This has generated ripping good battles for old and new players alike, and can easily be extended to other related contexts. The addition of a 10-15 minute campaign card game to precede the battle has also been discussed with Ix Nichols, with players drawing not only contingents but terrain, tactical advantage, personal objective, and other cards that affect the occurrence and conduct of the battle and playing cards to define the context of the battle. However, as with terrain rules, for example, constructing an elegant system without obvious dominant strategies is very hard. Set up an esthetically pleasing patch of English countryside suitable for a battle. The typical battlefield is open but rolling with some wooded and rough ground, but providing ample space to fight.
Rivers are probably best flowing along a side edge or behind one of the armies.
I suggest then rolling a die to designate North. The players choose up two sides and then roll to choose sides of the table, using that also as the weather roll. They pick their armies by having each player in turn draw a contingent randomly from the nobles deck and revealing the cards, redrawing as required by the instructions on the cards, which primarily ensure the opposing royal families will not serve on the same side. With an odd number of players, the smaller side draws an extra contingent to be commanded by the CinC and to deploy in line of battle adjacent to him in the position of lower honor or, if a 4th contingent, as reserve. Each noble's contingent is listed on the card.