Wars of the Roses: 8 Turn Game

 

At short notice, I decided to throw a random 6-8 turn WOTR game with a clash between the Lancastrian forces under Jasper Tudor Earl of Pembroke against followers of Edward, Duke of York. My good mate Dave took the Lancastrians and tossed a coin to come in through the village end and I got the high ground.

The enclosure with the two farm buildings was one objective (1 VP) and the other objective was the windmill (1 VP). By the end of the game (turn 6-8) forces occupying or last occupying the farm enclosure claims the prize and the side with forces nearest the windmill with no other opposition within 6 inches of the mill claims that objective.

Starting strongly, the Lancastrian right division came storming out of the village and within two turns, completely overran the leading Bill'n'bow unit of the Yorkists - routing them in one round and following through onto the Yorkist heavy horse. The Yorkist horse held their ground and prevailed in subsequent rounds with help from a devastating flaking charge from a unit of foot men-at-arms who crushed the Lancastrian men-at-arms and followed through to break their supporting billmen and broke the Lancastrian division.

Both sides had but two divisions, so the Lancastrians were in trouble and the Yorkists managed to rally off sufficient stamina (Hail Caesar rules) to keep both divisions in play - just.

The Lancastrian second division struggled to pass command rolls and get their soldiers over the hedges and field enclosures to get to grips with the other Yorkist forces who had bill'n'bow and handguns giving fire from higher ground.

We diced for an optional maximum two additional turns which we achieved and by turn 8, the Lancastrian men-at-arms pictured above left in the plowed field managed to move up to within 6 inches of the windmill by the last turn.

In the end, the Lancastrians held one VP (the village enclosure) and prevented the Yorkists from achieving the Windmill. The Yorkists managed to rout one of the two enemy divisions and retained both of theirs so we declared the battle a stalemate. It took about four hours of play (including lunch) and it was a great way to spend Father's Day (in Australia) as far as I'm concerned. It makes me want to paint up more WOTR figures though.