1066 AND ALL THAT

I was away at the weekend at Kirriemuir in Angus for a 28mm 1066 event.  Over the 2 days 16 gamers attended.  The concept which was roughly based on the classic game Kingmaker was developed by Steve Rimmer who supplied the bulk of the figures.  Most of the terrain also came from Steve’s collection.  The game was set up over 5 12ft to 20ft long tables 6 feet wide representing all of England. There were 3 factions – Saxons, Normans and Vikings.  In all 8 Saxon players, 4 Normans and 4 Vikings.  I played Gyrth Godwinson Earl of East Anglia bother of King Harold.  You could only fight someone in a rival alliance.

Towns provided revenue to their occupiers at the end of each session.  This was used to buy new units, rebuild under-strength units and buy votes in the final Witan.  No revenue was generated at the end of the 5^th session – the towns values were turned directly Witan votes.  The winning faction was the one who had the most votes when the Witan met after 5 sessions.

The tactical part of the game was based Lion Rampant and worked well for such a big game.  There were a few enhancements with some Saxon and Viking units able to form mobile shield walls which could move at half speed.

It was a truly colourful weekend and the campaign rules developed by Steve worked well and were easily picked up by all the players.   My thanks to Steve  who acted as the hard working rules umpire and provided the inspiration, organisation and 95% of the figures, terrain and lots resources for the very enjoyable game.  The best organised game I have ever played.

The winners were the Normans who with a combination of mounted charges supported by good archery overran England south of the Thames in 3 sessions and then gained most of Berkshire and Gloucestershire.  My forces in East Anglia went down to defeat against the Viking forces of the wily Earl of Orkney played by Angus Konstam.

All my photos with brief descriptions are on Flickr at https://flic.kr/s/aHskJiZBx2

Part of the South Coast - Normans on the left - River Thames on the right

Normans about to give the Saxons a good hiding......

Mercia and Orkney on action - in background the North and even further North

More death in Mercia

The deadly Orkney wolfhounds who did for two of my units

THOMOND - IRELAND 12TH CENTURY

On Wednesday I was at Hugh Wilson’s for another Medieval game designed by Dave O’Brien.   It was a variant of his previous French raid game this time set in Ireland in the 12th century.  5 players commanded the English supply missions  whilst Dave umpired and commanded the ambushing Irish.  The table was 14ft long and we used Hail Caesar.

 

Map of the layout showing hidden Irish deployments

Background

Henry de Clare Earl of Pembroke finally managed to marry Domnall Mor Ui Briain’s daughter and ‘surprisingly’ Domnall suddenly died leaving all the lands of Thomand one of the largest areas of Southern Ireland to him and he quickly set about erecting castles to protect his inheritance.  The natives have been extremely upset by this and have launched attacks against isolated castles.

 

Player Briefing

A number of knights have been sent to deliver supplies and reinforcements to the castle at Knock.  Each knight has a small force of troops and either a wagon of supplies or herds of sheep or cattle to deliver to the castle, once the supplies have been delivered that Norman player will then take command of Irish troops. 

Each wagon is worth d3x10 VP’s, a sheep is worth 1 VP and a cow 2 VP’s.  Each skirmish unit destroyed is worth 1VP, each formed infantry unit is worth 2 VP’s and each Fianna unit is worth 4 VP’s.  Troop losses will be deducted, mounted knights are worth 10VP’s and formed troops 4 VP’s.

If your character is killed then all VP’s are lost and your troops will disperse and not take any further part in the game.

 

English press onto Knock

Disaster for the first supply group as their cattle stampede of the road

Hugh's group with their flock of sheep cross the last obstacle before Knock

The game was won by Hugh commanding the 2nd supply group who managed to slip into the lead when Tim's leading group was ambushed by the Irish. A situation made worse when his cattle herd repeatedly stampeded.

 

 

 

 

RAID ON INCHCOLM ABBEY

After 2 weeks in the sun of Majorca enjoying 33C temperatures every day I returned to wet and windy  Scotland.   The first game I played on my return was a Viking era raid on the coast of Scotland.

Inchcolm Island

Donald Adamson came up with the scenario and Hugh Wilson provided the excellent terrain.  The game was set in the 10th century and was based on a raid on Inchcolm island in the Firth of Forth. There is a medieval monastery on the island , but this game goes back to the days of Culdees (Celtic priests) and the imagined fate of the shin-bone of St Andrew -- a fabled (at least around these parts) relic.

Viking ship aground

Three Viking warlords, each in a longship, wanted the treasure of Inchcolm (although they were possibly more interested in the associated church plate), and three Mormaers (Earls) wanted to save the abbey (although they intended to transfer the shin-bone to a church in their earldoms). Two of these came from the newly formed Scotland (The Mormaers of Fif and Fothrif), whilst one came from the southern shore of the Forth (The Mormaer of Lothian) -- still Northumbrian at the time.  Each player commanded 50 warriors.

