Experimental Wars of the Roses lists for Dux Bellorum

After a discussion over on the Lead Adventure forum about troops in the Wars of the Roses, i decided to find this file that i penned down in the summer. I have used other people's adaptions of Dux Bellorum for the Wars, but i wrote this up anyway as a test.

They're only a draft (like many things on this blog!) so i haven't included all the options, just thought i'd lob this on the web for people to think about :-)

Type	Move	Bravery	Aggression	Missiles	Protection	Cohesion	Notes	Pts
Foot companions	2	10	6	-	6	6		5
Mounted companions ^	4	10	5	-	6	5		5
Household infantry	2	9	5	-	6	6		5
Retainer infantry	2	7	4	-	5	5		3
Militia infantry	2	7*	3	-	5	4		2
Household archers	2	9	3	3	5	4	Bows 4 BW	5
Retainer archers	2	7	2	3	4	3	Bows 4 BW	3
Militia archers	2	7*	2	3	4	2	Bows 4 BW	2
Mounted household ^	4	9	5	-	5	5		5
Mounted retainers ^	4	7	4	-	5	4		3
Field artillery	1	6	1	3	4	2	Unlimited range	5
Skirmishers	3	8*	1	2	4	2	4 BW range	1

(Skirmishers included for handgunners, not sure what else they would represent) 

^ These troops must follow up in combat

* Brittle: For morale tests, these units have a morale of 6

Companions: This unit represents the leader on the battlefield, accompanied by his best fighters. They are armoured in full harnesses and can ride to battle mounted.

Household troops: Represents a body of men of a high quality. Perhaps they are made up of a large number of experienced men-at-arms, or come from the retinue of a lord or noble. They might also be veterans of the French wars of skirmishes with the Scots. They all have decent armour, at least a jack and sallet, and most will have more (especially for infantry and cavalry). They have the choice of fighting mounted.

Retainer troops: Made up of some household troops, a noble’s retainers (i.e. non-permanent fighters) and perhaps backed up by a few poorer troops in the rear ranks and stiffened by some men-at-arms at the front. They also have the option of fighting mounted. Most will be armoured with at least a jack and sallet, with the leaders and men-at-arms having more and some poorer men having less.

Militia troops: Made up of troops lacking decent equipment, training or motivation. They are mostly unarmoured or wearing a jack and/or sallet at most and will be armed with a mix of weaponry. Some men-at-arms might be in the front ranks as commanders and to stiffen the line.

Hello hello hello!

After a few weeks of hard labour, i have a week's holiday to rest and recuperate! That means (once homework is done) gaming!!! I'm back a my parents for the week so i might even be able to take some pictures...

Anyway, what have i been up to in the wargaming world? Mostly painting and modelling for my Normedra world. I'm rather enjoying working with 15mm figures, they're easy to convert and quick to do and look really cool too. Should i start a new project in the future, i'd probably do it in this scale (not that i'm starting one soon!).

I haven't painted or modeled much in 28mm lately, painting them seems to take a lot longer than 15mm figures. Looking through my pictures on my computer and War of the Roses figures here at my parents i think i shall get back to them soon. I have a box of fireforge cavalry that i waited for an age to arrive and still haven't broke into them yet! So soon i'll be getting some Kaliads and Kindarrians on the painting table soon.

Until then, i found these pictures on my computer that i never blogged. They're of a Dux Bellorum battle with my WotR figs i played months ago. I won't comment much but just so you have some pictures to look at :-P

Team 1. They were slightly smaller as no battle is even!

Team 2, the attackers

Fire away!

Long range archery duel begins

Taking losses

Some cavalry nipping the flanks

Getting stuck in!

I was actually considering new Dux Bel lists for this period the other day after this interesting discussion that i might stick up here some time.

A new Dux

I recently bought Dux Bellorum, the other Dux that was released around the same time as Dux Britanniarum. I have not bought it until now as i had Impetus for my battles (elements instead of single figures) but after seeing an interesting post about using these rules for the Wars fo the Roses and having a neat idea while writing a message on the Lead Adventure Forum, i decided to buy them and give them a go.

It wasn't expensive either, 11 euros with p&p.

As the cover says, these rules are made for the 'Arthurian' period in England, the same time as Dux Britanniarum. Although geared towards this period, i think they can be modified (as this blogger has for his HYW) as, if you think about it, there wasn't much different between Briton and Saxon armies that slogged it out in a shieldwall with some cavalry and two later English armies hacking at each other in combat. Minus armour and weapon differences, you have more archery in the 15th century. Most of the army of both eras fought dismounted, and leadership was essential (as it was in all eras). Tactics weren't fancy in the 15th century either, as a lot of English troops had little experience and battles were decided by combat.

So i think it will work. If i can get the archers to 'cancel each other out' and battles decided on a long slog in hand to hand, i've got it bang on i think.

The idea

This made me quite happy this morning, as it just came to me instantly. Basically, i thought to use the Dux Britanniarum campaign system (simple and just great), beginning with some raids and skirmishes using the Dux Brit rules (or Sharp Practice, depending on preference) and went the skirmishes become battles switching to Dux Bellorum. Success in the skirmishes could give you bonuses/more troops in a battle, and the leadership could be judged by earlier success (or failures!) and some of the pre battle events could be used too.

Of course, i would need to read through the rules when they arrive, next week hopefully. Until then i shall paint and think of my Double Dux plan.