2nd to 4th July, Knuston Hall, Northamptonshire

(meeting outdoors and empty chairs ... posterity will know this was 2021)

Yes, it's true - we've been back on the road!

WD's 2021 Conference of Wargamers, Knuston Hall, was able to take place with a reduced capacity and with Social Distancing required - which was initially very weird.  Fortunately, the weather was mostly good over the weekend, which enabled a number of outdoor sessions and masks to come off.

This will be a relatively short report, as there were only a small number of ancient and medieval games at CoW this year  - if there was a theme, it was Cold War/Terrorism and/or Cluedo respun.  But I ended up spending a lot of my weekend in the 18th Century (an unexpected collection of excellent games, from pirates to night attacks and set piece battles) ...

 

(the variety of CoW 2021 ... 18th century attacks, terrorist cluedo, tanks on the lawn and all fuelled by a kitchen excelling itself ... ) ...

 

If you want to see more of the other stuff, there are pictures on my companion blogs

 

18th Century on Phil's FoG Blog

 

20th Century on Yesthatphil's P.B.EyeCandy

 

I'm afraid I missed out on the intro session to Never Mind the Billhooks, but I got in a late night game of Trebian's latest publication, Dicing With Death ... an alternative for Gladiator fans who don't like cards or dominoes.

 

 

(a multiple combat: Dicing with Death)

 

We had a fun little session and it seemed to work OK even with three players (which was never really possible with Gladiolus - historically so, Andy would always have said, but nonetheless, players often want to do it) ...

 

We also played a learning game of 300, a board game of the Persian Invasions. I liked it - I won (GGIW).  Actually we were told that the Persiand had not actually won in any of the presenter's series of games, although the reputation is that there is a fine and fair balance.

 

(the last turn: the play completed, but the scoring still show the score before the tally-up: +1 still, to the Greeks)

... so I was happy to take the Persians and give them ago.  Indeed the odds  did seem stacked in favour of the Greeks.  Nevertheless, I managed to get through to the end without losing a King and with a good hand (and a strategy) for the last turn.

I took Athens, and, courtesy of a very useful card, managed to hang on to it and the rest of my conquests (+6 to the Persians, in the nick of time)

 

 

Not at all ancients, but I'm sure some regular readers will be interested in the pirates game, which was designed and put on by Sue Barker, and in which Phil Barker commanded the treasure ships while I and a couple of other pirates tried to engage them and steal their bags of treasure.

 

(To Sail the Spanish Main by Sue Laflin Barker)
 

Phil, of course, is getting on a bit, these days, but commanded the ships very well (and unsportingly sank most  of my pirates), getting most of his ships into port. I haven't seen Phil since before Covid, of course, so it was nice to see him well enjoying the games.

The ships Sue was using were those cut out Spanish Armada ones from Helion.

 

(Cows, silly hats, SYW flats, Treb's SCW and those paper galleons: more from Cow 2021) 

I played 9 games from Friday dinner to Sunday tea ... not bad at all.

I also put on a few pounds.

July 2019, Edgcote, Northamptonshire

July is the anniversary month of the Wars of the Roses battles of Northampton and Edgcote.

Northampton was fought on July 10 1460.

And Edgcote was fought nine years later on 24th July 2019 (not, as you will see all over the internet, on the 26th - a tradition which dates to the following century and has no contemporary corroboration).   This year is therefore the 550th anniversary and sees the culmination of a 2 year project to reevaluate the evidence and to complete a wargame-able model of the encounter.

(we had a good gathering for the anniversary evening visit to Northampton)

(the iconic symbol of Warwick's victory, The Eleanor Cross, is under conservation right now)

Earlier in the month we were still in recce mode at Edgcote.

(NBS team Recce on the battlefield at Edgcote)

(Edgcote 1469: looking across Danesmoor at the Royalist positions)

A few weeks later we were showing the HS2 Oral History Team the lie of the land.

(HS2 with us at Edgcote ... reading the Welsh poems)

And we took the Wargame to the Conference of Wargamers

(Edgcote 1469 at CoW)

(Edgcote at CoW 2019 ... Clapham's cavalry attack falls back after doing its job)

(Edgcote at CoW 2019: Henry Tudor awaits his escape options in the Royalist camp)

On the anniversary, the 24th, we led a walk on the battlefield ... note how the colour of the crops has changed in just a few weeks)

(550 years after the battle: Edgcote 1469)

(Anniversary walk: Phil interprets the battle of Edgcote from the Royalist perspective)

... and at the end of the week we took the model to the Edgcote Study Day at Abington Park Museum (Northampton Museum)

(Edgcote 550 Conference: Ann Parry Owen discusses the Welsh sources on the battle)

(Edgcote 550 Conference: weapons and equipment)

In addition to Ann's agenda setting discussion of Medieval Welsh sources on the battle, Graham analysed the documentary evidence and I looked for clue in the visual sources.

