Retinue Liveries

Continuing my Wars of the Roses revision, I have decided to overhaul the painting-scheme and make it far more organised. Research into the different colours used for various nobles' retinues has been awkward, as I've only found isolated snippets of data here and there. The only book I think is of potential use is the Osprey guide to the wars, but it is currently listed as out of stock on their website. The whole thing is complicated a little more by the fact that records are incomplete and far from reliable, so it may just be wrong to start with! No matter, I suppose - I am going to press on as best as I'm able.

I have been pondering my basing system, and for a bit I was tempted to mix up the bases a little, with the figures displaying a more 'mixed' set-up within a base. I pondered putting an armoured Captain in the middle to represent the relevant Noble in charge, surround him with about 2 or 3 figures in livery to represent his retinue, and then complete the base with around six or seven local levies surrounding them, as the men the noble had brought along through his Commission of Array. I'm not entirely decided however, and may opt for a straight interpretation and just have ten archers on a base for a force of longbowmen, for example. As I am keeping the individual basing system, I suppose I can pick and choose as I want.

For all the attention, the liveried retainers will be making up only around half of the force I paint. They seem to have made up potentially far more of a historical force, but nobody seems really sure of just how much or what they would've looked like. As the retinues are the focal points of the armies I shall be giving them increased prominence for gaming and practical reasons. Leaders shall be individually based, and I have the notion of attaching the leader figures (possibly with an accompanying man holding their personal standard) to whichever base I want to mark as containing a Ward Commander.

So, who to do? The campaign game I'm planning on using (Columbia Games' Richard III) has counters for a grand total of 32 magnates of various rank, so it is impossible for me to represent each one with a dedicated stand! However, 32 nobles doesn't mean 32 different liveries, thankfully. Colour-combinations were limited, and a few well-chosen livery colours seem able to represent several nobles - once fielded and given a banner, the plastic figures should be able to represent everybody with passable accuracy. After researching about on the internet and plundering the books on the period I do own, I have managed to get colours for many of the nobles and made an educated guess for the remainder (basically I usually go for the two most prominent colours on their personal heraldry, and this seems to be a generally accepted 'guesstimate' in use by others, as well!) My resulting break-down of colours is as follows:

Blue & Red (or Blue & Murrey) can represent March, Gloucester, Clarence, Rutland, Hastings, & Herbert. It is also handy through most of the period as the default 'Yorkist' colour-scheme.

Blue & White can represent Henry VI, York, Somerset, Stanley & Fauconberg. It can also serve as the default 'Lancastrian' colour-scheme as it covers both Somerset and the king himself.

Black & Red can represent Buckingham, Northumberland, Shrewsbury, and Prince Edward. A good one for the Percy family, should a bit of the Percy-Neville feud turn up on the field.

Green & White can represent Richmond, Rivers & Pembroke. (Henry VII's colours, basically.)

Blue & Yellow can represent Norfolk, Suffolk, Beaumont & Wiltshire.

Red can represent Warwick & Oxford (Kingmaker Warwick himself.)

Red & Yellow can represent Devon, Salisbury, Arundel, Worcester & Clifford (quite a popular colour-scheme on coats of arms, it appears! Correspondingly, it turns up a lot on liveries when I indulge in guess-work.)

Red & White can represent Exeter, Essex & Westmoreland.

Through the number of nobles that could use the colours, plus the general usefulness of each, I have weighted the number of bases I will paint with each. The initial plan from my calculation is:

4 Blue & Red/Murrey bases

3 Blue & White bases

2 Black & Red bases

1 Green & White base

2 Blue & Yellow bases

2 Red bases

2 Red & Yellow bases

1 Red & White base

15 un-liveried bases. Mostly Commission of Array Levy bases, but also includes 4 'Dismounted Nobles' bases (in the typical 'white armour' of the day, with no specific markings, and therefore interchangeable with no difficulty.)

I'm sure I've got some errors and false assumptions in there, but I believe the plan is a good starting point. I hope the explanation of how I've worked out the markings for maximum flexibility is of interest to other gamers out there struggling with the same problems as me!

