Town Attack! A Wars of the Roses battle report and pictorial narrative.

[Captain Blood]

Right then  - long post with many piccies coming up… You have been warned
 
So a few British Lead Adventurers met up for a day’s gaming in the pub yesterday.

While most of the chaps were engaged on Mars (VSF), Silent Invader and I fought out a small Wars of The Roses battle using his ‘By arrow, bill and sword’ rules.

The scenario was a ‘town attack’ - very loosely modelled on First St. Albans.

Since they would have to attack over a series of obstacles, the Yorkists had a slight advantage in numbers - 120 figures as opposed to the defending Lancastrians with 100.
The balance of forces was more or less even - although over half the Yorkist force were longbows or mercenary handguns / crossbows, whereas the defending Lancastrians had only one third of their force as missile-armed.

The photos aren’t quite up to scratch. Haven’t really mastered my new DSLR camera yet. And the lighting in the gaming room is awful. Still, it gives you the gist… 

All the terrain is from my collection, except for the trees contributed by Silent Invader.

The Yorkist army (Captain Blood’s) approaches from the West.
They must pass the church, fields and fishponds to reach the town proper.




Reverse angle...




As the Yorkist centre forms up…




The Lancastrian defenders (Silent Invader’s) move quietly through the town towards the perimeter…




Reverse angle...




Establishing an outer defensive line…




The Lancastrians fire their field piece to open proceedings - ripping an impressive hole (four dead!) through the ranks of Yorkist longbowmen advancing towards them around the Church…




Meanwhile, in the centre, the Yorkists throw forward another company of longbows. A prolonged  archery duel ensues with heavy casualties on both sides.




Other Lancastrian archers rush to defend the makeshift barricade across the western entrance to the town…




...but lacking the mass to compete effectively, are quickly decimated by withering handgun and crossbow fire from a large company of mercenaries the Yorkists have deployed against them.




The Lancastrians send a heavily armoured body of men-at-arms to reinforce the barricade…




The Lancastrian commander confers behind the centre of his defensive line. He decides his main battle will hold its ground in hope of drawing the mass of enemy men-at-arms across the field and out into the open.




Sure enough, the Yorkist men-at-arms in the centre, begin to advance through the churchyard…







A general view of the field… The Yorkist longbows on their right wing have been devastated by archery and occasional cannon balls. Opposing large bodies of longbowmen are now reduced to small parties. The Yorkist bowmen take shelter behind the churchyard wall (bottom right)




But are their commander ruthlessly orders them forward into the cornfield to attempt to clear out the surviving Lancastrian archers holding the wall…




Meanwhile, in the town centre, the main Lancastrian body silently awaits the onslaught…




As the Yorkists begin to roll forward…






The Yorkist longbowmen in the cornfield are taken in the flank by a sudden onrush of Lancastrian horse…




The Yorkist commander immediately commits his reserve of mounted men-at-arms to chase off the Lancastrian horsemen…




The Lancastrian longbowmen having largely been silenced, the Yorkist men-at-arms scramble over the churchyard wall and out into the cornfield…




The Lancastrian commander awaits them…




Having killed or driven off all the enemy longbowmen, the Yorkist bills and bows now begin to clamber over the hedgerows and make their way around the fishpond…




The Yorkist line steadily advances…




Until in the centre of the field, the heavy armour of the Yorkist and Lancastrian men-at-arms finally clash at the wall.






While the Yorkist knights on horseback, having chased off the Lancastrian horse, charge down a lane into some enemy handguns…




And the Lancastrians’ field piece fails to score a hit on the sitting target… 




Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the field, the Lancastrian men-at-arms holding the barricade start to take casualties from the mercenaries facing them…




…so they charge out and take the mercenaries in a narrow frontage between two hedges, where the mercenaries weight of numbers is negated. The Lancastrian commander hopes this feint will draw Yorkist troops from the centre, thus relieving the pressure on his front line. The fully armoured Lancastrian men-at-arms commence chopping their way through the body of poorly armoured missile troops with gusto…




And although a group of Yorkist billmen swing round to take them in the rear…




The valiant Lancastrian men-at-arms have soon decisively driven back the remaining mercenaries…




The Yorkist billmen now follow up and a vicious melee takes place…




In the centre, the Lancastrian commander pulls his armoured men back to his second defensive wall line - leaving a screen of his longbows and crossbows to draw the sting of the Yorkist onslaught at close range.




