28mm Macedonian Progress.

 With no game this week due to me being full of cough and cold I took the time to finish off basing a unit of 28mm Macedonian Cavalry that I had recently completed. It therefore seems like a good time to give a progress update on my 28mm Macedonian army first started in January of last year. Initially the army is based on Macedonians under Philip II at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC will but eventually expand well beyond that into all of Alexander the Great's campaigns and even the Successors!

This unit of Macedonian Companion cavalry is an all metal figure unit.

 I am not sure which make though as I got these figures from ebay. 

No, they are not running away, just a photo of their rear to show off their cloaks. 

All 8 units and two command bases (Philip on foot and Alexander mounted) that I have painted so far. So this is a slow grow project because as usual I am painting up figures for several projects (and scales) and keep swapping about. 

The army is a real mix of Warlord and Victrix plastic figures with a few metal figures dotted about. (Mainly command figures and characters). 

At this rate of painting I may get them on the gaming table before the end of this year. 

Alexander leading his Companions. 

Victrix light cavalry ahead of 2x Warlord Games Phalanx units, each of 32 men. 

Next up I have another unit of Mercenary hoplites to finish plus a hoplite command base, an all metal unit of pike and another metal unit of Companion Cavalry to paint.

Many more still in the box (lead and plastic mountain). 

2nd St Albans

 Continuing our flurry of Wars of the Roses games we opted to refight the Second Battle of St Albans this week. This scenario gives an interesting situation where the Yorkists deploy facing the wrong way, tucked behind their specially prepared defences but the Lancastrians had done a sneaky night march through the town to enter on the Yorkists flank. After a quick discussion we deemed the Yorkist well prepared defences would be hard to maneuver through so would cause disorder on any troops who tried to cross them from the front. 

Here we see Northumberlands men still advancing through the town. 

Luckily for the Yorkists they won the dice off for who took first turn. Ian and Nigel decided to turn the Yorkists to face the advancing Lancastrians and also withdraw to allow them some space before the Lancastrians came steaming in. Ian managed to throw low on his order dice earning himself 3 moves to get into position. It seems that the few Yorkist troops left in the town must have raised the alarm to alert the Yorkist command that the Lancastrians were approaching from an unexpected direction. 

We didn't have much to represent prepared defences so we spaced out our few bases of stakes to cover the front of Warwick's and Montague's divisions. As it turned out no troops actually had to cris the defences during the battle so we removed them after a while. . 

These are the positions right at the start of the game, the Yorkists on the left, facing the camera, the Lancastrians pouring out of St Albans on the right. 

Turn 2 saw Trollope advancing on Montague's division with Percy marching his men in column down the road. A few arrow storm's were exchanged. Somerset was a bit slower to advance over on the Lancastrian left.

At this point the Yorkists were trying to narrow the frontage of the battle to compensate for the fact they were outnumbered as Norfolk had not turned up yet. Turns 2-4 also saw the effect of drizzle preventing the Yorkists from using their gunpowder weapons. 

By turn 3, things were going well for the Lancastrians, breaking one of Montague's units and forcing another back off the table. All orders were being passed and the Lancastrian arrow storms were proving very effective. Then we stopped for tea and cake!

As Northumberland deployed in line and ordered the advance he was also able to recapture Henry V!th who was found singing whilst sat beneath a tree. The Lancastrian high command decided not to execute the two Yorkist knights who had been guarding the king (although they were beheaded in real life). 

After tea and cake, Trollope in particular struggled to pass a single order which was very annoying as Montagues division were in real trouble but I could not get in close enough to kill them off. Maybe I should not have put the kettle on!

Over on the far left Northumberland was slowly picking away at Warwick's division. On Turn 4 Norfolk arrived and was able to move into position behind Warwick's. With Warwick's division now poised to break with the loss on one more unit Nigel swapped those two divisions around to frustrate that ambition. 

Turn 5 saw the drizzle cease allowing the Yorkist artillery to fire but to no great effect and Northumberland's men destroyed one gun with an arrowstorm. 