Wars of the Roses Recruiting

Happy New Year and all that! With the rumours all confirmed and 2011 now starting after 2010 (as was planned, I imagine) I have found myself taking stock of the hobby landscape from my perspective. Although I never expected it when starting out, my activity seems to have ended up focussed on two main areas: The Wars of the Roses (WOTR,) and WW2 in the Desert. Following my recent completion of the Eighth Army, I have decided to give it a breather before tackling the DAK & Italians. For a bit of variety, I have swung back to my WOTR campaign and I have decided to give the army a bit of a revamp.

It was actually this time last year I started out with it, getting a 'Retinue Deal' of four boxes of Perry Plastic Miniatures off the Warlord Games website. It's done good service, and I have decided to once more throw some of my Xmas cash at swelling the ranks of Merrie Olde England's finest nobility (and nobility-killing commoners.) With perfect timing, the Perrys have also produced a new plastic box set for Mercenaries, bringing the variety of Pikemen, Crossbowmen and Handgunners to the fray.

I've splashed out and bought yet another Retinue Deal to double my numbers at a stroke, also got a Mercenaries box to add some variety, and I have also sent off to the Perrys direct for some Foot Command personalities for each side. Combined with my existing figures of the retinues (plus the Cannon and 4 crew I got last summer,) this takes my total collection size from an initial 160 figures to a fearsome total of 376!

With all this re-stocking, I wanted to bring some revamping efforts to the rules in use. Previously I have been using the Perfect Captain's excellent set A Coat of Steel (ACOS) but the token-heavy setup plus the large numbers of card-draws and table-consulting for combat proved a serious handicap for me personally - with my limited time and space available at present, I found I was spending far longer preparing to play a game than actually playing one! I need a new rule set, and after much pondering around I have wound up revisiting Basic Impetus.

I initially disliked Basic Impetus because of the way that it used small armies of 7 or 8 bases, but decided to separate them into broad classes like 'Dismounted Nobles' as if every noble in the army would band together to form some kind of elite foot unit. This was especially bad in comparison to ACOS, where each unit was made up of the more historically accurate mix of all-sorts bunched together because of the feudal ties that dictated they fight with their Lord's retinue. I've come round, however - largely due to a bit of tinkering with scales.

By using a generous 10 figures per base, I could field two armies of 16+ units each, which means the presence of bases like 'Dismounted Nobles' is far less intrusive and fits into the overall scheme. I was initially pondering doing little 10-figure dioramas for the bases at first, as the Impetus website does such a brilliant job of showcasing, but I decided against it in the end. The flexibility of individually based figures seemed wisest, at least until I decided I was irretrievably in love with Basic Impetus. Plus, after a quick flip through my old copy of Warhammer Fantasy Battle (from the 1980s – Old School!) I decided that it would be perfectly good for use as well, should the mood take me. I will just use the Impetus bases as movement trays for now, and a quick internet search has brought up the two sites that can supply MDF bases pre-cut to the right size - East Riding Miniatures and Warbases (both just their names with “.co.uk” if you're interested) both sell suitable bases of 12cm by 6cm, so I shall shortly buy from one or the other.

As for campaign games, I have recently bought a copy of Columbia Games' block boardgame of the period: Richard III. I heard this reviewed a few months back on the Meeples & Miniatures podcast, and as I have played several other of their games (East Front, incidentally, is superb) I decided to get it. I will post a review shortly, to pass on info on it to other interested parties.

Right, that's quite the ramble! I'll shut up there, and hopefully post soon. By way of illustration, the picture with this post shows my current 16 bases of miniatures set out as they would be for Impetus - in other words, roughly under half the ultimate force I will be able to eventually assemble. I'm aiming big, as you can tell!

Eighth Army Finished

The British Eighth Army is now ready for the desert and battle. Dipped miniatures have been sprayed down with a matt finish and the bases have had a fine layer of sand glued on to finish them up. Not bad, if I do say so myself (well, certainly by my own standards...) I have not painted 10mm before, and the 'dip' painting method works really well - not too big to make painting them take ages, but large enough for the detail to be visible. I'm very happy with the result!

