The Battle of Swanage Bay, 1471- A War of the Roses AAR

Postie summoned the Rejects to his shed to fight a fictional War of the Roses engagement, the Battle of Swanage Bay.

The context for the game was that, after the Battle of Barnet, Margaret of Anjou returned with an army and treasure to assist the Lancastrian cause.  Storms had driven her fleet to land on the peninsular at Swanage Bay.  King Edward, aware of Margaret's arrival rushed to "greet" her.

Lee and Surjit commanded the Lancastrians.  Colin commanded the bulk of the Yorkist troops while I led the Yorkist left against the town.

This would turn into a game dominated by exception (extraordinary!) dice rolling.

The Lancastrian occupied the town and the left of the field.  Two Yorkist battles faced the disembarking Margaret, while the third (commanded by me!) faced the Lancastrian right flank anchored on the town.

Surjit's battle defending the town.

Colin's two battles ready to drive Margaret back into the sea.

Two Lancastrian battles disembarking.  These were controlled by Lee.

The left of Edward's (Colin) troops.  The plan was to expose the gap between the town and the Lancastrian troops by the ships and force them apart.

Hastings' (me) battle facing the town.

This is going to be a tough nut to crack.  Archers behind hard cover defending the town.

Hastings' troops start their slow advance.  The defending archers shoot with deadly effect against my longbowmen.

... and so the exceptional dice rolling begins.

First, despite the Yorkists having an edge on initiative, the Lancastrians gain it to move and shoot first.

As Edward's men began their slow trudge across the field.  The Lancastrian obtained the hills and rained arrows down on the Yorkists.

Second, Completely defying all rules of probability.  The Lancastrian archery wiped out about a third of the Yorkist bowmen before they could reply.  In these rules, if you move first you shoot first.  Then the return shooting is based on what you have left to shoot with.  In response, the Yorkist longbows could barely scratch a barn door.

Hastings continues his advance.  The defenders' missile fire cripples a retinue bow unit.

Further down the field, Edward's men are dropping like flies.

Third.  Yet another chance distribution curve defying moment.  Edward's troop can't move without being mown down.  Causing Colin to have to make his first of a number of Battle morale checks.

Lancastrian shooting drives the retinue bowmen back.  However, the Yorkist shire bowmen unleashed a good volley to destroy a defending unit of archers.  This was shock enough for the whole defending battle in the town to recoil and leave their positions.

Hastings now took the opportunity to get his remaining archers to the barricades and shoot into the rear of the Lancastrian billmen.

Meanwhile, the other two Yorkist battles were struggling against mounting losses from the enemy archery.

So devastating and targeted was the missile fire from the Lancastrians that one of Edward's battles had to take another morale test and failed.  This led to a rout off the table...

... Game over.  A great and emphatic Lancastrian victory.

After thoughts
Well played by all involved.  Games of this period never permit tactical finesse and manoeuvring.  In that sense, nobody played a good or bad game.  The table was lovely to look at and the figures gorgeous.

Lee's dice rolling was phenomenal.  He was scoring hits in numbers that was incredible and utterly unbelievable unless you saw it with your own eyes.  It would be true to say that such extraordinary dice rolling made it impossible to play against Lee.  It made the game almost unplayable for anyone opposite Lee.  Kudos to Lee.

We actually started playing the game at about 10.30am.  It was over by 1.00pm!  Probably the quickest game that I've ever played in the shed!

On the plus side, it meant that we enjoyed a pleasant, chatty and leisurely lunch.

For a fuller report, have a look at Lee's blog when he posts it.

The figures were all 28mm and the rules were Stuart's own.

A Book Giveaway.

In my continuing and desperate attempt to clear the decks and make space, I am getting rid of a shelf load of books.  I'm doing so very reluctantly as I've enjoyed all these books.

You'll detect a theme.

If you want one or some, let me know.  I'm happy to bear the cost of the postage.

If homes aren't found then the local charity shops will benefit from a donation.

First up, a couple of memoirs from WW1 aces.

A couple about the Battle of Britain.

The following are memoirs written by WW2 pilots.

The next two are stories and interviews of WW2 pilots.

And a last one. The title is self evident and from a much respected writer of conflicts.

Just let me know in the comments which of the books you want, then send me a message with the details for posting.

First come first served.

Italian Wars Mounted Crossbowmen

Coming from the very versatile plastic box set of Light Cavalry 1450-1500, from Perry Miniatures, are the figures for two stands of mounted crossbowmen for the Great Italian Wars.

I got these second hand and already painted.  However, they were in need of quite a lot of work to bring them up to standard. I think that I have painted better, but I am pleased with the result nonetheless.

This first stand is painted with the Sforza livery colours.

This one has the livery colours of the Colonna condottiero.  Though other families, like the Orsinis, also have similar colours in their livery.

Up next, either Renaissance command stands or infantry.

Italian Wars Gendarmes

Output is low and production is slow, but in this short post let me roll out a new unit of gendarmes from the painting queue.

These bad boys still on their painting sticks.  Finished but not based.

All of the miniatures are from Wargames Foundry.

Here they are based and with standards flying.

