The Wars of Religion - Surrounded Around the Flag

Deployment: In this scenario the Spanish/ catholic forces are exhausted after a long campaign and have been surprised by the French Huguenots sudden attack. 



Turn 1: The French very cautiously push forwards. The Spanish infantry hastily march to shore up their line, but the cavalry on the right are disordered and delayed. 



Turn 2: In the cornfield both sides mercenary reiters clash, exhausting one another in a brutal melee. The French however are able to send in their argoulets to finish the job, and the first catholic unit is destroyed. 



Meanwhile the Huguenot shot skirmish with the detached manga's in the forest, allowing the French cuirassiers to ride straight past them on the road. 



Turn 3: The elite Spanish tercio go straight for the indomitable Swiss. A slaughter ensues as neither side is willing to give ground and they fight three bloody rounds of 'bad war', pike going against pike in a horrific meat grinder until at last the Spanish are forced to yield and halt their attack. 



Eager to claim an easy victory against the feared but weakened tercio, the English regiment hurl themselves at the retreating Spanish. Under enormous pressure, the old veterans keep retreating step by step with their face to the enemy, maintaining a steady fire that stings the English into relenting. 



But at last the tercio is overwhelmed as elite French cuirassiers slam into their flank. Forming a tight knot of pikemen their attackers pay dearly for the victory. But at last there are simply no men left able to stand and hold a pike, only the wounded and dead lying on the blood soaked ground. 



Meanwhile the Spanish mounted arqubusiers on one flank are chased almost off the battlefield by the argoulets, but reinforcements racing across the field arrive to threaten their pursuers flank. 



Whilst on the other flank the rest of the mounted arquebusiers give an ineffectual volley before being caught and given a drubbing by yet more cuirassiers. 

Turn 4: Desperate to turn the tide of battle, the detached mangas bravely charge their enemies in the forest. The Huguenot shot show surprisingly excellent discipline, hanging fire till the last moment to completely cut the momentum of the Spanish charge with a withering volley, before drawing their swords to finish off the survivors.   



The catholic argoulets chase their protestant counterparts back across the battlefield. The Picardy regiment fire an ineffectual volley whilst the cuirassiers scatter to chase down their foes. The Swiss and Huguenot musketeer squadron turn to face the Italian tercio that has slowly circled around the forest to threaten their rear. The confused and ill disciplined English get their counter march orders muddled and remain with their backs to this new threat.



Turn 5: The Italian tercio races forwards and slams home into the back ranks of the English. Despite terrible carnage the English manage to swing around and stumble back out of the fray as the Italians are in turn charged in the flank by the mighty Swiss. Despite saving their allies, the Swiss are not able to make any real headway and pull back to catch their breath once the English are clear. 

The Picardy regiment hastily marches up towards the centre of the field ,whilst the cuirassiers and now rallied protestant reiters return to the action. 

Turn 6: The cornered English launch a desperate assault against the Italian tercio, carving into it with their bills and massacring the catholic foot soldiers. The Picardy regiment charges to the rescue, shattering the English formation and scattering the survivors.  

The Huguenot shot boldly club their muskets and hurl themselves at the beleaguered Italian tercio, tipping them at last over the edge and forcing them to flee the field. 


The protestant argoulets turn to face their catholic counterparts. Whilst both sides are bloodied and disordered, the Catholics abandon the fight and gallop off the field to safety.  



The triumphant Picardy regiment are shocked to find their rear in turn attacked by the daring cuirassiers. They form a protective schiltron, but at the last moment their nerve breaks and they drop their pikes to run! The elite gendarmes chase them down with contempt.

And with that the Spanish/ catholic army is no more. Comprehensively outfought, surrounded and massacred, the few survivors disappear into the countryside and the army as a whole is utterly vanquished. French protestants win!