"Off on more of these exercises, eh chaps? Keep up with the tanks."

"Is the tea ready yet, Timpkins?"

"Out on the gun-line, ready to give Jerry what for!"

"Hundreds of miles of nothing, yet we still get a traffic jam!"

"Thirsty work, all this shelling. Any more tea?"

The whole collection, in it's storage box (looking rather abstract from above!)

Eighth Army Now Painted!

Hooray! Taking advantage of being snowed in, I have been busy with the paintbrush. I have completed painting the Eighth Army in it's entirety, and I have now 'dipped' the whole lot. They are now stashed away in the loft where they are being sprayed with a coat of Matt varnish to protect them and take off the glossy sheen. I shall post some pics soon, once the stuff has dried, to let you all see the 'before and after' effect of the dipping. It's quite striking, I think!

Eighth Army takes shape

After a long silence, I have some practical progress to report! The WW2 Desert Army for the Commonwealth is now fully based. There was much (laboured) cutting of 2mm thick plastic sheets to make bases, sandpapering the surface to make it 'take' glue from the models. Above is a pic of the standard British Eighth Army Infantry Division - 9 Infantry battalions/regiments, 2 Artillery batteries, an HQ, Recon battalion, and 3 motor transports.

The standard Armoured Division - 3 armoured regiments, and just 4 motorised infantry.

The full army, in it's entirety.

The models in various stages - unpainted, base-coat sprayed, and with some details painted on pre-dipping.

Pauses & Painting

I've recently had an enforced pause in my painting and gaming, through lots of activity in the real world - nothing serious, thankfully, but lots of social activity which has meant virtually no hobby-time!

I've also been progressing (slowly) with my painting for 8th Army, plus I've also been pondering my Wars of the Roses figures - I need to get them finished up, as at present only around half are painted beyond a very simple base-coat.

From my progress spraying the 8th Army a light desert-brown, I found myself pondering the same option for the Arrayed Levy troops in Wars of the Roses. Sounds mad, but not entirely. From internet forums discussing WotR armies, the general conclusion on colours appears to be:

1: Nobody really knows anything.

2: Undyed, bleached linen was likely to be widespread, meaning a variety of browns & beige in varying tones pretty much anywhere outside the liveried retinues.

Makes sense I suppose, as why would you - as a poor peasant of the day - feel like getting dressed up in your best clothes to go to a battle, unless you were really interested in leaving a good-looking corpse behind? Hm. Still, I suppose there's nothing else for it - I'm just going to hav eto launch myself into a full-scale painting effort yet again. Hopefully a few intense sessions of effort should see me power through a lot, rather than my usual style of numerous, snail's-pace progress sessions in spare half-hours snatched here and there!

KISS Wars of the Roses

Although I like the ruleset 'A Coat of Steel' by the Perfect Captain, I find that the time required to play a game is difficult to find, so I have been working up a draft of KISS ('Keep it Simple Stupid') rules for the Wars of the Roses, much in the style of the WW2 Desert War set I recently posted about. So, as all wargamers have suspected: cross-pollination between different projects can lead to inspiration!

The set below is in first-draft form, simplifies all orders, combat, etc. to speed things up for me, but still keeps the crucial strengths of A Coat of Steel – namely the character traits of the varying commanders, and the awkwardness of commanding such an ad-hoc collection of nobles.

SEQUENCE OF PLAY

Ward chits are drawn as per the original game. As each chit is drawn, the ward can change orders, move, fire, resolve handstrokes and then routs. The next chit is then drawn and the process repeated.

TROOP CHARACTERISTICS

Archers Move 6”

Range 18”

Fire: 6 to hit; (Retinue archers get 5+ to hit vs enemy charging to contact)

Handstrokes: 6 to hit in first turn of contact, 5+ to hit in subsequent turns.

Save: 6 to save vs. fire; no save in handstrokes

Billmen Move 6”

Handstrokes: 4+ to hit on first turn of contact, 5+ to hit from then on.

Save: 5+ for Retinue & Well-wishers; Arrayed troops on a 6.

