Wednesday 27 November 2013

The Hundred Years War: Henry V versus Joan of Arc


Monday night – games night!


Well a bit of a change this evening to the usual fare we decided to play 10mm Warmaster Medieval. We agreed on a 2000 points aside game featuring a ficticious battle between the chevauchee forces of Henry V versus the latter Hundred Years forces of Joan of Arc.
 
I created the army lists before Mark I arrived and we diced for the forces, this way I could not be accused of picking the best side. For those of you interested they were as follows


French
English
Joan of Arc – General
Nobles x3
Mounted Knights x4
Dismounted Knights x4
Scots X2
Retinue Foot X2
Genoese Crossbows X4 (inc Pavisses)
Handgunners X2 (inc Pavisses)
Cannons X3
Henry V (General)
Nobles X3
Mounted Knights X2
Dismounted Knights X2
Mounted Sergeants X4
Hobilars X2
Mounted Longbows X2
Longbows X8
Peasants X8

 
As can be seen above the English forces (being Chevauchee) have more mounted troops, significantly more missile troops but are distinctly lacking in infantry. Aside from the Knights and the Seargeants all the forces were unarmoured.

 

We rolled for terrain placement and then lay out our battles. We agreed that we would keep each contingent to a maximum of four units for ordering purposes (as per fantasy warmaster) as opposed to moving battles on mass.

Now apologies here but after the first five photos the camera packed up so rather than write up a pictorial AAR I can only show you a few photos of the early part of the game.


 

The English started (me) and rather fortuitously I got all my orders – in Warmaster to command a unit to do something outside of initiative you need to roll under the leaders command skill on 2d6 – this is mofified for terrain, subsequent orders etc). It does mean that sometimes forces you want to move never budge – and I was able top advance along the line towards the French and securing the woods in the centre and on my right flank.

 Mark unfortunately wasn’t able to move as many troops but he did manage to bring up his missile troops on my right flank and managed to score a few hits. Blood had been drawn and the battle commenced.

 




The French Horse and Men at Arms


The First Charge

It all went a bit wring for the English after this charge, the French Infantry advanced and began to throw their weight around. Some lousy dice and poor judgement calls put my English on the back foot for much of the game.

In the end the French whooped the pesky English - we'll refight this again - the French are much more formidable than the earlier hundred years list where they tend to get shot to bit bits by longbows.

Whilst the figures were out I took some piccies with the camera phone of what I believe is the best 10mm Medieval range out there - Kallistra

http://www.kallistra.co.uk/

 


Mounted Hobilars - Kallistra


Mounted Knights - Kallistra


Handgunners - Kallistra


Mounted Seargeants - Kallistra


Longbows - Kallistra


Crossbows - Kallistra


Mounted Longbows - Source???


Men at Arms - Kallistra


Peasants - Kallistra


Nobles & General


 
Teutonic Spears


If you want to see some more pictures of 10mm Medieval on the blog head over here

More 10mm Medieval goodness


The proper camera is now fixed !














 

Sunday 24 November 2013

Eric the Shed 'immortalised'

Its not often in life when somebody decides to name something after you but last night was a very proud moment...my nom de guerre 'Eric the Shed' has been immortalised on somebody elses wargaming table !

A big thank you to Mason (Paul)

A full write up of his Western Project can be read here...

Mason's western project










Wednesday 20 November 2013

St Oswalds Tongue - A Tale of Shedwood



As mentioned in my earlier post last Monday saw the first adventure in the Tales of Shedwood. This was very much a playtest of the rules and if I say so myself they went rather well. A few tweaks are required but we are getting there.

A big thank you to Matt (Robin Hood) and Mark (Guy of Guisbourne) for their support and advice.


I'll start with the scenario and as I work through the simplified AAR I'll drop in snippets from the rules...

The Small chapel of St Oswald lies on the edge of Sherwood Forest, a days ride from Nottingham. It is a famous pilgrimage in this part of the country as it is the resting place of the old martyr known as St Oswald. Oswald was beatified when he single handedly talked the marauding Viking war party to turn back from the evil ways and embrace the spirit of God.

Immortalised in tales and legend his tongue has become a powerful relic and is said to inspire leadership and oratory.

It has long been known that the Sheriff of Nottingham covets this relic and wishes to add this to his collection. He has instructed his henchmen, Sir Guy de Guisbourne and Black Hugo to recover the relic and bring back to Nottingham.

Fortunately for the locals the Sheriffs intentions have not gone unnoticed and a message has been sent to Robin Hood. Said Robin has decided such a theft should not take place and has such determined to thwart the Sheriffs plans.


The Village and Monastery of St Oswalds
 
As can be seen in the above picturethe forces of the Sheriff of Nottingham lead by Guy are entering the table from the bottom right. They have to enter the monastery and sieze the relic. Once captured they must exit the board from their entry point.
 
Guy of Guisborne




Each player has a number of order tokens equal plus one to the total number of units he is commanding. Guy was commanding seven units so therefore he received 8 tokens.

At the beginning of each turn the player then places these tokens on his Battle Order Board (BOB). BOB is a grid with the Unit forces described across the top and the order types listed down the side.

The unit will perform the listed action as and when the player wishes.

Battle Order Board: The Commander writes in the name of the unit in the Top Boxes

In addition he receives an additional number of tokens equal to his command rating. Once used these are then disposed of and cannot play a further part in the game. These should be a different colour to the standard tokens.

