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-Our BIGBillhooks Weekend-
My goodfriend and regular adversary Mark Taylor and I have talked about doing aTewkesbury game ever since we first met and at last, we decided to do somethingabout it. Gathering 10 Billhookers together we set a date and made our plans.At some time during this phase, let’s call it the “blissfully innocent hugelyambitious phase” one of us, and it may have been me, suggested we should alsodo Barnet and we should do it all in one weekend
We played atBristol Independent Gaming. The table was 16 foot by 6-foot consisting of 4,6x4, tables set edge to edge. We had two normal sized, 6x4, tables, one at eachlong edge to place our army boxes under and our casualties up on.
We bookedthe place from 10-6, I reasoned it would take a couple of hours to organiseourselves and that would leave the whole afternoon to play, one of the lovelythings about this event was no one was in a rush and we all savoured theexperience
The game wasto be Umpired by me “if in doubt the Umpire will make something up!”
Theme This was to be a Wargame rather thana reenactment although the set-up and Special Rules should reflect thecircumstances of the Battles and influence the games in the direction of thehistorical results and to this end there were also to be themed scenariospecific Special Events cards and Player Specific Briefs for each Battle.
ArmyOrganisation Each Army had a CIC, and several Battle Commanders. Each Battle Commanderwill be represented by a Player and will have one or more Leaders under them.Each Battle Commander would have the same powers as a CiC in a normal game ofBillhooks
All Leaders would be Level 2 with the exception of Edward,Montagu and Somerset who would be Heroes.
Reserves The General in charge of the Reserveshad a special role, a supporting role to the other Generals. If he was not yetactive himself then he would help the other Generals running melees, movingtroops under the direction of the General he was assisting, removing deadunits, keeping track of coin loss, morale tests and generally helping out toensure the smooth and constant running of gameplay and keeping the table tidy.
Activation- The table was be divided into West,Central and East. Each area had its own Playdeck consisting of the opposingLeaders and Bonus cards. The Umpire would roll for the Weather at the beginningof every turn from turn two would draw a Special Event Card every turn.
-Units-
All units wereto be “double sized units.” Infantry units consisting of two normal companiesof 12 figures in line, so, 24 figures in two ranks of twelve. LC squadronsconsisted of 16 figures. Guns had two models. Double sized units will now bereferred to as Companies. Two Companies could join together as usual to formCombined Units, of 48 figures in four ranks of 12 figures, these may consist ofBills and Bows or one of each. Bows may combine with MAA. MAA may combine withMAA. All the usual rules apply. We kept Skirmishers in units of six.
Figures werenot removed as casualties, instead casualties were recorded with 2d6 and thewhole unit of 24 figures was removed when it had taken 12 casualties.
CommandRange was increased to 12”, movement and missile ranges were the same
-Casualties-
We used diceto track casualties and whole unit removal. This prevented little odd piles ofcasualties piling up and reduced the possibility of mislaying our lovelyfigures.
To keeptrack of casualties growly wargames genius Mark Taylor invented the “dicejigger”. Each jigger had a flat board with two or three dice cells glued tothem. Two red dice would show how many men the unit currently had and an extrayellow one for the archers would show how many arrow storms they had left.
Each jiggerhad an area covered with ferrous paper for which I made a small heraldic badgeon a piece of magnetic paper for each of the units so we could see at a glance,who commanded which Company, here is Warwick’s command
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-Special Rules-
There was to be no manoeuvre phase.
We treated the Dummy Card as a WildCard and players could use it as a Perk, Forfeit or Reroll card. We had aSpecial Event every turn, with some unique Events for each battle
All LCunits had an attached Dolt who activated on the Skirmisher card
-:Barnet:-
-The Battlefield-
There aremany conflicting opinions on where the battle actually occurred, all based onthe same five pieces of contemporary or nearly contemporaneous evidence.Extensive surveys of the area, most recently in 2018 have produced very littlein the way of archaeology to support any of these options.
Maps There are very many differentopinions on the location of the battle; after looking at all of them and someextensive reading, I created a map for this battle which my son has very kindlyturned into a nice computerised version. As it happened, in our excitement, we completelyforgot to use the terrain and just played on a flat table!