We used Hail Caesar with the stats coming from the Hail Caesar Army Lists (Book II)

Below are sample briefing sheets for Vikings and Mormaers.

Snorri Karlson

Ship: The Raven’s Claw – crew 50 men.

Mission: To raid the Abbey of Inchcolm, and remove the treasure from it.  Unless you get the treasure home, your people will laugh at you. First you must combine with other Vikings, and ensure that the locals do not prevent you from capturing the hoard. Secondly, you must ensure it is on your ship that the treasure goes home.

Roll a dice to determine your landing spot. Race to the Abbey. Roll another dice if the first to enter it to determine how quickly you pillage the church. Get the treasure back to your ship, or remove it from those who have it.

Fight anyone who gets in your way.

Vikings engage the Scots

Lulach the Fair

Mormaer of Fif  with 50 men.

Mission: To protect the Abbey of Inchcolm, but remove the shin-bone of St Andrew from it.  Unless you get the shin-bone home to Dysart, your people will never respect you. First you must combine with other Scots and even Angles, and ensure that the island is swept free of Vikings. Secondly, you must ensure it is on your ship that the shin-bone goes home.

Roll a dice to determine how quickly you get to the island. Roll another dice to determine the landing point on the island. The rest is up to you.

Fight anyone who gets in your way.

More Scots Vs Viking combat

How it Played

I played the part of Lulach the Fair, Mormaer of Fif.  I was unfortunate in that my ship arrived at a remote cliff path only to discover that some Vikings had arrived at an adjacent path before me.  We engaged in a desperate battle and I luckily wiped out all 5 Viking units.  Sadly another Viking longship arrived with reinforcements and they destroyed all my units after some abysmal dice rolls.   Angus Konstam’s Vikings landed away from any opposition and unusually made quick moves and reached the Abbey and found the relic in record time.  On the way back to their ship they ran into the troops of Bart (Mormaer of Fothrif) who defeated them and captured the relic.  Despite attacks from more Vikings Bart still held the relic at the end of the game and so was declared the winner.

28MM HAIL CAESAR: MORLAIX 30TH SEPT 1342

On Thursday I went to Hugh Wilson’s for a 28mm Hail Caesar Hundred Years War game.   Dave O’Brien produced the scenario including troop ratings for the Battle of Morlaix on 30 September 1342.  Hugh provided the terrain and Dave most of the troops with the remainder coming from the collection of Donald Adamson.

Battle line deployed

I commanded the English force and simply deployed my command behind the line of wolf pits.  The French attacked with 2 of their divisions leaving the knights in reserve of table.  On our right centre the Genoese crossbowmen steadily outshot the facing English longbowmen.  The first attack by the French sergeants on our left was amazingly successful and drove their opponents back into the forest.  The French cavalry then rallied back to regroup before launching a second attack which was also partly successful.  Once the crossbowmen wore down their English opponents then the French knights launched their attack.  One wing of the knights forced back their opponents but when the second wing was ordered to charge it turned its back and fled from the English.

At the end of the game the French had lost 4 units (corrected)  nd the English none but a large part of the English force was heavily battered and had withdrawn into the forests.  I would count the game as a French marginal victory.

A fun game….highlighted by some consistently bad shooting by the longbowmen w.

First attack of the sergeants

 

Background

The HYW has been ongoing for 5 years and apart from the naval action at Sluys 1340 nothing major has happened until Edward III decided to get involved in the dispute over the succession to the Dukedom of Brittany. Edward has decided to support the wife of John de Montfort who usurped the title from Charles de Blois the rightful contender. John has been imprisoned in Paris by the King and Charles has advanced to recapture the towns taken by John and his wife.

An English force under the command of the Earl of Northampton has landed in Brittany and is currently besieging the town to Morlaix when they were warned by scouts that a large force led by Charles is advancing to break the siege. Not wanting to be caught between two forces Northampton has decided to take most of his troops from the siege lines and march during the night to surprise the French. The French had camped for the night outside the village of Lameur and in the morning were surprised to find the English in battle formation on a ridge along their line of march.

The young an inexperienced French commander held a council of war to decide how best to attack the English and it wasn’t until after midday before they finally decided to launch an attack.

The English have drawn up in three battles under the Earls of Northampton, Derby and Oxford while the French have drawn up in three large battles. The main battle of knights is commanded by Charles while another cavalry and infantry force is commanded by Geoffrey de Charny while an infantry battle of Genoese crossbow men and French peasants and militia are commanded by Robert de Guesclin.

