hussitesextension.rtf

8/16/2019 HussitesExtension.rtf

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THE HUSSITES

This is an extension for the “Cry Havoc” game system with a brief history of the Hussites, a set of

supplementary rules, and a scenario. The author is Philippe aillard, and it was published in !""#

in Claymore maga$ine, issue %&. This translation was completed by 'ob ingell in (ebruary )***.

1. THE HUSSITES: HISTORY

+n the iddle ages, 'ohemia was a strongly ermanised region, with only ordinary people and the

lower nobility claiming C$ech “nationality”. There were many disputes between the erman and

C$ech communities. -hen Charles + founded the /niversity of Prague in !01&, the ma2ority of

posts were given to ermans, raising the level of indignation among the C$echs. The conflict came

to a head when the C$ech members of the /niversity criticised the ermans for submitting

unconditionally to the Pope and his ally, The 3mperor, when they had been hoping for Church4eform. The erman teachers, finding themselves in the minority, 5uitted Prague.

6ohn Hus, then 4ector of the /niversity, became the spo7esman of the C$ech 4eformists.

He found himself in opposition to the Pope as a reformer, and to the 3mperor as a defender of

C$ech nationality. 6udged to be a heretic by the Council of Constance in !1!#, 6ohn Hus was

condemned to death. 'y burning him, the 3mpire and the Church created a C$ech national martyr

and prompted an uprising of both populace and nobility. (or the next !8 years, the gates of Prague

were closed to the 3mperor, and the Hussite army made all 3urope tremble.

Hussite battles

Prague9 :igismund, ;ing of hungary and 'ohemia, and 3mperor of the Holy 4oman 3mpire,

responding to the appeal for a crusade launched by Pope artin , sent his troops towards Prague.

The disciples of hus formed under the command of 6an . The Hussites closed the

gates of Prague and fortified themselves outside the walls, on the -it7ov hill. -hen :igismond?s

army attac7ed, on the !1th 6uly !1)*,


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:igismond lost #*E of his )0,*** men and narrowly escaped capture himself. This battle ended the

(irst Crusade. The three years following had little success.

The 3mperor withdrew, but the Hussite side fell prey to a civil war. Two factions fought9 the

extremist Taborites and the moderate /tra5uists. , then :7olic and alesov =!1)1>. Dn !!th

Dctober !1)1, . The battle was a fresh

disaster for :igismond. The +mperial army attac7ed the circle of wagons and succeeded in forcing a

way in. Procop then launched a counterAattac7 with his cavalry that smashed the crusaders who had

between 0*** and 1*** dead.

The Hussites then passed onto the offensive. They pillaged and burnt Hungary, @ustria and

ermany =:axony and 'avaria>. Bo army could resist them =victories over the 3mpire at Tachau in!1)G, then over the Papal troops at oma$lice in !10!. The terror did not end until a new war bro7e

out between the two Hussite factions.

Ces7yA'rod9 This battle between Hussites too7 place on 0*th ay !101 at Ces7yA'rod =Fipan>.

Procop and the Taborites confronted the /tra5uist army. The /tra5uists attac7ed the circle of

wagons and were repulsed. The Taborites, overAconfident of their victory, emerged and pursued the

enemy. The /tra5uist cavalry counterAattac7ed, destroyed the Taborite cavalry and then the infantry.

Dnly a few hundred Taborites managed to regain the circle. This fratricidal combat cost !&,***

victims, Procop among them. The Taborites were completely defeated. Two years later, the bloodAdrenched country recognised the authority of :igismond and the 4oman Catholic church.

The Hussite army

The tactic of using fortified wagons or Wagenburg was inspired by the 4ussians who in a circle during their wars against the Tartars. @t

first


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The erman army from this period 7new of the inexorable rise in power of infantry to the detriment

of cavalry. +nfantry was less expensive than cavalry and the :wiss formations had built up a solid

reputation on the battlefield. The erman armies conse5uently tended towards armies of

Fands7nechts.

+n !1)), after the iet of Buremberg, 3mperor :igismund and the erman princes had two

standing armies to throw against the Hussites9 one intended to wage the campaign and the otherinstructed to bloc7ade the fortress of ;arlstein. The first consisted primarily of cavalry, while the

second was mainly foot soldiers9 !8#8 cavalry =from a target figure of #"!*I> and 0!,*** infantry

=from a target of 0G,1**>.

@longside the infantrymen was the artillery. +n !10!, the erman army could number !**

bombards. However, the Hussite artillery was always superior and obstructed bombardment of their

fortified camps.

Bibliography

P. Contamine9 Fa guerre au moyenAJge, Bouvelle Clio, !"")-. ;och9 Fa guerre au moyenAJge, P..F. Kditions.

6.. Poliens7y9 History of C$echoslova7ia in outline, 3ditions 'ohemia +nternational

2. SUPPE!E"T#RY RUES $OR HUSSITE #R!IES

1% R'O"S

3ach wagon can contain two men. Dnly shooting is possible from and against Lthe sides ofM a

wagon. The occupants benefit from heavy cover. LThe rules on shooting from carts also state that

other characters on foot next to the cart will not bloc7 the line of fire.M

Climbing into a warwagon costs 1 Ps, and climbing down costs ) Ps. 3ntering andexiting from a wagon uses the same rules as for carts =see Claymore %#>. LThe implication in the

light of the rules for carts is that climbing up and down costs N! P, and =given the rule below> is

only possible at either endO moving from one warwagon hex to the other would thus cost 0 Ps.M

The occupiers of a wagon can be attac7ed in handAtoAhand combat from the ends Lsee

diagramMO the occupants are in favourable terrain =N>.

