Mostly Mortimer’s Cross

A couple of weeks ago, John came over for a long, overdue wargame. The game’s scenario was loosely based on the 1461 battle of Mortimer’s Cross during the War of the Roses. Our armies were made up of various 54mm Britains figures, with twelve units per side. John and I were commanding the Yorkist army, while the Lancastrian force was controlled by the dice-driven AI from “De Bellis Solitarius”. Further complexity was achieved by rolling a D20, with the result determining what random events might occur during each side’s turn. We used the medieval rules from Neil Thomas’s “One Hour Wargames”. All units had a break point of 15, while the army break point for both sides was only 3 units remaining.

The Lancastrian army was deployed using the AI. John and I split the Yorkist command between us, with John commanding the right flank units and I commanding those on the left. We chose to deploy a unit of longbow men on a hill slightly forward of our right flank in the hope of enfilading the Lancastrians should they advance. We also detached a unit of knights to advance through the valley between the hills on our right with the intention of outflanking the Lancastrian line. The arrival of the flanking force was to be rolled for each turn, with the probability of it turning up increasing throughout the game.

With turn one, John and I had the initiative but decided to remain on the defensive. Our bows were out of range of the Lancastrians, but we were able to hit them with a shot from our cannon, inflicting heavy casualties on a unit of knights on the Lancastrian left. This goaded the Lancastrians into action, and the Lancastrians became aggressive and made a general advance. The Lancastrian cannon fired in support but only dealt one casualty to a unit of levy on the Yorkist right flank.

Turn two saw the destruction of the unit of knights on the Lancastrian left flank by the combined fire and missilery of the Yorkist cannon and the long bows on the hill. A charging unit of knights from the Lancastrian centre was heavily damaged by the bows on our left flank. In turn, the Lancastrian bows opposite our bowmen inflicted a couple of casualties on them. Confusion (a random event) broke out in the Lancastrian force, and three units were unable to move. The AI became more cautious, and the Lancastrian army assumed a more defensive posture and endeavoured to reform. However, the knights from the Lancastrian centre were fully committed and charged onwards, striking a unit of Yorkist levy on our left flank and causing more than a few casualties to them. Fire from the Lancastrian cannon caused a further loss to the Yorkist levy across the field from them.

Turn three and a random event roll allowed the Yorkist bows on the hill to loose two volleys into the Lancastrian men at arms (MAA) nearest to them, inflicting a great number of casualties. Our cannon also inflicted heavy damage on the Lancastrian levy opposite them. The Yorkist levy on our left flank continued to melee with the Lancastrian knights, causing further losses, while our bowmen loosed a volley into the opposing Lancastrian bowmen and caused some casualties. They, in turn, caused a couple of more Yorkist casualties. The Lancastrian cannon inflicted further light casualties on the Yorkist levy opposite them, while the attacking Lancastrian knights on our left flank caused great damage to the Yorkist levy from hand to hand. The Lancastrians also manoeuvred one unit of longbow men to a central position where they could shoot at our right flank.

Turn four, and our flanking unit of Yorkist knights finally arrived at the field of battle. On the Yorkist right flank, a unit of levy and John’s personal retinue of men-at-arms advanced into contact with the Lancastrian levy, with John’s MAA doing considerable damage to the opposing levy. The Yorkist reserve knights were pulled from the right flank and positioned behind cover to avoid taking unnecessary casualties from the Lancastrian artillery. On our left, the Yorkist levy continued their melee with the Lancastrian knights, and our unit of bows inflicted light casualties on the advancing enemy MAA. In turn, the Lancastrians advanced their formidable right flank units, while their knights caused further damage to the Yorkist levy. The Lancastrians also moved a unit of MAA into contact with the levy on our extreme right and caused some casualties.

Turn five saw the right flank Yorkist levy, supporting John’s retinue, destroy their Lancastrian opponents. A brutal melee continued between John’s MAA and the second unit of Lancastrian levy. An equally desperate hand-to-hand fight continued between the levy on our far right and a unit of Lancastrian MAA. The unit of Yorkist knights on our left flank charged the Lancastrian MAA in front of them, causing some damage but also taking some in the Lancastrian turn. Our unit of longbow men on the left flank had little effect on the enemy MAA opposite them, while the levy still fought on against the Lancastrian knights. We also moved our reserve unit of knights to shore up our left flank as casualties mounted there. The Yorkist flanking force moved out of the valley and prepared to charge.

