Battle of Mortimer's Cross - 28mm wargame part 2

Following our epic game of Towton on Saturday (as mentioned this will be published along with the others in chronological order) we turned our attention to the rather smaller affair of Mortimer's Cross. For part 1 of this battle head HERE

Once again this battle was refought using the excellent Never Mind the Bill Hooks ruleset.

Unlike many of the WOTR battles Mortimer's Cross is relatively straight forward. A marginally superior Yorkist force clashes with a Lancastrian army in a valley just outside Wales. Its a straight forward 'bash em up' game. 

With the two sides matched up for a big fight It was decided the Yorkists would be lead by John as the Earl of March (technically now Duke of York since his dad copped it at Wakefield) and with his left and right battles commanded by myself and Mark K. Facing us were our usual Lancastrians - Alastair and Mark F.

With the two sides facing off against each other we began the manoeuver phase - each side had a lot of troops (some 30+ units aside) so to speed things up two units were moved at a time.

Unfortunately the Lancastrians were knowlegeable about this battle (and had even visited the site) so were fully aware of the Yorkist ambush waiting in the wooded hills. Using this advanced knowledge the Irish closest to this point advanced into the woods to try and flush out the hiding Yorkists

Slowly the armies crept towards each other - periodically testing the range with a lone arrow (ie using a tape measure to figure out when the barrage could begin)

As a note the isolated trees on the table are just their for decoration. These get moved around ;-)

With the two sides edging closer battle was sure to start imminently....

It was the Lancastrians who began proceedings in the centre with their archers moving into long range

Volleys were loosed and a few casualties were taken

With a need to press on the Lancastrian left flank surged forward lead by their Irish allies

By now an arrow storm raged across the front with both sides bringing into play as many archer units that they could muster

Despite the toll of falling arrows both lines were holding firm.

Edward's retinue (below) steels itself for action

As the forces edged closer stocks of arrows were beginning to wear down

At this point the Irish launched their assault on the left wing

and through the woods...

Over on the Lancastrian right the Yorkists facing them fiirly fixed themselves to the banks of the river Lugg

With the Irish surging forward Vaughans troops hiding in the woods stepped forward

The Irish in the open were cut down in their charge. However their allies in the woods fared better forcing Vaughan's bills to retire, mauled and daunted.

The two sides in the centre continued to play with their bows

Eventually the arrows ran out and the two sides moved forward 

The centre clashed in a bloody melee - neither side gaining an advantage

Battles erupted across the line - numerous successes for the Yorkists. Several of the Welsh Lancastrians fleeing in rout

Fearing a complete collapse the Lancastrian left wing moved forward en masse to try and save the day.

Their brave sortie fails...

With the Irish dealt with the Yorkist right flank moved forwards  - attempting to roll up the Lancastrian flank

With much of the Lancastrian force dead, daunted or fled the Victory is awarded to Edward, Earl of March

A return to St Albans in our next battle....

Battle of Mortimer's Cross - A 28mm wargame - part 1

Good Afternoon All

Following the Battle of Wakefield fought last week plans were put in place to recreate the next in the series the Battle of Mortimer's Cross. 

Fortunately I used the time in lockdown to get ahead of myself to prep all the orders of battle, cards and special rules for all the battles up to Towton. As per previous posts in this series the first post focusses on the game set up with a second post reviewing how our battle played. (if you missed Wakefield the battle etc is HERE).

Some of the more observant amongst you might be aware that we fought Towton on Saturday. This was an all day game featuring over 1500 figures. I have decided that I'll hold fire on the report of this game for three reasons - one I want to do the report justice, two it will work better if the games are published in sequence and thirdly I might have the opportunity to get it published in one of the magazines.

If you do want to see some of the action from Towton head over to Alastair's blog HERE

So with the detritus of Saturday's game cleared we can turn our attention back to the regular Monday night game - the Battle of Mortimer's Cross  

Background

The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross was fought on the 2^nd February 1461 between the Yorkist forces of Edward Earl of March and the Lancastrian forces commanded by Jasper Tudor, Earl of Salisbury. The local welsh Lancastrian forces were supported by both French mercenaries and troops from Ireland.

The battle was fought near Ludlow on the Welsh marches. It was here that Edward heard the news of his father’s death at Wakefield. One could expect that Edward was out for revenge. Once aware of the Lancastrian movement out of Wales Edward marched his forces southwest of Ludlow to Mortimer’s Cross.       

As dawn broke on that cold February morning the massing armies were horrified to see not one sun rising but three. What these supersticious medieval soldiers did not realise was that the combination of cold, and localised characteristics in the air was producing the phenomonen called a parhelion.

Seeing the panic spreading through his army the Earl of March announced to his troops that it was a representation of the Holy Trinity and that victory could be assured. This quick witted response filled the Yorkists with vigour for the coming battle.

According to my internet searches it would appear that Edward set out his army to the south of the main road across a plain stretching between the river Lugg and a bank that ran parallel to the watercourse. His left flank was protected by the river. Edward then positioned Archers in the woods to the right of his army in ambush and further right may well have been hidden a unit of cavalry.

Refighting Mortimer’s Cross

The table is a simple layout with the two forces meeting in the valley – the River Lugg running along the Lancastrian right flank. The river plays no part in the battle and as such should be seen as the edge of the battlefield. The Lancastrian left wing is flanked by woodland covering the valley sides. Ideally the Lancastrian player(s) will be unaware that hidden in these woods are the cavalry forces lead by Done and the infantry forces lead by Vaughan.

Their command cards should excluded from the deck until such time that the Yorkists wish to spring their ambush.

