Wars of the Roses battle - Using Sword and Spear rules.

Finally began playing a full game of S&S, previously I had fought minor skirmishes between different unit types to get used to the game mechanics. Happy with how that turned out I laid out the table and chose two forces for a proper battle. The Yorkist force under King Richard III had one extra unit of troops (11 opposing 10), but the Lancastrian force commanded by Henry actually had a higher points value.

Part of the table looking along the Yorkist line on the ridge.

The Yorkist left flank is anchored beside a walled field. The Lancastrians are advancing all along the line.

On the other flank, Richards mounted knights face off against Henry's mounted knights, however, the latter also has a unit of light horse backing him up.

Looking along at the Lancastrian troops advancing.

Some shots from troop eye level taken from the Lancastrian lines.

The Yorkists hold a ridge line in the centre.

Lancastrian foot knights and archers advance.

A Lancastrian captain encourages his men forward.

Yorkist archers let fly a volley of arrows.

All the photographs were taken at the end of turn two and it is proving to be a very enjoyable game. I have made some errors in placement of troops that meant some dice were wasted, so a learning curve too. The game certainly punishes a poor commander! Does it give the flavour of the period? I certainly think so, and it really does make you think all the time. I am playing solo but even in a two player game, the reactive player cannot just sit back and relax whilst his opponent moves. No periods of inactivity for either player in this rule set!

Well, I am off to play a few more turns, I will of course give a full account in a later post, with lots of photographs too.