On turn 6 Northumberland was injured in the melee and so was replaced by the Duke of Exeter. We had enough time to play a 7th turn but not a lot happened other than one of the Yorkist units of handgunners were shaken in melee and pushed back. This left Warwick's command in real trouble. So with two Yorkist divisions being very close to breaking and they had lost possession of the king plus not a single Lancastrian unit lost yet we called it a hard fought win for the Lancastrians as the Yorkists now withdrew.  

It has to be said that Ian and Nigel as the Yorkist command did very well not allowing me to make my greater numbers overwhelm them. I was slowly picking them off but the Yorkists did very well in frustrating my ambitions for a quicker and easier victory. 

Hail Caesar: The Battle of Hexham 1464.

Nigel was back gaming this week so using his 28mm Wars of the Roses figures combined with mine and Ian's we had a go at re-fighting the Battle of Hexham scenario from the Wars of the Roses source book from Warlord Games. Fighting with 3 divisions on a 6' x 4' foot table leaves little room for manoeuvre so we had quite a full looking table. 

Although I know of no chapel being on the Hexham battle site, as I had finished painting this model last week I decided to include it in our game on the table edge just to get some use out of it. The chapel is a plastic model from 'Tabletop Workshop'. I have had this model part painted for a few years now (mainly the interior) so it is good to get it finished. In front of the chapel are my newly finished unit of Household archers belonging to Henry Holland, the Duke of Exeter. Although Henry Holland was not at Hexham his Household longbowmen were today as I needed them to make up numbers.  

So with Nigel and Ian commanding the Yorkists I took command of the Lancastrians. I left the room for a few minutes whilst the Yorkist command came up with a cunning plan. They also won the dice off for who moved first and they decided to come at me, no doubt hoping to push the Lancastrians back into the river. 

Yorkists on the left about to do their rapid advance against the Lancastrians on the right.

Note that not all flags and banners are the correct ones, we just used what we had. 

In response to the Yorkists quick advance I decided my troops needed to be away from the river so that I could not be forced back into it (as happened historically). I had planned to counter attack with Sir Humphrey Neville's and Somerset's divisions. I was wanting the 'cowardly' Hungerford to hold back a bit as I did not trust him to do well in any melee. Hungerford did not agree with me as he blundered his orders and ended up charging the enemy. By the end of turn 1 the whole battle line was in melee across the board.

To my amazement Hungerford's men battered Greystoke's division (destroying one unit in a single charge) and Somerset broke through the Yorkist centre. Things also went well on my left as Sir Humhprey Neville tore into Willoughby's division causing disorder and shaken tokens to be placed by at least two of their units.  

In turn 2 the Yorkists fought back. Nigel sent Greystoke back in against Hungerford's men and Hungerford sadly lost his life in the melee even though his men were winning the melee. In the centre John Neville, Baron Montague was wounded in the melee. On the right Ian's division led by Willoughby was in real trouble with most of his units shaken by now. The Yorkists lost two units this turn and the Lancastrians lost one...and yes it was the newly painted Household longbow! 

Turn 3 saw the bloodbath continue across the board and a whole flurry of shaken (yellow) and disordered (red) counters were gained by the Yorkists. The Lancastrians were definitely gaining the upper hand. 

In this photo, Hungerford's division, (now led by his co-commander Baron Roos) smashed into Greystokes men once again, breaking the front unit and pushing the supporting unit back shaken and dis-ordered.

With several units destroyed and the bulk of their surviving units both shaken and in disorder the Yorkist command conceded the battle after just 3 turns. 

For the victorious Lancastrians Somerset and his men had fought very well but the now sadly deceased Hungerford had led his men forward in a blundered reckless charge and help win the battle. 

This was a fast, fun game with some units not even getting a chance to shoot any missiles as both sides rushed into melee. It was a complete blood bath across the board but with the Lancastrians dice throwing being on top form today (for once!). With history re-written Somerset went off looking for a few Yorkist commanders to behead in nearby Hexham! 

