World War of the Roses Sunday Game

 Today Mark arranged a WotR game using mostly his figures but including contributions by both Nick and Julian. Basically eight players had a faction each, and there were a few scattered mercenary bands that any player could "recruit" to their side. Paul played King Richard and John was Henry Tudor - the rest of us could remain neutral or "declare" for either one side or the other. It was a long, hard slog and could have gone either way for much of the game but in the end, Richards forces were victorious, with the Welsh pretender sent packing with his tail between his legs!

The leader of Nicks Contingent - a Neville of some description I think - Front Rank figures

Nicks archers

Another view of Nicks leader - now THAT is an impressive flag!

A mounted unit

Dismounted knights and men at arms

Above and below are my contingent - two units of archers and two of knights/billmen - all Perry plastics belonging to Mark

My leader (above)

Adrian commanded one of thhe forces adjacent to me - this is his leader

And these are some of his troops

Next up is Marks command, ironically made up of Front Rank figures from Julian's collection!

First moves - my contingent moving onto the flank of Adrian - at this stage, both of us were still undeclared neutrals. I did consider attacking and probably putting him out of the game in the second turn - but he had got up at 5am to drive 200km to get to the game, so I thought that would be slightly bad form!

More of Marks collection - cant remember who commanded these ones!

Chris attempts unsuccessfully to recruit some mercenaries....

..... whilst Nick, on the other hand, persuaded these Swiss pikemen to join his cause

Adrian and I, having decided to declare our loyalty to the one true king - Richard - move off in search of an enemy. Mark is on the far side of the table, with Paul (King Richard) next to him

Paul managed to recruit these mercenary crossbowmen

Rick - still neutral - lines the hedges in front of my contingent.

As my men deploy in battle array, a messenger arrives from Rick. He will remain neutral and allow my men to pass to his rear unmolested - but can he be trusted? - he is a retired lawyer after all and has not signed any contract!

Meanwhile, Julian and Barry (for Henry Tudor) combine to attack Nick

Nick and Barry in close combat

Nicks archers loose a swarm of arrows

A titanic struggle ensued for several turns of the game - Nick pushed the attackers back, but not without loss to his own force

Even the archers got involved in the vicious hand to hand combat

Meanwhile, Rick had finally declared for Henry and attacked a unit of longbowmen with his dismounted knights - 7 dice to 3, needing a 5 or 6 to hit. One side rolled two 5's and a 6, the other a pair of 5's and were driven back. Inevitably, it was Rick who failed to win this one sided fight! To add insult to injury, he then rolled two 6's in a row for his attached leader casualty, meaning his personal figure was killed and removed from the game!

My contingent, having negotiated a by pass with Rick when he was till neutral, occupied the woods to his rear. The archers opened fire of the hobilars of Henry Tudors personal retinue

Whilst the men at arms deployed in two lines to threaten the rear of the pretenders army

There be archers in them thar woods!

King Richard and his personal knights occupy the high ground, supported to their flank by the mercenary crossbowmen.

Henry Tudor and his knights charge the flank of Nicks position and in a bitter, one sided melee, destroyed two units, before falling back to reform

In a quick series of hammer blows, Rick took out all of Adrian's contingent - here, the foot knights get revenge on the archers who discomfited their colleagues earlier

Meanwhile, Chris was still uncommitted to either side and performed a long slow march around the flank and rear of the Tudor army to arrive opposite my position, to the rear of John and Julian's forces. He remained neutral for the entire game and did nothing but march around causing concern to the Tudor forces.

With Chris nearby and uncommitted, I pulled my force back to the security of the woods, whilst continuing to pelt Johns mounted troops with arrows

Nick was still in the thick of the action but had now been joined by Mark, who leant him invaluable support at a critical juncture

Barry and Julian come in for another go at Nicks battered force

And an enormous melee ensues

King Richard was forced to leave the hill and manoeuvre into the rear of Ricks victorious force, which had by this point dispatched all four of Adrian's units PLUS the mercernary crossbowmen

Julian deployed some crossbowmen behind pavises against the flank of Mark and Nicks position. My archers were able to advance on their flank and hit them with an arrow storm

Nicks men still holding out against yet another assault by the Tudor forces

This unit overcame two of Barry's to clear some room

King Richards knights charge home

The last ditch attempt to break through from Barry and Julian....

....and then there were none - game over!

Final view of the centre of the field - it was a very confused and bloody affair, but in the end, a victory for King Richard. Great fun and I managed to inflict quite a bit of damage on Johns forces without suffering a single casualty myself, so my retinue should be pretty satisfied with the result of the battle!

It now being late autumn here in Auckland, and the weather being rather inclement (by our standards) I arrived home to the smell of wood smoke and this cheery sight!

The next post should be some GNW Swedes in a few days time.