BLOOD AND CROWNS... PUSHING BACK THE ENVELOPE!

I really enjoy Blood and Crowns but, to be honest, I'm not a massive fan of gaming the Hundred Years War! To play the game as written, would mean investing in a whole new load of figures and, probably, quite a lot of new terrain to go with it. I've already tried using the rules with my collection of late 12th century figures for the Great Revolt of Henry II's reign and they work seamlessly; some of the heavier armour of the Hundred Years War can be left out, as can the rules concerning the longbow, but all the fundamental game mechanics fit perfectly with the earlier period.

Today, I'm pushing back the clock another 650 years and using Blood and Crowns with my armies of Post Roman Britain! The heroic forces of Alt Clut and a band of bloodthirsty Scotti raiders encounter each other in Northern Britannia around the year 510 AD. Can a set of rules written for the Hundred Years War cope with all the peculiarities of the Age of Arthur? Hmm, I wonder!

Brother Flirtatius and his band of Pagenses stoutly prepare to defend the farmstead against the approaching hordes of despicable Scotti warriors. The Holy Man special character gives the unit a Favour Token of their own, to use when things get a little scary and a re-roll might just save the day.

Donnchad Luthmor, War Lord of Dal Riatta, and his beastly warband advance, comfortable in the belief that the lone unit of Pagenses are all that stand between them and the alluring delights of the farmstead.

However... beyond the farmstead, Lord Pellinore hastens to the aid of Brother Flirtatius, with his personal Teuli, a unit of Combrogi, archers and yet more Pagenses. To reflect the nature of warfare 800 years before the Hundred Years War, the Arthurians have the Special Rule, Shieldwall, which is similar to Brace and gives a bonus to the Save roll in both missile and melee combat situations.

Lord Pellinore and his band of brothers, with a string of factors of 5 and Shieldwall(1), Stalwart and Tough special rules. Not a unit to be taken lightly with mail armour, big shields and a barrel full of bad ass attitude.

Donnchad and his personal retinue are equally tough opposition, but their use of buckler shields means they don't have the option to form Shieldwall.

Let battle commence... the good brother inspires his quivering flock to hold fast against the wave of Scotti nastiness, which is about to crash against their rather flimsy fence!

The slings and more slings of outrageous fortune rain a shower of rocky missiles down upon the heads of the Pagenses, but they hold fast under the protective umbrella of Brother Flirtatius' fathomless faith.

Until the tsunami of Donnchad and his armoured swarm smash into the insubstantial wicker... will the Brother and his trembling band be able to hold against the ferocious onslaught?

Not when the Gods of the Dice are laughing in your face... three of the Pagenses go down, but they do manage to take one of the Scotti warriors with them...

Taking advantage of his initial success, Donnchad pushes his warriors on and another three Pagenses bite the dust, forcing the remaining two to fall back and their fatigue is more than they can bare... the brave Brother and his lone surviving companion break and flee the field, leaving it (the field) in the hands of the all conquering Scotti Warlord.

On the opposite side of the farmstead, Scotti warriors advanced against Lord Pellinore. They are Impetuous, Hard Chargers and Ruthless, with a melee factor of 5, which makes them potentially devastating in the charge, however, their lack of armour and small shields makes them incredibly vulnerable if they fail to get the upper hand in that initial contact.

Lord Pellinore had already formed his warriors into Shieldwall, making the Scotti effort to gain the upper hand that much more difficult.

The Scotti combat roll was stunning and it looked as though the Arthurians may well be overwhelmed in the initial combat...

The Arthurian response is equally exceptional and all but one of the hits were cancelled out, leaving the Scotti vulnerable to the counter-blow from Pellinore's warriors.

 
The Scotti lost half of their number in the Arthurian Fight-Back and were forced Fall Back following their Resolve Test.

With the tide turning against the Scotti Raiders, time ran out and the game was brought to an early close. Battle will resume however as I fight more actions between the Scotti and Alt Clut, bringing mounted forces into the action to see how they fare using Blood and Crowns rules.

Can you use Blood and Crowns with battles in the Age of Arthur? This was just one small game, but, on the basis of how this played out, the answer is definitely YES! Clearly, there are parts of the game that are not appropriate to Arthurian age games, but the basic systems involving activation, movement, combat combat outcomes work perfectly. So far, the only aspect of warfare in the earlier period that I've added to the original rules, is the use of the Shieldwall. In this game, the Arthurian Teuli gained hugely from being formed in Shieldwall, with the minus 1 to Save Rolls cutting their losses from three to one in the combat against the Scotti Warriors. It's not a lot of data to base a conclusion from, but it did what it was supposed to do... for an Arthurian unit with large shields, forming Shieldwall makes your defence more effective and it blunted the initial Scotti charge, making it very difficult for them to gain the upper hand. Forming Shieldwall is an action that costs more the lower a unit's experience level is, reflecting the complexity of carrying out the manoeuvre on the battlefield. I've also gone for a simple mechanic of the Shieldwall being broken following any movement at all; so if you decide to pursue or consolidate, for example, the Shieldwall would need to be reformed on the next activation. Becoming Shaken also causes the break up of the Shieldwall formation.

The future is looking good as far as I can see; Blood and Crowns has became my go to game; I love the systems it has for activation and combat and now I can get my Age of Arthur figures out on the table top and enjoy a game of Blood and Crowns with my favourite toy soldiers! And my other favourite toy soldiers... the ones from the 12th Century... who knows what might come next! 

BLOOD & CROWNS... 1487... ON ILKLEY MOOR... WITHOUT A HAT!

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.