After plenty of time at the workbench, my First Crusade Frankish knights are officially based, grouped, and ready to ride down the enemies of Christendom. These, iron-clad knights of the Italo-Norman vanguard are ready to carve their way through the Levant.
Perry First Crusade project: Hospitalers, Crusading noble, and Peter the Hermit, and using the Italian Clergy as an Inquisititor.
So going into this one, the intent was clear—this was supposed to play out like the Battle of the Little Bighorn. You had your split forces, aggressive cavalry and infantry, “this might go horribly wrong”
Naturally… everyone completely ignored that and did their own thing 😂
The tactic proved effective enough that later commanders trained elephants alongside swine to blunt their fear, a weakness noted by Roman and Byzantine authors from the wars against Pyrrhus to the defense of Edessa centuries later.