But the Yorkists seize the initiative and clamber over the wall to fall upon the hapless missile troops, chopping them to pieces or driving them off in short order...




...before advancing on the Lancastrians’ last ditch defensive line…




Meanwhile, the Yorkist cavalry, having spotted dust raised by the Lancastrian horse shifting fast to the opposite side of the battlefield, surge across the centre of the field to head them off…






Both mounted contingents now plough into the increasingly messy, bloody and confused melee in front of the barricade.




The Yorkists advance their field piece to the cover of the eastern churchyard wall – only to discover there’s not much left for them to shoot at…




Three plucky Lancastrian men-at-arms finally manage to cut their way through the mercenaries and break out. They head for the church, intending to claim sanctuary.




Meanwhile, a company of Yorkist longbowmen have gained the town proper, and prepare to loose onto the Lancastrians’ flank.




They are quickly attacked by the Lancastrians’ reserve of billmen though, and the Yorkist men-at-arms have to swing left to assist them.




‘But wait!’ Think the Yorkists. ‘What is that handy alleyway?'




They burst through it and onto the high street amongst the surviving defenders.




Meanwhile, as they approach the church, the three Lancastrian knights spot the Yorkist commander, all alone in the churchyard. They hesitate... To claim sanctuary or to try to kill the enemy commander?




Too late! The Yorkist commander spurs his charger towards the sudden threat, and at the same time, his mounted knights charge in to ride down the enemy… A narrow escape!



The high street is now overrun, and the fighting breaks up into small knots of desperately hacking, struggling men…




Finally the Yorkists encircle the Lancastrian commander, trapped between a pair of buildings…




With no escape possible, the better part of his army killed or fled, and the Yorkists now with a major advantage in numbers, the Lancastrian commander decides not to fight to the death and yields, criying ransom for himself and his household knights. The Yorkists accept this surrender and  the relieved noblemen on both sides live to fight another day.  Battle (and game) over.



I would say the whole encounter felt quite plausible and true to the period – but I’ll leave it to Silent Invader to contribute the conclusions to be drawn, in due course, 

[emosbur]

 

AWESOME!!!!

[Malamute]

Premiere League, exactly what the LAF is all about, sumptuous eye candy in every department; wonderful terrain, stunning buildings, beautifully painted figures and a proper scenario.  

Not as good as the other game in the room on the day, but you can't have everything.

[Arlequín]

Not a bad looking game I suppose. 

Yes, I agree with Malamute, this is what LAF is all about, lots of eye-candy en masse. Well done guys!
 

[Hu Rhu]

That is an amazing set up.  Beautiful figures, great scenery and a great AAR to go with it.  Sumptuous.

[pocoloco]

That was quite a pictorial barrage of amazing minis and terrain! 

[Gangleri]

A fitting baptism for all those men at arms!

[Phil Robinson]

Sumptuous and scrumptious, bloody good photos too.

[Elk101]

Fantastic looking game. Your WotR stuff is always a real treat to see Richard.

[Mason]

Bloody gorgeous.
A proper feast for the eyes.
 

And probably played out with a much more mature attitude compared to the idiots at the other end of the room where the proper game was being played.
 

[Westfalia Chris]

"I've heard about bringing a gun to a knife-fight, but this is ridiculous!"



Lovely. The scenery makes for an intriguing and refreshing change from the ubiquitous "England's pleasant pastures".

[OSHIROmodels]

Great stuff as always Richard (and Steve) 

I'll have to have a play at some point as my retinue steadily grows 

cheers

James

[Garder]

Looks great

[Goliad]

Inspiration for the hobby! Great seeing all those beautiful minis showcased in action on fantastic terrain.

[joekano]

Absolutely gorgeous!!!!