-The Forces-
Apart fromthe obvious Edward IV, Gloucester, Hastings, Clarence for York and Warwick,Montague, Oxford, and Exeter for Lancaster there is little solid evidence forany other of the great lords being present. It is not known whether Somersetwas present and is assumed that he was not as surely, he would have been incharge of least one Ward. I do not know whether Warwick and Somerset had anamicable relationship, it seems unlikely to me that they would be bosom palsand I think we can be happy that he was down on the South coast raising supportfor the lady of the daisy.
Which raisesthe question of who else was there and who commanded the reserves, if reservesthere were!
GilesShapely, Eric the Shed, used The Poleaxed Source book, which in turn claims itssources are from Freezywaters Coveny books when he replayed these battles inhis WotR series-see Shed Wars blog https://shedwars.blogspot.com/p/shed-wars-does-war-of-roses.html . The Poleaxed OOB battle is impressivelydetailed considering how little historians know of the battle and the Roll ofHonour has to be questioned as to its accuracy, particularly as the Coveneybooks do not carry all that much information nor do they declare where thatinformation was gleaned from. I suspect it has been gathered from variousfamily histories claiming an ancestor at the battle as happened at Agincourtand more recently Waterloo.
In short,the main resource for information for this battle is based on very littleevidence, however, we can rest assured that there are no better sources so wehave to accept what we have.
So, Iallocated Generals to Players and Players filled their Wards with whateverunits they already have or felt were appropriate!
House OfLancaster-
Van Right Flank Chris May BC Oxford MAA 2 Bow/Bill 1Thomas deVere Bow/Bill2 William Beaumont Bow/Bill 2 LC 1 Skirmishers 3
Figures 313 + 18 skirmishers =331
Main Centre Mark Taylor CIC Montagu MMA1 Sir Robert Harleston Bow/Bill2 Sir John Scrope of BoltonBow/Bill 2 Skirmishers 3
225 figures + 18 skirmishers =243
Rear Right Flank Graeme Battison BC Exeter MAA1 Sir Clive of Clivedon Bow/Bill 2 LC 1Skirmishers 2
122 figures + 12 skirmishers=134
Reserve Rob Squires BC Warwick MAA 1, Bow 1Bill 1
75 figures
Artilley 3 Gonnes
801 figures
House of York-
Van Right Flank Steve Blease BC Gloucester MAA 1 SirPhillip Mede Bow/Bill 2 Sir John de Kemys Bow/Bill 2 LC1 Skirm 3
Figures 241 + 18 skirmishers=259
Main Centre Ben Mallet CIC EDIV MAA 2 + Deveraux Bow/Bill 2 Thomas de Lynne Bow/Bill 2 Skirm 3
Figures 249 +18 skirmishers =267
Rear Left Flank Leigh Parslow BC Hastings MAA1 Sir John de Barre Bow/Bill2LC 1 Skirm 1
Figures 132 + 6 skirmishers =138
Reserve BC Simon Wilde Bourchier Bow/Bill 1
Figures 51
Artillery 3 gonnes
733 figures
1,534 figureS on the table
Committing the Reserve – The Reservesmay not be used unless they are triggered by a Special Event Card or if one ofthese conditions are met.
They are attacked either by melee ormissiles
A friendly Unit within 12” is charged
A friendly Ward is routed
8 coins have been lost in total
-Directives-
In order tobetter represent the aims of the Commanders on the day, each General was issueda player brief at the beginning of the game. Each brief specified not only anyobjectives the General had to meet but also a playing style. The Generals couldof course choose to ignore these but failure to comply would lead to loss of acoin. Some of the Briefs contained Rewards, these however could only be claimedif the brief had been met.
These weredelivered to the Generals immediately before hostilities began in fine creammanilla envelopes ...
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sealed with the red wax seal of the Heralds!
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-Barnet SpecialRules-
Fog as per Eric the Shed ruleswith some adjustment from me
Shed WarsFog Rules
FogEffect on Movement
There arethree levels of Fog -Dense, Light, and Clear. Each turn the Umpire rolls a d6for the density of the Fog.
1-4 staysthe same 5-6 conditions improve by one level
Any unitmoving in Light or Dense fog must roll a d6 for each movement action. A roll of1 means that unit has deviated off course. The unit will wheel 45 degrees inthe decided direction then march 6” directly forward.
