Berbers at Kegworth Codgers 2025
This year's Kegworth Codgers event was themed for the years in which Kegworth Church was (broadly speaking) built, namely 1200-1299, with a mix of Christian and non-Christian armies who would have clashed in Europe and the Middle East being permitted. With mostly "Christian" armies entered, I opted to balance the books a little with a Berber army, also fitting in 2 Almughavars which were newly painted.
This meant I ended up with a list who's key attributes were a solid core of spearmen, with a more punchy Almughavars + Javelinmen block to take on terrain and elephants (of which it turned out there were none), a wing command with Medium Cavalry Javelin Elite and some supporting foot, and a third command of 3 Impetuous Medium Knights in reserve to find a suitable gap to aim for and punch through - in theory. .
The lists for the Berbers and all of the other armies in these reports from Kegworth Codgers 2025 can be seen here in the L'Art de la Guerre Wiki.
So, with a trip up the M1 achieved, and a decent few pints on the Monday evening before this midweek extravaganza began, The 2025 Kegworth Codgers Competition was soon playing host to the Berbers
You can either watch the battle reports here, or on YouTube on a playlist
Game 1 Berbers vs Feudal Spanish
In this game the Berbers fought Paul "Man of Metal" Frith's Spanish, with their top notch Religious Orders knights and a load of other stuff as well.
But, more importantly the game set the tone for the rest of the midweek-weekend, with Paul making sure to share with me news of his latest discovers of nichely-named Heavy Metal bands, this time all with a decidedly Medieval flavour. Yes, this battle report sees the Madaxeman.com debut of the musical stylings of War Piglet, and their seminal album "Bacon the Law".
Will the Berber's Almughavars triumph over the Spanish Almughavars, or more importantly will anyone ever come up with as good an album title as War Piglet's "Bacon the Law" ?
Game 2 Berbers vs Later Byzantine
In this game Berbers lurched eastwards (of the Byzantines came West?) to recreate the Justinian reconquest of North Africa!
The clash of two mostly mounted + spearmen armies from either side of the religious divide would be a true reflection of the theme of the event overall, and a great opportunity for me to see what I might be able to do with the thousands of Byzantine troops I've been painting up this year once I finally get around to putting them on table as well. In this game the Metal Music theme also reared its head yet again, following another interruption from ADLG's leading Metal advocate, and this time we get to hear the middle ages themed aural beauty that is Helmet Fuzz!
Will the desert dwelling nomads prevail, or will the Byzantine's resilience check the Berber advance?
The Red Lion pub in Kegworth
A great boozer that many of us ended up in each evening of the event.
Game 3 Berbers vs Prussians & Estonians
In this game the Berbers braved the snowy wastes of Northern Europe to help the Teutonic Knights (I guess..?) try and subdue the Prussian and Estonian pagans
This was a matchup of two rather unusual (or for this event, literally unique) armies with puzzlement on both sides as to what the enemy's composition and tactics would be - but far more importantly, it sees the introduction of the music of "Dragon Sack" into the mainstream of the UK's ADLG discourse, marking yet another cultural achievement on the part of the Man of Metal himself.
Will the sand in the toes of the Berbers manage to be scattered over the snowy wastes of Estonia to allow the North Africans to get a grip, or will the Scandic's Polish allies polish off the Berber's hopes of 3 wins in this veritable Dragon Sack race of a competition first day?
Game 4 Berbers vs More Later Byzantines
Another Byzantine clash for the Berbers, but with all sorts of options in the Byzantine list, would this one be the same, or different - and likewise the result?
This would be a real test for the North Africans, deciding whether the final round would be faced with a 3-1 win loss ratio, or a 2-2 mid table mediocrity scoreline. But, even more importantly, the Heavy Metal simply keeps on coming in an inexorable pseudo-medieval fashion as Paul introduces us all to yet another frankly hard-to-believe band name in the shape of "Dungeon Fuel" and their gasoline powered helmet wearing METAL!!! riffs.
Will the Berbers pull off a repeat triumph, or will these Byzantines provide a stiffer test of the North Africans mettle to the soundtrack of Dungeon Fuel's proper Medieval METAL?
Game 5 Berbers vs Feudal Germans
It doesn't get any more METAL than the Feudal Germans, as the Berber army rolls gently downhill into the final game of the 5-round Kegworth Codgers competition in 2025.
This would be a tough nut to crack, with Teutonic Knights and Feudal spearmen mixing it up with yet another blast of Teutonic METAL in the audible maelstrom of "Moat Party"'s classic album, "Wet, Loud & Medieval". A simple battle plan from both sides at the end of the midweek weekend to round off the tournament in some style!
Warning - this battle report video also features a late insertion from the 6th band on Paul's MEDIEVAL METAL Spotify Playlist, the extremely meaty sounds of "Sir Loin and the Gravy Knights"
That's the end - so why not go back to the Match Reports Index and read some more reports?
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