28mm War of the Roses Game at Nashcon

An overview of the battle showing initial deployments!

This past weekend my good friend Titch W.  and I ran our annual War of the Roses game at Nashcon. This is the second year that we have run it and we plan to continue each year, with it getting a little bigger and better every year. Last year we fought on a 8×5 table and this year we grew some and fought on a 6×13 table. Next year we plan on painting even more units and adding a few more tables for troops and/or an even bigger castle. My good friend Chris W. (partner in crime on this blog) took the pictures, let me borrow some flocking, and supplied the buildings inside of the castle. Thanks guys!

The battle has begun! We started the game late because I had left my casualty markers packed up at home after running my ACW game! Chris and I sped down to Michael’s (craft store) and I ran in yelling, “I need green pipe cleaners and a cheap pair of scissors!”

Medeival Tactica (by Arty Conliffee) is my choice of rules for conventions since it is easy for new players to learn, it plays quickly, and plays to a decisive result (an army is defeated at a set break-point). I heard a lot of positive comments about Tactica from gamers walking by who had played Tactica when it was first released. I’ve made a few tweeks to the rules, mainly adding a little more flexibility with movement, artillery rules, and some break-point ideas for large armies. I might expand on these changes in a future article, but for now I want to stick to the game!

Titch and I have been painting WOR figures for many years now, but it has always been kind of a secondary project with us each focusing mainly on our own individual projects. It’s been really nice seeing this project slowly develop over time…kind of like a good BBQ!

The Yorkist commanders! They showed little mercy on the battlefield after their victory!

Titch has based his order of battle around the Yorkist army at Tewkesbury and I have painted the opposing Lancastrians. We set up a hypothetical battle set during this campaign and had six gamers join in to play. Each gamer had his own “battle” of men consisting of skirmishers, longbowmen, men at arms, and a few mounted knights in reserve. We also set up a “Stanley” neutral force in the castle that could join one side or the other after turn six. This was a very nerve racking element for the players on that flank!

Some of Chris’ excellent medieval buildings (roofs off to show the detailed interior)

Titch took command of the the center Yorkist battle and played the part of Edward. Rob (as Hastings) held the right flank and John (Gloucester) held the left flank near the castle. The Yorkist strategy was to hold tight on the flanks and push in the center.

Chris’ buildings

The Lancastrian army was lead by Chris W. (Prince of Wales) on the left,  Jack in the middle (Wenlock) and Russ (Devon) on the right. Their strategy was to hold the line and rain arrows down on the advancing enemy army.

View of the castle from the Lancastrian left wing

Everyone had a great time and the Yorkists squeaked out a come from behind victory with some aggressive attacks in the center. Queen Margaret’s mounted knights were destroyed and morale failed for the Lancastrians, who were able to rereat from the battle in some order. The next Nashcon we will host a “Margaret’s Revenge” game as kind of a running Nashcon campaign narrative.

Titch’s castle. We actually ended up removing a large portion of the castle when we realized we needed more room for the troops.

An overview of the battlefield.

Rob thinking about his strategy. If Rob comes to Nashcon next year he has told us he’ll add another 300+ troops to the fight!

Good Gaming! – Cory

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