(Robin of Redesdale?: a contemporary woodcut of Robin Hood)

(the Edgcote model ... Clapham attacks)

Next up, the game will go to the Defence Academy and then on to Partizan  at Newark Showground in August.

6th to 8th July, Knuston Hall, Northamptonshire

The 2018 Conference of Wargamers

Midst the 2018 heatwave it was off to Knuston for WD's annual residential event.

Ancient and Medieval content was a little sparse this year but we started off with an '8 years on' visit to nearby Northampton battlefield.   WDers had walked the battlefield on the 550th anniversary back in 2010 - which is pretty much what kicked off the Northampton Battlefield Society (of which I have subsequently become vice-Chair) ...

It was a pleasure to show people round and instructive to reflect how much our knowledge and understanding has come on over 8 years.  In itself it shows that local heritage activism works.

Not ancient and medieval but very much a project I have helped with, Saturday morning saw a very impressive run out for Trebian's War of the Spanish Succession game 'Va t'en Guerre' ...

Later, I gave another run to the Tony Bath wargame complete with some new accessions ...

(the Tony Bath wargame reconstructed with the original 1960s flats)

We are making some progress toward a playable authentic version of this classic game.

Some aspects are timeless innovations that have become mainstream - other bits have fallen out of use as better systems have been devised ... nevertheless, this is where today's ancient wargame began.

(The Tony Bath wargame: a loan surviving elephant rampages forward) ...

In this play through, archery made a bigger than usual impact, none of the light troops running way, and a group of 3 elephants being shattered by bowshooting (2 elephants killed, the last being panicked and out of control - though, it must be said, it went on to do considerable damage albeit not under the direction of its notional commander!) ..

We also added some chariots into the mix (at the far end of the table) with mixed results.

Also over the weekend I played some WWII games, tried to capture Gordon at Khartoum

(54mm scale lawn game: a big push on the Western Front)

(CoW 2018: Indian Mutiny M&T; Save Gordon; Suffragetto; Airfix Battles)

A great stress buster of a weekend in what has become a hell of a year.

Always a great event ... but book early if you fancy it.  Everyone's welcome but it sells out very quickly these days ...

WD website

(CoW 2018 Friday excursion ... looking over Northampton battlefield from the Eleanor Cross position)

10th - 12th July Knuston Hall, Northamptonshire

WARGAME DEVELOPMENTS - COW 2015: The Conference of Wargamers

My COW started immediately after the Eleanor Cross ceremonies with an attempt to identify enemy vehicles from a command post (we did OK but got no special commendations or promotions) - but the first session I presented was after breakfast on Saturday morning.

Bouvines 1214

This was a session marrying the Bouvines talk I had given at the June NBS meeting with the game I ran at WMMS.  We had just about half the session on the history and half the session on the wargame.

The historical context can be illustrated in this version of Emperor Otto IV's arms ...

This is, of course, dimidiated, the arms of England and the arms of the Empire.  It symbolises France's Western enemies and her Eastern enemies in one person.  

Otto was descended directly from Henry the Lion of Saxony and Henry II of England - he was Richard's nephew and protégée and was brought up at the English court before winning the Imperial crown for himself.  He was a career enemy of the King of France.

Otto's allied army included the count of Flanders and his low country vassals, so we can include France's Northern enemies in the mix.  Indeed, France was surrounded and the allies planned to squeeze the life out of her.

But we only need to look at the map of France before and after the battle to understand the impact Bouvines had on European history ...

 

Not only are we looking at the collapse of the Angevin Empire and a massive expansion of the authority of the King of France ... we are looking at the geographical realisation of what we can call modern France.

 

Responding to Otto's invasion, King Philip headed North East via Lille to Tournai, crossing the small river Marque at Bouvines - but realising it had all but 'missed' the enemy (and might be committed to fighting in less than ideal terrain), he ordered his army about and fell back on Lille via the crossing (intending to establish his forces further North and in good cavalry country).

 

(putting Bouvines into context at COW 2015 ... photo by Kiera Bentley)

 

The allies realised what was happening and, despite it meaning battle on a Sunday, sent a flying column under the Count of Flanders to catch the French before they had completed their crossing.

 

Meanwhile Otto would make a steadier approach via Tournai and expected to find the French in disarray when he arrived in support of the fixing attack.

 

(Bouvines at COW - the heat is on and the allied commanders assess their options)

 

In fact, probably due the shrewd actions of Philp's advisor, the Crusader veteran bishop Guerin of Senlis, the French had marched with a strong rearguard which was able to repel the repeated attacks of the count of Flanders while key elements the main army were called back and deployed for battle.

 

So, it was the allies who arrived piecemeal - and found the French arrayed in good order and on favourable ground.