The Lancastrians rolled a random event that allowed their centre unit of longbows to loose two volleys, and this enabled them to eliminate one of our units of Yorkist levys. They also redeployed a unit of bows from their right flank to support their unit of bows in the centre, and so they formed a strong defensive line. Our left flank levy finally succumbed to the Lancastrian knights, leaving a gap in the line, while the MAA attacked our left flank bowmen.

Turn 6, and we were fortunate to get a double move on a random event roll. This allowed our flanking force to charge across the battlefield, hit the Lancastrian artillery on the flank, and almost wipe it out. The Yorkist bowmen and Levy on that flank were able to take out the unit of Lancastrian MAA. However, John’s retinue of MAA continued to battle the remaining Lancastrian Levy in hand-to-hand combat. On our left flank, the Yorkist reserve knights charged and eliminated the Lancastrian knights that had done for the Yorkist levy. Our other unit of knights and bowmen desperately fought on against the Lancastrian MAA. The Lancastrians, in response, redeployed their right flank unit of knights to strengthen their centre and attacked our reserve knights with a fresh unit of MAA. The Lancastrian artillery managed to fight back and inflict a little damage on our unit of knights.

Turn seven saw the destruction of the final unit of Lancastrian levy opposing us on our right flank. On our left flank, fierce hand-to-hand combat was taking place all along the line. In turn, the Lancastrian MAA finally wiped out our bowmen, and their reserve knights charged our unit of knights (in combat with the Lancastrian artillery) in the flank and slaughtered them.

Turn eight saw our Yorkist right flank form up into a new defensive line facing the Lancastrian centre. The Yorkist artillery managed to successfully eliminate the Lancastrian artillery with counter-battery fire. On our left flank, the destroyed unit of bowmen was replaced with MAA from our second-rank reserve. A desperate melee continued all along our left flank.

Turn nine, and our far-left unit of Yorkist knights finally destroyed the Lancastrian MAA that opposed them. Heavy combat still continued between the Yorkists and the remaining Lancastrian units on the left flank. The last unit of mounted Lancastrian knights returned to their central defensive line.

Turn ten saw our triumphant unit of knights wheel right, hit the nearest unit of Lancastrian MAA in the flank, and wipe them out. The Lancastrians then suffered misfortune due to a random event roll that meant their remaining unit of MAA took more casualties and were eliminated. With that, John and I, the Yorkists, were victorious, as the Lancastrians had reached their army break point while we still had eight units on the field. The sun, in all its splendour, had shone brightly on the sons of York that day.

John’s splendid narration of the game can be found here:

Knightly oddments.

Over the last month, a few odds and ends have arrived in the mail. The parcels contained some interesting (at least for me) new goodies. A couple of small packages with knights to add to my stash. The first to arrive contained three metal 1/32 Lone Star “Knights of the Round Table” from around 1981. I believe there were six in the set, but I ended up with Lancelot, Galahad, and Bedivere. I will have to keep an eye out for Arthur, Percival, and Gareth.

The second small package contained a few old silver-painted black plastic Hong Kong recasts of a Britains Deetail knight and four Turks. Interestingly, one of the Turks isn’t a straight recast, as it was heavily modified. The original Britains figure holds a polearm in two hands, whereas the Hong Kong recast holds a shield and a single-handed weapon in the right.

The last parcel was rather large and contained a painting table that my lovely wife had purchased as an early birthday present. It is a very useful table as it folds down and is on castors, so it can easily be put away when not in use. I now have a semi-permanent work table and don’t have to put things away as I did every time the kitchen table was required.

Things that go boom!

After my last game using the Britains knights, I decided that I needed some field artillery as it was an increasingly important feature of late medieval warfare. I had a look around to see what was available in 1/32 or similar but didn’t find anything that met my requirements or my pocket. Consequently, I decided to build my own.

