033 Crecy-a - WDS Age of Longbow Volume I

Date: 26 August 1346 - Size: Medium - Location: Crécy, Picardy, France

Scenario Briefing: Historical - After an almost unopposed landing in Normandy on 12th July, Edward III's English invasion army pillaged Barfleur and other small towns before sacking Caen. The English army, now shadowed by French forces, then crossed the Somme at Blanchetaque. While the main French army was down in the south of France besieging Aiguillon, the French king Philip VI had managed to raise another substantial army to oppose the English invaders. However, despite significantly outnumbering the English army, Philip's troops arrived piecemeal on the battlefield after a 12 mile march.

After the Genoese mercenary crossbowmen in French service - whose protective pavices were still with the baggage train well in the rear - had fallen back after being outshot by the English archers, the large but already tired and disorganized French army launched a succession of futile cavalry charges against the English defensive line. Victory in this battle is traditionally attributed to the English longbowmen, who outperformed the slower-firing crossbowmen, before shooting down the French cavalry on their largely unprotected horses. However, Edward III's army is also known to be one of the earliest to have included field artillery, which surely made at least some contribution to the outcome of the battle, even if it inspired more fear in the French horses than actual casualties.

This version of the battle has the English baggage wagons and horses deployed in a larger defensive "laager" in the rear of the army, separate from Crécy Grange.

Note: To represent the riding down of the retreating Genoese crossbowmen by the French cavalry, these troops have a potentially early withdrawal time, so may not remain on the battlefield for very long. Historically, Lorraine's division didn't reach the battlefield until the following morning, but in this scenario there is a small possibility that these troops will arrive in time to participate in the battle.

In this scenario, "stakes" represent pot-holes dug by the English archers to disrupt the French cavalry, rather than the archers' stakes later used at Agincourt. For this reason, no archers are able to deploy stakes.
Side A = French, Genoese mercenaries and Bohemians, Side B = English, including, as usual, Welsh troops in English service as an integral part of the "English" army.