Men-at-Arms Move 4”

Handstrokes: 4+ to hit

Save: 4+

Mtd Knights Move 8”

Handstrokes: 2+ to hit on charge, 4+ to hit from then on.

Save: 4+ in handstrokes, but only on a 6 against Longbow ranged fire.

Crossbows Move 6”

Range 18”

Fire: 6

Handstrokes: 6to hit in first turn of contact, 5+ to hit from then on

Save: 6 to save vs. fire; no save in handstrokes

Special notes: Targets get -2 save mod against Crossbow fire.

Spears/Pikes Move 6”

Handstrokes: 5+ to hit

Save: 5+

Special Notes: Enemy that are non-Spears will always be pushed back 2” each turn.

Gonne Move: n/a

Range 18”

Fire: 6 to hit. 5+ to hit vs enemy charging any adjacent friendly unit.

Each unit rolls a dice to try and score a hit, then the targets roll to save. All units roll double the number of handstrokes dice if they have enfiladed the enemy.

FORMATIONS

All units should be 2 bases deep by default. All units can fire (except vs. charging enemy, where only front-rank can fire.) Any unit in 1 rank vs 2+ enemy ranks must fall back 2”.

ORDERS

Each unit is marked with a small square marker, divided diagonally by an 'X' into four triangular areas. Each area is filled in with an order and the counter is rotated to show which one is currently in use. The four possible orders a commander can give are Stand (No move); Loose (fire arrows); Advance (move forward but not engage) and Charge (as advance, but must be made to move into handstrokes contact.)

Each order segment will have arrows marking what the order can be changed to. It is not possible to switch freely between stances (for example, a unit cannot be standing and then suddenly charge to contact – it must 'pluck up it's courage' first by switching to advance and building up to contact.) The arrows I plan to mark on will allow orders to change like this:

Stand

Can be reached from: Any

Can change to: Loose; Advance

Effects: No Move. Can rotate on the spot if desired. Will get a free volley against enemy charging to contact.

Loose

Can be reached from: Stand

Can change to: Stand; Advance

Effects: No Move. Can fire one volley

Advance

Can be reached from: Stand; Loose

Can change to: Stand; Charge

Effects: Makes full move straight ahead if possible. Maintain a gap of 2” with all enemy units.

Charge

Can be reached from: Advance

Can change to: Stand (automatic on end of combat)

Effects: May move and must end in contact with an enemy unit. 2” separation may be ignored. (NB: the target unit may get a free volley if it has Stand orders.)

Typically there will be only a small chance of a fumble, so a commander will change orders for a Ward on a roll of 2+ (subject to modification by commander abilities – of which more later!) Failure means you stay stuck with the old order.

Only a single orders change can be attempted per turn, with the exception of Wards with an 'Audacious' commander (who gets two order changes a turn;) or a commander with the 'Captain's Advice' stratagem (who gets a single 'bonus' order change.)

MORALE

Morale is done by commitment. Committed need a 6 to fail, Well-wishers a 5+ to fail, while Uncommitted need only a 4+ to fail. Companies test as per the commanding magnate or as per the dominant troop type if he is dead (or an unnamed captain leads.)

A unit will test morale if:

It loses 2+ figures in a turn to fire or while closing to handstrokes

It loses more casualties than the enemy in handstrokes

It sees a friendly unit routing within 6”

It sees an enemy ambush being sprung within 12”

A unit that checks morale and fails is always marked as 'shaken' (a stand of arrow-flights, a puff of smoke, etc.) If the unit already has a 'shaken' marker, it is routed.

In addition, a failing unit's actions are decided by what it is doing when it fails the morale test.

If already 'shaken' then it will rout.

If it tests because of being fired on, it must immediately change to a 'halt' order.

If it tests in handstrokes, it must back off by 2” and lose 1D3 figures (Arrayed first, then Well-wishers, then Retinue)

If it tests when out of contact, it must immediately change to a 'halt' order (meaning charging units can be halted short of contact by a defending volley)

If it tests because it's magnate is lost (dead, captures, or fled) then it will lose 1D3 of randomly-selected figures.