The wagons cannot be moved. QQ-@DBQ Q

2% BO!B#R(S )(our !Ahex counters for cutting out are provided in the issue of Claymore.>

ovement9 @ bombard can be moved up to ) hexes per turn by 1 men Lbut cannot be loadedor fired in the same turn that it is moved. +f a loaded bombard is moved it will need to be reloaded.

Bote that the rules for ballistas, which should be used here, limit movement through scrub to ! hex

per turn, so effectively the bombard will have a movement allowance of ) Ps.M.

(iring9 These cannons can only fire in a straight line. The rules on restrictions on firing are

the same as for archers. @ bombard is still able to fire if it is behind a screen. @ bombard cannot fire

on a soldier who is at a range of ) hexes or less.

+n order for a bombard to fire, there must be a soldier on an ad2acent hex throughout the

loading and firing turns. LBote that, unli7e ballistas, no engineer is re5uired to crew the bombard.M

To resolve the effect of firing and fall of shot, use the tables and rules for ballistas Le.g.

under the rules from “:iege” it would ta7e ) turns to load, and short range is #* hexesM. +f the shot

misses, roll !8 to determine upon which of the ad2acent 8 hexes the cannonball lands.

*% S+REE"S

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Dne character =Hussite or Crusader> can move a Hussite screen at a reduction of ) to the movement

allowance. +n combat the defender is in favourable terrain =N> and benefits from heavy cover.

,% H#"( 'U"S

The Hussite crossbowmen =6acopa, (rancisco and iles from “Cry Havoc”> are e5uipped with hand

guns. The rules, columns on the shooting tables, fall of shot and operation of these weapons are thesame as for crossbows. Dnly the results are different Lthey are more effectiveM. LBote, however, that

the table strangely ma7es handguns more effective than bombards against foot, though not against

mounted targets. +t is proposed that N! should be added to the foot die rolls to bring them into line

with mounted targets and to reAestablish their proportionate effectiveness to other missile weapons.M

!ou-te i- /o0er $oot i- /o0er

(ie roll "o-e ight !eium "o-e ight !eium Hea0y

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LBote9 Purchase point values =Ps> are calculated in the scenario below as being the same as

armoured crossbowmen =0x attac7 strength N )x defence strength>. :ince the guns are more

effective than crossbows, it is proposed that Ps be increased to 1x @TT, )x 3(. This raises the

three Ps from 0#R0)R0* to 1)R0&R08. Claymore %!) provides alternative handgunner characters.M

*. S+E"#RIO: R'O"S

This scenario uses “Cry Havoc”, “:iege” and “Croisades”, plus SThe Dpen (ield? map.

1 Ba/grou-

@fter the first war between the Hussites, one of the five Taborite armies reached the :axon border.

The Teutonic ;nights and a force of erman soldiers tried to stop the devastating advance of the

C$ech convoy. -arned of the enemy?s presence by his scouts, the commander of the Hussite army

=urda> placed his wagons in a circle and resolutely waited for the teuton and Teutonic charge.

2 !ap layout ermans

The Hussite player chooses the layout with the long mapAedges ad2acent.

* The sies

The Hussites =0! characters U 80& points Lplus 0#) points of e5uipmentM>9A Commander9 urda =C>O

Heavy cavalry9 Ha7im, ;ili2, aarat =C>O Fight cavalry9 ;amal, osul, Tamara, 4euben =C>OHandgunners =armoured>9 (rancisco, iles, 6acopa =CH>O @rchers9 @ylward, 'owyer =CH>O

Crossbowmen9 (orester, aston =CH>O :ergeants9 Flewellyn, orgen =:>O

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:pearmen9 'en, Per7in =CH>O @7i, @rnold, 'rendan, 'ryn, areth, Hayden, ordred =:>O

Peasants9 Cedric, obin, :mith, :alter, -ulf =CH>O 35uipment9 !* wagons, !! screens, 0 bombards.

LBotes9

=!> Players will need to photocopy or ma7e their own additional e5uipment counters.

=)> The points above assume peasants are counted as unarmoured foot and that handgunners

have the same points values as crossbowmen. /sing the Ps proposed above for handgunners and

normal peasant Ps, the total becomes 81& which gives an overall round total of !*** points.M

The ermans =0" armoured characters U !0#1 points>9A Heavy cavalry9 The & Templars =C>,

:ir -alter =C>O :ir Conrad, :ir unter, :ir Peter, :ir 4ichard =CH>O :ir Facy, :ir -ulfric =:>O

ounted sergeant9 :gt 'aldwin =C>O @rchers9 @nsel, (ul7, Hugh, Peter, 4enier, -illiam =C>O

Crossbowmen9 @rnold, eorge, Henry, 6ordan, -alter =C>O Halbardiers9 'en, (rederic7, eoffrey,

Hubert, Baymes, Dtto, Tom, -at7in, -yn7en =CH>O 'ors, 3vans, (ursa =:>.

, Starti-g positio-s a- seue-/e o3 a/tio-

The Hussite wagons are placed in a circle on the Dpen (ield map. 'etween each wagon is placed ascreen andRor a bombard. Two hexes must be left free and are occupied by two screens =which

represent the gates to the camp>. The rules relating to screens =from “:iege” Las modified for

Hussite screensM> are applied. The Hussite army is in the centre of the circle and in the wagons.

Bote9 raft horses are not represented.

The ermans enter on the first turn through the side indicated.

4 Spe/ial rules :ee the rules above.

5 6i/tory /o-itio-s

@s was the case in the Hussite wars9 “no 5uarter”. The victor is the side that manages to exterminate

its adversaries.

RDG: HUSSITES Extension version 1.1, Mar! "###

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hussitesextension.rtf

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