Friday Night Games: 15mm Medieval

Friday 14th & 212t at saw us playing a 15mm Medieval game which saw a force of German Nurembugers trying fighting off a force of Austrians

The figures were from John's collection and he umpired the game using his version of Rupert's rules.

Austrians we're commanded by Dave, Rupert and Mike N. whilst the Bavaruan side were commanded by Mat, Steve & Phil.

An Introduction to Medieval French DBA Campaign

 by Steve C.

In 1407 France was in a pretty desperate state of affairs and the once proud King Charles VI was no more than a figurehead.  Suffering from psychosis, and for the most part being in delusional state having had metal rods sewn into his clothing so that he wouldn’t shatter because amongst other things he believed that he is made of glass, France was for the most part run by a regency council.

The Queen, Isabeau of Bavaria, presided over the counsel on which sat the Kings Uncles and his Brother and cousin.  His uncle, Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who had acted as regent during the King's minority was a great influence on the Queen.  However, this influence progressively shifted to Louis I, Duke of Orléans, the King's brother, and it was suspected that he was the Queen's lover.  On the death of Philip the Bold his son John the Fearless took over but he lost even more influence at court due to his unpopularity which then lead to a massive fallout between the Duke and Louis.  The Kings other Uncle John, Duke of Berry, served as a mediator between Louis, who now lead the Orléanist party, and John, who lead the Burgundian party, but to little avail.

John had an expansionist policy and had brought up large tracts of land that Louis countered by acquiring Luxembourg in 1402 and lands in the eastern marches of the kingdom that the Burgundians considered their private hunting ground.  Louis, having control of the purse strings, got 90% of his income from the royal treasury whilst John saw his revenue drop from 200,000 écus a year to 37,000.

Eventually John was ousted from the council altogether and his revenue cut off.  This was too much for him and he took advantage of the anger amongst taxpayers in Paris and won them over but even this and a demonstration against Paris with his army wasn’t enough to restore his influence at court so in 1407 he had Louis assassinated on the rue Vieille du Temple in Paris and took control of the council.  Louis’ son Charles vowed to avenge his father’s death and by marrying the Count of Armagnac’s daughter Bonnie d’Armagnac he then had a power base from which he formed the League of Gien which became known as the Armagnac party.

Whilst France was having its fair share of problems England, under the rule of King Henry IV, was having some of its own.  Since usurping the throne in 1399 Henry had been ruling a very troubled Kingdom.  A Scottish army of 10,000 men had laid waste to Northumberland and after a short campaign it was eventually defeated at Homildon Hill in 1402.

Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, and his son Harry "Hotspur", the very same men who had led the English army at Homildon Hill, rebelled against Henry whilst supporting the 5th Earl of Marche, Edmund Mortimer, who also claimed the English throne because he was a great-great-grandson of King Edward III.  The rebellion was eventually put down at the battle of Shrewsbury in 1403.

Owain Glyndŵr had also raised the flag of rebellion in 1400 and since then had been taking back tracts of Wales from the English.  Rumours abounded that Richard II was still alive, even though his body had been put on display in Westminster Abby after he died, and it was said that he was “awaiting only a signal from his friends to repair to London and recover his throne”.

Ireland was also causing the crown problems with most of it being taken back by the Celts with only the Pale and major towns still in the hands of the Anglo Irish lords.

Because of all of this internal strife Henry had very little time in which to concentrate his efforts in France, the last army being sent there in 1380 under the command of the Earl of Buckingham during the reign of Richard II.  Because of the high taxes that were imposed during the campaign, overseas war was very unpopular with the English public and is thought to have contributed to the peasants’ revolt of 1381.  So Henry’s tendency was to stay at home and watch with interest as events unfolded in France.

So this is where our campaign kicks off in July 1410 with both French factions building up their armies for the second time in 6 months.  Now, I’m not sure if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew here because there’s a lot to do and the rules may not allow for such a complex campaign in just two weeks but we’ll see how it goes and go as far as we can.