Should aunit collide with another unit there is the possibility that these troops mightdisrupt each other’s formation or even be involved in a scuffle. Barnet was an engagementwhere friendly forces attacked one another because of the lack of visibilityand the political atmosphere of mistrust. Should any unit deviate in itsmovement and ‘bump’ into another roll a d6
1theunit bumped into loses d6 casualties, some of these will be men running awaycrying “Treachery!”
2Bothunits take two Disarray tokens
3TheBumped unit takes two Disarray
4Bothunits take one Disarray
5TheBumped unit takes 1 Disarray
6Bothunits apologise and move on with no loss
The fog alsoaffects Command Range and Missile Fire
FogEffect on Missile Fire We need to differentiate between targeted (ie the shooter can see itstarget) and indirect fire. Targeted fire is limited by the range that units arevisible at within the fog. Indirect fire has the same rules as per standardgame but cannot hit skirmish units. All units get +1 saves from Archery as ifin light cover. Artillery- Instead of causing an instant kill, Gonnes have a -1factor to saving throws
The Battlestarts with Dense Fog
EagerUnits All units inOxford’s command are eager! Any of Oxfords units that win a melee must followup and must pursue! Victorious Oxford units whose enemy Break from a Melee mustimmediately pursue them for12" and take two Disarray Tokens for theirpains. If they go off the table, they must take a Morale test, if they passthen they can return to the table next turn from the point where they left it,with two Disarray Tokens
Send in the Reserves! You may activate your Reserves!
Confusion to your enemies! Choose two adjacent enemy units, they have bumped into each other in theFog as per the Fog rules
AFortuitous Gust of Wind- Briefly clears the Fog away from your units you may shoot as if the airis clear x2
Bog! This unit have wandered into a bog.Place an area of Bog-Hard Going in front of an enemy unit
-Winning The Game-
The Game can be won by defeating theenemy Army ie taking all of their coins or by killing Warwick or Edward IV
-Tewkesbury-
-The Battlefield-
UnlikeBarnet, the Tewkesbury battlefield is well known and documented. There are manysources of information and a fair few maps.
The centralportion of the table, between the dotted lines, is raised slightly representingthe ridge of Gupshill across which the armies fought. This also rose gently tothe North with the Lancastrian’s being uphill of the Yorkists, this a gentlyrising slope and so does not really need recreating on the table.
Missing fromthis map is Gupshill Manor which would have been just forward and to the leftof Edwards position and “Margeret’s camp” which would be just right and Northof the centre of the table. The ground before Somerset’s position was “tangledand broken” with “Foul Lanes and deep dykes and many hedges with hills andvalleys: a right evil place to approach as could ever be devised” Somersets menfound this such hard going that they manoeuvred around it
-The Forces-
Tewkesburyis a much better documented event than Barnet mostly due to the “Historie ofthe Arrivall of Edward IV in England” the account of Edward’s return toEngland and the subsequent events. We know that Edwards army was very similarto the one that fought at Barnet with the same commanders and was well servedin artillery and firearms.
TheLancastrian host had completely different commanders and had a lot of Frenchand other nationalities represented mostly as mercenaries and probably did notboast as many Great Gonnes. They were supposed to collect such ordinance fromBristol but may have been too hurried to bring it away with them. It is likelythat they had far fewer guns than their opponents. They were led by the fieryvengeful Somerset, the cautious and indecisive Lord Wenlock, and theinexperienced Earl of Devon. Although Wenlock commanded the Main ward its mostlikely that Somerset was actually the Commander in Chief
Again, aswith Barnet, none of the lesser Lords are named in any documents and so we onlyreally have the Poleaxed source book to rely on, as for Barnet, we filled ourranks with whatever we had in our collections.
The Plumpwas a force of 200 spears that Edward commanded to wait in a nearby wood quarterof a mile from his left flank, and he directed them to “employ themselves inthe best wise that they could” Historians have surmised and mostly agree thatthis Plump must have been mounted, probably the light cavalry armed with lancesor long spears known as Prickers.
