Desired scans : Rank and File supplements Harpoon 3 & 4 supplements Force on Force supplements Hind Commander At Close Quarters War and Conquest
Anthony Parker
26th March in military history:
1169 – Saladin becomes the emir of Egypt. 1344 – The Siege of Algeciras, one of the first European military engagements where gunpowder was used, comes to an end. 1351 – Combat of the Thirty : Thirty Breton Knights call out and defeat thirty English Knights. 1885 – The Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel begin the North-West Rebellion against Canada. 1913 – Balkan Wars: Bulgarian forces capture Adrianople. 1917 – World War I: First Battle of Gaza – British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance. 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Nationalists begin their final offensive of the war. 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends as the island is officially secured by American forces. 1971 – East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Liberation War begins. 1975 – The Biological Weapons Convention comes into force. 1982 – A groundbreaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, D.C.
Josiah Gutierrez
Chivalry’s finest military expression in contemporary eyes was the famous Combat of the Thirty, which occured on 26th March 1351. An action of the perennial conflict in Brittany [part of the Hundred Years War], it began with issued by Jean de Beaumanoir, a captain of Charles of Blois supported by the King of France, to Robert Bemborough, a captain of Jean de Montfort supported by the King of England. When their partisans clamored to join, a combat of thirty on each side was agreed upon. Terms were arranged, the site was chosen, and after participants heard mass and exchanged courtesies, the fight commenced.
With swords, bear-spears, daggers, and axes, they fought savagely until four on the French side and two on the English were slain and a recess was called. Bleeding and exhausted, Beaumanoir called for a drink, eliciting the era’s most memorable reply: “Drink thy blood, Beaumanoir, and thy thirst will pass!” Resuming, the combatants fought until the French side prevailed and every one of the survivors on either side was wounded. Bramborough and eight of his party were killed, the rest taken prisoner and held for ransom. In the wide discussion the affair aroused, ‘some held it as a very poor thing and others as a very swaggering business,’ with the admirers dominating.
The motivation for the combat is unclear. The earliest written sources present it as a purely chivalric exercise, undertaken to honour the ladies for whom the knights were fighting: referring to Joan, Duchess of Brittany (House of Blois) and Joanna of Flanders (House of Montfort). These women were leading the two factions at the time, as Joan's husband was in captivity and Joanna's was dead (her son was a young child at the time). This is the account given by the contemporary chroniclers Jean le Bel and Jean Froissart, both of whom present the conflict as purely a matter of honour with no personal animosity involved.
Hudson Perez
While the combat did not have any effect on the outcome of the Breton war of succession, it was considered by contemporaries to be an example of the finest chivalry. It was sung by trouvères, retold in the chronicles of Froissart and largely admired, and honoured in verse and the visual arts. A commemorative stone was placed at the site of the combat situated between Josselin and Ploermel and king Charles V of France commissioned a tapestry depicting it. The renown attached to those who participated was such that twenty years later, Jean Froissart noticed a scarred survivor, Yves Charruel, at the table of Charles V, where he was honoured above all others due to having been one of the Thirty.
According to historian Steven Muhlberger, this chivalric version concentrates on "how the deed was done and not on who won. The willingness of all concerned to agree to rules and to actually observe them, to fight their best and not to run when injured or in danger of capture are the focus – and both sides are shown as equally worthy in that respect." Later, the combat came to be seen in very different terms, influenced by the most famous of the contemporary popular ballads on the topic. In this version the English knights are villains, and the Blois faction are loyal and worthy local warriors.
The community project this month is an obsolete unit or vehicle.
Mason Torres
For those interested in Chevauchee; this is the kind of thing you can do with the campaign tolls and a bit of creativity.
Anthony Fisher
I have an opportunity to demonstrate a wargame for a Uni course. I have a lot D6's. What would you all suggest for something quick and manageable? I don't have access to actual models but I'll probably end up using paper cut outs.
Any advice would be appreciate.
Ian Nelson
Something like FiveCore or Five Men in Normandy might be appropriate.
Dylan Diaz
They're CinC Leopards I believe. I switched to Heroics&Ros Leopards/everything though.