So, I consulted my books and decided I wanted to build a breech-loader. Then I searched the internet for more information and pictures of medieval artillery, particularly period illustrations. After a good rummage, I found a few bits and bobs that I could use and made a rough-to-scale sketch of the gun I was to build. In the end, I built two guns as it was just as easy as building one and I had sufficient parts.

The gun carriages, trails and axles were cut and shaped from paulownia wood, an alternative to balsa. The trails were then attached to the carriages with small brass hinges to allow the guns to be elevated or depressed if I wanted. I then applied EVA ironwork to the carriages, adding rivets by pushing an empty clutch pencil into the foam. Holes were also drilled into the carriages to accommodate metal eyes made from wire so chains could be added later.

The gun barrels are simply plastic cylinders from the centre of dog waste bags with the ribbing cut from EVA foam and glued on. As many early medieval breech-loading cannons had replaceable powder chambers, I attached handles made from pieces of paper clip to the chamber sections and drilled touch holes.

The wheels came from a plastic toy battering ram base that I bought from an Op shop quite some years ago. As the wheels were hollow, I filled them with two part epoxy putty to make them solid. EVA foam tyres and reinforcing straps were added. The wheels were then attached to the axles with screws and EVA foam reinforcing straps were glued on to the axles where appropriate and then “riveted”.

I coated all the EVA foam parts with an acrylic sealer to stiffen them up ready for painting and then painted the cannon barrels and the area where they would be attached to the carriages. After that, wooden wedge “breech blocks” and the gun barrels were glued onto the carriages and more EVA straps were added. Next, the axles and wheels were attached and the almost completed cannons were painted in a simple toy soldier style.

Sections of an old watch chain were added to connect the “breech blocks” to the carriages and to attach metal pins to hold the guns at their desired elevation. Finally, I cut some strips of plastic card and drilled holes in them to make the “racks” for the pins, painted them, and glued them into slots on the trails.

I am really quite happy with how they turned out. They certainly look the part. These infernal engines will give my old Britains / Herald siege engine crew something to make go boom when my knights take the field again.

The Battle of Riddle Hill

The Lancastrian army slowly advanced northward until they came to a junction on the well-travelled road to the rich market town of Riddlington. The side road was no less important to their army as it led west to Lower Sackville. There, further supplies could be had for their campaign. To the north-west, the junction was dominated by Riddle Hill. As the Lancastrians paused their advance, the morning mist dispersed to reveal the Yorkist army in all its power, armour gleaming and standards fluttering in the morning air.

The first turn, the arrival of the Lancastrians sooner than expected, caused confusion in the Yorkist ranks, and several units were unable to move. Equally, the sight of the fully arrayed Yorkists led to panic among the Lancastrian blue knights, and they received 5 damage as many knights fled (the total break point for all units being 15).

With the second turn, the Yorkist army had the initiative, and the left flank knights became impetuous and charged across the field and crashed into the Lancastrian knights on the right flank, causing 5 damage to them. The initiative switched to the Lancastrians, and the army launched an aggressive attack. The Lancastrian levy charged quickly along the road towards the Yorkist men at arms (MAA). The knights on the Lancastrian right inflicted one hit on the Yorkist knights that had charged them. The units of Lancastrian blue and red knights in the centre spurred forwards towards the Yorkist line. The reserve unit of yellow knights followed suit, and the MAA moved towards the Yorkist bows on Riddle Hill.

Turn three, the Yorkist bows unleashed a storm of arrows upon the charging Lancastrian yellow knights and caused 11 casualties, while the centre units of Yorkist gold and silver knights counter charged the Lancastrian centre. The resulting melee inflicted a further 6 hits on the Lancastrian blue knights (total 11) and 6 hits on the red knights.

The charge of the Lancastrian yellow knights was not slowed by the arrow storm and they rode up the hill to strike the Yorkist bowmen and caused 1 damage to them. The Lancastrian MAA continued their advance against the other unit of archers, while the levy kept up their own attack. Meanwhile, in the centre, the Lancastrian knights imposed 8 casualties on the Yorkist gold knights and 4 on the silver knights.

