It was good game - an in-period match up between c14 French and Free

Company. The French were a 3 Irr cmd army of KnS with Bw and a few Ps

in support, the Free Company 4 reg cmds (1 big, 3 small) of mainly KnO

with 4 French KnS and some BwS. A 1 FE wood near the centre of the

table shepherded the main protagonists to my right where the

battlefield was open. Setting up first, the narrower deployment zones

of DBMM initially caused the French some deployment difficulty in

fitting within the required rectangles but they eventualy deployed

with one command's Kn in a single rank on the start line and the other

mounted command's Kn in a column at the edge of the 800p line. The Free

Company deployed 9 BwS (from 2 different commands) in a single rank

opposite the French centre, a large command of Kn (including the KnS)

behind these and offset right to the edge of the deployment area, a

small command of irr KnO behind these (and the BwS) and a small cmd of

English KnI dismounted as BdS on the left. The 6 FC Breton PsS faced

the central Wd between the thin Bw line and the dismounted English.

Both armies paid for the CinC to be rated "brilliant".

Defending, deploying and moving first the French conducted a general

advance with the centre Kn moving straight forward, the flankward

column of Kn wheeling and marching toward the side edge (my right) and

the Ps pushing through the central Wd. On my first bound my large

command got a 6 which I had Hawkwood double and spent all 12 Pips

turning my main Kn cmd to the right, marching to the battlefield side

edge and turning back to the front. The remaining FC forces dressed

their ranks but did not advance. In the next bound the French advance

coninued with the Kn advancing into bowfire range, the Ps emerging from

the Wd and the flank Kn, with only one Pip, crawled another move

flankward. Disbelieving me, the French general scoffed when I declared

the French KnS had nothing to fear from an unsupported Bw element's

shooting but my assertion was confirmed immediatley when a 6:1 to the

BwS resolved to 11:6 after grading factors were applied. There were no

casualties but the French Kn line was disrupted in several places by

recoils from shooting. The following FC bound saw the main Kn command

continue to advance forward into charge reach of the flank of the

French column. The BwS shot again to no useful effect although in a

couple of instances there was support available, the supporting

elements' opponents having previously recoiled out of range. In the 3rd

bound the French suffered a disastrous Pip roll with the 2 engaged

commands each receiving only 1. The flank column continued its crawl in

front of the FC Kn and the central French Kn sponted ahead toward the

Bw. The French PsO emerged from the wood and charged the Breton PsS

with an overlap from a friendly Kn on one end. The Ps fight was

indecisive with no casualties as was the BwS shooting ... again. In the

FC bound I got great PiPs and, the French Kn being just beyond the TZ,

spent most of these having the longbowmen set up their stakes [it was

at this point I became aware that it is 1 Pip *per element*, not group,

to set up PO - another example of my inadequate comprehension

notwithstanding the rule having been there in black and white all along

%-/] I made a tactical error in this bound. A small command of iKnO had

been detailed as a reserve to catch any French who broke through the Bw

line. Seeing a gap open up between the right end of the Bw line and the

advancing FC Kn I drew this reserve forward into column past the end of

the Bw toward the gap leaving just 2 KnI generals to support the Bw

line. I compounded this error by declining to charge the French column

in the flank, over-cautiously determining that the ensuing hanging left

flank of the advancing FC would be too damaging in the medium term. In

the next bound the French again suffered poor Pips but the column on my

right was able to turn and expand and the French CinC and his central

Kn command crashed into the FC English longbow behind their stakes.

Declaring a brilliant stroke the French CinC scored exactly 1 more than

the longbowmen, the superior bonuses cancelled each other and a gap was

opened. On one side another French Kn burst through the Bw - the gap

was now 2 elements wide. In the next FC bound the 2 KnI generals moved

in to contact the victorious French Kn but even with overlaps failed to

make an impression. The FC Kn on the right contacted the French, each

side with an overlap on opposite ends, and failed to make any

impression. The French counter-attack was devastating and I have had my

already healthy respect for superior troops enhanced by the experience -

 I lost 3 Kn and both generals in the French bound, in each case the -1

for beaten by superiors tipping the result to "half", -2 in the case of

each KnI general. My delayed baggage command had arrived and was stuck

in the path of the advancing French who had broken through. Victory to

the French (and another DBMM waverer brought into the fold).