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STRATAGEMS AND CIRCI'MSTANCES
(Tacttcal sophtstlcatlon forWars of the Roses commanders)
The battles of the Wan of the Roses were fought by medieval
armies in a medieval fashion. The arrnies were basically feudal
in character and consisted of a great bulk of more or less
unwilling troops stiffened by cadres of men-at-arms and
household troops. This mass of troops was raised either from
the great nobles' estat€s or more generally by a conmission of
array issued by (or on behaf of) the King. Their service was for
a stricdy
where the victor in a strategically inconclusive battle was forced
immediately to raise a new (and pr€sumably less expedenced)
limited pedod (often 40 dayt, so we hear of situations
by Richard Crawley
army to deal with a second threat to his rule. Fot example
Edward of March, after his victory at Mortimer's Crcss and
having himsef acclaimed King in lrndon, immediately raised a
new army p.ior to defeating the Lancastrians at Towton.
The effect of this limited service by, often inexp#enced,
troops was to severely curtail the medieval general's options.
Battle ltras given in three Wards (or Baules) which would
usually line up opposite the enemy's three Battles. An exchange
of archery would then occur after which one side, finding itself
at a disadvantage, would be forced to attack. The received
wisdom of the day was:
"He who attacks is lost". The fight then
degenerated into an enomous melee overwhich the comman,
ders had little influence save to stand in the fronk rank and
encourage mer men.
The foregoing is the tmditional portrayal of late medieval
warfare. In many ways it ri quite accurate, but there p€re a good
many exceptions. Enough exceptions in fact to make Wars of
the Roses period battles more interesting to the wargamer than
the tmditional view might suggest. What follows is a brief
outline of some of these tactical factols, stratagems, and
fortuitous tums of circumstance along with some suggestions
for including them in youlgames.
used, wban or rural. First St Albans and the Bastard of
These rules are designed to assist in generating interesting
Fauconberg'sattemptsto take London in 1471 springto mindas
battle scenaios without resort to setting up a campaign and
examples of urban (or perhapsuburban) skirmishes.
without requiring the services of an umpire. You will need a set
Having set up the terrain it should be divided into areas as
of rules suitable for the period and an ordinary pack of playing shown in figure 1. The neutnl zone and the two flank zones
€ards with the Jokers left in.
should be about one bo*shot wide (or at least a normal infantry
These suggestions may be used either for large skirmishes or
move if this leaves youl deployment zones too cramped)
for pitched battles. The troops are deployed in contingents- A
according to the rules in use,
contingent is assumed to be the smallest unit of command in the
game. Normally each \rill be led by asingle lord or captain and
there may well be more than one contingent in each Battle. e,9.
for a refight of Tewkesbury the King's Battle might actually
consist of his own contingent, Clarence's contingent, Sir John
Howad\ contingent, and those ofa couple ofminornobles. In
a skirmish game a contingent will represent a smaller number of
men;theten men levied from Ambridge and theircaptain, John
the Archer, for €xample.
The basic strategic situation assumed is that the two armies
start having camped overnight fairly close to each other and
expecting to give battle.
SETTINGIJP
Straaegic sihration
One player (or side) is the King'sarmy, the other rcpresents an
invading pretender or a rebellious magnate. Roll percentage
dice to find out who is King for the day and pick an appropriate
RoI King Pocsible pretenders
01-35 Henry VI Richard of York, Edward of March,
Warwick the Kingmaker
36-70 Edward Menry VI, Margaret of Anjou,
Somerset, Warwick
7l-75 Edward V Richard ofGloucesrer
76-90 Richard III Buckingham, the Woodvilles, Henry
Tudor
91-100 Henry VII lnmbert Simnel, Perkin Warbeck
If you are fighting a skirmishlevel game, you will need an
outline scenario to determine who comnands each side in the
battle.
Make a list of the contingents available to each side, starting
with the King'sand the pret€nd€r's household troops, then any
close relatives' or associates' contingents, and then such other
troops as are available in miniatur€ folm.
Set up t€rraitr
The terrain should be fairly open for larger battles; farmland
with the occasional village, hill, stream or small wood.
Remember that thh h before the Enclosure Acts so there will
not be long hedgerows marching across the countryside. For
skirmish games any historically appropdate terrain may be
At this point you should also determine *hat the \reather is
like, using whatever system suits your rules.
Iht€Imirc size of forces
Each player has three Battles. Draw a playing card from the
pack for each Battle to determine its strength. Keep them,
without sho$ing your opponent, until the end of the game:
2to 6
7to10
Jack, Queen or King
One contingent
Two contingents
Thrce contingents
Four contingents
The contingents are then picked Iiom the list prepared earlier
Opposire: 2 pics of Wars of the Rosestatagems: an improvised barriude and a (prcviously) hidden force. AU noops & teftain from
the editot's co ection. The 25mn frgurcs include Citadel Miniaturcs, Wargames Foundty, Essex Miniaturcs and Stratagem Figurcs.
Mostly painted by Ton McKe aL Buidings include scnkh builts by Rob Bake\ Mike White, Hales Modeb & the Miniature
Archited and rcsin "flat pick" lrcm Waryames FoM&t. The Brcenery by Foliage Factoty, Dean Forcst Figures, K&M Trces. The
banicades ttro ofaset of fou pieces awilable thrcugh Figuret, Amour, A i ery in rcsin - plus a cast metal bench & chai lrom
Redoubt Enteryrises. Stones from Recar beach & a quarry somewherc in No hYorkshbe.
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