Westeros Battle Tournament 5

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

Damn it :p

Well played Capt Captain! I thought I was doomed when I saw the deployments to be honest. Good luck in the semis! :cheers:

[Capt Captain]

I was stuck for a while anticipating what you'd do. By the way while reading I thought I lost as soon as a lot of my cavalry were killed.

Well played!

[TheCrannogDweller]

...Jamie's greater skill tells and he unarms the prince. Before he can stike the fatal blow however, a member of the Kingsguard runs him through from behind.

No "Aerys Targaryen sends his regards"?

What a missed opportunity. :D

[Capt Captain]

No "Aerys Targaryen sends his regards"?

What a missed opportunity. :D

Like father like son they say, though I'm curious as to which KG would interfere with the duel...

[Ded As Ned]

...

[Frey Pie]

Ya come on guys leave nog out of his misery 😎

[Leonardo]

Just did some heavy reading through some ESSAYS I got regarding a battle

Waiting to hear from Sword, but we can probably put another to rest today.

[Sword of the Morning Wood]

Just did some heavy reading through some ESSAYS I got regarding a battle

Waiting to hear from Sword, but we can probably put another to rest today.

Just read your summary. I'll send you and EZ my summary tonight and hopefully get a winner confirmed tonight or tomorrow.

[Leonardo]

Noice

I'll try and knock out the last one today as well, then we can move on to Round Dos ;D

[Sword of the Morning Wood]

Like father like son they say, though I'm curious as to which KG would interfere with the duel...

One who didn't fancy being roasted alive after explaining to Aerys why he let Jamie kill the prince! :rolleyes:

[TheCrannogDweller]

Ya come on guys leave nog out of his misery

Yeah. Tell me who I'm gonna be facing in the semi-final already... :cool4:

[Ded As Ned]

Just did some heavy reading through some ESSAYS I got regarding a battle

Waiting to hear from Sword, but we can probably put another to rest today.

You failed to mention what a thrilling read it was, and how you thirst for more in the second round. :cool4:

[Sword of the Morning Wood]

Quarter Final 4 - The North (Frey Pie) vs The Riverlands (The CrannogDweller)

Battlefield - Cider Hall, The Reach

http://i.imgur.com/RM0CVNp.png

This battlefield takes places in the fertile farmlands of The Reach. The the middle of the battlefield, runs a narrow road, which leads to a small farmhouse (long abandonded due to the war). The farmhouse is 20 m x 20 m, one storied,made of bricks with a straw roof and plenty of windows on all sides. A fence runs round the farmhouse in a square of 40 m x 40 m.

The North approach from the north, The Riverlands from the south.

Deployments

The North, led by Robb Stark

The Northern army deploy in the centre of the battle field, just outside the neutral zone.

In the front line are 3 pike units. The 2nd line consists of one archer unit, directly behind the central pikes. In the 3rd line are 2 infantry units, one on either flank, leaving the centre open. In the 4th line are 2 cavalry units and Robb's command unit, which sits slightly front and centre of the two flanking cavalry units. The 5th line consists of 2 infantry units.

The Riverlands, led by The Blackfish

The Riverlands army deploys in the centre of the battle field, on the edge of the neutral zone. It is arranged in 3 columns, close to each other:

Central column:

Line 1 - 1 Infantry unit

Line 2 - 1 Pikemen unit

Line 3 - 1 Pikemen unit

Line 4 - 1 Archer unit

Line 5 - 1 Archer unit

Left (Western) column:

Line 1 - 1 Cavalry unit

Line 2 - 1 Archer unit

Right (Eastern) column:

Line 1 - 1 Cavalry unit

Line 2 - 1 Archer unit

There is also one more archer unit located to the West of the main army, on the edge of the neutral zone and directly in front of the farm house.

All columns are uniformly wide - and all units are in 2-men deep formations.

The Blackfish's Command unit is located behind the eastern end of Line 5 of the Central column

Rearrangements

The North make only a minor adjustment to their initial deployment. Robb Stark splits up his unit, leading 250 of his men to join with the western cavalry and forming the point of a wedge formation. Greatjon Umber leads the other 250 to form an identical cavalry unit on the east.

