The Battle of the Forest (SEFTI VICTORY)

Cadfael yelled out to his clarion to sound the call to mount up. His lancers and archers forming up using the trees to protect them from the few peasant arrows that came anywhere near the mark. A few would fall regardless but that was battle. Once the Hunt had mounted they would form up behind Tanglemane and his personal warband forming a loose wedge to allow them to maneuver amongst the trees.

Cadfeal’s guards and lancers would charge forward, with the horse archers following up behind. Spinning in their saddles, fireing arrow after arrow at all they passed. Cadfael could see the royal banner among the archers and it would be poor form to have one’s prey so close at without giving it chase.

Any who stood in their way were to be cut down but the hunt would not linger while their master called them onward. They were hunting royalty and there was nothing sweeter than royal blood.

-The wild hunt mounts and charges the archers line
they will attack those in their way but will not maintain contact.

Northeastern Engagement

Like most battles, the contest over the Wild Hunt's camp began with an exchange of arrows.  Though the elven archers had they advantage of initiative, the Sylph response came with much greater speed and precision than peasant conscripts could hope to match.  While the elves were struggling to spot enemies through the foliage after hitting their first marks, the sylphs seamlessly moved from target to target.  There was a brief respite for the Sefti advance guard when the Sylph horn blew, followed by a dash for the horses, and this allowed them to pick off a few of the animals and spook others.  Nevertheless, they did not stop the bulk of the Wild Hunt from mounting up.

Cadfael's bodyguard and lancers charged as soon as they were on their horses, a hasty but understandable move under the circumstances.  Not that the disorganization helped the peasants any: Archers and swordsmen alike were butchered like pigs by the tide of mounted, better-equipped, and battle-hardened mercenaries.  It took less than a minute for the entire advance guard to fall apart.  They hardly made a dent in the Sylphs numbers, and as they ran they were butchered even more.  If it hadn't been for the arrival of Athinea's royal guard longbows, they may have been killed to the last elf.

Only egged on by the arrival of a mere two-hundred more archers, albeit fancier-looking ones, the Wild Hunt eagerly galloped in for the kill.  But they would learn in the coming seconds that they were dealing with an entirely different breed of soldier.  Thinking not of surviving but honoring their queen, the royal guardsfolk directed their perfectly-honed archery at the sylphs like it was a contest.  Each soldier fired shot after shot almost mechanically and with deadly accuracy, as if fully-armored horsemen charging with lances couched were no scarier than strawmen at target practice.  One such woman, whose name would be forgotten but whose fame would go down in the ages, landed two arrows in Cadfael Tanglemane: one through the cheek and another in the chest.  She was cut down by one of the captain's honor guards moments later, but she died knowing she had done her duty.

Confused and even further disorganized by surprisingly heavy casualties and the fact that its leader was riding away half-conscious in the arms of a guardsman, the charge slowed to a crawl even as it finished off the last of the Queen's longbows.  And then came the countercharge.

The battle-cries of thousands reverberated across the treetops, and before the sylphs could hope to reorganize they were being hacked to pieces by raging elves with claymores.  Here a rider was dragged off his horse by one warrior while another carved out his intestines, there a horse had its head cleaved off before collapsing onto its rider's leg.  Especially without Tanglemane, the lancers were hardly in a mood for such a brutal melee and began to flee.  The bodyguard stayed in the fight longer, but even they eventually succumbed to the fear and confusion, preferring to live to fight another day.  The retreat nearly devolved into a shattered rout in all directions, but just in time the horse archers rallied for a heroic rear-guard action that mostly involved peppering the scary-looking elf warriors with arrows while feigning attacks and retreats.  The maneuver delivered its intended effect, slowing the Sefti advance and numbing its enthusiasm enough to let the sylphs get away.  Just barely, the Wild Hunt managed to abandon the field in some semblance of good order.

By the time Grugi Facebitter and his roundshiers arrived, the battle was over.

_

RESULTS

Kingdom of Sefti takes the field!
Casualties
-- 812 Peasant Archers, unit SHATTERED (cannot participate in the rest of the battle)
-- 507 Peasant Roundshiers, unit BROKEN (retreating, but may be rallied)
-- 229 City Shock infantry
-- 200 Warriors, Queen Athinea Sefti loses Warrior aspect for 2 turns

Wild Hunt loses the field!
Casualties
-- Cadfael Tanglemane is WOUNDED
-- 51 Warriors
-- 303 Lancers
-- 95 Horsearchers

_____

Southern Engagement

As to the North, the battle began with arrows.  The Kingdom of Sefti again drew first blood, with a great volley that racked the front ranks of the rebel formation with dead and wounded.  But the rebels replied with an equally devastating volley, proving that the "True Sefti Royal Army" had as much gusto as the name suggested.  Elven peasants looked into the eyes of other elven peasants with burning hatred, making it abundantly clear that this would not be a quick or clean fight.