These command tokens can be used as follows:

1.       As an additional order. Placed in the usual way.
2.    Or used to modifier set of die rolls by +1/-1 
 
Actions

Action
 
Move
The Unit may move up to its full distance – if it closes within 1 inch of an enemy unit go to combat
Shoot
The unit if missile armed may shoot at any single unit within range
Reload
If the unit is crossbow armed the unit may reload
Defensive Formation eg Shield Wall
The unit may form a defensive posture – thereby receiving a +1 save in melee combat = the unit remains in this position until it moves. Units defending cover may not receive this order.
Rally
The unit may attempt to improve it morale
Vigilance
Cost of two tokens – unit may perform any of the above tasks in its sides turn

 No unit may perform more than two actions in one turn – these maybe the same actions

Order of play. The players roll a dice the highest begins first by actioning one of his orders on the board. Once this has been completed play switches to the next player and then back again. In multiple player games the players on joined sides may agree the order they play.
The turn ends when all tokens are in play. Clearly if one side has more tokens than the other he will play out the rest of his turn once the tokens are spent.

 
 
Guy's Mounted retinue
Add caption
Guy started to move his troops through the village past the smithy and towards the monastery. The mounted unit leading the way.
The Village of St Oswalds Cross
The Smithy
Robin Hood meanwhile was leading his men through the Forest to the wood edge where ghe was hoping to ambush Guys forces 
The Merry Men enter from the Forest

 
 
Robin, as a leader, not only can fight but he can also lead his men into battle. He can also use his Luck and extra command tokens to affect the battle.
 
All of the commander have a score for Luck and Treachery. These numbers denote the number of times that they can use these skills in a battle.
These skills can be used to enact the following:
1.     Cancel the play of a Leaders command token – the Leader may still place another command token on the board after the luck treachery skill has been played ie it helps to burn them up
2.       Luck points may allow the player to:
a.       Reroll all the dice of a given set (to see if his luck fares better)
b.      Add +1 to any dice rolls before they are made
3.       Treachery points may allow the player to
a.       force the opponent to reroll any hits or saves that they have made in combat
b.      Subtract -1 to any die rolls before they are made
His merry men act as Knights - Little JOHN, Friar Tuck etc These guys can bolster the morale of an attached unit, add extra attacks etc.
 
 
 

Robin 'the Hood'

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Little John & friends

 
As the Sheriff's forces advanced Robin's men let fly with their longbows
 


Take Aim


Archery (and all missile fire) is quite simple and deadly
 
 
Missile Weapons have two ranges effective & long – A missile requires a 4+ to hit at effective range and 5+ to hit at long rage
 
Weapon type
Effective Range
Long Range
Armour Pen
Reload
Warbow
12
24
+1/0
No
Xbow
12
24
+1/+1
Yes
Shortbow/Slings
8
16
-1/-1
No
Other Missiles
6
12
0/-1
No
To Hit Modifiers
+1 if target mounted
-1 if light cover *includes large shields
-2 if hard cover * includes pavisses
Because they are so deadly - the Sheriffs forces just kept getting mown down we have since decided to reduce the ranges by 25% (now longbows have range of 9" and 18". I am also thinking that the to hit score will be modified to 5 at effective and 6+ at long range.
 
A duel opened up between the xbows and the archers. With their slower reloads the crossbows came croppers in both games.
 

Exiting the Village with crossbow men taking cover in the wattled garden




Crossbowmen taking cover in the vegetable garden


Meanwhile several horsemen had ridden up to the Monastery - they can be quite fast.
 
Depending upon how many tokens are on the unit (max of two) a cavalry unit could move 24" in one turn !
 

Outside the Monastery

The burst into the monastery to be confronted by a number of fanatical Templars intent on keeping the relic safe.
 

A violent encounter

 
Melee combat is driven by the type of unit (attacks and armour) and again is very simple.
 
 
 
 
The Unit will have the following characteristics
Calibre – the level of training = number of attacks per stand
Armour – how much armour the unit has (will denote movement speed)
Weaponry – Types of weapons inc missiles
Morale – How pumped up they are for battle
A Unit is designated by the number of troops – typically units will be based in multiples of 6

 
Attacks
Defence
Unit Size
Points
Knights
3
4 *ignore mounted reduction
6 max
6
Men At Arms
2
5
6 (12 max)
4
Trained Band
1
6
6 (12 max)
2
Levy
½
6
6 (18 max)
1
 
+1 Attack if Mounted -
- the points score is still to be determined so please ignore this column.
 
Needless to say that the mounted men at arms did not fare well against the Templars and were sent back in retreat
 

Retreating from the Monastery

Elsewhere the Sheriffs forces advanced on Robins forces in the woods
 

The Retinue Advance

 

Forward boys
Although they managed to eventually reacjh the edge of the woods their morale was shot to pieces as were a number of stands.
 
In both games the relics stayed safe in the sanctuary of St Oswalds. 
Learnings
 
1. The Warbows are just too powerful when used by lots of figures, by reducing the size of units (from eight to six) and reducing their hit potential (dice and range) we have created a more balanced effect. Initially I had given Robin and his key men two shots per phase this is now reduced to one but they get hit benefits.
2. Combat is brutal, simple and neat. Knights are the best unit in hand to hand as they should be with a degree of good protection.
3. The battleboards allow for fast play with orders effectively designated in advance.
4. Luck and treachery rerolls do create a sense of delight & frustration !
 
More to come very soon...