Sally Forth!

 The Scenario

Wilfred, the old Baron of Saxe-Gotha, resides in a small castle in central Europe.  His neighbor to the south, the Count of Liepzburg, recently died and his son, Friederick, has assumed the role. Friederick convinced himself that Saxe-Gotha should pay fealty to Liepzburg and has sent a small army to impose that decision.  Attacking an equal-sized force in a strong defensive position might seem unwise, but the Count knows the the Baron must sally forth.  The Baron cannot just wait in the castle until the Count leaves because the harvest must be brought in.  

The attacker arrives in the southeast corner of the field.  

Battle Plans and Order of Battle

Both sides have five units: two foot-knights, two mounted knights, and one archer unit.  One Hour Wargames rules will be used.  No event cards will be used. 

The defenders will place infantry directly in front of the castle.  Their backs will be protected against flank attacks.  The mounted knights will swing out.  Their orders are  to attack the flanks of the invaders and to defend the flanks of the defending foot-knights. The archer remains behind cover on the battlements.

The attackers will move toward the castle.  The mounted knights will swing out to defend the flanks.  The archer will take up a position in the northwest corner of the church yard.  This position is  behind cover and within range of the castle. 

The Battle

The first picture shows the positions at the beginning of the battle. 

Rounds one-three: Attacking infantry advance six inches.  The archer heads toward the church.  The knights swing out.  The defending knights sweep out also.  

The attacking archer lets fly at the defending infantry.  One of the defending knights attacks the left flank of the attacking infantry.  

Now the battle is well and truly joined.  A knight from the attacking force hits the Baron's unit of knights in the flank.  The Baron's second unit of knights returns the favor so the Count's second unit of knights joins the fray. Meanwhile the attacking archer shoots at the defending foot-knights and the defending archer shoots at the attacking foot-knights. 

Eventually, both of the Baron's cavalry units are routed, leaving the Count's army with all units intact, but battered.  They move toward the foot-knights who are defending the castle.  The attacking archer unit fires at them while the defending archers shoot at the Count's surviving infantry unit.  

When the count's units frontally attack the castle, they are already suffering from a large number of hits.  The Count's unit of foot-nights is wiped out by the archer before reaching the castle and both units of mounted knights are scattered by the archer and the infantry, leaving one surviving infantry unit in possession of the castle and a battered archer unit. The Count's unit of archers is unscathed but unsupported so they have no choice but to withdraw. 

Conclusion

This battle took a surprising turn toward the end.  I thought the Count's forces were going to win.  However, frontal assaults are not as effective and when your knights have already been weakened, the victory is not guaranteed.  The game was fast and exciting.

Replay

The same battle plans were used in the first replay.  This time the Count won, with one unit of mounted knights and the archer unit surviving. 

In the second replay, both defending foot-knight units survived.  Only the archers survived on the attacking side. 

Insight

Honestly, I did not feel like I was playing against an opponent.  I was rolling for each side in turn and cheering for whichever side I was rolling for.  Also, I recommend planning to play three times.  These are fast games and a triple works out about right as far as time goes.