As Duke Agricola's forces advanced deeper into the forest, the skirmish became more irregular and in some ways more brutal.  The orcs made their first appearance, popping out from behind trees to hurl lead at their new enemies with loud pops and clouds of smoke.  Arrows and shot flew every which way, more than a few hitting unintended targets in the fray.  At a numerical disadvantage and faced with unexpected orcish guns, the attacking formation took the brunt of the casualties.  Nevertheless, both sides maintained enough cohesion to follow orders.  The rebel army kept moving forward, while Queen's eclectic skirmish screen withdrew and fired in short bursts to make way.

Finally, the two "Sefti Royal Armies" met each other as proper lines.  Though, the Queen's front ranks were composed entirely of orcs, with muskets lit and leveled for a volley.  If it hadn't been for the thick cover of trees, Duke Agricola's force of peasant conscripts and mercenaries would have been shattered right there and then.  The noise and flash of the Firetooth volley was impressive, but as the smoke cleared the enemy ranks remained.  And then they charged.

Standard doctrine of pike and shot would dictate that the musketeers would fall back and the pikes would advance to take their place, and this was exactly what Queen Athinea ordered.  But there were several problems.  First, she had sent her only skilled general Northeast, along with all of her champions.  Second, the forces at her disposal were neither professional nor familiar with one another's modus operandi, making for certain amount of confusion and difficult coordination.  Third, and most importantly, there were far more musketeers than pikes on the field.

Thus, when the enemy vanguard of dwarven infantry hit Queen Athinea's lines, they hit a mix of musketeers and pikemen only halfway through their sloppy maneuver.  Needless to say, there was no time to form a proper pikewall, even if the dense forest would have allowed it.  Here was where the mercenary light infantry excelled, a disrupted enemy formation ill-equipped for close combat and ripe to hack away at with axes, hammers, and shields.  And as for any gaps in their own formation, they were soon filled by the roundshiers behind them, while the remaining archers covered their rear from scattered Sefti skirmishers.  The melee was effectively a meat grinder, and Queen Athinea's front lines were, for the most part, the meat.

Within minutes, the Firetooth had reached the limit of what they would suffer in return for mere coin and "experience."  Those who could slipped away, while others forced their way back through crowds of elves to duck out.  They did not simply run behind the pikes but away from the battlefield entirely.  Many of the orcish skirmishers, seeing their friends running and the battle looking bleak, joined in the retreat.  Fighting for pay was nice and all, but not worth throwing lives away in a massacre.

Yet, miraculously, perhaps because of the priest and the queen standing behind them, the pikemen -now fighting with their swords- held firm despite their dwindling numbers.  While the orcs might not trust reinforcements from the flanks and the Northeast to arrive in time, the elves had to.  It was their only hope.

_

RESULTS

Kingdom of Sefti fights bravely and stands firm, but the Firetooth abandon them!
Casualties
-- 312 Peasant Archers
-- 958 City Muskets (Firetooth), 4 out of 5 units (3 frontline, 1 skirmish) BROKEN (retreating, but may be rallied)
-- 824 City Pikes, unit is SHAKEN (may break next modmark if circumstances do not improve)

True Sefti Royal Army endures enemy fire and hits the enemy lines in a smashing charge!
-- 486 Peasant Archers
-- 315 Peasant Roundshiers
-- 299 Sellsword Light Infantry

True Sefti Royal Army

Captain Brunik Stoneboot was having a good day. Breaking a much larger formation with nothing but peasants for support was no mean feat. Now it was time to push his luck,
"Ok boys time to cut down some runners." He would lead his force into the fleeing orcs leaving the peasants to fight the pikes. His hope was to use the fleeing orcs as a screen for his own retreat. Running with them and killing them until they could break clear of the main battle. Hopefully the main sefti army would be too busy with the peasants to pay them much mind.

"Yes, I do think it's time. Pikes! We go south to the king." Duke Agricola's order was obeyed but several of him men looked back at their comrades forlornly. It was almost shameful to leave them behind, But the duke had given the order.

-The dwarven sellswords attemt to break from the battle using the fleeing orcs as a screen
-Duke Agricola and the pikes leave the battle
-Roundshiers and archers are left fighting