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| The fictional village of Little Hadshore, soon to be the scene of a clash between York and Lancaster |
Having finished painting our Wars of the Roses collections, me and M, along with four other friends, decided to pit our forces against each other. I had also just got hold of Osprey's Lion Rampant, medieval skirmish, rules, which we used with our own adaptations. It promised to make an exciting game.
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| Dubaton's force, on the Lancastrian left flank, supported by R's mounted men at arms, face the defenders of Little Hadshore |
We had six separate forces, one for each commander, with three on each side (York and Lancaster). Commanders operated their forces separately, activating them in their side's turn. All the commanders also had the option of changing sides whenever they wished...
The forces were as follows.
- Lancaster
Dubaton (me): 12 longbowmen, 8 billmen, 14 men at arms and 6 mounted men at arms with lances
R: 8 crossbowmen with pavises, 16 pikemen, 10 men at arms and 6 mounted men at arms
J: 8 handgunners, 8 longbowmen, 7 billmen, 12 men at arms and 6 mounted men at arms
- York
M: 25 longbowmen, 12 billmen, 9 men at arms and 6 mounted men at arms with lances
A: 6 crossbow, 8 longbowmen, 16 men at arms and 6 mounted men at arms with lances
B: 14 longbowmen, 24 billmen, 8 men at arms, 6 mounted men at arms with lances
There were three objectives, or strategic points; the village itself, the farmland to the west of the village and the Nottingham road to the south. The side holding the most objectives at the end would be the victor.
Lancaster began the advance; Dubaton's force on the left advancing on the village, while J's right flank dug in in the woods and R's centre advanced across the open ground. However we were plagued by irresponsive units and it took a while to get the whole of our force moving.
By the time we had managed it A's Yorkists were already occupying the village, a lead band of crossbowmen securing the vantage of Little Hadshore's fortified tower. In the centre M's two large units of Longbowmen were positioned to cover any advance on Little Hadshore's southern entrance. On the left, in the woods, B's blocks of billmen, together with his and A's mounted men at arms, were advancing on our position beyond the Nottingham road.
As the Yorkist mounted men at arms moved on our right, R's Swiss pikemen and Burgundian crossbows, supported by J's mounted men at arms, headed south for the Nottingham road where a clash amongst the trees seemed imminent
With A's men at arms firmly entrenched in Little Hadshore, Dubaton's left was at last moving. With the smaller unit of men at arms holding the strategic point in the farmland, Dubaton's longbowmen moved into position behind the hedge opposite the village, while the rest of the Dubaton infantry advanced, supported by Lord Dubaton and R's mounted men at arms. Meanwhile R's men at arms, led by Dubaton's son-in-law, Caston, advanced over the ploughed fields towards Little Hadshore's fortified tower
On the right J's men at arms rushed to form line to the fore of his Swiss handgunners and longbowmen, while R's pike block moved down the Nottingham road towards where the Yorkist mounted men at arms were emerging from the opposite treeline, supported by B's billmen.
Now in position on the road, the pikemen formed schiltron. Meanwhile the opposing crossbowmen and longbowmen engaged in a long range fire fight in which the first casualty, a Yorkist longbowman, fell.
On our left Dubaton's men were in position to attack the village, the infantry positioned to the fore, ready to storm A's position while the cavalry prepared to back them up.
As they advanced, A lost control of his impetuous knights, who charged headlong for the Swiss pike block. With a bloodbath promised, a nearby block of Yorkist billmen charged in to support the mounted men at arms.
Now in position, Lord Dubaton now suffered from unresponsive units, as Dubaton's eldest son, in charge of the men at arms, was unable to persuade his infantrymen forwards. With the battle starting in the south, and Dubaton's men concentrated on the village to the north, but resolutely inactive, our centre ground looked dangerously open to attack.
On our right, despite a promising start with A's mounted men at arms careering into the pike block, only two were unhorsed, but the others hacked into the pikemen, disordering the formation. On the other side the Yorkist billmen charged in to support them, but did no damage.
Meanwhile Caston's men at arms, bogged down in the ploughed field, came under fire from the longbowmen south of the village, losing a man to their sharp arrows.
Despite having been disordered, the pikemen fought on, killing another two men at arms, while the horsemen laid into them, breaking up the formation further. However they were aided in their fight by J's mounted men at arms who charged into the billmen, sending them running back over the hedge.
While J and R's men were forcing the Yorkists off the Nottingham road, Dubaton's men remained inactive, but came under fire from the longbowmen in Little Hadshore, who killed a billman.
On the right, the tide quickly turned as M's men at arms and billmen charged J's mounted men at arms, while B's mounted men at arms charged in to support A's as they carved up the disordered pike block.
The combined mounted men at arms made light work of the pikemen, and the remnants ran for the safety of J's line of men at arms. Things went just as badly for the Lancastrian mounted men at arms, as the M's men at arms killed four of them and sent the remaining two fleeing, having taken only two casulaties.
With our right falling apart, the Dubaton contingent still failed to act. The eldest Dubaton led his men at arms towards the village, as Caston's made a dash for the tower, but Lord Dubaton's remaining men continued to be inactive.
With R's right flank crumbling, his pike running and crossbowmen retreating under longbow fire, J's infantry stood resolute as the Yorkist left closed in on them.
A and B's mounted men at arms charged for J's force, but, with a volley of handguns, A's unit was reduced to one man and sent running, while B's men engaged J's large unit of men at arms. The pikemen continued to flee, while J's billmen rushed across the back to reinforce his left against M's men at arms
J's men at arms quickly cut down all but one of B's mounted men at arms, leaving the main body of Yorkist cavalry devastated and all, save his mounted men at arms, still standing.