Turn four, the Yorkist bows managed to eliminate the Lancastrian yellow knights. The gold Yorkist knights destroyed the blue Lancastrian knights, while the silver Yorkist knights inflicted a further 8 hits (total 14) on the Lancastrian red knights. The Yorkist MAA attacked the Lancastrian levy and did 1 damage to them. The left flank Yorkist knights finally eliminated the Lancastrian right flank knights.

The desperate Lancastrians became defensive. The red knights rallied, and they regained 3 hit points. The Lancastrian MAA kept up their advance and attempted to flank the archers on the hill, while the reinvigorated red knights imposed 4 hits on the Yorkist silver knights and the levy did 2 damage to the Yorkist MAA.

During turn five, the gold Yorkist knights started to wheel around in order to charge the Lancastrian red knights. The silver Yorkist knights, however, destroyed the Lancastrian knights. The right-hand unit of bows inflicted 2 hits on the Lancastrian MAA, while the Yorkist MAA caused 4 hits to the Lancastrian levy. In turn, the Lancastrian MAA climbed the hill and attacked the far right Yorkist archers, doing them 6 damage. The Lancastrian levy caused four casualties to the Yorkist MAA.

Turn six, and with victory in sight, confusion broke out in the Yorkist army, and only half the units were capable of moving. The Yorkist archers turned to face the Lancastrian MAA and did 1 damage to them. The Yorkist MAA inflicted a further four hits on the Lancastrian levy. The Yorkist gold knights wheeled to the right and moved towards the Lancastrian MAA. The silver Yorkist knights also began to wheel and manoeuvre to attack the Lancastrian levy. In turn, the Lancastrian MAA did a further 3 damage (9 total) on the right hand bows and the levy caused 3 casualties to the Yorkist MAA (total 9).

At turn seven, the Yorkist bows inflicted 2 more hits on the Lancastrian MAA, and the Yorkist MAA did a further 4 damage to the Lancastrian levy. The gold and silver knights continued their respective advances towards the remaining Lancastrian units. Under pressure from the Lancastrian MAA, panic started amongst the Yorkist bows, and men began to flee, causing 5 damage to the rear unit. The Lancastrian MAA imposed 1 more hit point on the Yorkist archers, while the levy caused 1 casualty to the Yorkist MAA (10 total).

At turn eight and sensing victory, the Yorkists fully took the initiative, and the silver Yorkist knights charged the Lancastrian levy in the rear and destroyed them. The gold Yorkist knights hit the Lancastrian MAA in the flank and eliminated them. The Lancastrian army was utterly destroyed, and the Yorkist army was victorious and met the victory conditions by controlling both the hill and road junction.

I fought this fictional battle on a whim over the Easter break (it has taken me a while to type it up), as I had been thinking about using my old Britains Deetail and modern DSG Britains mediaeval figures for a game for some time. I used the mediaeval “One Hour Wargames” rules by Neil Thomas, as Britains knights fit neatly into the defined categories and they provide a fast, enjoyable game. Despite that, the game took me a good couple of hours to play out to a conclusion. I used the army generator and the “pitched battle” scenario from the rules, along with suggested events. While the rules indicate event cards be drawn every turn, I simply rolled a D20 to determine the result and consulted the list of events. This, along with dice-driven AI, gives a solo game more depth and unpredictability. I used “De Bellis Solitarius” by Chad La Mons to drive the Lancastrian army for this game.

Summer Reading

Christmas has passed and summer is heating up. The relentless war to maintain the garden is escalating as I try to thwart the airborne assaults by birds and the ground assault by various bugs and slugs in the vegetable garden. Fire and sword (or, less poetically, flame gun and weeder) are brutally being used to suppress the great uprisings of weeds that have surged forth due to the warmer weather. Heavy hangs the head that wears the broad-brimmed hat because that is the gardener’s lot during these hot months.

However, for those times when I am not out endeavouring to hold back the untamed wilderness and keep order, I have yet more books. I suppose one can never have enough books, even if one simply can’t get around to reading them all. My latest purchases were prompted by a passing fancy to know a bit more about “The Anarchy” of the 12th Century when King Stephen fought Empress Matilda for the throne of England.

