Monday 28 March 2011

28mm War of the Roses Game 3rd September 1460 Northumberland.

The Battle of Lee's Pond, near ElderLee Village in Northumberland on the 3rd of September 1460. 

The Earl of Salisbury is beseiging Alnwick castle in Northumberland held by the Lancastrians, news arrives about a Lancastrian relief force on it's wat to lift the seige.The force is led by Lord Roos and various minor nobles but with some good retinue troops lent out by other nobles. The Earl of Salisbury has decide to intercept this force before it gets to near Alnwick castle, so has sent Lord Fauconberg (Salisburys brother) to stop the relief force.
The Yorkists must win the day otherwise they will have to lift the seige, giving victory to the Lancastrians.The Lancastrians must win the day by relieving the beseiged garrison of Alnwick castle, by beating the Yorkist Army at Lee's pond the seige will be lifted and the garrison rescued from certain death.
No pressure then.

The rejects had a war of the roses game on Sunday which involved Surjit (Commander), myself and Richard as the Lancastrians, Ray (Commander) and Smithy as the Yorkists. The troops were already deployed and it was a meeting engagement useing Warhammer age of Chivalry rules but with teaks and house rule included.
There was one other thing that didn't help but was actually relevant, there would be no discussion of tactics allowed between the player unless a meesenger was sent (this messenger was not guaranteed to arrive in time or at all) and this with some incredible tactics used by Surjit was the main reason we lost the game, well that's what Richard said.

Information on the period if interested  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses


Initial deployments with the Yorkists on the left.

Yorkist infantry and cavalry advancing.

Obligatory contractual shot of Postie (self proclaimed leader of the rejects), ringmaster and tea boy.

Yorkist forces start their advance, it wasn't much of an advance for Smithy.

My Lancastrian forces eagerly rushing forward.

Local commerce still continues despite the battle.

Yorkist infantry continue the advance.

Lancastrian cavalry prepare to charge, they died in their saddles due to the withering yorkist archery

Yorkist infantry and bowmen advancing, the archery in this period was deadly especially the better trained retinue bowmen.

An angry mob appears in the village and due to what Ray had done earlier they came on to my Lancastrian side. 

What Ray did to this local (Boo, Hiss).

Postie had bought brand new tiles for this game eeven though he didn't need them but because of Richards shenanigans this was the outcome, I won't show you some of his other mishaps with the scenery but I digress and back to the game. 

After several roundas of archery, handgun and artillery exchanges, the sides are about to clash in meele.

Richard explains to Ray how to use his fecking camera.

My 2 billmen units face a charge of Yorkist heavy cavalry. 


Another clash of infantry.

An overall view of the table/battlefield near the end.


The aftermath of the yorkist cavalry charge, two billmen units no longer on the table, the dice gods and heavy cavalry fecked me over, this last action ended the game and gave the Yorkists forces victory..

Ray being very unprofessional in victory, it put a damper on a good natured game:D

47 comments:

  1. Good battle report Fran. Ray could obviously learn a thing or 2!

    And you have a tea boy! How very civilised. At my club it's every man for himself!

    ReplyDelete
  2. awesome! even the buildings and trees are wonderfully recreated!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am SO gutted I had to miss this. It looks like it was an excellent battle (even if some players were unsportsmanlike! LOL).

    I could have done with a game this weekend as I've spent most of it running around from one chore to another (just call me Mr Taxi Man). Got a little painting done but on the whole its been a bit of a washout as far as gaming is concerned. Which makes the excellent pictures you (and ray) have posted all the more annoying, because I clearly missed a first class game.

    ReplyDelete
  4. "Postie (self proclaimed leader of the rejects)."
    Legend.
    I'd let him lead me into battle.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice report and photo's Fran, I did note that you forgot to mention the mysterious hovering building, that flew 3 inches sideways to let your unit through the gap in the town and try to get me in the flank!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Awesome, lovely table and terrain. 6 by 12? You can never have too many hills (referring to what can be seen in the backgound in the picture of the Lancastrian cavalry.) :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds like a good game Fran and its good to see some nice clear pics, but that's maybe due to there being no beer in sight?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great looking game and sounds like alot of fun.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Not my topic of War, but they sure did do a damn good job with everything. Looks like fun actually.
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great battle report and lovely collection!

    makes me wish i'd never sold all my WotR stuff..

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great looking game. Like the report and the nice pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great batrep. Beautiful pics and good narrative. Another great post, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  13. haha wow this looks like amazing fun. god this goes right on my bucket list

    ReplyDelete
  14. Photo 12, now that's a great shot. Looks like a lot of fun. I laughed at the ringmaster and tea boy, but I was shocked when I read that Ray was ill behaved. Shocked I say, shocked.

    Well, I'm headed offline to tend to chores. If I can get that stupid sewing room done by Wednesday night, I'm rewarding myself with organic heirloom seeds for my veggie garden.

    Have a great day, Lurker. Catch you again tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  15. great battle shots, well done mate...

    ReplyDelete
  16. The place looks so peaceful but war made it all better :D

    ReplyDelete
  17. Looks like a lot of fun. And amazing work on the paint, as always.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Nice minis, nice report... All is good.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Local commerce still continues despite the battle.

    I laughed at that.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Lovely board and report and happy on the Yorkist victory.

    Cheers
    Christopher

    ReplyDelete
  21. Looks like you guys had a blast. Awesome pictures all the characters looked great.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Excellent looking game and great write up. Love the idea of the messenger - may try to implement that one next time. Regards, Dean

    ReplyDelete
  23. Great table for the scenario! I've seen far too many drab and lifeless scenery sets for historical battles, this is a pleasant exception.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I love WOTR games, I can assume from the predominence of the Cavalry in this game the longbowmen were few and far between?

    Looked good and good pics and report - as I have come to expect from this excellent blog!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I could never figure out which color of rose was better to sympathize with, in this one. Clearly it was bad of them to come into town and hang a man, but which color rose were they for? And that pond looks very real in the hanging man shot.

    ReplyDelete
  26. A wonderful report! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  27. wow, that infantry looks really good bro. Ray looks like a troll, like the kind that rubs in your mistakes i may be wrong but your description of him fits.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Looking good.

    lol "leader of the rejects" great title.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Looks like a bunch of fun :D

    ReplyDelete
  30. looking like a great gaming group your are a lucky man.
    Peace James

    ReplyDelete
  31. wow.just wow.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Loved the way you described it, I was so excited when reading :)

    ReplyDelete
  33. My 15th century history's a little fuzzy. At what point does Godzilla come in to fight Mothra?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Great looking game and well done to Ray!

    ReplyDelete
  35. dude this is sooo much better than all those history courses I took in the past!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Great write-up, wonderful models, great pics - good times! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  37. love the details

    ReplyDelete
  38. Now that is hardcore, right there man! I'd love to hear more about the structure you put behind it as far as the dice rolls are concerned. I know you based it on Warhammer: Age of Chivalry, but how DID you guys handle the message runner system?

    It seems like you guys got every critical detail right down to what happened in that era when command and control broke down on the battlefield. How long did it take you guys to complete this whole battle?

    ReplyDelete