Flodden English Nobles

 

While I'm waiting for more QRF Scots I'm pressing on with the English.  Above we have Sir Thomas Howard, Lord Admiral and Earl of Surrey.  He is accompanied by a retainer carrying his personal banner.  The retainer wears Tudor livery.  King Henry paid for 500 such livery coats for Surrey's men.  

Behind him are two English nobles and more of Howard's men with his Lord Admiral banner.  This unit will form the centre of the English array at Flodden.  The flags are all from Ray at Don't Throw a 1.  If you are Flodden inclined click the link in the side bar and then check out Flodden flags.  You can also read Lord Scrope's Ballad while you are there.

Let's have a closer look at Lord Scrope.  Doughty fellow that he was.  

That he inspired a Border ballad was no mean accolade, . Here he sports his heraldic arms, a practice shortly to exit fashion.  His retainers wear his white livery colour.

Next, we have Sir Marmaduke Constable his men wearing his red livery.

 

A closer pic' of the Lord Admiral.

Howard's achievement at Flodden was remarkable.  Had the battle gone the other way it is possible to imagine a very different future For England, Ireland and Scotland.  This is seldom recognised.  It deserves to be.

I also managed to get a unit of archers done.  They wear Tudor or Scrope's livery-so a lot of white.  This unit would also work for the English in France too. Note the flag from Army Royal blog-link in the side bar.

Next I need to do a unit of Bill men and the Lord Admiral's Marines.  The latter are very well harnessed troops.

 

 

Billhooks Deluxe - A Flodden Project

 

Regular readers will know that I have been putting together both Armies for the Battle of Flodden and related encounters imagined and real.  I'm using Billhooks Deluxe as the rules for the project. As Billhooks Deluxe doesn't have a Flodden section we need to adopt a toolkit approach. All the troop types needed are there-just not in the same section.  Let us start with the Scots. Below half of the King of Scots own unit. 

The Italia section of Billhooks Deluxe offers a range of pike unit types. Degrees of armour protection are also clearly defined.  This is sufficient to differentiate between the King of Scots Battle and those of the rest of the Army.  The former are all Men at Arms with pikes.  Formidable, but vulnerable to bad terrain. Heavily armoured pike men were.  At Flodden the Scots nobility fought pretty much to the last man.

The issue of better armoured front ranks for the rest of the Army is easily accommodated without adjustment. You can even add pavises should you wish. More on this subsequent as new units are completed.

The Highlanders are covered in the Hibernia chapter. There are two types, clan and mercenary company.  They have both missilery and melee capacity. For Argyle's wing I'll opt for the clan stat’s. 

 

Consider Argyle's fellows above and below.  To the front mailed gentry to the rear un-armoured clansmen. At Flodden the English arrows fell on the rear ranks of the Highlanders.  Result, complete collapse.  Easy to replicate with Billhooks, if you can get your English archers in the right place.

 

Highlanders also fought on the other flank at Flodden.  I'm tempted to use the mercenary company stat's for that contingent.  Their role was to protect the flanks of the Border pike men.  Note how the degree of armour fades down the ranks of pike men.  It is the sort of nuance Billhooks captures nicely.

 

Another Highland clan unit below. Many Irish figures will do nicely as Highlanders in this period.  No javelins though. Highlanders preferred the bow.

My Highlanders are from a mix of ranges and manufacturers. I think it helps create the right image.

The respective abilities of both sides’ artillery deserve attention. My current thinking is to give the English light guns.  The idea of making the English guns mobile as per the rules also appeals.  I should say they wont be very mobile.  

Here are two of mine.  

 

Guns from Donnington and very nice they are too.  

 

The crews are what I had lying about.  QRF I think. 

 

The Scots get heavy guns, great for making castles surrender but once placed on the battlefield they are stuck.  Here are mine  above and below.  I'm following the Billhooks convention of separately based guns and crews. Thus English heavy guns in France just need to add the crews.

The English Army at Flodden was quite an old-fashioned affair.  Mainly Bills and Bows, the innovative types were off in France. This means the troop types can be lifted directly from the Albion section of the rules.   