So, to that end, I went looking online for a suitable book on the topic and came across the Naval & Military Press online bookshop. I fortuitously found the website during its summer (UK) sale, with many books heavily marked down, and that, of course, led to me buying more books than I had originally intended. To keep postage costs down, I chose surface mail, as I wasn’t in any hurry for the books. They arrived a few weeks ago, well packaged and enclosed in a Royal Mail bag, something I had not come across before, and included with my order was a newspaper-style illustrated book list with plenty more potential purchases.

Thus, “King Stephen and the Anarchy: civil war and military tactics in twelfth-century Britain” by Chris Peers was my initial choice. The title tells you everything you need to know about the book. My next two purchases concerned English Civil War topics. They were “A Rabble of Gentility” by John Barratt about the royalist northern horse during 1644–45 and “The Last Army”, also by Barratt, about the battle of Stow on the Wold in 1646 that saw the defeat of the last royalist field army by Parliament. They’ll be added to my extensive collection of ECW books, a period in which I’m very interested but haven’t played much.

My last pick was a hardcover tome of “Britain in the Age of Arthur: a military history” by Ilkka Syvanne. I had seen this book before, and it had raised my interest, but it was too expensive. However, during the sale, it was a fifth of its usual advertised price, so I took the opportunity to purchase it. Thus, my pile of reading materials grows ever larger.

As far as other stuff goes, due to the dust and dirt of having our bathroom renovated for what took a month, I packed away my paints and probably won’t get them out again before autumn. Before the builders started, I finished varnishing the fantasy miniatures and had them ready to glue to bases. I had almost finished the ECW Musketeers but had to set them aside once renovations began. However, while I may not resume painting for the time being, I am very likely to mess around with something, and the summer campaign will certainly keep me occupied.

The long silence!

It has been more than a few months since I last posted on this blog and many a moon has passed since I last had a wargame. The last game I played was over a year ago. It proved not to be an enjoyable experience, so I have not bothered with playing wargames at all since. My more recent lack of posts is largely due to a sense of wargaming ennui and some real life unexpected events.

I haven’t been doing much painting either. Although I have made a little effort and daubed a bit of paint on some Tasmanian 40mm toy soldiers. Currently awaiting completion is the company of Launceston Rifles, that I started some time ago, and some Tasmanian Permanent Artillery. There is also a painted but un-based and unvarnished Viking that has been waiting to be finished for a very long time. I’m not entirely sure what to do with it as I find that I now prefer and enjoy a simple toy soldier figure style.

I have continued to develop a few wargaming related projects since my last post and have acquired a number of books as gifts and purchases. My collection of moulds for metal casting has been growing apace with acquisitions made from Prince August during their sales. I really like the idea of moulds as they are full of potential and can just sit in a box until you need a few figures.

The Prince August 54mm Traditional Toy Soldiers on Parade Colour Party was a particularly welcome addition. I have also bought some of Prince August’s 25mm fantasy moulds that I carefully selected for their usefulness in creating Dark Age armies. The cannon and crew moulds from the Prince August Wild Geese series have also been picked up to further round out my stockpile of moulds for the French and Indian War. I should probably explain that as I don’t think I have mentioned the project before.

I have long desired to do some aspect of the SYW and originally I had intended to do it in 30mm, using a variety of figures including zinnfiguren and old Spencer Smiths. However the cost of going down that path proved too prohibitive so I started to look around for an alternative. I then remembered Prince August had an assortment of moulds suitable for producing toy soldiers for the SYW in 40mm, a size of figure that I really quite like.

So I narrowed down the focus to the FIW, making the project more achievable. As a result, I have been buying and stockpiling moulds from PA’s Wild Geese, French and Karoliner series, along with moulds from the old Holger Eriksson Cowboys and Indians range. I chose these rather than the newer SYW range because they are more complete and being a bit more generic I can use them for both sides. However, I do want to collect the more recently released SYW moulds down the track.

