Burkinshire troops of 1619

As i mentioned in my last post i am planning to explore the Holy Mormon empires invasion of Albilande in 1619. I intend this to be a long running project that i will dip in and out of while exploring other parts of Albilandes military history. I have almost finished painting the required troops to refight some of the initial battles of that ill fated campaign, mainly situated in the Eastern county of Burkinshire where the first mormon troops came ashore. I thought i would use this post to showcase some of the units that will be used in my upcoming games as well as giving a little background on those famous sons of the wet country.

The first landings of Mormon troops on Albilande soil.

  

Proud sons of Burkinshire (10mm pendraken miniatures)

   Burkinshire, also known as 'The Wetlands', 'The Wet Country' and 'Slopshire' depending who you talk to is famous for its almost completely improbable levels of rain fall (at least 20mm of rain per day every day since 719ad). This has led the people of the shire developing a happy go lucky, almost 'devil-may-care' attitude (little things seem slightly less important when you live ankle deep in mud with contantly wet hair). They also are the main producers of the countrys most importent crop, the humble Cabbage. Burkinshire is home to over 235 types of the vegetable as with the weather being as it is it is the only crop hardy enough to survive a the constant downpour. Each region has its own favoured variety, often named after it that the locals will swear is the finest example of cabbage kind known to man or beast, in fact, so obsessed are the people of the shire with their local cabbages they all throw annual week long Cabbage festivals that have to be experienced to be believed!. 

  The other main sorce of income in the region is directly linked to the area in the center of the shire known as The Middenlands. This area is quite literally the nations toilet. Run by the aptly named 'Night Soil Barrons' the area forms the end of the 'waste chain' that runs the length and breadth of the country. Made up of endless trains of waste collection wagons and carts the barrons control the disposal of this 'material' on their 'Midden heaps'... for a hefty price of course. This has led to this area being extremely affluent (despite the smell) and politically very importent indeed. This has given the Barrons a large degree of autonomy from the rest of Berkinshire.

   Burkenshire has never been known for producing great leaders or soilders, its people being more content to spend time tending their cabbages and visiting the Crumpy house (Crumpy being a regionally produced highly potent fermented Cabbage drink) however when called upon to defend their homes they can rely on some surprisingly able forces, as the invaders would discover.

  As with all Albilande forces of the period banners were of great importance on the battlefield. Most units of fighting troops would display three banners depicting the town or region they were raised in, the Lord that raised them and the County they are fighting for. The troops below display a selection of the following flags:

Left: The county banner of Burkinshire, Center and right are the regional banners of the troops involved in the initial battles.

Banners of the lords present in the first battles of the invasion.

 In the 1600's the mainstay of any force was the pike block. Below Are two of the more noteworthy regiments of the war:

The Stubbidge city watch, trained to fight with pike in the field as well as guarding the City streets with club, torch and whistle. These brave men have a proud history of sometimes never alowing crime to pay within the walls of Stubbidge.

  The Westernpoint combined militia made up of the really rather altogether too eager and enthusiastic East Friggage volunteer guard and the almost completely unenthusiastic Ruffigeton old boys. The Volunteer Guard were created to serve as a training group for young recruits for Lord Branthions personal forces. The Old Boys are a collective of like minded old sorts who formed their troop as an excuse to disappear 'down the barracks' twice a week... the barracks being the local Crumpy house!. In battle the Old boys insist on standing around chatting and giving 'encouragement' to the 'young'uns' while the youngsters do all the dangerous stuff!.

 The other mainstay of most armies of the period were the emerging hand guns. Troops armed with these weapons were quick and easy to train and expendable enough to replace. Above are a unit of gunners from Stubbidge raised by lord Flangitte. 

The Lords of the region in their finary

Of course the lowly foot sloggers require their betters to be present to keep them properly motivated and provide a hard hitting force of heavy cavalry. I say present, as was the way at the time in Old Albilande the lords would hire trained mercenaries to don their armour and take their place, pretending to be the lord in question. Of course the unwashed were always well aware of this pretence but thought it more fun to keep up the facade. This would lead to comments like 'That lord Fussle aint arf spritely for 75' and 'oooh look me lord, you grew back that leg you lost last time'.