 

The Border Horse can come from the Northumbria chapter.  All very straight forward.

I'm putting together a QRS for Flodden and related engagements.  Play testing will commence once the troops are done.  I'm still wondering about the Special Event cards.

That’s it for the moment.  As for painting there is not much new to show.  I found a few more Scots and got them done.   QRF have re listed the rest I need but have yet to re stock them.  The artillery shown above is new.  English progress fell victim to my sudden need to complete my SYW collection.  They are now getting my attention.

The rest is history, appropriately enough.

More soon.

Billhooks Deluxe is here

 

Billhooks Deluxe is out today.  At Andy Callan’s invitation I wrote the Hibernia chapter.  Consequently I got a copy last week.  It has first rate production values as you might expect from the Wargames Illustrated team. There are 180 pages of interesting and wide ranging content.  Reasonably priced too.  I think it will prove very popular.  

Anyhow, as a contributor I’m obviously not an independent reviewer so you must look elsewhere for that.  If you want to read my unbiased review of the original Billhooks here it is https://youdonotknowthenorth.blogspot.com/2020/08/never-mind-billhooks-review-and-irish.html   As team projects go Billhooks Deluxe was very straight forward. It was a pleasure to be involved.

 

I want to talk about Billhooks as a tool kit.  Like all good systems it is adaptable. For me this means my Crusades Game, the Flodden Campaign, The Spanish Reconquista, The Nine Years War in Ireland and my Aztec Game. That may seem an eclectic list.  Let me explain further.

 

My Crusades adaptation followed the initial Billhooks release. As a game it works nicely.  I’m currently talking with Andy on how to take it forward.  Meantime expect a couple of Crusades game reports here.

All the troop types needed for the Flodden Campaign are to found in Billhooks Deluxe.  There is not a specific Flodden chapter but that is no obstacle.  QRF have relisted the figures I need so hopefully not long now.  I'll add the various Tudor Rebellions and the Anglo French 1513 conflict are all doable with Billhooks too.

The Spanish Reconquista has long interested me and I think most of the troop types are contained in Billhooks Deluxe.  I have some ideas about Berbers that I want to explore.  Of course the Reconquista was a long process. More on this as I go.

 

I’m currently thinking about an adaptation of Billhooks for the Nine Years War in Ireland.  Some of the troop types are already there and the paired formations system is very compatible. As is the manouvre phase. All the same a big leap.  Will it work?  I think so.  I should say Irish tactics and armament in the Nine Years War were very different from those used in the medieval period.

You may recall I did a lot of work on Aztec Warfare and then got stuck.  I had a sudden Billhooks related insight on how to move forward.  The key game issue is how to ensure sufficient jeopardy for the Spanish.  Hopefully I’ll have more to say on this soon.

 

That’s Billhooks Deluxe, I like it and foresee a lot of fun ahead.  The toys shown here are mainly from QRF's Wars of The Roses range.  Well worth a look if you fancy doing the Wars of the Roses.

SYW 18mm Distraction Strikes

 

I’ve been a bit busy of late.  Hence the delay in posting. Also, my SYW French Army has arrived.  Naturally, I felt the need to paint up a couple of units.  My Austrian/ Prussian output has suffered consequently.

All is not lost.  Here is Austrian Dragoon Regiment Jung Modena.  Figures from Blue Moon and flag from Wargame Designs.  Poor light for the pic's but enough I hope.

 

Now, the French.  These ones are from Lancashire Games with flags from David at Not by Appointment.

 Above, the second Battalion of the Grenadiers de France.

 

Next, Bulkeley's lads, part of the Irish Brigade of France.  I like them.  Most of their comrades will be from Blue Moon with a few Eureka.  That said I'm going to be using a lot of Lancashire command figures.  I've learned the virtue of mix and match.

We will be back to the SYW Austrians and Prussians in the next post but one.  The reason being we are going to talk about Billhooks Deluxe next week.  I wrote the Hibernia chapter so it is appropriate I declare an interest in advance of commenting.