While my focus has been on stockpiling moulds, I have had other projects on the go. Some of my hobby time has been spent making alien style plants for future sci-fi battles. My major project, however, has involved the continuing effort to gather a 54mm medieval battle host using Britain’s Herald and Deetail toy soldiers.

I am a natural collector of things but these will, I hope, occasionally see some table top action rather than just be dust accumulators. I will blog about those in more detail another time. I hope to resume casting in the autumn and I am rather looking forward to start casting some figures for the FIW. So, as you can see, I am still doing hobby related stuff despite my long silence.

 

Reading Roundup

Summer is now long past but I haven’t as yet resumed painting toy soldiers and I don’t have much inclination to do so at the moment. However, I have acquired some new books over the past few months. The first of these was “Great Military Disasters from Bannockburn to Stalingrad” by Julian Spilsbury. It proved to be an accessible read that gives some interesting perspectives on how great military disasters arise. While the causes prove to be many, good old human incompetence tops the list. Of course the book equally demonstrates how great victories were achieved by the opposing forces, and it certainly proves what a perilous undertaking it is committing your forces to battle.

Next on my list of new books is “Wargaming an Introduction” by Neil Thomas. As the name suggests it provides an introduction to wargaming the major periods from Ancients to WW2. It also provides some excellent rules for gaming each of those. I read this book some nine years ago when I borrowed it from the local library. I enjoyed reading the book then and appreciated the elegance of the rules. The book still stands up as an enjoyable read and rules are still well-designed even all these years later.

I was prompted to buy “Wargaming an Introduction” after reading some online reviews of the WW2 rules it contained. I had been looking for a set of WW2 rules that weren’t too tortuous to play. I have played the WW2 rules contained in “One Hour Wargames” by Neil Thomas and enjoyed them immensely but I wanted to try something that could handle larger and more varied forces. I haven’t as yet used the “Wargaming an Introduction” WW2 rules but I look forward to doing so.

“The Battles of Tolkien” by David Day I picked up in a local bookshop. It is a beautiful book to behold with its many gorgeous illustrations and faux tooled leather cover. The book came plastered with the warning “This work is unofficial and is not authorized by the Tolkien Estate or HarperCollins Publishers”. However, it proved an interesting read that more addressed what inspired Tolkien’s depictions of warfare in Middle Earth than an analysis of the weapons and structure of the forces involved. More care should have been taken in the preparation and production of the text in “The Battles of Tolkien” as there are some issues with its clarity and typography. The battle maps could also have been clearer. Despite that, the book is a handy reference and would bejewel any bookshelf.

My most recent acquisition is “The Soldier” by Chris McNab and was procured from ABE Books for a tiny sum. I bought this book after reading a very comprehensive review of it on the Man of Tin blog. The edition I have was only published last year and is very up to date. The book endeavours to describe the personal experiences of soldiers from the Seven Years War to present conflicts. It is a really well put together book filled with useful information and excellent illustrations and detailed colour plates of uniformed soldiers. It is best described as an “Eyewitness Guide” style book for adults.

Dark Age Lion Rampant AAR

A recently discovered and translated lost excerpt from The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles”…

“In the year 843 the Danes came into the land of Wessex and ravaged all about them. They were led by Jarl Ivar “The Legless”, a great warrior besotted with mead and gold. The heathen men came seeking the golden hoard lost to their number last Summer. Eorl Wulfstan “the Red” went out with all the men of his household and lands seeking to bring the Danes to battle and seize the treasure for himself. Wulfstan’s host met in battle with the heathen men outside the ruined old city, even as the Danes found and took the hoard for themselves.

As the two hosts met, Wulfstan challenged Ivar to single combat and then Ivar slew Wulfstan with three mighty blows. The Saxons did not falter at the loss of their lord but set upon Ivar and his huscarls. Spears were shattered, shields broken and helmets cleft as the loyal thegns battled the Danes. Three times they attacked the Danes and three times they were thrown back. Then another force of Danes came upon Wulfstan’s loyal hearth men and slew them. The Danes, having the power of the field, then drew off taking with them the gold. The Saxons mourned the loss of their lord as the ravens feasted upon the fallen.”