The Riverlands make a more significant rearrangement. The infantry and pikes at the front merge into one 475 man wide, 4 man deep formation called The Hedgehog. The front line consists of infantry, lines 2 and 3 of pikemen, with line 4 made up of infantry. The rear pike unit is now revealed to be made up of scarecrows carrying pikes, stuffed full of extra arrows for the Riverland archers.

The four Riverland archer units form up into 8 sub units and align themselves in two rows of 4 behind the hedgehog. The two cavalry units maintain their positions on the flanks, with the Blackfish taking the rear.

Arrows blot out the sun

The Young Wolf wastes no time in going for his uncle's throat. The whole Northern army charge forward at pace, led by the pikes. The Northern pikemen charge into range of the Riverlands massed ranks of archers and it isn't pretty. Huge volleys of arrows start raining down on the pikemen and they suffer grevious losses. The Northern archers are following right behind and stop once they are in firing range. This prompts the Riverlands hedgehog to go into a testudo formation, protected by the shields of the front and rear infantrymen, meaning they take very few losses. Some Northern arrows do hit their targets in the ranks of Riverlands archers but this is no comparison to the damage meeted out by the superior and numerous Riverlands archers on the Northern pikelines and archer unit.

The only advantage the pikemen have is that they are moving at full speed, minimising the number of shots which can be fired at them. The Northern archers are stationary and make sitting ducks ripe for the slaughter.

Blitzkreig

Barely half the Northern pikemen survive to reach the enemy up close but they have a trick up their sleeve. They have been charging towards the Riverlands hedgehog but at the last minute, they split in two and flow around the hedgehog and rush at the Riverlands cavalry on the flanks.

The Northern cavalry have been gathering pace behind the pikes and, as the pike formations split and go round the Riverlands frontline, the Northern cavalry charge. They race round the remnants of the Northern archers and charge straight at the hedgehog. The ferocity of the attack and the skill of the Northern cavalrymen at the tip of the wedge formation does some serious damage at the areas they hit but due to the hedgehog's tight formation, they are able to withstand the attack and regroup - the Northern cavalry fail to break the front lines. But they have targets assigned to them and so give up trying to smash the hedghog and turn east, around it.

The speed of the Northern attack does not let up. The four infantry units have been rushing in behind the cavalry and as soon as they're clear, charge towards the enemy. Again, they face the onslaught of Riverland archers but fare much better than the pikes due to the infantry's increased speed, use of shields and the divided attention of the archers. One unit heads east to support the pikemen there against the cavalry. The other three units had looked to rush through gaps in the hedgehog but, finding none, waste no time in seeking to create their own.

Battle in the west

On the west flank, around 500 Northern pikes have begun to engage the Riverlands cavalry. Taken somewhat by surprise, the cavalry suffer some initial losses but soon regain their composure. In a pre-planned manouver, the western Riverlands archer units move out behind the cavalry, who suddenly gallop off westward. The Riverlands archers fire straight at the Northern pikemen. This is too much for the pikemen and they are wiped out. The Riverlands archers posted beside the farm have been making their way east but their assistance is not even needed.

Battle in the centre

Three units of Northern infantry are now attackking the hedgehog. Initially, the defensive structure holds up well but the skilled Northern infantry men cannot be held back for long. Once gaps appear in the hedgehog, they are ruthlessly expoited and Northern infantry begin to stream through. Now the rigidity of the hedgehog works against the Riverlanders as they cannot stem the Northern tide.

Battle in the east

Similarly to the west, the Northern pikes have engaged the Riverlands cavalry and , similarly to the west, the Riverlands archers move out, the cavalry disengage and leave the archers to fire a volley into the Northern attackers. Unlike on the western flank, the pikemen have support. Greatjon's cavalry unit power round and attack the Riverlands cavalry. Robb's unit are right beside and plough into the archers who have moved out to the flank before they can finish off the Northern pikes. The final Northern infantry unit also appear to shore up their forces on this flank.

The Blackfish observes the battle from the rear and realises this is the crucial fight of the battle. Seeing that his forces are becoming overwhelmed, he gathers his men and rides to join the fight. The Brotherhood without banners have split their forces in half, one to the rear of the riverlands army, one to the west of the farmhouse. The Blackfish orders the rear unit to circle round and hit the Northern attackers from the rear, whilst he wades in from the front.

