C'est la Guerre - Parade Ground

The French may field up to eight pavisiers - Reg Sp(O). They are supposed to be carrying larger shields than they have, but I do not feel inclined to re-paint them at this time. The emblems they are carrying are, from left to right, Brittany, Chalon-sur-Marne, Soissons, and Coucy.

The spearman on the extreme left has the top of his shield painted with the royal arms which is a “chief of honor”. It was awarded to the unit for extreme bravery and effectiveness on the field of battle. The action that led to the award took place when I was facing off a Carolingian army. My opponent placed two commands on table and for some reason I thought his third command was flank marching (A better general than I would have realized this.) I was running my pavisiers mounted at the time and I ran them through a gap in the woods in front of them expecting to out-flank his on-table commands. To my great chagrin, the mounted spears ran headlong into his third command lying behind the woods in ambush. With great pip rolls I was subsequently able to extricate all but one of my pavisiers moving them backwards individually. This unit, however, was left to face repeated charges of fast knights while being overlapped. The pavisiers destroyed not one, but two elements of fast knights before my foe realized that charging with cavalry (while flanking my unit) would be healthier. Driving off a final charge, the unit slunk into the woods behind them to await my knights breaking through the Carolingian spearmen on the other side of the field. It was truly a glorious stand on their part, and quite deserving of the chief of honor. It is the only unit so honored in my army.