Emir al-Masaffah meets the dragon
Ricky was using his new Schleich Saracen army. I was using the crusaders that we got for Christmas last year.
Chapter Three
The story as we left off in the second "chapter", saw the Black Knight withdrawing to other parts to prosecute some business. What exactly that business was we won't bother to "discover." The important thing is that he and his force got into a satisfying little scrum with some vengeful Saracens. Suffice to say, that in earlier crusading the Black Knight had made some enemies. One of these, thinking to overwhelm his foe with missile fire, blocked the crusaders' passage in a narrow defile (formed "naturally" by table center-piece gunk and a few added items not cleared away). The frontage of the small battle was only c. 18" wide; which, for 90mm (1:20 scale) figures, is very narrow indeed.
A legendary confrontation of the time says that one emir Ibn Ali al-Mumit al-Masaffah had met a dragon while out adventuring alone. He had succeeded not only in not running away, and keeping his terrified horse under control, but had also managed to ram his lance in the dragon's mouth, at which point the beastie departed with amazing alacrity. Of course, the proof of this tale was lacking in every respect, except for some uncanny scales of the dragon's armor plate which it had either shed in its abrupt rout to the air, or which al-Masaffah's lance had pried off. Or, more probably, he had come across them in his travels and kept them and then concocted the story of his confrontation with the dragon. Certain it is, that the emir relished telling and retelling of his fantastic exploit, until it was the most famous detail known about him. His sobriquet, which loosely applied means "many ranks", was bestowed by his earliest listeners, because of his oft-repeated metaphor: of how he and his single mount had withstood the dragon more firmly than a formation of spearmen many saff deep.
Emir al-Masaffah meets the dragon
The dragon gets a taste of the emir's lance
The Black Knight and his banner bearer prepare to withdraw in haste
It chanced that the Black Knight was scouting with his banner bearer, well ahead of a company of his troops, when, rounding a bend in a defile, they ran smack into some Sudanese bowmen who were also scouting ahead of the rest of the emir's retinue.
Wheeling at once, they galloped down the defile amid a cloud of hastily loosed arrows, taking no harm. Once out of sight, they slowed to a trot and came soon to where their men were, marching toward them.
The horsemen pass through the ranks to the rear
Once the Black Knight had his infantry in front, the advance up the defile was resumed. Soon, the crusaders came within sight of the Muslim force, which slightly outnumbered them.
The Saracens await the crusaders' approach
Even outside of effective archery range, it was obvious to the crusaders that the legendary emir Ibn Ali al-Mumit al-Masaffah stood to receive their attack. His men were arrayed in three lines: Sudanese kneeling in front, spearmen with their hand missiles poised, and behind these, the emir himself with three askari Turcomen. As the crusaders drew closer, the first of the Sudanese arrows arced down to strike the earth a few feet ahead. The Black Knight halted to dress his line.
The Crusaders charge
As the pikemen came within range of the Muslim arrows, they began to take casualties. (Ricky, playing the Saracens, was up to his usual tricks with wonderfully high effective rolls.) The crusader advance became ragged as the fallen impeded those still advancing to attack range. More pikemen went down. (A morale test for casualties on the Black Knight's force was made and passed.)
The crusaders clash with the Saracens
Finally the decimated crusaders came to the range where their pikes could impale the enemy. Now the heavier armor protection of the crusaders began to shift the battle in their favor. The first of al-Masaffah's men to die were several of his Sudanese. Others turned to get away from the melee in which their unarmored bodies stood little chance against the plate and mail of their foes. Spearmen took their places and the little battle raged.
The emir enters the battle. The Black Knight outflanks his foe
As the fighting grew desperate, and more of his men fell before the press of crusaders, al-Masaffah charged into the Christians with his long reed lance. Seeing this, the Black Knight took himself around a "rocky" outcrop and fell upon the emir from his right. The askaris continued to seek targets as opportunity offered, from behind the embattled lines. The Black Knight's banner bearer lost his horse, but leapt nimbly to his feet and managed to keep the banner flying.
The Saracens are driven before the Crusaders
Al-Masaffah turned to face his enemy, and one of the emir's askaris joined to help his master. The Black Knight struck the legendary emir a fearsome blow with his lance and unhorsed him. The askari fled at once.
The Christian banner went down in the midst of the melee, but Saracen losses continued to mount faster than Crusader, and also more of them fled the fight.
A crusader knight on the opposite end of the line killed several Saracens, including the officers of the Sudanese archers and Arab spearmen. More Muslims turned in flight.
The general rout of the emir's force
Crushing their way over the fallen, the pikemen struck all enemies who yet remained in range.
The Black Knight and his mounted retainer pursued for a short distance. Returning to the corpse strewn defile, they discovered that al-Masaffah yet lived. His wounds were attended to. He was taken with his wounded men as prisoners to a castle guarded by a friend of the Black Knight, where they were held to ransom. Because of his vaunted reputation, the emir had to pay a great deal to secure his freedom. As his mouth was much larger than his fortune, he made up the difference in coin be agreeing to a temporary servitude under the Black Knight. Al-Masaffah was not immediately required to pay for the rest of his ransom with his services. But the Black Knight warned him that one day he might call upon the Saracen emir to make good on his promise of armed support.
Meanwhile, somewhere back in those mountains along the pilgrim route,
Prince Merlin and his son prince Richard, continue to fall out. Whenever they meet, they cannot refrain from verbally baiting each other. Swords are drawn, and only the intervention of their men has kept them from coming to serious blows.
At length, prince Merlin decides to lay siege to his father's castle once more. But he knows that without more men this would be impossible to carry out. Learning that his crusading friend, the Black Knight, was soon to return, he bided his time. (Will al-Masaffah be compelled by the Black Knight to participate with his men in the siege, as part of his ransom conditions?)