There are four historical chunks that I’ll try to tackle, and to begin with I’ll be concentrating on the period between 1410 and 1415, the rest, if you’re interested, can be played at a later time.

Unlike usual DBA campaigns where it’s very much a free for all, in this campaign there will be three teams, English, Burgundian and Armagnac each of which will have a set of historical objectives to achieve.

Friday Night Games: Hussite Wars

For his game on 7th July  Mat had prepared a challenging 10mm Hussite Wars game, pitting Mike N. and Mike W. and the Hussites against an Imperialist force played by Dave, Phil, Rupert and Steve.

The two Mike's Wagon lines bridge between a forest line on their right and marshland to the left.
Dave's Imperial Horse can be seen approaching the Hussite lines

The action started with Rupert and Dave advancing their battles to fireclay engage with the Hussite battles.

Meanwhile, Steve followed Phil's cavalry battle around the edge of the world, on the Hussite left, with the aim of crashing into their unsuspecting rear rank.

Dave's cavalry, was first to engage with Mike W's battle, after a couple of rounds of shooting and melee, Dave's command routed from the fray.

Rupert's tardy battle, with organ guns on their front right and,
missile men to their left and mounted knights to their rear

Whilst Dave's command forged ahead, as the knights went impetuous after taking some casualties, Rupert kept his battle on a tight leash and they edged forwards at a slow rate.

Meanwhile the rear Steve's cavalry command emerged from eth forests and descended on to the flank of the small Hussite Cavalry command, which immediately broke and left the field, pursued by Steve's cavalry command!

Mike N, redeployed his Wagon line to face the rear, creating an arched laager against the forest line at the edge of the world.

Hussite Wagon Laager

Eventually Phil's cavalry command emerged from the woods and advanced upon the Hussite lines as Mike N was completing his redeployments, however Mike was able to send a few shots into the advancing horse,, who thought better of the situation and retired out of range.

And there the battle ended for eth evening, wit the Imperialists unable or unwilling to attack the wagon laager and the Hussites unable to sally forth and attack the Imperialists.

A closer view of the Hussite Laager

Off the Workbench: Viking Shield Maidens and Medieval Artillery

Well its the first 'Off the Workbench' submission for quite some time! Currently tied up with the ongoing ECW Campaign, so it has taken quite some time getting these little guys (and girls) completed.

The first batch of figures are 11 x 28mm Shield Maidens that I acquired form eBay, I continue to experiment with Contrast / Speed Paints and feel that I'm gradually understanding how to use these to their best. As with everything they have their good and bad points...

Ultimately I'll be using a mix of traditional and Speed paints moving forwards.

The completed group

The Speed Paints are particularly good for figures with long hair - such as these women, it gives a lovely shaded feel with a single coat.

The sky blue colours on the right most figures are traditional paints with a blue ink
wash for shading. The red undershirt for the figure with an axe is speed paint

I decided to replace the metal shields and spears where possible with plastic ones, sourced from the spares box - likely mostly Gripping Beast items. I also added a helmet to the waist belt of the figure second right, see below

All of these figures completed using speed paints. The skin tones on the figure second right is not great, I used regular Army Painter flesh and then washed with Sepia ink, the results seem much better on the other figures.

Final group of three figures below, includes the unit leader in chainmail and a red (Speed Paint) cloak

All speed painted again!

And now for something slightly different! Medieval Artillery - I forget who the figure manufacturer is but the moulds are nice and crisp.

Both figures were painted using Speed paints - whilst the gun was a mixture of traditional and Speed Paints.

Business end of the gun!

Again figures undercoated white and pretty much painted straight from the Speed Paint pots. Metalics is traditional Vallejo 'Oily Sleel' and then a coat of Army Painter 'Graveyard Grey' speed paint for shading.

A side view to see the detail on the gun carriage.