I played my first game of “Lion Rampant” New Year’s Day when John came over with his large army of beautifully painted Saxons. My own force was made up of un-refurbished second hand Vikings. The game was based on a treasure hunt scenario, with both sides attempting to discover the hidden treasure and then exit off their table edge with it. The armies were worth twenty four points each. The Saxon army comprised three units of upper class spears and two units of foot companions, while the Viking army consisted of four units of foot companions.

The battlefield viewed from the Viking side.

The first few turns saw both armies advance towards the terrain features designated as potential hiding places for the lost treasure. The Saxons reached the wood at the left of battlefield but their search (a die roll) failed to discover the treasure. The Vikings searched the hill opposite the woods but also failed to find anything. Wulfstan’s unit then reached the hill near the centre of battlefield but the treasure wasn’t there either. Ivar’s unit searched the orchard but found no treasure and then failed their activation for turn four leaving the Vikings unable to move. This gave the Saxons time to move into striking distance of them.

Both sides search for the treasure hoard.

In turn five the Vikings reached the triumphal arch and made a successful die roll and discovered the hidden treasure hoard. With the Saxons now in striking distance, Wulfstan issued a challenge to Ivar to meet in single combat. Ivar killed Wulfstan in single combat forcing the Saxons to take a courage (morale) test. Only one unit of Saxon spears failed and were forced to retreat a short distance before rallying the following turn.

The treasure is found and Wulfstan is slain.

The Vikings failed their activation in turn six and Ivar’s personal guard were immediately attacked by the nearest unit of Saxon spears. These were driven off with both sides taking a single casualty each. Turn seven saw Wulfstan’s own guard attack Ivar’s unit but they were were also driven back after taking a casualty. The Saxon spears then attacked again and were repulsed again, taking yet another casualty. Ivar’s own companions also took another casualty.

Ivar and his companions repulse the Saxons.

In turn eight a Viking flanking force of foot companions, having gone around the orchard, launched an attack on Wulfstan’s body guards and slew one of them. Ivar and the remaining companions were able to begin their withdrawal, taking the treasure with them. A third Viking unit quickly occupied Ivar’s previous position to act as covering force. In turn nine the Saxon spears were now threatened by the fresh Viking unit and formed a shield wall in response. Wulfstan’s companions were then broken by a renewed attack from the Viking flanking force.

The Saxon spears form a shieldwall as the last man of Wulfstan’s body guard flees.

Over the remaining few turns Ivar and his companions were able to leave the field of battle with the treasure hoard. The Viking force enjoyed the spoils of victory while the Saxons could only mourn their dead.

Ivar escapes with the treasure.

Lion Rampant rules provide an entertaining game that moves fairly fast and comes to a definite conclusion. They allowed two armies of differing sizes and compositions to do battle on an even footing. Lion Rampant successfully imparts a sense of warfare in the early medieval period in an enjoyable way and I look forward to playing them again.

Ancient and Medieval Wargaming AAR

A few weeks ago a mighty battle was fought between the army of the failing Roman Empire and Saxon raiders bent on plunder and conquest. The armies were paper soldiers printed out from the Junior General website and the rules used were from the book “Ancient and Medieval Wargaming” by Neil Thomas. I acquired the book in 2008 and produced the paper armies to use with it at about the same time. I then played an enjoyable game using the rules and the paper flats back in the same year. Sadly they did not see any further use until recently. Indeed they would still be unused if it were not for a WWII miniatures game that did not eventuate. My opponent for the day was an all-round splendid fellow called Craig.

The Roman army consisted of a unit of horse archers, a unit of heavy cavalry, and two units of auxiliaries, one unit of militia and one unit of legionaries, along with a unit of regular infantry archers. The Saxon host was made up of one unit of mounted nobles (a little anachronistic but necessary to make up the Saxon army strength), one unit of noble infantry, four units of spears and one of bow armed light infantry.

The Roman and Saxon armies deployed.

