First Turn Results

Back to relax in the comfort of Hadley Hall, Sir Richard reads over the reports that have come in from his spies through the region.

Lord Turstoke, the Lancastrian rebel to the south-west, has apparently fought a battle.  Despite being slightly outnumbered six-to-five by the neighbouring lord of Muncaster, the superior quality of Turstoke's retinue allowed him to triumph.

The start of battle, with Turstoke facing a line of Muncaster men while his own is split by a copse of trees.

Lord Turstoke himself, leading his dependable bodyguards.

Turstoke's right-wing starts the fight, putting the Muncaster militia to flight with a well-judged volley.

A sharp fight between the retinues, with Turstoke's men swiftly falling on the enemy flank.

The end of battle - the left-wing barely got engaged, but the right won things handily! 

Turstoke has now taken Muncaster as a vassal, and then swept on with his largely undiminished force to compel the weak lord of Greyburn to falling into line.

To the west, the Lord Monkton has taken Fishdale after a siege compelled them into line.  Lord Whitcaster has marched away westwards, snapping up the poor regions of Slagfield and Tursfield - poor pickings, but easily gathered up.

To the north, the rebel Lord Potterchester is apparently enjoying a run of success: the small Blackstoke region was compelled to submit, and also the pro-Lancastrian regions of Cornton and Leyley were swiftly induced into rebellion.

Some mixed news from north of Hadley, however: the Yorkist rival Lord Wolviston, who could at least have been a shield against the rampaging Lord Potterchester, has instead gone down to defeat.  He apparently attacked the Lord Turston whose lands lie between Potterchester and Hadley, but found himself narrowly defeated.

Lord Wolviston lines up his five companies to face seven rival ones.

Lord Wolviston shouts encouragement

The battle begins, with disjointed mobs clashing across the field.  

Wolviston's archers score a rare success on levies, but overall the dice are cruel!

An unnaturally skilled manoeuver by levies turns Wolviston's left flank!

Desperate fighting and high casualties all along the line, when finally - by a single dice-throw - Wolviston's retinue breaks and routs!

 The overall picture of these battles and marches begins to take shape for Lord Hadley, as he inspects his maps.

A Working copy on Excel - red shades show the Lancastrians, blue shades the Yorkists.

Lord Hadley Rides Out...

It's the start of our campaign, and Sir Richard Ferrier, Lord Hadley is about to head on his way.  Nobody becomes the king's favourite or bags an Eardom by sitting at home!

Sir Richard prepares to set out from the courtyard of Hadley Hall

The estates of Turston and Greyburn lie to his north and south, both Lancastrian - but the former is stronger than Lord Hadley on his own, while the latter is a measly 2-income region, barely worth the time and energy to subdue.  Far more promising is the option to head west, for Rosford.  The Lord there is pro-Yorkist, and weaker than Hadley, so he should be made to see the wisdom of knuckling under pretty swiftly.

Hadley's Retinue on the road, marching to Rosford.  

Due to his overbearing strength and the fact old Sir John Demain - Lord Rosford - is already sympathetically inclined, it proves to be a walk in the park.  Nothing like a private army to smooth the way for yourself, thinks Sir Richard - why had nobody thought of this before now?  

Pitching camp while marching about and bullying the weaker lords into line - it's a fine old life!

 After getting Lord Rosford to submit, Hadley turns northwards, to Leadbeck.  The local lord, Sir Anthony Dewhurst, is similarly positive to his support of King Edward.  Just as with Rosford, he is also too poor to kick up much of a fuss and accepts Lord Hadley's commission.

Marching back to Hadley Hall, Sir Richard can relax in his chambers in the knowledge things have started pretty well.  Lords Rosford and Leadbeck are now his to command, in addition to his own troops.  Now his Lancastrian neighbours such as Turston to the north are outnumbered, and can be compelled to submit!  Just as long as nobody else out there does anything to spoil his plans...

Lord Hadley's first little outing to 'recruit' supporters.

The Northern Map, 1461

I have just realised that I've not yet provided a full map on the blog - after all my discussions about how to make it!  Here, then, is the full thing:

With the key nobles shown on their respective home areas, it's actually a bit like this:

As I previously mentioned, I shall be playing the various individuals, but for simple blogging advantage I shall do it all from the 'perspective' of one noble - selected as appropriate, depending on the situation.  Since this is the beginning I can pick pretty much as I please, and have selected Lord Hadley.  He can be seen above in the right-hand column, second row from bottom.