Next week we have decided to try the Second battle of St Albans scenario. 

The Battle of Blore Heath 1459.

 Charlie very kindly offered to host our next Wars of the Roses game using the recent Hail Caesar supplement. Charlie has a much larger gaming table than me which meant we would have so much more room for deployment and manoeuvre. His gaming room is also nice and light which has helped with the quality of my photo's. Charlie chose Blore Heath as the scenario with himself commanding the Yorkists leaving Ian and I controlling the Lancastrians and determined to alter the course of history. 

Deployment, largely following the suggested deployment in the book but Charlie had evidence of artillery being in the Yorkist baggage camp so he took one medium gun deployed there. Yorkists on the left, Lancastrians on the right. You can clearly see Wemberton Brook and the road with Blore Heath Mill at this end of the table. Charlie was even able to model the rise and fall of the landscape to great effect with various 'lumps' placed under his wargames mat. . 

Looking along Baron Welles' division led by Ian. They took a bold move forward on the 1st turn hoping that Sir Hugh Venables and his cavalry would follow. Sadly Venables failed his 'whole division advance' order on each of the first three turns.

Yorkist baggage camp. 

Blore Heath Mill

Turn 4 and finally Sir Hugh Venables gets his cavalry moving. So Ian and I started to advance the rest of our troops. Crossing the river played havoc amongst the Lancastrians with 'disorder' all round. Charlie added to our misery by laying down a real arrowstorm at the same time. 

Happily Baron Welles (Ian) had replied with an arrowstorm of his own breaking a Yorkist household unit over on our left.  

Sir Hugh Venables boldly leads his cavalry in a charge through a gap in the Yorkist defensive line of stakes. Managing to throw a grand total of '3' on his break test caused by the Yorkist closing fire Venables' lead unit was forced back. 

 

Next Lancastrian turn, Venables led his Knights back into melee again and this time they break through and cause havoc amongst the Yorkist foot. 

Baron Dudley led the charge by his infantry division on our right wing and after some fierce fighting also started to break through the Yorkist division led by Sir John Neville. 

Charlie hoped that Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury would lead his troops forward but Neville was killed by Venables cavalry. Some of the Yorkist foot were pushed back so much they left the table. By turn 8 the game was really going the Lancastrian way. Salisbury's division was broken and Sir John Neville's division was in real trouble. At this point after lots of fierce fighting over the last 3 turns we had to halt the game but it looked like a convincing Lancastrian win and history was rewritten. 

This was a very enjoyable game that seemed to be going the Yorkist's way until the Lancastrians finally managed to get their superior numbers into play. Thanks to Charlie for hosting a really fun afternoon of gaming. 

If you are enjoying my blogs of our games I would be very grateful if a few more people would press the 'follow' button, thanks. 

The Battle of Hedgeley Moor, 1464.

 There were three of us gaming today, pooling our figures to play the Battle of Hedgeley Moor scenario from the new 'Hail Caesar' Wars of the Roses book. The map for the scenario gives an open field of play and a bit of research of my own confirmed this as just open moorland, perhaps a little marshy in the SE corner and a slope rising away on the western flank. I also added a few trees and bits of rough ground as scatter terrain to help create a more interesting looking table plus there was the North Road running from north to south.  

A map of the battle site I found online. 

I took control of the Lancastrians (on the left) with Ian and Charlie sharing the command of the Yorkists (on the right). Deployment was as per the book. 

Lancastrian deployment.

Yorkist deployment and Ian and Charlie also won the initiative and opted to move first. 

The Yorkists went for a rapid advance but Scrope failed his command test so his division (nearest one to camera) failed to move. 

The view from behind Somerset's position. 

Percy gets ready to face the Yorkists. 

Charlie has very cleverly given his command bases plain spears and he can then place any flag he wishes on the flag staff as he wishes. Thus most commanders had the correct banners or as close as we could make it. 

