.

My game plan was to use my superiority in cavalry and light horse, and my knights better manoeuvrability (mine are regular and the Serbians are irregular) to slow the Serbians and redeploy to overwhelm their left flank. 

John deployed his Turkish ally on his left. The two Serbian commands in centre and right had archers in the front, the line of knights behind them, and light horse held back to cover flanks and gaps. 

The Serbian right was protected by light infantry in a wood. There, my Tatars would stooge around wide, as a nuisance and threat to troops advancing in front of the wood. I pushed small groups of cavalry forward in front of the Serbian right and centre to cause as much delay as they could. My CnC would lead the attack on the Serbian left, and there was an organ gun and handgunners next to him. I had a fourth small command, my Lithuanians, flank marching against the Serbian left.

The Turks were under pressure and struggling when the Lithuanians marched on in bound 14 (my bound seven) - the Turks broke soon after. 

The Serbian CnC’s command in the centre had been able to push far enough forward to force combat and its superior knights were gradually winning. However, with the Turks gone the Serbians’ flank was exposed and they were fighting in a great tangle of interspersed friends and enemies. And fight they certainly did! The Serbian CnC’s knights fought off overlaps and flank attacks to the point, in bound 20, of almost fighting through for a win. Luckily, I was able to delay the Serbian knights on John’s right for long enough to keep them out of the melee around their CnC.

And the organ gun? Well, it shot down two elements of Serbian archers as their CnC’s command advanced and that 1 morale equivalent of losses pushed the command to over 1/3 lost when its knights started to die. And, the gun survived!

Thank you again, John, an excellent game 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/824840264342234/posts/2121548524671395

Selfie! Me and John van den Hoeven

- John van den Hoeven
  I could of combed my beard
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  Vincent Cholewa
  John van den Hoeven you look perfect, just the way you are!
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  Ewa Rylance
  Love the cap Vince. Great photo
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  Vincent Cholewa
  Ewa Rylance thank you. It was a birthday present from Mim
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Initial deployment, Dirk Heinsius and Richard Mason observe. You can see the shape of the game to come. My Tatars closest to the camera, groups of cavalry pushed forward to delay the Serbian advance, and the attack building on my right and Serbian left - that is also where the Lithuanian flank march would eventually arrive. Polish knights held back so they can march to support the right and you can see my organ gun and handgunners with cavalry in front and knights behind.

John van den Hoeven

Typical Serbian deployment, bow in front of the knights which of course maneuver like a brick.