    The Berkinshire attack Goose is one of the deadliest creatures found in the region. Wild flocks are said to be responsible for more than 300 deaths a year. The creatures have truly foul tempers and are surprisingly intelligent making them ideal as guard creatures and by extention beasts of war. They can only be controlled (after a fashion) by trained 'Gaggle masters' who devote their lives to the study of these animals and their attendent pipers who are experts in the Drizzlemere sackpipe, an instrument so annoying the geese (and anything else for that matter) can be driven directly away from them meaning they can be (sort of) hurded into position in battle.

The rugged men of the Royal Border constabulary patrol the wild lawless areas between towns bringing the Kings justice to bandits and wrong doers all across the country. They live for months at a time in the wilderness by royal commission living off the land and hunting wanted men. Of course that level of power and freedom can lead to a teensy bit of courruption but best not mention that.

 Above are a group known as Hubbleys Hoofers that were active in the area when the invasion took place that like more of thier ilk got called to protect the county in the name of the crown, 

  I still have some more shot, cannon ans skirmishers to paint for the army, as well as a couple more silly bits to finish off, i hope to have these done soon ready for a game.

Much ado about 1619

 'The Holy Mormon empires invasion of 1619 was part of a greater military crusade by the mormon church. Since its humble inception in 1437 Francinlande the newly christened mormon movement had spred aggressively theoughout the greatest powers of the mainland. The ruling families of Francinlande, Douchenmarken, Spatallia and Finnden as well as north east Russcavacia all converted to the religion by 1578, the mormons policy of persistent 'door knocking' (the act of sending endless streams of missonaries to annoy the target into conversion) had borne fruit and now with the might of the most powerful nations behind them (and tything 10% of their gross annual income) it prepared to cement its power.'

  Taken from 'The Knock of the sword: the invasion of Albilande 1619' by Prof P.B. Spluffage (Spurious press 1991).

  One of the main periods i have been looking to explore on this blog is the invasion of 1619. The period is noteworthy for several reasons both militery and political and marks the one conflict in which every ruling power in the nation pulled together to defeat a common foe (well almost all). It comes at a rare time of peace within Albilande when the King was actually almost popular, taxation levels were at their most reasonable since the reign of King Albert the financially insane (897-899) and the Lamavacians were between invasions. However the mainland was gripped with tension. The influence of the Holy mormon empire was growing at an alarming rate since its foundation in southern Francinlande by the prophet Josephus 'slippery' Smith in the 15th century and now having converted every power that mattered in the region they were looking to spread the faith to the rest. The current emperor Spivious the 3rd of Kolobheim had ordered the raising of a missonary army the size of which the world had never seen along with additional forces drawn from the nations under his influence in the name of the heavenly pater. This army was split into 'missions' ready to be deployed to the so far unreached nations (such as Lithuvania, Greenmark, Crolivia, Ubia and of course Albilande). 

Mormon missionaries muster for battle (10mm pendraken miniatures)

  The first landings of the Missonary force on Albilande soil targeted the sleepy eastern coast of Burkinshire, the Lords of the Middenlands had once again turned their coats and secretly converted to mormonism a year earlier hoping to cling on to thier power and fortunes once the invasion had taken place, this decided the landing sites of Stubbidge and Westernpoint to take advantage of the Middenlands support.

These innitial battles will be the first to be covered. 

My plan for the coming months is to explore the conflict by refighting some of the battles in miniature form as well as showcasing some of the troops and regiments that made the war such a colourful event. In my humble opinion this is one of the most interesting periods of Albilandes history and this project is intended to be covered for some time, i may deviate from it now and again but will keep this period as one of the blogs main features. I do not wish to cover every single battle or run a campaign but to simply explore the more interesting points as i think them up. 