The view across the valley with the Yorkist forces positioned on the right side of the picture

The Left flank of the Lancastrian army is made up of their Irish mercenaries. Rather than these be simple units of Irish Kern I felt they needed to be more substantial units. As such I have introduced a new unit.

Irish Mercenary Infantry

12 figures per unit

Move 8”

Shoot 0-6” (Javelins) ½ dice per figure for shooting

Attack d6 per figure

Save 6+

The Irish were known to be fierce fighters and as such may always  reroll ones in melee attacks.

My Irish figures are a combination of the Perry metals and a box of plastic Irish from Wargames Atlantic

I have given my Irish suitable flags....simply put together from google images using powerpoint

The Parhelion affect

To reflect the positive impact of the Parhelion on the Yorkist side three cards marked with the Parhelion symbol are handed to the Yorkist player. At the start of any turn he may elect to add one or more of these cards into the deck. When drawn these cards permit any Yorkist unit to perform an additional action whether they have already performed one or not. Once the card has been used it is discarded.

As a quick reminder I custom make all my cards for playing NMTBH with the various lord's shields on each card. The Cards are printed and then folded with a suitable back picture and then either laminated or dropped into a card sleeve. Separate little markers are used to identify commanders on the field.

example shot below from our Battle of Wakefield...you can see a

small card next to the commander

The Orders of Battle

Estimates for Lancastrian forces vary from 6000 to 10000 men whereas Yorkists are believed to have had between 10000 to 15000 men. To make it an 'even' game the Lancastriand=s will be slightly outnumbered.

Both sides enjoy a figure ratio of around 1/30 and the points are almost 20% bigger for the Yorkists.

Lancastrian – 8,000 men
Leader	Units	Figures	Unit Count	Points
Pembroke	1 x Men at Arms	12	1	24
Greystoke	2 x Bill 2 x Bow	48	4	48
Scudamore	2 x Bill 2 x Bow	48	4	48
Tudor	1 x Men at Arms	12	1	24
Latimer	2 x Bill 2 x Bow	48	4	48
Throckmorton	2 x Bill 2 x Bow	48	4	48
Wiltshire	1 x Men at Arms	12	1	24
Fitzgibbon	2 x Bill 2 x Bow	48	4	48
Burke	3 x Irish Infantry	36	3	36
Butler	3 X Irish Infantry	36	3	36
Total		348	29	384
Ratio		23	276	21

 

Yorkist –10,000 men
Leader	Units	Figures	Unit Count	Points
March (Hero)	1 x Men at Arms (Vet) 1 x Bow	24	2	36
Herbert	1 x Men at Arms 1 x Bill 2 x Bow	48	4	60
Grey of Ruthin	2 x Bill 2 x Bow	48	4	48
Devereux	2 x Bill 2 x Bow	48	4	48
Hastings	1 x Men at Arms 1 X Bow	24	2	36
Croft	2 x Bill 2 x Bow	48	4	48
Wenlock	2 x Bill 2 x Bow	48	4	48
Abergavenny	1 x Men at Arms 1 x Bow	24	2	36
Dinham	2 x Bill 2 x Bow	48	4	48
Thomas Vaughan	2 x Bill 2 x Bow	48	4	48
Done	2 x Light Cavalry	16	2	24
Total		424	36	480
Ratios		24	278	21

 

I should be able to post up the battle report on Tuesday a link will feature here

Battle of Wakefield - 28mm War of the Roses wargame - part 2

Following on from part 1 (which can be found HERE) the Shed finally swung open its doors and welcomed players back to the table. 

HOORAY !!!

Ladies and Gentlemen I give you our retelling of the Battle of Wakefield. The objectives, orders of battle etc can all be found in part 1 (see link above)

As can be seen in the picture above York and Salisbury are positioned on the left hand side of the table outside Sandal castle - Our games starts with the Lancastrian army appearing in three large and formidable battles.

Lancastrian cavalry have taken up positions defending Wakefield bridge. (below) 

Across the field of play. 

With Battle lines drawn up the players start the maneuver phase. Each side slowly draws closers to one another.

The Battle opens proper with the Lancastrian cavalry engaging the far right flank of the Yorkists

Elsewhere the ranks of archers on both sides begin to unleash their storms of arrows

The table looked suitably wintry despite being May outside.

The superior numbers of Lancastrians was beginning to tell on the far right flank. Arrows were finding their targets and the Yorkists were being forced back.

However things were going slightly better for York on his right flank near Wakefield bridge. Not only had he removed most of the Lancastrian cavalry, Rutland and his escort of mounted knights were on the move. Could they escape?

Rutland's armed escort in bottom right of picture below

Across the cold field the brave souls continued to press forward.

With the realisation that the Yorkists cause was possibly lost, Richard Duke of York and his ally Salisbury lead their men at arms forward in a desperate charge to buy time for Rutland's esscape.

Crashing into the Lancastrian centre the men at arms fought a valiant fight but alas their brave intentions were not matched by the dice rolls. 

York's demise on the field was short, sharp and swift (below)

However his death had given added impetus to the events unfolding near the bridge. By now the Lancastrian cavalry forces under Roos had been driven off and with Yorkist infantry support  Rutland was getting closer to his escape.

Elsewhere on the field Lancastrian troops surged forward and soon captured Salisbury

Rutland was so close to the bridge - he could taste freedom through his visored helm ;-)

A grand shot of the table.....

Attempting to block his path - Somerset the Lancastrian general threw his troops in against the mounted knights 

It was to no avail - the Knights thundered through and over the Bridge. Rutland had escaped.

Despite winning the battle (a forgone conclusion) Rutlands escape gave the Yorkists a minor table victory. Congratulations John !!

Once again a great game, a visual feast, and a very close run thing...

next up Mortimers Cross..

Take care and stay safe folks