Battle of Shepsted Hill

The Battle of Shepsted Hill was the deciding battle in the Scanbroughan Secession. After three days of fighting, Scanbroughan rebel forces prevailed over the army hastily raised by the Faramondian King Aylard Rancorde.

## Background

The Scanbroughan Secession did not begin well for the rebels. The three Caped Men went their separate ways, raiding and pillaging. Several smaller Scanbroughan forces were annihilated by better-coordinated local contingents.

Eventually the Caped Men came to their senses, mostly due to Ellesman Farnton being defeated and routed at the Battle of Greylin. He managed to recover a fraction of his force, and rode to where his compatriots were ineffectually laying siege to small towns. He managed to convince them both to combine their forces and march on Faramond Keep.

It wasn't until they were close to the Faramondian capital that the Faramondian royal army emerged from the western grasslands. King Aylard had been spending the year raising levies and calling in favours in his western dominions, and now made his presence known with an army capable of easily challenging Scanbrough's.

The Scanbroughan leaders had not expected this for another several months, and fell back into Scanbrough, followed by the Farmondian army only a day's march behind them. Eventually, at a small hill near Shepsted, the Scanbroughan forces made their stand.

## Forces

The Scanbroughan forces consisted of around twelve thousand men - the Higwalding and Standler forces were five thousand each, arranged on the flanks of the army. Farnton's men, exhausted and defeated after the fight at Greylin, were in the centre, able to be reinforced if required. The entire Scanbroughan force was mounted.

The Faramondian force was split in two - the nine thousand infantry were led by the King himself and armed with a mixture of spears and swords. These were positioned in the centre and flanked by two thousand cavalry - again a mixture of spear- and sword-wielding knights and mounted men-at-arms. The right flank was led by the Duke O Cailin, while the left was led by his son Diomanh. Four thousand archers, though officially leaderless, were guided by several dozen expert rangers and arranged in a skirmish line in front of the force, and protected by a double line of wooden stakes.

The small rise that gives rise to the battle's name was home to a small farmhouse, no more than a glorified barn, and was positioned between the two forces. On a slight gradient, it would have posed no problem to the cavalry of either army. The elevation of the land meant that the Faramondian force was positioned on a rise with a valley to either side, inside which the cavalry was positioned.

## The Battle

Faramond moved first - King Aylard sent a detachment of men-at-arms and archers, under the command of Baron Roderick of Pantmawr, to capture and hold the farmhouse. They reached their objective without difficulty and, burrowing through the thatching to emerge on the roof, the archers established a position which would trouble the Scanbroughans the entire battle.

The Scanbroughan force, though united, was not used to working together. Once Count Roderick's move was noticed the three Caped Men began to bicker regarding a response, and in the end Higwalding and Standler advanced while Farnton remained in reserve, guarding the army's baggage column and camp.

Communications broke down to an extent on the Faramondian side as well - divisions caused before the Secession meant that certain officers in the army would only listen to orders from the Duke O Cailin. The cavalry on the left - led by Diomanh - was threatened by the reckless advance of the Standler cavalry along the left-hand valley and driven away from the infantry. The left-wing infantry was not warned of an attack and the Standler cavalry advanced along a blind spot. Standler looped round the back and attacked the rear of the Faramondian left flank without any warning.

On the right wing the same happened - except that the Duke O Cailin forced his cavalry behind the Faramondian infantry and came along the back just in time to charge into the back of Standler's men. He forced the retreat of the Scanbroughans, but not before the men-at-arms of Count Welfred of Northnasloe were routed and forced from the field.

In response to the threat of the Higwalding cavalry, two thousand men-at-arms and a thousand archers were right-wheeled to face the cavalry threatening to roll up the flank. The Higwalding cavalry retreated into the valley, vanishing from the view of the Faramondian infantry. This caused fear in the ranks - they could be anywhere, and strike at any time.

King Aylard allayed this fear by advancing his forces. They moved forward, assembling near the farmhouse and continuing their march, threatening the Farnton rearguard. This is something that was noticed by Standler but not Higwalding.

Standler detached his mounted archers and sent them to harry the Faramondian infantry as they advanced towards Farnton's cavalry.