ALY MORRISON'S "BUTTERFLY" ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD OF WARGAMES AND TOY SOLDIERS

Tuesday, 12 December 2023

Lion Rampant… War of the Roses… First Game.

Greetings…

At the weekend we gathered at Matt’s house for our first game of The War of the Roses…

And for a pleasant change I did not get massacred…

We went for a fairly simple scenario… 

The Lancastrians were escorting a Papal Legate to a secret meeting… And the Yorkists were going to make sure he didn’t get there…

The Legate had his own personal bodyguards plus a unit of German mercenaries.



Our starting positions…


I start to advance… Gloriously.



Only to be set upon by a band of ruffians…


That could have gone better… Fortunately I was not broken… We were just using these counters to show battered units.


They even had the audacity to shoot arrows at me…


The enemy didn’t have it all his own way though…


Have at thee sire…


My men begin to push Alessandro’s troops back…


Things get hot at the other end of the field of battle as Israel and Steven trade blows with Matt.



Alessandro finds himself in reduced circumstances and dire straits…And in true Wars of the Roses chivalric style we shot him full of arrows.


The Legates German mercenaries have pushed their way across the battlefield… The Legate at this point was keeping a very low profile…


We were very impressed by the Germans… Then we shot them full of arrows.


The Yorkists advance gloriously towards the Lancastrians…


Hurrah!…
We didn’t get hold of the Legate but we did kill enough of the Lancastrians to cause them to quit the battlefield…
A lot of fun and a good first test for all of our forces…
Everyone picked up the rules quickly and fun was had by all.

Israel also made us some nice cards for all of our units.


We have another game planned after Xmas…

All the best.   Aly










32 comments:

  1. A cracking looking game there and it is good to see that chivalry is not dead😂

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Phil…
      It’s good to keep one’s standards up…

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  2. Sounds like a fun game. I like the cards. That idea will be nicked!

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    Replies
    1. It was indeed…
      The cards are a very nickable thing…

      All the best. Aly

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  3. Excellent looking game Aly worth all that painting 👍

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Matt…
      Well worth the painting.

      All the best. Aly

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    2. …and rebasing.

      Great looking clash, Aly! From rebasing to straight into battle. That’s the way to do it.

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  4. Nice to see the toys on the tabletop , nice looking collections , Tony

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Tony…
      It was great fun…

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  5. Excellent stuff Aly - when you sued the phrase "And in true Wars of the Roses chivalric style " I expected him to change sides!
    I see your men survived the curse of the newly painted figures - perhaps it is one of those flukes of nature, where the usual rules are reversed, and because your dice rolling is normally terminal for your troops, in the customarily fraught situation of their first battle, their dice rolling went well?!

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    Replies
    1. We had considered a betrayal option but decided to keep things simple for the first game.
      It was indeed a pleasant first battle surprise… I suspect the dice gods are just luring me into a false sense of security.

      All the best. Aly

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  6. Good to see all that painting was worth it!
    Neil

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  7. That sounds and looks like a great deal of fun! Some lovely figures on display too! Good to see the Rules of Chivalry so meticulously observed too!😉

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  8. So pleased it went well for you - hopefully you've now exhausted your limited supply of decent dice and will be made to pay for it at Vimeiro.
    Was this original LR or Edn2?

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  9. What a lovely game to behold and nice to see all those troops in action. Neat idea on the cards which I might have a go at, given our son has given me loads of those card sleeves:).

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  10. Our lot will be having a go at Lion Rampant this week, coincidentally. It will be Mongols vs Western types. If I play the Mongols, I'll invoke the "shoot them full of arrows" mantra illustrated here do well.

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    Replies
    1. make that "so well" (darned fat fingers!)

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  11. A fierce battle but without major reversals of fortune (for once...) and to be enjoyed in the excellent appearance of the painted miniatures. Even the individual unit cards are an extra touch that makes the game more spectacular. Was the papal legate a character represented by a miniature on the battlefield? We haven't identified him in the photos, but it may be that he was prudently in the rear, sending his mercenaries forward to be pierced by arrows.

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    1. It was indeed a lot of fun…
      The Legate was on the table… but he managed too keep well out of the way of the camera and longbows throughout the game.

      All the best. Aly

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  12. Aly, for some inexplicable reason I have not been following your blog but this has now been remedied - some lovely painting here!

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    1. Thank you..
      It was a very pretty game…

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  13. Looks good, read like it was fun, what more can one ask?

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  14. Splendid looking and sounding game and no failed activations? Perhaps they're being saved up until you really need them!
    Best Iain

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    Replies
    1. Things went quite smoothly for me for a change… I suspect that is all my good dice used up for a while 😁

      All the best. Aly

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  15. I don't know mate...painting figures and playing a game...you're really living the life!

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  16. What's not to like? Great looking terrain and minis, a pleasure to watch!!

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  17. That looks splendid! Lion Rampant is on my to do list (again!) for next year. Thanks for the inspiration.

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    Replies
    1. It’s a great game… Jim
      Very easy to learn and very hard to break …

      All the best. Aly

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