Monday, April 14, 2025

1st Battle of St. Albans, May 22, 1455 at HAVOC

 

After sharing the complimentary breakfast for overnight guests with Chris Parker, I set up the table for my Sunday morning Wars of the Roses game. Left to right, as best I recall are Andrew (plaid coat) as Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (Yorkist, red dice frames); Eric as Richard, Earl of Salisbury (Yorkist, grey), Steven as Clifford and Percy (Lancastrian, brown and yellow)), Devin as Buckingham, Somerset, and King Henry VI (Lancastrian, Blue and orange), and finally Robin as Richard, Duke of York (Yorkist, white). 

Warwick advances on the Town, and it doesn't take long for Salisbury to advance along he road through then town as well. The rules used were Test of  Resolve, by my friends, Tim Couper and David Knight in the UK. 

Warwick has taken one of the buildings, and Salsbury is making his stake at the entrance to the main square of the town as well; York's men are advancing at the top of the picture. Warwick and York both had longbow units, and made good use of them, while there were none on the Lancastrian side!

Warwick is making good progress clearing out the Lancastrian defenders; he ignored several chances to "find the gap", as it seemed to be of no advantage in the circumstances. 

The Yorkist enter the square, only to se the unfolded Royal Banner of King Henry VI! The first 3 units in a row desert, unwilling to oppose the crowned King of England! (They needed a score of 8+ on a D12 to pass; once the first unit passes, no further checks are requiured).  . 

Longbowmen shoot at Clifford and his men, as well as the King and his bodyguard! 

Tough fighting in the Town Square between Warwick and Clifford. With some lucky D12 rolls, Warwick is defeated and his Battle departs, whereupon the sole remaining Yorkist unit decides to depart as well. The Lancastrians are victorious...barely! Most of the commanders on both sides were injured in battle. 

As usual for Test of Resolve, their fates were determined by some die rolls after the conclusion of the battle (which took 2 hours to play, in typical ToR fashion).


LANCASTRIANS

King Edward VI - survived, remained figurehead King
Somerset - escaped, wounded
Buckingham - escaped, wounded.
Percy - died on the Battlefield
Clifford - survived

 
YORKISTS

Warwick  - died on the Battlefield
Salisbury - escaped
Richard, Duke of York - died on the Battlefield


A few more shots of games at HAVOC gleaned from posting by others:


From Friday night:  Battle of Hobkirks Hill;  AWI with Rebels & Patriots - Chris Parker

Rebels & Patriots 28mm | Shortly after the British defeat at Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse Nathanael Greene engages a small force of British regulars and partisan's including hospital invalids under Lord Rawdon. If Greene can defeat them he could compel the British forces to abandon their outposts across South Carolina and fallback to Charleston leaving the state to the rebels.




Fallschirmjäger descent on Heraklion Airfield

It is May 20th 1941. The German 1st Fallschirmjäger Regiment attempt a parachute assault to capture the Creten Heraklion Airfield. The British 2nd Black Watch Infantry Battalion defense is the only ground force that standing in their way. This is a Skirmish scenario combat game using a combination of Rules from “Skirmish Campaigns” and Bolt Action 28mm miniatures.




Battle of Heraclea 280 BC with To the Strongest!  - Dave Soucy

Pyrrhus of Epirus has arrived in Magna Grecia to assist the Tarentines and other Greek colonies in southern Italy. He sets forth from Tarentum and finds the Roman army under Consul Publius Laevinius along the Sirisin River. The first clash of Legion vs Phalanx is on. Pyrrhus has a surprise for the Romans. Elephants. 


The Warriors (1979) - Maureen Reddington-Wilde

Warriors, come out to playyy-ay! These are the armies of the night: the Furies, the Boppers, the High Hats, the Lizzies, the Turnbull ACs, the Gramercy Riffs, and the Warriors; the Orphans aren't even in the network, but they rumble anyway. The truce is off — tonight the gangs converge at Broadway Junction to settle old scores and bop to the top in the streets of New York. Can you dig it?


Evidently based upon the movie of the same name, released in, well, 1979!

Street gangs and mayhem

This game was clearly a blast for those who played,

 and won "The Dave" award for best game of the convention. 

Cast of characters.

11 comments:

  1. Your WotR game looked great and the Warriors one looked like it would have been a fun one to participate in.

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    1. Thanks, Donnie. I was so busy with what I was doing that I hardly noticed other games in the afternoon and evening.

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  2. Great to see the kickstarter buildings in action in what looked like a fun game. That Heraklion game looks interesting too.

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  3. Your St Albans looks like my vague understanding of how the actual battle unfolded, and the terrain and figures are excellent. I like the post-game dice roll outcome - with Warwick and Richard both dead, that might well have been the end of the war!

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    1. Other possible out comes on the losing side are captured and imprisoned, captured and executed (common), and captured and switched sides (rare)! Particularly important if you ran a campaign based upon Kingmaker board game, for example!

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  4. Game looks great especially those buildings. Warriors game was very well presented.

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    1. Thanks; I do love those Lodestone buildings! Maureen's award was well deserved, I agree!

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  5. The St. Albans game looked great. The rest of the show looked good too.

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  6. A great game there and some nice ones from the show too:)! The Warriors one takes me back to my later teens when the video of the film was so popular you had to reserve it and take it back after the weekend, as demand was so high!

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