Venitians - blinding!
Neil invited me round for a fight, in his open barn, we set up for an Italian Wars bash. Neil was using his freshly painted and very beautiful Venitians for the first time (usually the kiss of death for any army, but, he's not met my army). One brilliant touch Neil has done is to put 6 staggered pikes on each base,
rather than the usual 4, which makes teh units look really dense. Love it.
My Tudors. Played 12, won 1... My least successful army ever! Why keep using it? Because it's cool, it looks good and it's like Halflings in Blood Bowl, if you ever do well, it feels like a massive win!
Deployment, and outscouted by a massive 10%, not too bad young Henry! I anchored right on my artillerey, sending my Welsh into the town to threaten the camp, while my main battle line squared off with Neil's seemingly much longer force (two units of light horse and two units of crossbows betwixt the Keils will do that though). 
Trying out movement trays for the first time. Will keep trying them. Henry floats while Suffolk takes the right, and Dacre the left.
I refused a bit on the left, trying to see what Neil's plan was (I suspect it was to ride over me roughshod with loads of superior knights).
My bills and Yeoman of the Guard advance towards Neil's first keil, while my pikes head for his Landscherneckts.
Something unexpected happened, Neil moved his light horse into range of both my powerbow armed archers (MUHAHAHA) and my artillery! This is only the second time they've ever shot, and they did it magnificently, actually hitting twice! Unheard of!
Thinking this would be an easy kill, my powerbow open up on the light horse, four green dice, needing only three wounds to break the unit.
Oops, oh well! C'est la vie! At least he is slowed by three...
Still means they move 3 and out of range!
Neil moves his crossbow armed cavalry out wide to attempt to envelop my smaller, weaker (and cheaper) line of knights (I have three units, but one is only protected, and my superiors are only a four, whereas Neil has 18 average knights AND 6 crossbow armed horse). I aimed my four units of infantry at his, hoping to get some kills before the equine and steel tsunami crashes over me, while my cavalry stepped back to avoid the inevitable flank charge.
On the right, a unit of skirmishing crossbowmen was proving troublesome, but only deployed two wide, I stood some chance of ignoring them,. Neil (very sensibly) got his battered light horse and his untouched unit away from the implied threat of my archers. My Welsh ran out of steam in the town as they were out of command range of Suffolk, needing double cards to move, which I needed elsewhere, while the rest of my right wing trudged forwards.
My archers manage a hit on the right hand of Neil's Kiels, but not much else.
We stop merest millimetres away from each other, almost the two straight lines Barker intended! Neil pushed his crossbow armed horse up to take a shot at me, and the world held it's breath.
The calm before the storm...
And the storm opens up! My bills charging crossbows take two wounds and a double slow off them, thankfully I had held back a red for this eventuality.
His mounted crossbows were in arc of a free charge from my lightest knights, worth a try I suppose and it might clear way the threat of a flank charge and disrupt his line?
Unexpectedly, when they skirmished away, they rolled a -1 on their roll, moving a -3 (-2 for skirmishing, -1 for the roll, making a net 2BW move, my protected cavalry moved 5BW (which was worth buying off a -1 move for (general in 2BW off camera right before the charge), and I caught him.
+2 for charging lancers, +1 for hitting an enemy that shot, I get a red, Neil a white. Skull will do nicely, giving me a shatter on the next roll. 
Not QUITE the result I was after, even boosted Red and Green, I only gt two wounds! Neil wounded me on a black, and it killed a base, even though I caused two wounds on him, it felt flat! Would have been fun to break him at impact.
Charging in, Neil's right hand keil engaged my men at arms, killing and wounding bases on my heavily armoured men-at-arms, while we killed a base in return. In the middle, I had a pleasent surprise when my two units of billmen crashed into the crossbows to find they were Combat Shy, giving me a net +2, this was to cause untold damage. My kiel crashed into his, factors were even, so were losses.
If Neil's cavalry survives this round of combat, I will get flank charged painfully here. Plus there are an awful lot of knights here to my not-very-many!
Neil closes in for the kill on the right of my cavalry, but we roll well enough to crack him... (2-0)
The resulting KAB test was helpful too! 
Leaing me with clear air between myself and his heavier knights. I might just get away with this!
Henry had chosen to join his household knights, but on the charge, Neil managed a kill on the file Henry was fighting in, and the king was wounded!
On the right, the bows finish off the damaged light horse (3-0).
My cavalry tries to avoid Neil's, while all along the line units are engaged in a grand melee. My billmen, despite taking losses, expand into the crossbows and soon both enemy units are looking fragile.
Neil shoots the gap with his remaining light horse in an effort to shoot my Yeoman of the Guard to pieces. 
Success, the first unit of enemy crossbows dies to the weight of English retinue billmen (3-0). The second unit crumbles immediately after (5-0) leaving the Glory of the Tudors in a very strong position, could Henry go big and pull off a win?
But the superior household knights have a disaster, despite killing a base outright on a yellow, losing another base to the Venitian assault to many inferior dice! 
Even greater disaster, my victorious protected horse are caught in the flank by Neil's heavy lancers, with no card good enough to counter charge or any way to evade, their fate is sealed.
Told you! They die under the weight of Venitian extra armour! (5-2)
Then, disaster and woe befalls the whole army, the Royal Household knights shatter under the repeated battering of the lowly Venitian kights, and as they break (4-7), Henry is unhorsed and trampled to DEATH!
Henry VIII lies dead, the throne is empty, no heir is yet born! What will become of England*? 
*(Yeah, alright, it ushers in a regeny of Catherine of Aragon, a strong leadership of a queen trained to rule, England remains strongly Catholic following Catherine's faith, Spain becomes our strongest ally, the economy prospers as Henry cannot drain the treasury, a long period of peace appears, monsatries floruish and Mary succeeds her mother, to a strong, rich, prosperous and peaceful kingdom - maybe).
That was basically it! My other knights fail their KaB test and flee (6-7) and my Yeoman of the Guard also collapse against the pikes (8-7, 6 stands of +2 vs 14 -2, should have done alright, oh well).
In a last ditch effort to save face, the Welsh spears charge out of the town into the Italian Condottori Spears lurking in front of the camp, and do a wound and a kill! So close! 
And my billmen, beaten up but still fighting, charge the pikes that dealt with my men at arms, but Neil had snuck his skirmishing crossbows behind them and as they were within a base, shot a base off on the charge! OUCH! I only needed a wound to break, and I was +2 vs +1 (bills and general vs 1 rank of pikes), this is squeaky bum time!
Yes, that is all that is left of my army, as Neil piles his knights into the rear of my keil, his light horse head for my camp and he pursues my shattered lancers across table in three different directions.
All he needed was a wound to win! Despite, deperately throwing my archers into the side of his keil. Keil's don't have flanks, it was worth a try, he was a base and a bit off breaking, I could have got lucky, I did get a base, but not enough...
But it was not to be, Neil duely scored his wound, and despite my rear charge on his other Keil, it was too little and much much much too late!
7-15 to Venitians, Henry was buried with honours in Westminster Abbey, and the nation mourned. Venice remains truely the powerhouse of the Mediterranian, and England a shameful shadow...
Fantastic game, great to see Neil after all these months and his army, despite needing some tweaking, is awesome. Look forwards to losing to it again!
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