miniatures whenever I'm in town. She finds it boring to read up on the individual battles."
"And if they're not displayed authentically, someone will point it out?" Gage grinned suddenly.
"The people who collect these things are sticklers for details," she admitted wryly. "Which battle are you doing?"
He sat back in his chair and smiled challengingly. "Pick a side and then I'll tell you."
"What? You mean you're not automatically going to stick me with the losers this time?" She studied the layout of archers and armored cavalry, trying to pinpoint the year if not the battle.
"Take your pick," Gage invited, sweeping a hand generously across the table.
"Given the fact that the French seem to outnumber the English by about three to one, I think I'll choose the French side," Rani chuckled obligingly. "No fair cheating if I have to get up in the middle of a charge to wait on customers!"
"Word of honor," Gage promised. "You're sure you want the French side?"
"The last time I fought for merry old England, I lost, remember?" She sat down across from him.
"Because your Saxons lacked discipline," he said. "But we are about three hundred and fifty years later now. The date is August twenty-sixth, 1346. Does that give you a clue?"
"Puts it somewhere in the middle of the Hundred Years' War, right?"
"Right. Know who this figure is?"
She frowned at the miniature he'd picked up. "An Edward?"
"Edward III. He's just invaded France. And this time the English army is paid, disciplined and professional, with a great respect for its archers. Your French army is still based on the feudal system, the nobility far more concerned with achieving individual glory on the battlefield than in using realistic strategy. And being quite feudal, they have no respect at all for their unmounted soldiers, who lack good training as well as any claim to decent breeding!"
"I get the feeling I may have picked the wrong side," Rani groaned suspiciously.
"You still outnumber me almost four to one," he pointed out encouragingly.
"What's the catch?" Rani regarded the board with a severe frown.
"This is the Battle of Crecy," he told her blandly.
"Crecy?" She glanced up, still frowning. "I've never set it up for Donna, but I seem to recall reading something about it in one of her military history books ..." Her voice trailed off thoughtfully as she tried to recall exactly what she had read.
"Don't worry about it, just fight it the way you think it should be fought," he advised easily.
"What do I get if I win?" she challenged lightly.
"I'll take you out to dinner," he returned at once. "And if I win, you can take me out"
Rani sobered. "Gage, when are you going to tell me your next argument for convincing me to go back to Dallas?"
"Over dinner. Now show me what the full flower of French chivalry can do against a paid professional army it outnumbers almost four to one."
From the beginning, Rani told herself, she was at a disadvantage. It was difficult to plot strategy while waiting on customers, and every time she did think of a particularly brilliant maneuver, Gage had a counter for it He insisted the battle be fought according to the historical facts. The English bowmen, for example, got to loose their arrows with the aid of the sun behind them, shining in their enemies' eyes and glinting off the heavy French armor.
The French had to charge ponderously uphill, bearing the weight of their plate armor. The arrows glanced off the hardware, but the horses were not so well protected. If a knight had his animal shot out from under him, the odds were against his ever regaining his feet.
Gage fought in the manner typical of the English during the Hundred Years' War, remaining in a strong defensive position and leaving the charging and uphill struggling to the French.
"The amazing thing is that the French never seemed to learn," he observed at one point. "They kept making wild, reckless charges at the English, who decimated them with organized
"And if they're not displayed authentically, someone will point it out?" Gage grinned suddenly.
"The people who collect these things are sticklers for details," she admitted wryly. "Which battle are you doing?"
He sat back in his chair and smiled challengingly. "Pick a side and then I'll tell you."
"What? You mean you're not automatically going to stick me with the losers this time?" She studied the layout of archers and armored cavalry, trying to pinpoint the year if not the battle.
"Take your pick," Gage invited, sweeping a hand generously across the table.
"Given the fact that the French seem to outnumber the English by about three to one, I think I'll choose the French side," Rani chuckled obligingly. "No fair cheating if I have to get up in the middle of a charge to wait on customers!"
"Word of honor," Gage promised. "You're sure you want the French side?"
"The last time I fought for merry old England, I lost, remember?" She sat down across from him.
"Because your Saxons lacked discipline," he said. "But we are about three hundred and fifty years later now. The date is August twenty-sixth, 1346. Does that give you a clue?"
"Puts it somewhere in the middle of the Hundred Years' War, right?"
"Right. Know who this figure is?"
She frowned at the miniature he'd picked up. "An Edward?"
"Edward III. He's just invaded France. And this time the English army is paid, disciplined and professional, with a great respect for its archers. Your French army is still based on the feudal system, the nobility far more concerned with achieving individual glory on the battlefield than in using realistic strategy. And being quite feudal, they have no respect at all for their unmounted soldiers, who lack good training as well as any claim to decent breeding!"
"I get the feeling I may have picked the wrong side," Rani groaned suspiciously.
"You still outnumber me almost four to one," he pointed out encouragingly.
"What's the catch?" Rani regarded the board with a severe frown.
"This is the Battle of Crecy," he told her blandly.
"Crecy?" She glanced up, still frowning. "I've never set it up for Donna, but I seem to recall reading something about it in one of her military history books ..." Her voice trailed off thoughtfully as she tried to recall exactly what she had read.
"Don't worry about it, just fight it the way you think it should be fought," he advised easily.
"What do I get if I win?" she challenged lightly.
"I'll take you out to dinner," he returned at once. "And if I win, you can take me out"
Rani sobered. "Gage, when are you going to tell me your next argument for convincing me to go back to Dallas?"
"Over dinner. Now show me what the full flower of French chivalry can do against a paid professional army it outnumbers almost four to one."
From the beginning, Rani told herself, she was at a disadvantage. It was difficult to plot strategy while waiting on customers, and every time she did think of a particularly brilliant maneuver, Gage had a counter for it He insisted the battle be fought according to the historical facts. The English bowmen, for example, got to loose their arrows with the aid of the sun behind them, shining in their enemies' eyes and glinting off the heavy French armor.
The French had to charge ponderously uphill, bearing the weight of their plate armor. The arrows glanced off the hardware, but the horses were not so well protected. If a knight had his animal shot out from under him, the odds were against his ever regaining his feet.
Gage fought in the manner typical of the English during the Hundred Years' War, remaining in a strong defensive position and leaving the charging and uphill struggling to the French.
"The amazing thing is that the French never seemed to learn," he observed at one point. "They kept making wild, reckless charges at the English, who decimated them with organized
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