Crusading Warfare Part 1

 

“The charge of the Franks” said Anna Komnene “could go through the walls of Babylon.”  It’s a great image and Anna knew what she was talking about.   

The point being that the Crusaders had brought something new to the manual of tactics in middle eastern warfare.

Charging cavalry were not, of course, a new phenomenon.   

Syrian askaris charged and so did the Bedouin.  Both used lances and the Syrians did wear some armour.   

The difference was that the Westerners were much better protected, carried sturdier lances and charged harder.  The Crusader charge proved too much for the Arab dynasties of the region.

Against the Seljuks and Turcoman the Westerners got into difficulties.  They charged and the foe melted away-shooting.  Crusaders could find themselves strung out on blown horses.  Then, the foe returned and that was that.

In response the Crusaders developed highly disciplined combined arms tactics.  The irresistible knights were now protected behind a wall of spearmen and crossbows.  The crossbows could easily defeat eastern armour.  The shields of the spearmen protected the shooters.  

Behind both, the knights patiently waited.  When the enemy got too close to evade the Knights charged and conquered.

Things could go wrong; the infantry might break or the Knights charge too soon.  Mostly though the tactics worked.

For the armies of Islam, the challenge was always to break the Crusader array.  Mostly this fell to the professional Ghulam cavalry.   

 

Skilled in both archery and close fighting they did not fear to closely engage the Franks. Ideally, their archery would cause casualties and disruption. Then they would attack in waves, striking, retiring and returning. Sometimes it worked.  Like the Frankish charge timing was everything.

Even the best armoured Ghulam were less well protected than the Crusader Knights.  To compensate they were much more mobile.

Beyond the professionals the Turcoman tribes played a notable part in resisting the Franks.  Their strength was as fast- moving horse archers a role in which they excelled.  Sometimes, for reasons which are hard to discern, they fiercely charged home with sword and spear.  Their lack of armour must have made this a costly business.

Already, without looking at the infantry of Islam, we can see there is a lot going on. To the best of my knowledge there are only two published War Game Rules dedicated to this complex set of interactions.  More soon.

Miao and Nien - Allies of the Tai Ping

The Heavenly Kingdom of the Tai Ping had two important allied groups.  These were provided by the Miao tribesmen and the Nien rebels against the Manchu.  Both groups brought something valuable to the Tai Ping cause.

The Miao fielded two types of infantry.  Some were simply spear men of which the Tai Ping had a near endless supply.  Others were armed with a Chinese version of the jezail.  The latter were very useful.  They provided the Tai Ping with accurate distance weaponry that was otherwise in short supply.  

 

There were two main groupings of Miao, the black and the white. So named for their clothing colour choice.   

 

 

The Miao were capable and well-motivated soldiers.  Using Taiping Era I’d rate them as Committed Chinese Troops.  Here are the stat’s for them that I will be using for Field of Battle 3.

Troop Type	Unit type	Unit class	Defence Dice	Combat Dice	Arms	Formation
Miao ‘jezails’	Infantry	Regular	D4	D10	Rifle	Line, Skirmish
Miao Spears	Infantry	Regular	D6	D8	Spear	Attack Column, Line, Square

The Nien, bandits to the Manchu authorities, controlled an extensive territory.  They secured this by placing garrisons in fortified villages and via the use of an extensive cavalry arm.  The Nien cavalry were mainly lancers and once again were good soldiers. These proved to be a useful asset to the mainly foot slogging Tai Ping.  Using Taiping Era I'd once more opt for Committed Chinese Troops. In FoB3 they will look like this.

 

Troop Type	Unit type	Unit class	Defence Dice	Combat Dice	Arms	Formation
Níen	Cavalry	Regular	D6	D10	Lance	Attack Column, Line,

Every now and then the Tai Ping deployed a unit of European manned modern artillery.  Should you want to emulate that rate them as European regulars-that's what most of them had been. The British Royal Navy sailors were particularly keen to desert. One battery only.  I'd suggest 9 pounders.  In reality the available ordinance varied considerably.