This is my first trial run out with Blood & Crowns, in a scenario designed to test my understanding of how the rules work. I've watched a number of videos of the rules in action and really like how they appear to play. A slight spanner in the works is the fact that Blood & Crowns are written for the Hundred Years War and I'm using them for events taking place at the opposite end of the Wars of the Roses! I can't see anything that might cause any issues and there are already files on the Blood & Crowns Facebook page which deal with things like 'Handgonners' which fit firmly within the Wars of the Roses era.
Having landed in Cumbria in June 1487, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, with the young Edward, Earl of Warwick and an army composed of Englishmen opposed to the newly installed Tudor regime, Irish adventurers and German mercenaries have marched relentlessly across northern England in search of support for their cause.
A small group of Lincoln's force, out searching for supplies and shelter, are approaching an isolated settlement, high on the Yorkshire moors. Advancing towards the same settlement, with the same intention, from the opposite direction, is Henry, 10th Baron Clifford, with a similar sized force. With Clifford's intense hatred for all things Yorkist, this surprise encounter is certain to bring about a bit of bother!
The isolated settlement, with an isolated henge, an isolated wood and lots of isolated boulders. Lord Clifford and his nefarious retinue were determined to deny anything that the Yorkists may find of benefit from the isolated settlement. Henry's grandfather, Thomas, was brutally slain by the Yorkists back in 1455, at the Battle of St. Albans and hatred of the Yorkist line has coursed through his veins since he sat upon his Nanny's knee as a child, listening to tales of his predecessor's slaughter. The Yorkists approached the isolated settlement expecting to find crucial supplies for their numerous forces... the sight of Sir Henry and his hurriedly assembled forces came as a great surprise. The Yorkist veteran bowmen quickly advanced and took up a position behind the enclosure wall. They would look for an opportunity to use their Arrow Storm to great effect against the Lancastrians before them. Clifford's hastily recruited bowmen, poachers and vagabonds from the moorlands around Skipton, raced to take cover behind the wall on the opposite side of the enclosure. They were able to loose a volley before the Yorkists could make ready, but their arrows fell harmlessly around the enemy. The Irish Kerns sped forward to hurl their javelins amongst the Lancastrians... A second volley from the Lancastrian bowmen caused three hits upon the Yorkists, who quickly played a favour, having rolled abysmally in their attempt to cancel the hits upon them... The favour was smartly played and two casualties were saved. This turn in fortune would soon pay dividends for the Yorkist archers and bring sorrow to their opponents. Both sides, Yorkist and Lancastrian, closed upon the isolated settlement and took up defensive positions... In sudden blinding sunlight, the Yorkist archers laid down their Arrow Storm upon the Lancastrians, who rolled even worse than their opponents... even their Favour roll could avail them nought as four ones replaced their initial roll! Thus, four of their number were consigned to oblivion. Having dramatically gained the upper hand, the Yorkists pushed themselves on and the final two of Clifford's bowmen bit the dust. On the other side of the enclosure, the Yorkist men-at-arms rushed headlong into Clifford's retinue to complete the victory... Clifford and his men, however, had other ideas and, in spite of loosing their bowmen, out-fought the Yorkists and gained the upper hand in the melee. The Yorkist archers advanced into the enclosure to out flank the enemy... Their manoeuvre was, however, too little to late, as Clifford's men butchered the remaining Yorkist men-at-arms and the battle was effectively over. The Irish Kerns had inflicted some damage on the Lancastrian footmen, but they realised that the fight was lost and took to their heels, leaving the isolated settlement and all its treasures to the victorious enemy.
It took two hours to complete the game. a lot of which was spent looking up the effects of the special rules! Ready for next time, I've printed them all out on a two sided sheet for easy reference! Blood and Crowns really is an excellent game and I'm already planning how to expand my forces for the next bigger game. The whole system is smooth and full of twists and turns while maintaining a realistic historical feel. In the action between the two groups of archers, the Lancastrian bowmen were quicker to the draw but, once the more experienced retinue archers on the Yorkist side had made themselves ready and were able to bring their Arrow Storm to bear, they suffered terribly from the hail of arrows falling upon them. Admittedly, rolling four ones was a bit of a catastrophe and ultimately sealed their fate!
Next time, I should have some additional forces to field in a scenario where the Lancastrians are defending supplies in a not so isolated settlement.
No comments:
Post a Comment