Things were looking slightly better on the right, but on the left things were not going quite as well. Dubaton's men at arms advanced on Little Hadshore unsupported as the billmen, having taken another casualty, ran. Both R's mounted men at arms and Caston's men at arms, having just reached the door of the tower under sustained crossbow fire, legged it at the news of their commander's flight with the pikemen. Lord Dubaton, seeing things falling apart, moved his own mounted men at arms behind the protection of the longbowmen
Things seemed to be falling apart for the Lancastrians when we took a cake break. Two units on the left and right were fleeing or had already fled, two of them mounted men at arms, while the centre was held only by a unit of mercenary crossbowmen, and the Yorkists were closing in on J's contingent. Meanwhile on the left the eldest Dubaton was advancing alone on Little Hadshore.
Despite coming under close range longbow fire, and being outmanned, Dubaton led his men at arms over the hedge and into combat with A's men at arms defending the perimeter of Little Hadshore.
Returning from cake things looked a little more hopeful. Dubaton's men had finally engaged the defenders of Little Hadshore, albeit not many of them, and R's mounted men at arms had rallied and were heading back to support Dubaton. Caston's men at arms had also rallied and were heading back towards the village, however they had lost over half their number from M's longbowmen on the south side of the village
Having beaten off a cavalry attack, J's men at arms charged and routed B's men at arms, but took several casualties in the process further depleting their number. However J was still holding up well.
Against the odds Dubaton's men at arms threw back A's and crossed the boundary of Little Hadshore, having taken only two casualties in the combat.
On the right M's men at arms charged J's and destroyed them. However, with a volley from the Swiss handgunners they were soon running, having lost over half their number destroying J's two men at arms units.
As the Dubatons forced their advance into Little Hadshore, M's contingent began to attempt to break through our centre. To counter the threat R's mounted men at arms abandoned the Dubaton assault riding over the fields towards M's. Caston's men at arms again broke, running through the fields, and R's crossbowmen retreated in the face of M's advancing billmen.
J's handgunners opened fire again, sending B's advancing billmen back off the road. Meanwhile his billmen hurried to reinforce the centre and his longbowmen attempted to hold of the Yorkist billme with their fire
Dubaton's men at arms continued their successful advance, defeating the next line of Yorkist defenders, longbowmen, as they stormed into Little Hadshore. With the longbowmen and mounted men at arms supporting the assault looked to be a success. However another unit of A's men at arms exited the tower, while M's billmen entered the village to reinforce their allies.
Caught between two groups of Yorkist men at arms, Dubaton's men at arms held, but when M's billmen entered the fray, the unit at last broke and was destroyed. However they had left Little Hadshore's defenders disordered and the way was clear for the rest of Lord Dubaton's mounted men at arms and archers to take the village.
J's right flank had held up well but was some way from the Nottingham road, which remained in Yorkist hands, while despite a valiant assault by Dubaton, Little Hadshore was also still held by the Yorkists. However the fields were at least secured for Lancaster by Dubaton's remaining men at arms, though with M's mounted men at arms and billmen threatening to split our force in two, it was doubtful how much longer we could remain. As we went for tea thing definitely looked in the Yorkists' favour, however everything was still to play for.
Returning from our tea break, things suddenly changed very rapidly. M, having thought it over, turned-coat to side with Lancaster, the balance of power seemed to have been restored, and things looked brighter for us, but no sooner had he done so than J defected to York (a feud between M and J's houses had meant that any alliance was impossible, they had also spent much of the game taking chunks out of each other, while myself and M had only engaged once, almost by accident, when Dubaton's men at arms were being cut-down in the village). I'm afraid my phone ran out of room at this stage so I don't have many images to say what happened further, but alliances continued to shift. As the new Lancastrian alliance (Dubaton, M and R) made for the last two objectives, M advancing on the south side of the village, while Dubaton personally approached the North, M also diverted men to deal with B and J on the Nottingham road. But the real shock came next turn as R switched to York, a move I had been afraid of. His mounted men at arms quickly charged my block of longbowmen and made took chunks out of both them and my recently rallied group of billmen.
Fortunately for me and M, despite now being opposed by four other contingents, failures to move our troops earlier in the day meant that our forces were still relatively strong, while the other four had suffered badly and were now considerably depleted. Swift action would matter now.
M's till now unengaged mounted men at arms charged J's handgunners, sweeping them aside to turn east towards the Nottingham road objective. Sweeping forwards his men engaged and fought back B's units of billmen, so that by the time the game ended they were the successful holders of the Nottingham road, with other units of M's force moving to support. The action of these men was decisive in swinging it for Lancaster
In Little Hadshore Dubaton's mounted men at arms, together with M's billmen, defeated both of A's men at arms units, along with his longbowmen, sending them fleeing from the village. However by the end of the battle, one of A's men at arms units was still engaged with Dubaton, while his crossbowmen retained their position in the tower, defying Dubaton control of the village. We thus counted this as a contested objective. The lack of support from the rest of the Dubaton contingent, the longbowmen and billmen, engaged by R's mounted men at arms, had prevented Dubaton taking control of Little Hadshore. However R had been held up sufficiently by Dubaton's men to stop him attacking my men at arms defending the crop fields objective.
Thus the battle was a convincing Lancastrian victory!
Lancaster 2 - 0 York
It had been a very exciting game and a close (and also completely surprise) victory! The two forces who had contributed the least to start off with, having failed to get our contingents moving, found themselves allied against the rest by the end, and two bold moves by our generals' cavalry secured it for us. I found it a really fun game, made all the better with great terrain and large fully painted armies! Thank you everyone who took part!!
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