[Ansteorra] The Castle Battle

[Richard Threlkeld]

I was there Marshalling and Chirurgeoning and did not hear that. Both sides
kept the fort. Prior to the battles they did not add a tie breaker to the
scenario when both kept their fort, so the timing did not matter. They both
held the forts and that made it a tie.

In service,
Caelin on Andrede

-----Original Message-----
From: ansteorra-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:ansteorra-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Pat Mullins
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 16:10 PM
To: Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc.
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] The Castle Battle

Thank you, Sieur Jean Paul, for your vivid description. Not being a fighter
or marshal, I was, alas, outside the ropes by the pavillions.
I was told after the battle that the castle battle was ruled a tie because
the Ansteorrans and allies neglected to keep a garrison inside when the
armies sallied forth. As the battle wound down a Trimaran warrior fleeing
the carnage tried to escape into the castle. Although he was pursued and
quickly dispatched to Valhalla, for one brief moment he was the only living
warrior inside, thus capturing the castle, if only for a second. 
I think, but can't remember for sure, that it was an Ansteorran fighter who
told me this story, which made it more believable. Had it been a Trimaran, I
might have written it off as sour grapes. Still I seek the truth of the
matter...
Paedric

Jean Paul de Sens <jeanpauldesens at gmail.com> wrote: I must say, the castle
battle this year at Gulf Wars was superlative.  From
my vantage point (and I must say I had a good one) both side had good plans
for defending the castle, and the castle this year definitely was a *real*
castle in the facet that the defenders hunkered down for a bit, shook of the
incoming artillery and arrow fire, and then destroyed their attackers.

But I'm biased, so I'll tell you what I saw of Ansteorra's defense and how
her army and her commanders impressed me.

During the Trimarian defense, our clever foes waited until lay-on, and than
proceeded to put obstacles into the entrance of the castle.  The ramps that
were designed to scale the walls were then stacked up in front of the the
entrance to the castle so that when the gate fell, the Ansteorran and allied
attackers came upon a surmountable but troublesome barrier that caused major
loss of life and limb.

Our army being no less clever, realized that since the marshal-in-charge was
being extremely permissive on what was being allowed, quickly obtained all
of the haybales inside of the castle, and used them to build short walls
that would funnel the attackers into where the defenders wanted in front of
the main gate, the salley port, and Black Widow's Breach.   All this the
Trimarian army saw and noted.

When lay-on was called, the arrows and artillery commenced, and our army
withstood tremendous the barrage.  Trimaris sent the first ramp to the wall,
and the doughty warriors were able to survive the defenders polearms and
spears to put the barrier in place.  A second ramp was sent, but this time
Ansteorra's defender's held true, and the ramp fell mere feet from the
wall.

The barrage continued.  Bolt, rock, ballista bolt, and arrow flew into the
castle.  Then, with 12 minutes gone, Trimaris attacked the gate with a
battering ram.  6 fast blows were hit upon the door, of such power that we
felt it in the tower above.  The gate was open, and the crew of the ram and
their guardians began to fall back.  But too late, for the falcon army of
Calontir descended upon the seigemen, and destroyed the unit utterly,
scattering the survivors beyond the entrance to the castle.

The Falcon host poured out of the front gate, seeking their foes, and the
army of Trimaris scrambled to contain them, thinking perhaps that they would
try to fight their way out the front.  The battle was brutal, and units from
the east side of the castle swarmed to the front to attempt to contain
Calontir.  Just as they Trimarian army closed the pocket around the Falcon
host, there was a tremendous roar on the east side of the castle, and
Ansteorra and her allies sallied forth, breaking through the weakened lines
in front of the salley port.  A crashing wave of black and gold and white
and red crushed, chased, and ground her foes to sand as they came around the
north wall of the castle.

Calontir sensed the change, and redoubled their efforts, and began to push
the oppressed foes back from the front of the castle.  As the wave of the
salleying army crested path, the remains of the Calontir army joined in as
they swept all the way across the front of the castle.  Finally, the
northern host poured out of the Black Widow's breach, and held the army of
Trimaris fast while they were slaughtered to a man.

The battle done, a great cheer arose from the victorious allies.

In the previous battle, Trimaris and her allies had defeated us in
approximately 26 minutes.  Ansteorra and her allies took 16 minutes to
accomplish the same goal.

I have been to many Gulf Wars, and been in that castle many times.  The
planning and execution by our army in this battle was superb that I *still*
am awed.  A plan was devised, a good clever plan.  It was executed properly,
and timed well.  Our units fought heroically.  Never have I been so moved.
I cry that I missed it, but regret not that I was able to see it, and to
tell of how well we did this year.

With affection, respect, and admiration,
Sieur Jean Paul de Sens
Earl Marshal, Ansteorra


-- 
"Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective
hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight
place."
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