Not sure what I'll paint next. Either some light cavalry or command stands.  We'll see.

Partizan

Five Rejects went for an away day to Newark. Before this starts to sound like an Enid Blyton Famous Five tale, I should say five pretty mature blokes went to a wargame show!

To see Ray's and Lee's far better and fuller posts go to:

Don't Throw a 1: The Other Partizan 2025 - The photos Part 1

Don't Throw a 1: The Other Partizan - The Photos Part 2

BigLee's 'Miniature Adventures': The Other Partizan Wargames Show 2025 – Full Video Report

The first and most important stop was breakfast. A full English with black pudding, yum yum!

With body sufficiently fuelled for the day, it was now time to feed the soul... i.e. enjoy the show.

What follows are some of my highlights, in no particular order, from an excellent exposition.

This French Revolutionary Wars participation game was hosted by Garry David Wills, author of Throwing Thunderbolts.

Nice to see this scenario from the book on the tabletop.  It was on small table (6' x 4' I think) with 15mm figures.  A good looking game that, importantly, I feel that I could replicate at home or in the shed.

One could not help but be attracted to this giant game of Risk.

A reimagined version of Europe.  A riot of colour and shapes.

Personally, I found the spectacle hard to decipher and a little too fussy to look at.  Nonetheless, it couldn't be ignored and I'm sure those who played it enjoyed it.  Certainly 10 out of 10 for the imagination and effort that went into it.

There were, what seemed like, quite a number of World War Two games.

This was a great looking table.

A lot of time, effort and craftsmanship had gone into producing this recreation of Operation Charnwood.

There were (or at least it seemed to me) quite a few World War Two games on display at Partizan.  No bad thing, but I did come to a realisation that (for me) certain types of WW2 games don't make for great wargaming spectacle.  More thoughts on this later.

In quite close vicinity, were two medieval games.  There was the Battle of Agincourt and this one, the Battle of Montargis.  Both looked great but the latter would be my pick as a medieval highlight. 

With 28mm figures in big units, this was a feast for the eyes.

I liked the great array of troops, the relatively straightforward terrain and the camp.

The castle at one end provided a superb backdrop, as well as a good photo position.

This Pike and Shot game from North Star had some eye droppingly lovely figures.

The table top looked great without being a distraction from the figures and the game.  A wargaming spectacle being demonstrated.

It is hard to go wrong with the lovely colourful uniforms of this period.

This game of the Battle of Salamanca, 1812, presented by the Forest Outlaws just looked like a battle.  Using Kallistra hexagon terrain, it had the appearance of big formations engaging.  Again, the terrain did not overshadow but complimented the idea of a wargame being displayed.

I must be drawn to Horse and Musket games.  This rerun of the Battle of Leuthen looked the part with its lines of infantry and cavalry deployed across a battlefield rendered in the simplest of fashions.

The Wargames Collective put a lovely skirmish game set during the Siege of Vienna, 1683.  The figures looked like 54mm in size.  I don't know where they got them from but they looked great.

Barry Hilton of the League of Augsburg always put on a good looking game and this one was no different.

Gorgeous troops moving across his teddy bear fur.  

One of the many WW2 games.  This one from 1st Corps. The Battle of Kamenewo, 1941.

I think it was this view of German guns in the long grass that really caught my attention.  I just thought that this looked the part.  I could imagine the gunners crouched down in the long grass as the breeze made it sway.

I think that one of the best games was the Battle of Kolin, hosted by Simon Miller who was testing his rules for the 17th and 18th century.

The ranks of figures in lines advancing across the table looked fabulous.

The figures were all 40mm semi-flats.  All were home cast and from the collection of Steve Metheringham.

After thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed the show.  Well done to the organisers and all those who presented their games - demonstration or participation.  There were many more games that I could have featured.  However, I picked these ones as my highlights - not as the best games, just my picks.

It was interesting seeing quite a few different games using Midgard as their rules of choice.  I'm tempted to get a copy just to see what's the fuss.  Though at the price, I might wait to find a second hand copy.

On a personal note, I realise that I have a distinct leaning towards preferring a type of game as show or demonstration games.  Especially if the aim is to show off wargaming as the spectacle.  Unfortunately, World War Two games come relatively low.  I think that is because of two reasons that immediately spring to mind.  First, where the action is based in an urban setting I wonder if the demonstration is about construction and modelling rather than the wargame being the spectacle.  Second, WW2 is in camouflage.  So, unlike 19th century and earlier periods, the troops and vehicles are duller and rightly disappear into the scenery - that's the point of camouflage.  I'm not saying that modelling, making buildings etc. is not part of our hobby, it is.  It's just a personal view.

I really loved seeing the horse and musket games.  The flats from the Battle of Kolin were something special.  Seeing the games set during the days of Louis XIV was great.  It made me hope that Ray dusts off his Nine Years War armies and puts a game on in the shed.  It's been a very, very long time Ray, and they look fantastic!

The show was great.  Space was very tight.  I'm guessing the organisers wanted to squeeze as many games in as possible.  Nonetheless, it was a treat.  The day started brilliantly with a full English satisfying my physical need and ended with the wargamer's soul uplifted by the sights of the show.