Rampant Return for War of the Roses

First test of the magnetic basing - nil casualties in transportation!

This weekend saw a double christening as Dux Homunculorum kindly hosted me to threw down with some War of the Roses action: our first time using the new Lion Rampant 2.0 rules set, and the first outing for my Lancastrians.

We like matching up asymmetrical forces - similar but not mirrors of one another to make things more interesting.  I went for weight of arrows, while Alan went more diverse.

Commanded by Lord Percy I fielded 2 units of Foot Knights (elite foot), 2 units of Billmen (Heavy Foot) and 3 Archers to defend the honour of the true and rightful king.  

Opposing my loyal men was Yorkist sympathiser Lord Scrope, with 2 units of Foot Knights (elite foot), 2 units of Billmen (Heavy Foot), 2 Archers, 1 Heavy Horse and 1 of Biddowers (skirmishers). 

Noble Lord Percy takes the field

Longbowmen on the field, ready to deliver an arrow storm

In the name of King Henry - Advance!

Archers Ready!

The Scrope horse waiting in reserve

The traitorous Lord Scrope of Bolton takes the field

Nock - Draw - Loose!

The enemy advance into Range

Long range fire plucked a few enemy from their feet, but not to any real effect. Perhaps next time I would be better taking less but Veteran Bowmen so more shafts find their place. Unfortunately for these lads, they failed to receive the orders to retire (having failed the movement order test AND the reroll from the nearby Commander) and were thus charged by the advancing Billmen

Most impressively, they stood their ground with grim resolve, throwing back the Billmen with 3 casualties while only taking 2 themselves! Impressive, but as they clapped eachother on the back, the thunder of hooves resounded across the filled and the enemy heavy horse galloped into the attack

Unbelievably, the archers slew half (3) of the mounted knights but were inevitably scattered before them having taken more and failed their Courage check. Well done though lads, you have earned yourself a banner when i get back to the Hobby desk (my dice were hot!)

Incensed at the demise of the brave archers, my Foot knights dove down off the hilltop and into the Cavalry, drawing blood and sending the rest fleeing from the field.

At this point I was running low on remaining playing time and thought it timely for Lord Percy to advance upon Lord Scrope and proffer a duel. 

Fight me you Cad!

Alan was not inclined to accept the glove, but obliged me and did not regret the decision...

Seems to be something wrong with my bloody sword today...

...while the view from other side of the field was far more cheery

And with the Yorkist momentum blunted on the left wing, the battle petered out. I had inflicted far more casualties but my rash duel had cost me my Leader. Swearing oaths of vengeance both forces retired, swearing and the battle was concluded.

Good fun in Alan's great game room

Awesome to get my Lancastrians out for the first time - got some ideas on how the flesh the force out a little more. As ever, Alan is a fun, crafty and sporting opponent and it was great to catch up with him.  We found LR2.0 very easy to pickup - a few things we had to recheck but other wise flowed well and anything we needed was quickly found.  We played the variant where failing a unit activation does not mean the end of the turn, which works well at injecting friction without complete chaos.

Expect to see more WotR models joining my collection during the upcoming Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge season 13, which I have signed up for and looking forward to!

You can see more of Alan's Yorkists on his blog here: https://dux-homunculorum.blogspot.com/2016/06/wars-of-roses-for-lion-rampant.html