The battle opened with both sides conducting a general advance. The Roman heavy cavalry, with support from the horse archers, raced ahead from their position on the Roman left to try and catch the small force forming the Saxon right before it reached the relative safety of a minor hill to the front of their starting position. The mounted Saxon nobles moved off from their position on the Saxon left and rode hard to intercept the Roman cavalry.

The Roman and Saxon cavalry charge towards each other.

The Saxon right reached the hill and the light infantry archers let loose on the Roman cavalry which then veered off to engage the oncoming Saxon nobles. The Roman horse archers turned about and rode back around to the rear of the advancing auxiliaries to provide support. As the two lines moved gradually to contact, the cavalry clashed in the centre.

The Roman and Saxon cavalry melee while the opposing armies advance.

At this point we had a break and partook in a splendid lunch of cheese and nachos with salsa and sour cream. This was followed by whiskey wings and washed down with cider. Having been suitably fortified we returned to the fray.

Both of the opposing cavalry units took heavy casualties in the melee and from supporting bow fire. The Saxon nobles broke first and were removed from the field. However the victorious but much depleted Roman cavalry were in turn broken by the arrows loosed by the Saxon bowmen upon the hill.

The Saxon war bands moved quickly to join up with the right of their line and then, with the threat of cavalry gone, they continued their advance. The entire Roman line kept up their own advance. The auxiliaries, supported by the horse archers, headed for the middle of the Saxon line where a second war band of Saxon nobles stood. The Roman legionaries on the far right of the Roman line endeavoured to out flank the left of the Saxon line, while the regular archers tried to whittle down the Saxons with continuous archery.

The Romans attack, with the auxiliaries leading the way.

The Saxons formed a shield wall just before the Roman auxiliaries hit them. The auxiliaries with their furious onslaught did some damage initially but could not break through the shield wall. The flanking manoeuvre of the Roman legionaries was halted by a Saxon war band that had turned to meet them, resulting in a fierce melee as each tried to eliminate the other. The Roman militia bravely went forward to support the auxiliaries in their attack.

The Saxon shield wall holds firm against the Roman onslaught.

The battle hung in the balance for some time as neither side could gain any real advantage. Then the legionaries engaged against the war band protecting the Saxon left flank broke and were eliminated. The auxiliaries unable to make any further impression on the Saxon shield wall were slowly ground down and eliminated after the unengaged right of the shield wall wheeled into them. The victorious Saxon right then launched themselves on the flank of the Roman horse archers that had been supporting the auxiliaries. The horse archers having ventured too close to the Saxon battle line were quickly slaughtered and eliminated, and with their loss the last Roman units broke and fled the field.

The last stand of the Roman army and the final moment of the battle.

The “Ancient and Medieval Wargaming” rules proved easy to grasp and provided a reasonably fast and historical game. The paper flats definitely have an aesthetic appeal of their own (in addition to a pecuniary one). It all made for a very enjoyable game with congenial company, and that is of course the ultimate goal of battle games for pleasure.

Viking Books

I am currently reading a couple of new books on those marauding seafarers the Vikings. The first I bought from a second hand bookseller online. This book is a near mint hard back edition of “The Vikings Voyagers of Discovery and Plunder” by Mark Harrison, Keith Durham, Ian Heath and René Chartrand (Osprey, 2006). It is lavishly illustrated, including many plates by Angus McBride, and combines material from the previously published Osprey books “The Vikings” (Elite 3), “Viking Hersir 793-1066 A.D.” (Warrior 3), and “Viking Longship” (New Vanguard 47). Consequently the book provides a very good outline of Viking history, weapons and warfare. However, the section on the dreaded longships is interesting but a bit overly technical for non-seafaring types such as me. Overall it is a fascinating read and a very useful edition to have on the bookshelf.

The Vikings Voyagers of Discovery and Plunder

The second book was a somewhat serendipitous find on the sale table of a local newsagent. “Vikings a History of the Norse People” by Martin J. Dougherty (Amber, 2013) is another good but basic overview of Viking culture, history and warfare. This book features a surprising amount on weapons and fighting techniques and is also extravagantly illustrated (although some of the plates are a little archaic and anachronistic). Both books are a pleasure to read and are packed full of useful information on the Viking World.

Vikings a History of the Norse People