Overall pleased with e results - its a learning process. Hopefully next post will be three Elizabethan Border Lancers and some Wargames Atlantic Conquistadors - converted for the Anglo-Scots Marian Wars.

Medieval Campaign

By Steve C

After Friday Night's shenanigans the sorting hat had its say the teams are as follows: 

Team John  

• Matt  
• Dave  
• Mike N  
• Nigel  

 

Team Rupert  

• Mark  
• Phil  
• Mike W  
• Oli  

 

There were 11 armies to choose from in the end as I found I could do one more than I thought I could, they were:  

 

Later Polish  

Communal Italian  

Early Imperial  

Feudal English  

Feudal French  

Early Medieval French  

Early 100 year war English  

Scots Common Army  

Low Countries  

Early Burgundian  

Free company  

 

After a hard fought bidding process the four armies that each side chose out of the 11 they could have were as follows:  

Team John  

• Later Polish  
• 100 years war English  
• Low Countries  
• Early Burgundian  

 

Team Rupert  

• Early Imperialist  
• Feudal French  
• Communal Italian  
• Free Company  

 

As a reminder there will be six games in all of which the first four games the players had to commit to and this is how they panned out:  

 

Game 1:          Later Polish                             Vs        Early Imperialist  

Game 2:          100 years war English           Vs        Feudal French  

Game 3:          Low Countries                         Vs        Communal Italian  

Game 4:          Early Burgundian                   Vs        Free Company  

 

It is then up to the players to decide which armies they want to use for the two remaining games.  

 

7 points will be awarded for a win  

3 points for a loss  

2 points for a draw  

 

To win you must have 25% more than the losers lower score.  

 

A few of things to note:  

1. Figure casualties will not be taken off as before thus allowing for a bloodier and quicker game.  
2. Games will start at 8:30  
3. Games will finish:  
1. If players have had enough and want to call it a day  
2. If the outcome is obvious  
3. At midnight  

Baltic Crusades, Week Two

Photos by Mike W & Ollie

Friday night's game was a follow on from last week's Baltic Crusades games, put on by John, with his 15mm collection.

Again we used John's version of the club's in-house ancients wargame rules, originally devised by Rupert.

Russians were played by Mike N, Rupert and Mike W, whilst the Germans and their allies were played by Steve (Germans), Ollie (German Crusaders) and Phil (Danish).

John's Battlefield Map, from the scenario pack

Turn one and  Steve threw out his Teutonic Knights to threaten the Russian lines, the Russians played a waiting game, and in turn two a largish Danish infantry force arrived on eth Russian right flank. Immediately a unit of Russian Horse Archers responded to harry their exposed flank.

Russian Army before initial deployments

The German knights pressed forwards and so the Russian Heavy Horse (Russian right flank) deployed out to counter the knight's move. Additionally a second German allied force arrived on their right flank, this time it was the German Crusaders.

The deployed Russian Army

Close-up of the same!

German Teutonic Knights (in the distance)  ride forth to engage with the Russians

Danish infantry complete a flank march, arriving on the German left flank

Russian Horse Archers ride out to engage flank of surprise arrivals - Danish Foot

 German Crusaders arrive on the Russian left flank

The German Crusaders pressed forwards to attack the Russian left flank in support of the German knights in that area. Meanwhile on the German left flank the Russian Heavy Horse charged a unit of Knights and accompanying Light Horse and a melee ensued.

Teutonic Knights approach Russian infantry lines whilst to their right
allied German Crusaders Light Horse engage

The melees on both flanks continued for a number of turns, with the superior German & German Crusaders forces gradually getting the better of the situation. It came to a head when the Russian General on their left flank was killed, after loosing a melee round and Russian units broke in each flank melee.

On the Russian Right, Heavy Horse engage with the Teutonic Knights

The cavalry melee escalates as the Russians
throw in more and more units

Spurred on by their allies success on their right, the German Knights charged home, only for their German Crusader friends to loose their melee round and then break along their lines as they thought better of scrambling further through the marshy areas to fight emplaced troop. In an instant the whole German right flank had disintegrated!