Mormon missionary forces clash with a Crivenshire patrol.

Below are some links to provide details on the background, core belifs and motivation of the mormon faith for those that may not be familiar. I am no expert on the subject but the materials below seem to be pretty complete and come recomended by the great Brother K.P. Nutter who as im sure you are awere is the true athority on the relegions of the region during this period.

One Hour Wargames mods

 Hello all. This post will be a break from the thrilling nonhistory of the land of Olde Albilande and insted i will show you the modified rules i have been using for my battle reports so far on this blog. I have used these beauties:

To run the games i have posted on here so far. The main reasons i like these rules is they are quick, simple, highly customizable and because im too lazy to learn anything more complex. If you want to follow what on earth i am going on about in this post you will need a copy of these rules to have any real clue.

 I like to muck about with them from game to game and am always tinkering away with ideas between play sessions. That being said there are a few things i like to include most of the time. As both reports i have published have used different mods i think it would be best to deal with them individually. However both do use the following:

Both games use the medieval section of the rules as a base...with a few other troop types from a few other periods chucked in.

The troop types i use are used 'out of the book' and are:

Knights, Men at arms, Leve and archers from the medieval section

Skirmishers, Warband and Cavalry from the Dark age rules

Artillery from the Horse and Musket rules.

I also use a points system to choose forces. This is because the rules below play better with larger forces than recomended in the book. Each unit is worth either 1 or 2 points:

Leve, archers, Skirmishers, Warband, Artillery and Cavalry are all worth 1 point.

Knights and Men at arms are worth 2 points. 

You may not spend more than half your points total on units worth 2 points. A good total cost for an average sized army would be 10-15 points in the smaller scale rules. For the Larger scale rules a total army cost of 20-30 points split into 3 battles of at least 6 points each.

All the rules are used as stated in the book unless directly contradicted here.

1)The Battle of Rippletons Mound...or rules for smaller scale games.

Rippletons Mound, bit of a to do really.

use the rules as written with the following changes:

Sequence of play

1; Both players roll 1d6, highest roll choses who goes first (will be player A) this turn.

2; Player A chooses between his Movement or Shooting phase.

3; Player B chooses between his Movement or Shooting phase.

4; Player A's Movement or Shooting phase (which ever he did not choose in step 2).

5; Player B's Movement or Shooting phase (which ever he did not choose in step 3).

6; Hand to hand combat.

7; Morale Phase.

Movement rules remains unchanged.

Shooting rules remain unchanged with the exception of Archers no longer adding +2 to their attack dice.

If a unit recieves hits from shooting they must have a marker placed next to them to show they need to make a Morale check in the morale phase. Units only ever recieve one such marker per turn.

Hand to hand combat remains as written except both sides roll attacks at the same time in each combat.  The unit in each combat that recieves the most hits that turn must  have a marker placed next to them to show they need to make a Morale check in the morale phase. If the unit that caused the most hits has a marker for a morale test they may remove it.

Morale Phase

This Phase replaces the Eliminating Units phase

Players take it in turns to test the morale of any units they have with a marker showing a morale test is required. This is done by rolling 3D6 and comparing the result with the number of hits the unit has taken so far. Knights and Men at arms add 2 to the roll, Artillary, archers and Skirmishers minus 2 from it. If the result is greater than or equal to the number of hits the test is passed and the unit remains in play, remove the marker before the start of the next turn. If the result is less than the number of hits taken the unit breaks and is removed from play.

Army Morale Checks

Once both players have finished testing morale count the number of units each force has in play. If a players force contains less than 6 units they must take an army morale test.

To do this roll 1d6 + an extra 1d6 per unit of Knights or Men at arms the player still has on the table. If  the result on any single dice is less than or equal to the number of units that player has on the table the test is passed.  If the result is greater than that number on every single dice the army breaks and is removed from play, that player looses the battle as his army heads for the hills!.

Where both players have to check army morale in the same turn both roll all their dice at the same turn. If both players fail the test the player that rolls the lowest total on all his dice rolled breaks, his opponent wins a pyrrhic victory. Where the totals are tied both players break. The battle is a draw.

