My Teutonic Knights (nominally of 1236, so without DBE's) against
Johan's Later Hungarians (fourteen hundred something). Terrain turned
out to be irrelevant (mostly bang up against the table edges); weather
did have an effect in that fog for the first few bounds slowing
movement down and preventing my crossbowmen from shooting.

The Hungarians, deploying first, had horde of mercenary men-at-arms
(Kn (S/I) DBE's in wedge) in the centre, with light horse ((S) and
(O)) on their flanks (each half of the DBE horde plus its LH wing
constituting a command), with three elements of royal banderium (Kn
(S) SBE's) and half a dozen light horse (F) in reserve. At the rear of
it all, their camp was well fortified with mantlet wagons (TF),
handgunners, and light artillery pieces.

The whole German battleline was offset a bit towards their left from
the Hungarians'. They had vassal and crusader knights on the right,
facing the mercenaries, then a foot centre (crossbows with a reserve
of spearmen) facing one of the Hungarian light horse wings, and on the
left the ordern brethren with a reserve of mounted crossbows facing
more Hungarian light horse, and beyond them the turkopoles (LH (O))
facing empty space. The right wing was held back a bit to increase the
distance to the scary wedge formations of the mercenaries, and to
delay the light horse enveloping them.


Slowed somewhat with the fog the Hungarians surged across the board,
faster towards the German right than elsewhere, and the same fog
spared them some shooting from the crossbowmen. First contact was on
the Germans' right, where the crusaders and adventurers got the drop
on the mercenaries. Their charge was a failure, however, losing two
elements while destroying none of the enemy's, and the mercenaries
began to slowly but inexorably grinding that wing down, helped by
light horse streaming around the Germans' flank.

Things went better for the Germans on their left, where the brethren,
after a slow start, scattered the light horsemen before them, and
reformed to face the royal banderium that seemed intent on a
counterattack.

In the centre, meanwhile, more Hungarian light horse, helped by the
rightmost mercenary wedge, traded casualties with the German
crossbowmen. They also killed a mounted crossbow from the German left
wing command. Losses here were about equal, but the German command,
being larger, was better able to bear it.

On the Germans' far right, the turkopoles had surged forward in column
and then reformed into line facing the Hungarians' flank. The horse
archers of the Hungarian reserve lined up to meet them - the contest
was swift and unequal, as the Germans, with the help of some of the
order brethren rushing up, scattered the Hungarians to the seven winds
while sustaining no element losses themselves.


This just sufficed to break the Hungarian reserve (before the
banderium got into combat); in the same bound the trickle of light
horse losses put the right-hand Hungarian command above its break
point. Two broken commands broke the army, and the Teutonic Order
could count one rather costly win, their right wing having shattered a
couple bounds before and the centre being disheartened. (Score: 16-9)


Interesting battle, with lots of Reg Kn (S) (seven on my side, nine on
Johan's). The mercenaries were, not unexpectedly, unstoppable, but
didn't break my poor Kn (O) fast enough to reform and engage the rest
of my army in time. I was a bit disappointed by the effect of shooting
on LH (S and O) - half the casualties on the LH facing my centre was
inflicted by the Kn (S) general - but it sufficed in the
circumstances. Hitting LH (F) with (O) was fun, esp. as the dice were
on my side and the Magyars were obliging enough to die even in their
own bound when not counting -1 on losing. I was also lucky that they
died so fast, as otherwise the mercenaries might have shaken down
enough to hit my centre command in the flank and inflict the few extra
losses necessary to break it and thereby the army.

Oh, and as the mercenaries' lack of width played a role I may take the
opportunity to remind Phil of the account of them to thinning their
line to match the Ottomans' width. Making them single-based, even if
only optionally, would allow players to replicate this.