WOTR - where to begin?

[CaptainHaddonCollider]

Hello all,
I am looking to start a new group-project around The Wars of Roses (the later period), using Lion Rampant and giving each player 12 points of troops to play around with.
The first obstacle, however, is finding ready material on who supported who and at what time.
I am mainly looking for smaller nobles, as the large houses are well provided for in the sources.
Therefore: do any of you esteemed gentlefolk have any good links or suggestions on illustrated books for a complete green WOTR player?

[Sunjester]

It depends what you mean by "the later period". Just Bosworth and the later Yorkist uprisings against Henry Tudor, or do you mean Barnet/Tewkesbury onwards?

If you are including the 1471 campaign then Geoffrey Wheeler's "A Roll of Arms" would give the heraldry for just about every combatant at Tewkesbury of gentleman upwards (basicly anyone entitled to a coat of arms). That would give you a start on the lesser lords and knights, the problem would be tracking down livery colours for their followers. The roll was published in a booklet, "The Battle of Tewkesbury 1471" by Wheeler and McGill, which is available here:
 http://lanceandlongbow.com/shop.php

In fact the Lance and Longbow Society would be worth contacting as they have a lot of publication on the period and might be able to recommend sources to you.

[Atheling]

You need do no more then scroll down this page on the Lance  and Longbow Society's site and then spend a few pennies on:

Pub-001   Heraldic Banners of the Wars of the Roses Vol.1 A-H   
Pub-002   Heraldic Banners of the Wars of the Roses Vol.2 H-R   
Pub-003   Heraldic Banners of the Wars of the Roses Vol.3 S-Y   
Pub-004   Standards, Badges & Livery Colours of the Wars of the Roses.   
Pub-005   From Knights to Squires - The Gentry & Peerage of Towton Vol.1   
Pub-042   From Knights to Squires - The Gentry & Peerage of Towton Vol.2   

They also have three excellent books hat would also be useful/inspiring:

Pub-019   The Battle of Barnet 1471   
Pub-020   The Battle of Bosworth 1485   
Pub-022   The Battle of Towton 1461   

Hope that helps?

Darrell.

[Big Martin Back]

I can recommend the Freezywater publications. Reasonably inexpensive booklets with lots of information.

They do 2 volumes of Armies, Battles & Commanders of the Wars of the Roses. Volume 1 is St Albans 1455 to Toton 1461 and volume 2 Hedgeley Moor 1464 to Stoke Field 1487. Primarily aimed at their Poleaxed rules, there are good lists of of who fought on what side, however.

There's also Standards, Badges & Livery Colours of the Wars of the Roses. Very good resource for painting figures.

[Hu Rhu]

Take a look at the Perfect Captain's rule set A Coat of Steel.  It includes a set of character cards giving most of the key players in the WotR including many of the minor nobles who played a part, which side they supported, where they recruited and their heraldry. Link is here: http://perfectcaptain.50megs.com/acop.html

The download section provides all the cards as well as a great set of rules.

[Arlequín]

I can second the Freezywater/L&L sources offered here, as they are very accurate... but might be going too deep for your needs, plus they are very black and white (for example the Harringtons and Stanleys are both 'Yorkist', but in reality were actually bitter enemies on the same side).

I think Hu Rhu's suggestion will give the easier course for beginners and then your members can go off and look up the relevant coats of arms and liveries themselves.

If I had to suggest buying one book though, it would be: Pub-004 Standards, Badges & Livery Colours of the Wars of the Roses from Atheling's list.

You could supplement that with one or more of the 'battle books' he suggests, which will give the coats of arms. Barnet and Tewkesbury together would give the widest scope, but the teams had changed by Bosworth, so combining them creates contradictions.

How many players will you have?

[Atheling]

You need do no more then scroll down this page on the Lance  and Longbow Society's site and then spend a few pennies on:

Pub-001   Heraldic Banners of the Wars of the Roses Vol.1 A-H   
Pub-002   Heraldic Banners of the Wars of the Roses Vol.2 H-R   
Pub-003   Heraldic Banners of the Wars of the Roses Vol.3 S-Y   
Pub-004   Standards, Badges & Livery Colours of the Wars of the Roses.   
Pub-005   From Knights to Squires - The Gentry & Peerage of Towton Vol.1   
Pub-042   From Knights to Squires - The Gentry & Peerage of Towton Vol.2   
Hope that helps?

Darrell.

I can recommend the Freezywater publications. Reasonably inexpensive booklets with lots of information.

They do 2 volumes of Armies, Battles & Commanders of the Wars of the Roses. Volume 1 is St Albans 1455 to Toton 1461 and volume 2 Hedgeley Moor 1464 to Stoke Field 1487. Primarily aimed at their Poleaxed rules, there are good lists of of who fought on what side, however.

There's also Standards, Badges & Livery Colours of the Wars of the Roses. Very good resource for painting figures.

Erm...., see above post 

Darrell.

[CaptainHaddonCollider]

As always, help is ready at hand on the LF forum. I knee you people wouldn't let me down!
Thank you all for the vast amount of resources provided. Some of it is quite detailed, and I think I shall go with Arlequins advice on the perfect captain and take it from there.

We will be six players all in all, each with a small battle/retinue. I've begun hoarding perry plastics like there was no tomorrow, and it turns out I had more stuff on sprues than expected.
The time-frame would be Bosworth onwards, as I really want to end the whole thing with a large battle with some shifty characters on each side (I am looking at you, Strange).

[Arlequín]

It was Hu Rhu suggested the Perfect Captain, I only commended his good taste. 

Six players works quite well, as armies of the time typically split into three parts, although occasionally a fourth was created from the rest as a reserve.

I also think you've picked a good time frame too, as the start of Henry VII's reign was awash with conspiracies, plots and a lot of military activity that generally gets overlooked. A lot went on between Bosworth and Stoke Field (not that Stoke Field was the end of matters).

In the period immediately after Bosworth Lord Strange was leading Stanley Retainers against Viscount Lovell and the Harringtons in Furness Fells in Lancashire, before giving that up to go and join Lord Fitzhugh who faced with rebels and Scots at Berwick. Lovell attempted to take York and kidnap the King at sword-point on St. George's Day 1486,  the plot being foiled by the Earl of Northumberland's men.

If Strange is firmly in your sights, the main power block in Cheshire and the North-West continued to be the Stanleys after Bosworth. However Sir John Savage's elevation to royal offices spurred him onto an attempt to free himself from their influence and become a key player in the area in his own right. This led to a power-struggle that drew in others like the Butlers, Traffords, Molyneuxs and Pilkingtons, that lasted for a good twenty years and witnessed a number of armed clashes.   

[coopman827]

I found this thread to be very helpful:

http://sswg.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=33