ROUTING

Units will rout if:

It fails morale while already marked as 'shaken'

It is reduced to just 4 figures, or half it's original strength.

ARMY MORALE

Largely as per the original rules, but with different effects. Army morale starts at 5, with the following modifiers:

-1 from 'The Coldness of the King' (monarch in enemy camp)

-1 from facing odds of 3:2 or worse

-1 from campaign forced march before battle

-1 from enemy pre-battle bombardment

-1 from each peer (level 3 or 4 magnate) lost/killed/captured/fled

-1 from a ward of the army breaking and routing

-1 from a ward leader lost (double-hitter if it's a peer, or if ward is also breaking)

-1 from friendly troops that show treachery (either changing sides or becoming inactive)

+1 from friendly reinforcements reaching the field

The morale level of the army has the following effects:

Level 5 – OK

Level 4 – OK

Level 3 – OK

Level 2 – Test for morale in all remaining units

Level 1 – Test for morale in all remaining units at 1 level lower than normal

Level 0 – All remaining units rout

COMMANDER ATTRIBUTES

audacious can make 2 order changes per turn; +1 to orders roll

old soldier +1 to orders roll

amateur extra 4+ roll required to change order (confusion counter)

practiced standard order roll - no effect

impetuous auto-change to advance/charge orders if the target enemy unit feints or inflicts 2+losses in fire

lethargic 2 extra lethargy chits added to the draw cup

bloodthirsty captured=killed; all routers are auto-killed if caught in pursuit

merciful captured=prisoner; all routers are auto-captured if caught in pursuit

timorous check morale as 1 level lower than normal

anti-x if vs an enemy, wounds=kia; if anti-allied magnate, -1 morale level; if anti- cause of own side, treacherous!

trimmer treacherous!

artifices ambushes can be prepared or obstacles deployed in the setup

treacherous as lethargic, but also add 1 'treacherous' chit - if it is drawn first then the leader switches sides immediately

conciliatory roll against the enemy leader morale at setup - apply -1 to the army morale if failed.

STRATAGEMS

Can select 1 for practiced, 2 for old Soldier, 3 for Audacious, 0 for Amateurs.

A captain's advice allows 1 extra order change to be attempted in a turn, once per game

forethought rout bonus - the '666 rule' becomes the '366 rule'

stout ensign cancel one failed casualty roll for a leader

inspiring (4+ puissance required) Can instantly remove a shaken marker at any time

energetic (4+ forwardness required) reroll 1 failed order roll per game

Master Gonner (gonne must be present in army) Can reroll fire dice once per turn.

caltrops/pavises (artifices required) Can setup defences in front of his ward.

good timing (old soldier required) +1 on to-hit rolls when firing, for one turn only

far sighted detects ambushes. Ambush party must be deployed at start and does not get any usual advantages.

feint (old soldier required) can play to make 1 move order backwards, then auto-halts.

COMMANDER CASUALTIES

roll 2D6 (check only if losses taken)

In shooting 2-10 ok; 11 wound; 12 killed

In Handstrokes 2-8 ok; 9-10 wound; 11+ killed

if using 'I'll not shrink back' bonus: 2-7 ok, 8+ killed (no wounds)

2 wounds = killed

In rout:

from a Bloodthirsty Enemy = auto-killed if hit,

from a Merciful Enemy = auto-captured if hit

If neither: 1-3 captured, 4-5 killed; 6 escaped.

'I'll not shrink back!'

Can voluntarily be selected by a commander on entering Handstrokes.

add Puissance to rolls as a modifier to 'to hit' rolls (Eg. 3Puissance is 3No +1 mods or 1No +3mod, or any other distribution)

The disadvantage is a higher chance of loss to your commander (see above)

if vs an enemy also using the option: roll2D6 each, add puissance & compare:

tie = no effect

1-2 difference = loser wounded

3+ difference = loser killed

And that, in a nutshell, is the new Rules set. I'll be posting a playtest game soon, to judge the likelihood of future revisions. In the meantime I thought I'd post it, at least to fire interest or hopefully provide a little inspiration to any other gamer out there!