 

(Basic Impetus Bouvines ... the French command post)

 

(Basic Impetus Bouvines ... the Imperial command post)

 

The battle was decided by the mounted nobility of both sides in a fierce battle of charge and countercharge ... so I opted to recreate it with modified Basic Impetus.   The figures are 15mm from my Feudal collections (a wide range of manufacturers) with some special pieces added to represent the commanders and their prominent battle standards.

 

(Bouvines at COW - in the centre King Philip charges forward with the Oriflamme but nearer to us, the count of Flanders is prevailing)

 

In our game, the battle went much more to the allied plan ... repeated attack under the count of Flanders pushing the French rearguard back into the outskirts of the village by the end of the afternoon.

 

We ended up with something like an honourable stalemate in favour of the allies.  Of course this is substantially different to the historical outcome and the most favourable to the allies of the refights I have staged.

 

It certainly does vindicate the allied plan - but also perhaps vindicates Verbruggen's suggestion that after their forced march to the battlefield and the disordering effects of filing up the road, the Flemish knights may not have been in the best condition for battle (and I had not so handicapped them).

 

Historically, although most of Otto's leaders were captured, he escaped - but within months was deposed by Frederick II who restored the Hohenstauffens.  And so, as well as defining Anglo-French history, the battle at Bouvines changed the course of history in central Europe and the Mediterranean.

 

I had a good number for this session, and they seemed to enjoy the mix of history and game play.

 

Saturday ADG ... Sink the Bismarck ... David and Goliath ...

 

Other ancients games going on over the weekend included the latest version of Trebian's Rapid Raphia Hellenistic card game, a return by Ian Russell Lowell to his Rein-Bow Warriors stable and my Yarmuk game (below) ...

 

(COW 2015 ... the sheer variety of game periods and styles)

 

(IRL's Rein-Bow Warriors ... 2015-style)

 

My own contribution to the After Dinner phase was a 5 player participation game of Sink the Bismarck using some simple new rules I have been working on and the old Airfix 1:1200 set of waterline battleships.

 

(Bismarck takes a critical hit)

 

That's all for another blog - but watch out for some good stuff if you like simple rules.

 

We wound the evening up with a few games of the innovative W1815 quickfire boardgame, a Waterloo anniversary singalong and some late games of David and Goliath in memory of the inimitable Andy Gittins.

 

(more COW: you miss as much as you see, inevitably)

 

 

Yarmuk 636

 

Sunday morning I was back on station, presenting a wargame approach to ancient and medieval history ... Some of you will already have seen my Yarmuk project which combines Phil Barker's oldest figures with his newest game in an exploration of one of the pivotal battles of Islamic history.

 

(Yarmuk at COW: another ideal number which included DBA's author Phil Barker - who also donated the splendid vintage figures)

 

I was very pleased that Phil and Sue were able to attend this session, and I hope they enjoyed seeing the old figures in action.   They suggested I take on these old figures (Phil's first ancients, which he painted to play ancients with Tony Bath) when he saw my Lords of the Nile project which featured refurbished flats from the Deryck Guyler collection (though the majority were by Tony, not Deryck).

 

(Yarmuk at COW: an excellent bit of 'point and shoot' as the armies close)

 

Yarmuk was a huge battle East of Damascus where the largest army Eastern Rome could muster was drawn forward into a protracted battle of envelopment by a much smaller Arab force under Khalid ibn Al Waleed.  It is another little known battle which changed world history.

 

(Yarmuk 636: Khalid ibn Al Waleed under the shade of a palm tree)

 

In the version of the game we played, some striking early die rolls were cancelled out and all commands in the game suffered losses.  Eventually Vahan broke Amr's main line while Khalid broke Quanateer's left flank setting up something like the historical final day showdown.

 

In fact, something of a rarity, we decided to leave the battle at that point as coffee and biscuits were being served in the hall and honours were about even.

 

(Yarmuk at COW: on the far side Quanateer struggles to face Khalid while - foreground - Amr counter-attacks vigorously)

 

Also a rarity, the majority of players were new - or relatively new - to DBA ... needless to say, they were playing freely within a few turns: Phil and Sue were able to enjoy the action while I just had to help with the combat maths and keep the players on the turn sequence.

 

Thanks to everyone who attended these sessions - they seemed to go well (I hope you enjoyed my take on historical battles) ...

 

We acknowledged the Society's 50th birthday, Andy's parting, played DBA and Gladiolus and sold some Society games.

 

************************

 

As an innovation in memory of Paddy Griffith and his irreverent take on military history, there was a ballot for the Flaming Pig award (who made the best contribution to the Conference) ... Bob (Wargaming Miscellany) Cordery deservedly won but I was honoured to get a nomination.  Thanks, whoever it was ...

 

If you want to come to COW next year, book early (it seems to sell out earlier and earlier these days)