Back to the centre

The Northern infantry have broken the hedgehog and are under desperate close quarters fire from the Riverlands archers, whilst they attaempt to close the gap and kill them up close. They receive a boost when Robb's cavalry forces start scattering archers from the east. The infantry assault has incurred massive losses but a good number of men have survived due to the sheer size of the attack. They can now begin slaughterting archers and it's not long before the archers units begin to rout. Having finally won their battle, they carry out the orders they were given. One unit heads weast and looks to engage the western Riverlands cavalry. The other two units head east and join the bloody fight on this flank.

The west

The western Riverlands cavalry see the carnage on the east flank and know the Blackfish is in the middle of it. The move off to join the fight. The depleted Northern infantry unit which now opposes them is little more than a time wasting obstacle although every second they take to get to the eastern flank places their general in more danger. The Northern infantry are flattened.

The end

The initial eastern Riverlands cavalry are hard up against it, being pinned by the remaining Northern pikes and the fresh infantry unit, the Greatjon and his forces are attacking them from the east. The Brotherhood without Banners however have circles round and now attack the Northern forces from the rear. This causes huge losses among the Northern cavalry but the proximity of the Northern infantry mean they quickly come round to deal with the outlaws. The Riverlands cavalry are finally defeated but it comes at the cost of the majority of the Greatjon's force and the Northern pikes are down to the bare bones.

Robb Stark spots his uncle riding to meet him and wastes no time in rushing to attack. The Northerners have the definite numbers advatnatge here but they are facing an elite cavalry unit and a grinding battle ensues.

As this battle rages on, the Riverlands have been victorious on the west flank and the North on the west and the remaining troops from both sides come together for the final push. For the Riverlands it's the western cavalry and the Blackfish's unit. The BwB unit from the east rush to involve themsleves but they're late to the party and unsuited to the melee this battle has become. The fresh archer unit from the west are next to useless now. For the North, we have Robb's cavalry, the now heavily depleted Greatjon's cavalry, the remnants of the pike unit, the remaining men from the two infantry units who broke though the hedgehog and the fresher infantry unit from the east flank. The North have the numbers whilst the Riverlands have more mounted knights. In the bloodbath that follows it is the Northern numbers and grit which come out on top though. After the battle, Robb finds his uncle's body and gives him a fitting Tully funeral whilst thousands upon thousands of women and children in the North and the Riverlands newly find themselves widowed or fatherless.

Result: Northern victory.

[TheCrannogDweller]

It's never nice to lose, but this is some top-notch summary writing. Good job, Sword!

And congratulations Frey Pie! Keep in mind though - if you don't win this tournament, I will take it as a personal insult. :D Cheers! :cheers:

[Leonardo]

It was really close; I've never seen infantry turn the tide of a battle so much, they really carved up the hedgehog and there wasn't enough time for the archers to get their full effectiveness because of how aggressive Frey Pie was

Good showing all around

[Ded As Ned]

2 down with the most epic to go!

[Capt Captain]

It was really close; I've never seen infantry turn the tide of a battle so much, they really carved up the hedgehog and there wasn't enough time for the archers to get their full effectiveness because of how aggressive Frey Pie was

Good showing all around

The archers might not have been used to their full extent but I mean damn those archers were effective.

They practically destroyed the entire Northern pike force.

[Leonardo]

The archers might not have been used to their full extent but I mean damn those archers were effective.

They practically destroyed the entire Northern pike force.

They would have killed all of them probably if they didn't rearrange and didn't focus at all on the northern archers, who weren't going to hit much anyways hehe

Nog also had a cool move where he shot a volley at point blank into the northern cavalry and pikes, but it got them decimated.

[Sword of the Morning Wood]

Nog also had a cool move where he shot a volley at point blank into the northern cavalry and pikes, but it got them decimated.

I did like that one. I can just imagine how the Northern pikemen would feel having survived that gauntlet, finally reached the cavalry and then 'BOOP' - nope - more archers!

[Frey Pie]

It's never nice to lose, but this is some top-notch summary writing. Good job, Sword!

And congratulations Frey Pie! Keep in mind though - if you don't win this tournament, I will take it as a personal insult. :D Cheers! :cheers:

Thanks nog!

With the number of archers you had I thought I pretty much had no choice but to engage your whole army as soon as possible or be picked off, hence the all out assault from the word go. Your rearrangement nearly won it for you though and I think this was nearly as close as our battle in the final a while back!