The Wars Of The Roses - A Trial Game

These past few weeks I've been doing a lot of reading with regards to the WotR, as it's a period I know very little about. Alongside this I've been running a few quick try out games using the Hail Caeser! rules and the WotR supplement that came out last year, to get a handle on the basic mechanics and to see if I enjoyed the games or not. To aid me in this I dug out my block armies, which were made for this very purpose. 

I kept verything very simple so that I could focus on the gameplay itself, without any chrome getting in the way, as there are lots of options one could add on, which would only compicate things at this stage. The battle was a simple line up and have a go at each other, so not too far from what appeared to have happened in many of the battles from this period.

Each side had a Vanguard, Mainguard and Rearguard, which consisted of 3 units of Household troops (Bill & Bow) and a unit of Men-at-Arms. No Artillery or Light cavalry was used to keep things simple, as I'm still learning what might have passed for tactics and deployment during these Wars. 

So onto the action!

Both sides lined up ready to knock the living daylights out of each other. The yellow dice record the number of arrows available and the tall square block are the MAA. The circles are for the commanders of each Division.

The end of Turn 1. Blue opened with a very Frederickian oblique attack, due to the Vanguard failing to move the the Rearguard being rather keen to get stuck in. The Red Mainguard was disrupted by the Blue arrowstorm early on, leading it somewhat broken up, but the Vanguard and Rearguard moved forward to engage in volleys of arrows. Both sides started taking hits and some Disorder.

The end of Turn 2. Both sides continued to close and the arrowstorms saw each side lose a unit of Household troops (the irregular organised blocks at the bottom of the photo).

The end of Turn 3. The Red Vanguard comes under pressure as it loses another unit of Houshold troops, forcing them to charge in to try and turn the battle in their favour. Elsewhere the arrows continued to fly, with Blue losing two unit of Household troops as a result, putting pressure on the Vanguard and Mainguard.

Battle is joined as the Red Vanguard if forced into some close combat, but it is a draw and both sides remain locked together.

The Read Mainguard appear to have a slight advantage over the Blue Mainguard.

The Red Rearguard has an advantage here.

The end of Turn 4. The battle degenerates into local scrums, with Red just having a slight advantage, but it is very messy!

The Red Vanguard is forced back and is now a Broken Division, so would have to retreat unless it could Rally a hit off somewhere, but this is unlikely as the Blue Rearguard would most likely follow up and press their advantage.

Both Mainguards are struggling for an advantage, but Red is in a slightly better position at the moment.

The Red Rearguard has broken the Blue Vanguard's MAA and are in better shape to press home their advantage.

End of the Game

I had to call the game at this point as I was required elswhere. Looking at it both sides were in pretty poor shape, with each flank broadly under the control of one side and the centre about Evens. So a bloody draw would seem a fair outcome.

Post Game Thoughts

Well I enjoyed that and it was certainly quick and quite brutal at times, with units suddenly breaking under the hail of arrows coming their way. The trial games beforehand paid off as I felt fairly comfortable playing a full game as it were. I'm sure I made a few errors here and there, but nothing major as far as I can tell. So a few thoughts from my games so far:

• The Arrowstorm rules works really nicely, with the battle opening with an archery duel, either at long or short range. The latter is more deadly so you need to maybe husband your arrows, but have to be careful not to be broken with some still in your quiver!
• The Breaktests give a nice distinction between Ranged and Close Combat attacks, with the former leading to units breaking or retreating more often than those that are stuck knocking the living daylights out of each other.
• When to Hold Disordered or Retreat In Good Order is a bit of a quandry, as being Disordered is not ideal but retreating might leave a flank exposed to an attack, certainly later on in the game once units are quite close to each other.
• Having only 6 Turns of game play means you really need to get stuck in from the off, which is a nice change from say Black Powder II or Honours of War.

What Next?

Well not a lot gaming or painting wise, as we have family coming over to stay for a few weeks, so a full house and the gaming room being used as an office-cum-bedroom means I will have time, nor space to game or paint. Still at least I have plenty of books to read!

I will due a review of the Hail Caesar! WotR supplement in due course and my thoughts on the period too, hopefully in a few days. So far I'm enjoying my trial games and HC! too as a set of rules, which is of course a good thing.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the brief AAR and as always, any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.