Forming up
When you march, the field opens with both companies already on it and nobody moving. Before the first turn you arrange your own men. The bar under the map reads Form up, and nothing you do here costs action points, wind or anything else. The fighting starts only when you say so.
The order is already rolled
The first round's order is rolled before you arrange anyone, and it is already on the order bar above the map. It will not change while you form up: a man's place in the order comes from his quickness, less the weight he carries and any pain, with a little chance, and never from where he stands.
That is why it is shown now. Knowing who moves first is half of knowing where to put him. A man who acts early can walk and strike before the enemy near him has moved; a man who acts late will stand wherever you leave him while the other side takes its turns.
Shapes
The Formation buttons stand the whole company in one of 6 shapes. The shape they are standing in is lit. Hover over a button for the game's own description of it.
| Shape | How it stands | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Loose line | Two ranks strung across the whole frontage, a hex of air between each man | Nobody can be surrounded, and nobody can be helped |
| Shield wall | One unbroken rank at the front of your ground, shoulder to shoulder | Friends at the shoulder steady the nerve and make a man harder to get inside or throw; but a flank turned is the whole line turned |
| Wedge | A point at the middle of their line, the flanks trailing back, one man ahead of the rest | Whoever stands at the tip meets three of them at once, so put your best there |
| Massed on one wing | The whole company three deep on the upper wing of the map | You give them the field and take their flank; whoever they have left over comes round behind you |
| Knot | Three deep in the middle of your own ground | Nothing can get behind you, and nothing has to |
| Open order | As far apart as the ground allows, no two men within reach of each other | Little for an archer to aim into, and nobody at your elbow when they arrive |
Men are placed in the order of their cards on the muster. The first man who marches is the tip of the wedge, so to put your best man there, put him first on the muster.
Choosing a shape stands every man in it afresh and turns them all to face the enemy. Anything you arranged by hand is lost.
Your ground
Your ground is the 3 columns of hexes at the left edge of the field. The enemy has the same at the right. Trees and boulders are not part of anyone's ground. When a shape asks for a hex that is a boulder, is off the map or is already taken, the man is stood on the nearest free hex of your ground, in his own rank where that can be done. So on broken ground a shape comes out close to its picture, not exactly.
Placing a man by hand
With nobody in hand, your ground is outlined faintly. To move one man:
- Select one of your own. He is in hand: his hex is ringed and your ground lights up.
- Select a hex of your ground. He is stood there. If another of your men is on it, the two change places.
Selecting anything else (an enemy, a hex off your ground, his own hex) only puts him down again,
and so does a right click or Escape. Nothing is ever spent. Once you have moved a man by hand,
no shape is lit any more, because the line is no longer that shape.
Selecting any man, yours or theirs, also shows him in the panel. Hover over an enemy to see his weapon, his shield and his armour before you decide where to meet him.
Facing
A man faces the enemy when he forms up. With a man in hand, the two arrows under Facing (or
[ and ]) turn him one face to the left or right. Before the battle it is free; once the
fighting starts, turning costs a point (see Moving and facing).
All to the front turns every one of your men back to face the enemy.
Keys
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
1 to 6 |
Stand the company in a shape, in the order of the buttons |
[ ] |
Turn the man in hand one face to the left or right |
Enter |
Begin the battle |
Escape |
Put the man in hand down |
| Right click on the map | Put the man in hand down |
Every other key waits until the battle begins. All of them are in Keys.
Beginning the battle
Begin the battle, or Enter, ends forming up. Whatever the line looks like then is the line
they fight in. The first man in the order takes his turn at once, and from then on each move costs
what it costs.
The opposition's shape
The enemy forms up before you see the field, and you cannot move them. The log's first lines name each of their men with his weapon (or the beast he is), then say the shape they stand in: Drawn up opposite: ….
A company forms up as it was drilled, and what it was drilled as comes with the warband you chose on the muster:
| Warband | Drilled as | Stands in |
|---|---|---|
| Hammers and mauls, Knights in full steel | soldiers | Shield wall |
| Seasoned raiders in bronze and iron mail | raiders | Massed on one wing |
| A spear levy in leather, A village militia with spears, hatchets and bows | militia | Knot |
| A rabble with pitchforks, clubs and knives | rabble | No order at all |
| A wolf pack | Open order | |
| Wild boar, Bears, Trolls | No order at all | |
| Drawn by lot each battle, A mirror of my own company, or nothing chosen | Loose line |
Drill is a human thing, so a beast has none. A wolf pack fans out, because that is how you find a flank; every other beast simply arrives. A company that was never drilled, your own among them, opens in the loose line.
No order at all is not a shape anyone can order, and it is not the same twice. Each man's nerve and his place in the file decide how far forward he drifts, and how quick he is decides which lane he wanders into, so eight strangers arrive as eight strangers.
A company that is a mixture, because you changed some of its men on the muster, forms up as most of it was drilled. Each man, and each beast, counts for his own. A man's drill stays with him when you rearm him on his card, so knights armed afresh as peasants still form a shield wall; choosing another warband is what changes it.
Raiders massed on one wing always come on the upper wing, the same wing the shape would put you on. Today the shape is the only thing a company's drill changes: once the battle begins, a shield wall of knights fights man by man like anyone else.