The 'cowardly' Hungerford and Ros watch with glee as Stanley blunders and moves back instead of forwards.  Hungerford later died during an arrowstorm. 

Things soon heated in the centre and right. Lots of arrow storms were being used to great effect. 

In our games yellow counters depict shaken units and red counters are for dis-order. 

Suddenly a gap appears at the front of the Yorkist line as Montague's Household Men-at-arms unit is broken by bow fire. Montague's was the only Yorkist division to be broken although by using the 'Where is your Courage' rule he managed to salvage a unit and remain on the table. 

Charlie leads the rest of Scrope's division into melee against Percy's men forcing them back. 

Percy held on until the final move of the game when his household retinue fled the table and he was killed as his division was broken. Somerset was also broken in the same turn leading to a Yorkist victory. We felt it was quite ironic that the only Lancastrians left on the table were led by Baron Ros who ran away early on in the actual battle. 

Once again we really enjoyed the game. We quite fancy trying a campaign game soon using the rules in the new supplement but for next week we meet at Charlie's house for another WOTR battle. 

More 28mm Hail Caesar Wars of the Roses.

 Just Ian and myself again this week, so we played another small game of Hail Caesar Wars of the Roses. For this week's game we used some of the ideas for setting up a game from the new Hail Caesar supplement. So the terrain was set up by using the chart on p50 and then we used the random throws for weather, reconnaissance and favours. These all added greatly to the period feel of our game. 

New troops for the Lancastrians, a unit of shire levy longbow. They even survived the battle...just.

(Perry Miniatures 100yrs War figures). 

We were limited to just two divisions each again due to the size of our painted collection despite both painting new troops. For this game we used two historical commanders each. Ian's Yorkists were led by Edward IVth and the Earl of Warwick and my Lancastrians were led by the Duke of Somerset and the Earl of Northumberland. The differing traits and special rules assigned to the historical characters were great fun to play and certainly had an impact on the game. 

The Duke of Somerset prepares for battle.

The Yorkist deployment.

Yorkists on the left, Lancastrians to the right.

Ian sends the Yorkist light cavalry off on a flanker again. 

The Yorkists advance. 

Yorkist skirmishers confront the Lancastrian line, they didn't last long. 

We use the stats for small light infantry units from the WOTR lists in v2 of the main rulebook for our skirmish units, only one per division allowed. 

Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland and his men confront the troops of the Earl of Warwick and benefitted from his 'Feud' special rules. 

My Lancastrian light cavalry worked their way around the flank of Edward IV's division. Edward pulled back a Household unit to warn them off, this became a stalemate for a few turns. 

Trollope's Household troops are charged by some Yorkist Men at Arms and get battered. 

Ian's mounted Men at Arms charged through another of my household units and on into one of my light guns. The Yorksist seem to be getting the upper hand. 

Percy personally leads a household unit into melee and is victorious. 

My Men at Arms charge into Yorkist infantry and are repulsed. I pulled them back to rally them.

The Yorkist light cavalry came storming over the bridge, destroying my skirmisher handgunners and on into a household infantry unit which they also destroyed. I was now in trouble on Percy's flank, I could not afford to lose any more units on my left. 

The final big clash of the game saw the Duke of Somerset attack the Infantry led by Edward IV.  Somerset looked like winning the 1st round of melee until Edward the Fourth invoked one of his special rules to re-roll failed attacks in the first round of any melee, scoring 5 extra hits. and turning the melee in his favour. This battle lasted 4 turns with some incredible dice throws on any break tests that were required. In that 4th turn Somerset was forced to fall back but with both sides shaken there was no follow up. Edward 4th was injured in the fighting and was forced to withdraw. At this point, with time running out we called it a well fought draw. 

This was a fantastic battle with both sides having chances to claim victory but never quite managing too. We both really enjoyed the game and all the extra fun the period specific rules added. The Wars of the Roses supplement is a big hit with us.