The genesis of this battle goes back to a decision I made early last year (2009). Many eons ago when I was in university I was involved in a lot of wargaming. We even had annual WRG tournaments. Since leaving university the best I could do is have the occasional game with somewhat interested colleagues – the “somewhat” meaning that I did all the collecting and painting of figures. I’ve moved around for various jobs, which usually meant a new group of “somewhat interested” colleagues. However, the particular period of “somewhat interest” varied so the unintended consequence a mountain of unpainted lead across a variety of periods. Painting continued apace at a ratio of between 60-70% until more recent years. Appraising the situation last year I decided I needed to pick up the pace of painting, if I wanted to finish painting before my 150th birthday, but I needed to play more games and right now that means gaming solo. So I dusted off, “Programmed Wargames Scenarios” by Charles Grant and set up a schedule of solo games starting with an ancient Greek-Persian encounter using DBM rules. The schedule of games would also give direction and purpose to attacking the mountain of lead.
The second game, War of the Roses, was also supposed to use DBM rules, but before getting the painting done I got an Osprey advertisement which mentioned these new rules called “Field of Glory”. With Amazon’s amazing turn around time, I had the rules in a few days and decided to give them a try. Although, that did mean more purchasing of lead, but thanks to Essex’s amazing turn around I had those in no time at all and the game was set to go in July.
In a moment of inspiration I decided to take some photos of the game and send to my 10 year old nephew, and, as it turned out, his younger sister. Of course, that meant a story had to be crafted around the photos, which is what has led to this after-action report. The captions in the photos were the ones originally intended for my nephew and niece.
The scenario used was #2, “Broken Ground”, with Richard (600-ish AP) defending against Henry (900-ish AP).
Orders of Battle
Richard’s Army
Richard III (FC)
Royal Guard: 1 X 2 Knights - Heavily Armoured, Superior, Lancers
Northern Border Spears: 1 X 4 Heavy Foot – Protected, Average, Defensive Spearmen
Militia Longbowmen: 1 X 8 Medium Foot – Protected, Poor, Longbows
Militia Billmen: 1 X 4 Heavy Foot – Protected, Poor, Heavy Weapons
Duke of Norfolk (TC)
Dismounted Men-at-Arms: 1 X 4 Heavy Foot - Heavily Armoured, Superior, Heavy Weapons
Retinue Longbowmen: 1 X 6 Medium Foot, Protected, Average, Longbowmen
Currours: 1 X 4 Cavalry – Armoured, Average, Lancers
Northern Border Horse: 1 X 4 Light Horse – Protected, Average, Lancers
Earl of Northumberland (TC)
Retinue Billmen: 1 X 4 Heavy Foot, Armoured, Superior, Heavy Weapon
Retinue Longbowmen: 1 X 6 Medium Foot, Protected, Average, Longbowmen
Stakes to cover the frontage of Retinue and Militia Longbowmen
Unfortified Camp
Total: 606 Points
Henry’s Army
Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond (FC)
Dismounted Men-at-Arms: 1 X 4 Heavy Foot - Heavily Armoured, Superior, Heavy Weapons
Mounted Men-at-Arms: 1 X 4 Knights, Heavily Armoured, Average, Swordsmen
Currours: 1 X 4 Cavalry – Armoured, Average, Lancers
Mercenary Crossbowmen: 1 X 4 Medium Foot – Protected, Average, Crossbow
Mercenary Handgunners: 1 X 4 Light Foot – Protected, Average, Firearm
Bombards: 1 X 2 Heavy Artillery
Earl of Oxford (TC)
Retinue Billmen: 1 X 4 Heavy Foot, Armoured, Superior, Heavy Weapon
Welsh Longbowmen: 1 X 8 Medium Foot, Unprotected, Average, Longbow
Breton Javelinmen: 1 X 6 Light Foot, Unprotected, Average, Javelins
Earl of Shrewsbury (TC)
Dismounted Men-at-Arms: 1 X 4 Heavy Foot - Heavily Armoured, Superior, Heavy Weapons
Retinue Billmen: 1 X 4 Heavy Foot, Armoured, Superior, Heavy Weapon
Retinue Longbowmen: 1 X 8 Medium Foot, Protected, Average, Longbowmen
Lord Douglas (Allied FC)
Retinue Billmen: 1 X 4 Heavy Foot, Armoured, Superior, Heavy Weapon
Retinue Longbowmen: 1 X 8 Medium Foot, Protected, Average, Longbowmen
The Story: The Battle of Merevale Abbey
You say you’ve not heard of the Battle of Merevale Abbey between King Richard III and Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, later to known as King Henry VII. No doubt you’ve heard that Henry landed in Wales eager to overthrow Richard and become King of England. Supporters did not immediately rush to Henry’s banner, but eventually Henry gathered enough support to march on London. He met Richard at Bosworth Field. Even though Richard had a larger army, he was despised in the land and betrayed by Douglas and Northumberland. With only those troops under his leadership, Richard fought Henry’s army and died on Bosworth Field. And so Henry was crowned king. At least so they say and maybe they’d be right – in this universe, but it was not so in all universes.
In some other universe, Henry does land in Wales but this time his supporters rush to his side and Henry advances on London with a large army. Hoping to delay Henry long enough for to raise a large enough army to defeat Henry, Richard went forth with what troops he could raise and met Henry not at Bosworth Field, but at a place called Merevale Abbey, which is to the west of Bosworth Field, where an army, by taking advantage of the terrain, could block the road to London.
Figure 1: Location of Merevale Abbey (courtesy of Google Earth)
Since the ground was more open on the right, Richard deployed Norfolk there with most of the mounted troops. It being more rugged on the left, Northumberland deployed there with only a small force. Richard held the centre with the remainder of the army. He kept militia billmen, the Northern spearmen and his Royal Guards in reserve. The militia archers were deployed forward to delay the Henry and, if too sorely pressed they could be supported by the reserve or by the forces on the wings.
Figure 2: Map of the Battle of Merevale Abbey
Figure 3: Richard’s Right Wing – the Duke of Norfolk
Figure 4: Richard’s Centre
Figure 5: Richard’s Left Wing – the Earl of Northumberland
To be continued….