Over time the Cavalry melee becomes more and more involved,
with both sides loosing units

With that success the Russian infantry line was advanced forwards to threaten the mow weak German centre and on the Russian right, the Danish foot units were being disrupted by Russian cavalry and the terrain.

The melee on the German left continued, with various units being fed in to the fray, the German knights fought well but then weight of numbers began to tell and there too units began to break in the German lines and suddenly that flank looked exposed as well.

Sneaky German Mounted Crossbowmen attack Russian Heavy Cavalry in the flank,
only to be themselves hit in the their flank by another Russian Heavy Horse unit

The Russian infantry line advances

The Russian Horse Archers break-off and swing
towards the ongoing cavalry melee 

And so it was a clear Russian victory as the German commander in chief turned tail and abandoned his troops, shouting that it was all over and they wee done for (or something similar!)

View of the tabletop, Russian lines to the left and Germans to the right.

Teutonic Knights advance towards the Russian lines

Lots of Germans and Crusader allies.

Close-up of German Crusader flank commander

Battle of Mooste Bridge, 1242

 Pictures by Ollie Hurd words by John

Well, the Baltic Crusade game played out as most expected and was a very tough scenario for the Russians of Rupert, Mikey and Matt. They had to cross a marshy battlefield with a river running through the middle and get their ill gotten spoils of war nicked from their Danish/Estonian enemies commanded by Steve and Ollie ‘of the Order‘ and Dave and Phil of the Estonian Warband off table by ‘smashing’ their way through the said defending Danish/Estonians and their allies the Sword Brethren (Livonian Teutonic Knights) Mighty difficult, and as usual the old duffer of an umpire (me) buggered up the difficulty of it all.

The Tabletop

You see, gentle reader, the Russians like spearmen but spearmen rely on formation, not easy in wall to wall marsh. Also, the Estonians knew the ground and could ambush….. and they did……

A figure's view of the advance on the opposition

Result, the Russians played well but despite putting in a valiant effort the writing was on the wall for week two. Therefore, I have extrapolated…….One - Nil to the allies.

Crossbowmen trying to stop them

In discussion with Rupert and Mikey we have moved the scenario on for week two. The Russian Novgorod Militia under Domesh Tverdislavich (Rupert) have retired from Mooste abandoning their plunder and wounded which Phil’s Estonian wing has recaptured and put to death in lots of interesting ways (this will of course take days) The said militia got away reasonablely easily due to the terrain and the fact that the Russian Druzina cavalry was in a position to cover the retreat. Meanwhile, Rudolph Von Kassel, Landmeister of the Livonia Order (Steve) has sent messengers back to Riga (his base) to whistle up more troops to finish the task. As luck would have it a Confratai Brother, Witslew of Rugen (Ollie) was out scoping for Russians with some recently arrived German Crusaders and is hot foot to help his Landmeister out.

The critical fight on the bridge, to control the river crossing

Not to be out done, Herman, the Bishop of Tartu (Dave) who commands the Danish/Estonians cos they’ve all been ‘Christianised’ Is also keen to finish off the Russian raiders so he’s cobbled together what he can of the warbands and with Phil’s help is pursuing the Ruskies whilst Steve try’s to pin them frontally.

A view of the battle mid fight

Poor old Russians, in for another drubbing…… Hold on though, The famous Nevskii brothers have heard what’s happened and the younger one Andrey is determined to avenge the earlier bruising defeat of the Novgorod Militia by riding hot foot at the head of his own Druzhina heavy cavalry to reinforce Domesh. Who will triumph in the final analysis? The Russians are weakened but reinforced and have a simpler battlefield. The Order and Estonian allies are stronger but don’t have ‘mother nature’ on their side now.

Archers firing on a distant enemy

Now, if the old duffer can keep up it should go off half cocked…….