Spendle Moor

The Shadow Wars campaign started in 1046, two years after the inconclusive battle at Blackthorn Abbey. The winter snows lasted into the spring campaigning season; therefore, the campaign's first year started slowly because the weather made it difficult to muster the armies. Even in good weather, the notoriously unreliable Bitter Wood Goblins (Pau-Umbarji) only began to emerge from their forests in early summer. In and1046, they were the last to join, the host that had gathered near the site of the old battlefield.  

Strategies

I used William Sylvester's approach in his book, The Solo Wargaming Guide, for the strategy. For the Umbarji, I wrote down three options and threw 1d6 to acertain the Ozbeg's Umbraji Warlords strategy. Therefore, in early summer, Ozbeg decided to complete the subjugation of the Lake towns that had started two years earlier. The old war horse, Doba Skullcrusher, was sent south with a small force to take command of the Marshport garrison to complete the conquest. Ozbegs's main thrust would be to cut the Amber Way trade route and force the Steppe tribes away from their secure positions. 

Great Moot

Sylvester's method would work for the Umbarji with their strong central command structure, but it was unsuitable for the Tribes, with their fragmented objectives and loyalties. Therefore, a Great Moot was held, which decided the strategy by scoring the tribes' numerical strength and the charisma of the tribal thegn. More on how this was done will appear in a later post.  

The result of the Moot was a cautious strategy where the main army waited for developments at Thorkeld’s Tower whilst a sizable force led by the Zebra Tribe and the Lake Refugees moved to support the Lake People. 

Therefore, by mid-summer, the campaign's focus had shifted to Lake towns, and it was here that the first battle of the campaign occurred, north of Lakeside at Spendle Moor, 

Battle of Spendle Moor

By Midsummer, Doba Skullcrusher had joined forces with Malzag, the governor of Mashpoint and decided to march around the northern end of the Lake and fall one  Marshpoint from the north. The plan had the advantage it would also open up a line of communications to the Thrang Hills, where he assumed the main horde would be located.

Meanwhile, Lake people had been reinforced by the Zebra and Rhino tribes, plus the expected arrival of Elf adventurer Eranil (Chance Card) and his followers. Yet Doba kept the initiative and forced marching his army, now over 3000 Umbarji strong. His rapid movement caught the Lake commander Tiberian and his newfound allies off guard. They now had two options: wait for Doba to besiege Lakeside or stop him on the moors before reaching the rich agricultural lands surrounding the Lake. Despite being riskier, the second option was preferred, and the small force, some 2000 strong, marched northwards to hold the ridge at Spendle Moor.

Never Underestimate Your Enemy

However, once again, the humans and their allies underestimated Doba, who had already moved his Wolf Riders so they could gain a foothold on the ridge. Doba planned to implement his famed strategy, the ‘Skullcrusher’ or hammer. He would hit one of the enemy flanks hard, in this case, the right, whilst the hammer’s shaft pinned the enemy until they were slowly ground into submission.

Opening Moves 

With a rapid attack on their right flank, Doba took the initiative, which allowed him to secure a foothold on the high ground and threaten Tiberian's militia without the latter gaining the advantage of the slope. The Lakeside's enthusiastic but inexperienced horse countercharged but was cut to pieces by the Wolf Riders.

Eranil Saves the Day

Eranil, seeing the threat, decided to march his Elves forward and force Doba's centre into battle. The powerful bows proved lethal as Doba led his centre to engage the outnumbered Elves. Meanwhile, Liefe had moved his Zebra Riders forward to threaten the Umbarji Youngblood on the left flank, supported by the lumbering Rhino charioteers. It was not long before there was fighting across the whole battle line. The Wolf riders finally got the upper hand, and the militia horse fled; in the centre, the elf spearman made quick work of the inexperienced Youngblood. On the left, the other Youngblood regiment was equally unlucky in their first battle, being cut down by the Zebra tribesmen.

Caution as a Virtue

After their victory, Umbarji Wolf Riders came under bow fire from the scouts in the wood, sufficient to make them withdraw to reorganise. Doba Skull crusher still had the Boar Rider and his Wolf pack to throw at the Lakesider's right flank. However, his centre and left had collapsed under pressure from the Elves and the Zebra Riders. It was now clearly apparent that the Youngbloods were not ready for the battle, let alone a full-scale siege that would probably have followed any victory. Doba decided it was too risky to commit further men to the fight when he could not follow up any triumph, so he ordered a withdrawal. An action that relieved Tiberian, who was happy to hold the ridge and watch the enemy pull back along the road.

Some Pictures 

Campaign and Different Attitudes

A campaign changes your attitude to a battle. Previously, I would probably have fought the battle to one side’s morale had collapsed. However, it suited both sides to disengage to fight another day, knowing that replacing men was a haphazard business. The other impression from this battle was the Doba Skullcrusher had outmanoeuvred his enemy but lacked the quality of troops to give him the victory his tactics deserved.