One of theproblems with recreating a battle like this is that we have the power ofhindsight. And gamers who know their history. And I know Somerset's, that isMark Taylor’s, gaming head very well indeed. From a gaming point of view thereis no reason at all why Somerset should advance into the “Right Evil Place”exposing his rear to the charge of the plump, it’s a far better idea to sit comfortablyand safely on top of the hill and wait for the Yorkists to advance through the“Evil lanes” and suffer from the arrows of Somerset’s archers. Knowing that the Plump will arrivefrom the trees, Mark could simply turn a unit or two to face the direction ofthe trees and the Plump would be completely ineffective.
But we hadan Umpire and with an Umpire you can do things differently.
So, I decided that I would not decide thestrength of the Plump nor where it would enter the table until I thought thetime was right. Above all I wanted everyone to enjoy the day and get a sense ofwhat happened…and the Lancastrians are already outnumbered.
As for Somerset...well…there was a brief!
House OfLancaster-
Van Right Flank Mark Taylor CIC Somerset MAA-2 Sir John Beaufort Marquis ofDorset Bow/Bill 2 SirHugh Courtenay Bow/Bill2 SK-3
249 figures 18 Skirmishers =267
Main Centre Pete Nethercott BC Wenlock MAA-1 Sir John Lewkenerof Goringe Bow/Bill-2 Sir John Delves of Delves Bow/Bill-2 SK-3
225 figures 18 Skirmishers =243
Rear Left Flank Chris May BC Devon MAA-1 Walter Courtenay Bow/Bill2 Sir Edward Pomeroy Bow/Bill1 SK-3 LC-1
208 figures 18 Skirmishers =226
Reserve Lloyd Lewis BC Edward/Longstrother MAA1 Bow 1
51 figures
Artillery 3 Gonnes
787 figures
House of York-
Van Left Flank Leigh Parslow BC Gloucester MAA2 Bow 1 Sir Phillip Mede Bow/Bill 2 Sir John de Kemys Bow/Bill 2
273 figures 24 skirmishers =297
Main Centre Ben Mallet BC Edward MAA2 John de Mowbray Duke of Norfolk Bow/ Bill 2
Sir Walter DeverauxBow/Bill2 SK 4
249 figures 24 skirmishers =273
Rear Right Flank Steve Blease BC Hastings MAA1+Sir John de Barre Bow/ Bill 2 Thomas Talbot Bow/ Bill 2 SK 2 LC 1
265 figures 12 skirmishers = 277
Plump Simon Wilde BC Bourchier(Reserve) LC? =32
Artillery 4 Gonnes
879 figures + unknown plump (32) 1,666figures in total
-The Table-
There was araised section to the middle of the table, Gups Hill, stretching from one longedge to the other and about 8 foot across. This was created from sheets of XPSwhich were covered with fleeces.
The RightEvil Place was represented by a piece of grass matting three feet by 12 inches,strewn with lichen and flock and was placed directly in front of the area whereSomerset would deploy
There was awooded area on the Western edge of the table some three feet long by 12” deep.
GupshillManor, a large half-timbered building with a walled garden is on the Westernside of the elevation just in front of Edward’s Ward. We created this from twoof Oshiro’s lovely town houses and an outhouse. This was rated as Hard Going
Margaretscamp, a 12” square area of Hard Going, consisting of beaten down tents,brick-a-brack and the detritus left by an army in a hurry was placed just infront of Wenlocks’ Ward.
A RightEvil Place- The Tangled Terrain in front of Somerset’s position which will cause oneDisarray per move and limit movement to one action only.
The Plump- TBA
Margarets camp and Gupshill Manor- are Hard Going but provide no cover
-Special Events-
SomersetBlows His Top-AngrySomerset, loses his rag and attacks his nearest Leader
D6 1 They are killed remove them fromthe game 2-3 they are wounded 4+ they are too frightened to do anything andmiss their next activation
LocalKnowledge- Somersetsmen find a farmer with local knowledge who can lead one unit through the EvilPlace with no Disarray
WenlockSits on the Fence- Nounit in Wenlock’s command may move forward this turn
Wenlockengages his Curate in an Interesting Conversation on the Purpose of the Battlesof Men in God’s Almighty Plan-Wenlock can issue no orders this Turn; his Leaders may stillbe used as normal.
Send inthe Reserves! Youmay activate your Reserves!
-Winning The Game-
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Next! The Batreps!