Bidets lead the French central attack

French knights about to launch the final attacks

 

 

Here are the player briefings.

English Briefing

The French had camped for the night outside the village of Lameur and in the morning were surprised to find your force in battle formation on a ridge along their line of march. The young an inexperienced French commander has held a council of war to decide how best to attack the you and it isn’t until after midday before they finally decided to launch an attack.

What they don’t know is that during the night you dug camouflaged pits 6” away along the front of your troops, any enemy infantry crossing will be automatically disordered and suffer 1 casualty test, enemy cavalry will suffer d2 casualty tests. This might reduce as the pits get trampled on and filled with bodies.

You have drawn up in three battles under the Earls of Northampton, Derby and Oxford,

you are rated as a 9 and the others as 8’s

Victory conditions

Destroy the enemy force 3 points

For each enemy commander killed or captured 1 point

For each enemy unit of knights destroyed 1 point

French Briefing

An English force has under the command of the Earl of Northampton has in battle formation on a ridge along your line of march, you must destroy them before being able to march to Morlaix and lift the siege. Unfortunately your council of war took longer than expected and it is now passed midday before you can launch your attack before it gets dark and the English can slip away.

The main battle of knights is commanded by yourself Charles while another cavalry and infantry force is commanded by Geoffrey de Charny while an infantry battle of Genoese crossbow men and French peasants and militia are commanded by Robert de Guesclin but there is not much you can expect from your militia and levies.

You and all your commanders are rated as 8’s.

Victory conditions

Destroy the enemy force 3 points
For each enemy commander killed or captured 1 point
For each enemy unit of knights destroyed 1 point

Troop Ratings

Type            Clash  Sustained   Short range Long range  Morale  Stamina  Special

Mounted            9            6                   3/0                  0                4              6                    Lance, 6” move

Men at Arms

Dismounted     8            7                    2/0                  0                4              6                    Double handed

Men at Arms                                                                                                                       English are Stubborn

Archers            6            6                     3                   3                5              6                    Longbow

                                                                                                                                           Marksmen

Heavy              8            6                    3/0                  0                5              6                    Spear

Cavalry

Mercenary       5            5                     3                   3                5              6                    Crossbow

Crossbows                                                                                                                         Move or Shoot

Spearmen        7            7                    3/0                  0                5              6                    Long Spears, Militia

Medium Inf     7            6                    2/0                  0                5             6                    Double handed, Militia

Bidets              5            5                     3                   0                6              6                    Freshly raised, Levy

Bidets              3            2                     2                   0                0              4                    Mauraders, Open order

Small unit

Peasants           5            4                     3                   0                0              6                    Freshly raised, Levy

Lance, enemy morale capped at 6 only when lancers charge.

Longbow and double handed weapon, enemy morale capped at 5.

Marksman, reroll one missed shot.

Stubborn, reroll one failed morale test.

Crossbow, enemy morale capped at 5, move or shoot, no closing/traversing shots.

Militia, no move on equal command role.
Freshly raised, check page 100 first combat.
Marauder, ignore distance penalty for command.
Levy, roll 4+ at end of turn to recover disorder.

28mm WAR OF THE ROSES: KINGMAKER HUGE GAME

I was away at the weekend at Kirriemuir in Angus for a 28mm War of the Roses event.  Over the 2 days 14 gamers attended.  The concept which was based on the classic game Kingmaker was developed by Steve Rimmer who also supplied the figures and the bulk of the terrain.  The figures were all beautifully painted by James Roach.

Forces engaging around Chester - in distance the northern table

The terrain was made up of 4 18ft by 6ft tables representing all of England plus smaller tables to represent Calais, Dublin and sections of the North Sea.

York and area - in the distance the Isle of Man

I played the Lancastrian Beaufort Admiral of England and started with 2 subordinate commanders and my other 3 subordinates were all activated during the game.  I managed to eliminate 2 of the Yorkist heirs and after 2 days of play I won the game largely by surviving, not losing many troops and holding onto the 2 towns that I captured.  At one point Beaufort was in a dangerous situation near London facing numerous Yorkists but luckily he and his command were called away to Pevensey Castle leaving De Vere to face them alone.

The long running slaughter of Swansea

It was a truly enjoyable weekend and the rules developed by Steve Rimmer worked well and were easily picked up by all the players.   My thanks to Steve who acted as the hard working umpire and provided the inspiration, organisation and resources for the very enjoyable game.

Struggle between the forces of Durham and Berwick

All my photos with brief descriptions are on Flickr at

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bill26048/sets/72157651001295128/

Northern naval forces

James has written a report on his blo below which has good views of the overall setup
http://www.olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/an-away-game.html