2) The Battle of Stremleys Pile...or rules for large scale dust ups!!.

A larger scale ding dong!.

Use the rules in the Medieval section with the following changes.

Army Organization

Armys are made up of 3 Battles each made up of at least 6 points worth of troops. Units within a battle deploy within 2 inches of at least one other unit of the same battle. This no longer applies once the game starts.

Sequence of play

1; Both players roll 1d6, the player who rolls highest is player A this turn, the other player is Player B this turn.

2; Player A chooses one of his battles and carries out either a movement phase or a shooting phase with that battle. 

3: Player B chooses one of his battles and carries out either a movement phase or a shooting phase with that battle.

repeat 2 and 3 until all battles have carried out a movement or shooting phase. Once a battle has taken its chosen phase it may not take another this turn.  

4; Hand to hand combat phase

5: Morale phase

Movement rules remains unchanged.

Shooting rules remain unchanged with the exception of Archers no longer adding +2 to their attack dice.

If a unit recieves hits from shooting they must have a marker placed next to them to show they need to make a Morale check in the morale phase. Units only ever recieve one such marker per turn.

Hand to hand combat remains as written except both sides roll attacks at the same time in each combat.  The unit in each combat that recieves the most hits that turn must  have a marker placed next to them to show they need to make a Morale check in the morale phase. If the unit that caused the most hits has a marker for a morale test they may remove it.

Morale Phase

This Phase replaces the Eliminating Units phase

Players take it in turns to test the morale of any units they have with a marker showing a morale test is required. This is done by rolling 3D6 and comparing the result with the number of hits the unit has taken so far. Knights and Men at arms add 2 to the roll, Artillary, archers and Skirmishers minus 2 from it. If the result is greater than or equal to the number of hits the test is passed and the unit remains in play, remove the marker before the start of the next turn. If the result is less than the number of hits taken the unit breaks and is removed from play.

Army Morale Checks

Once both players have finished testing morale count the number of units each force has in play. If a players force has lost a battle this turn they must take an army morale test.

To do this roll 1d3 + an extra 1d3 per remaining battle that contains Knights or Men at arms the player still has on the table. If  the result on any single dice is less than or equal to the number of battles that player has on the table the test is passed.  If the result is greater than that number on every single dice the army breaks and is removed from play, that player looses the game as his army heads for the hills!.

Where both players have to check army morale in the same turn both roll all their dice at the same turn. If both players fail the test the player that rolls the lowest total on all his dice rolled breaks, his opponent wins a pyrrhic victory. Where the totals are tied both players break. The battle is a draw.

So thats basically it. As i said before im often found tinkering with these rules so i will try to post any more changes if and when i remember them. 

Hope this was in some way helpful.

The battle of Stremleys Pile

  Today I would like to delve into another of the many battles that made up the 1335 2nd war of the massive faux pas. The introduction and 1st battle can be found Here and Here respectively.

 After the disastrous pummeling his forces received at Rippletons Mound the lord of Bolted Crevice determined to bring the Lords of Dawkinsholme to battle once more. He did this through the means of fighting a series of spoiling raids along the borders of the two territories combined with an endless barrage of rude letters designed to insult and goad his enemies into marching. These letters are among the newly found material  recently discovered by prof D.D. Flattitude that shed new light on the conflict. Among the nuggets of (non)information not really found are the following:

'The Lord of Steppindale is without doubt the most odious little insect in Lummoxshire, even lord Ingale of Bottomly gate gets more birds than him and he's dead!!'. Sent on the 3rd of June.

'Lord Carsinday smells like the rear end of a Burkinshire cow, which must be why his wife married him, heard mentality!.' 16th June.

'Lord Specly is the son of a diseased pig with stupid clothes and the common sense of Duke Lagathorde of Kibblesworth....but none of the looks. 21st June.

'Lord Balforth is a twat' 14th, 22nd, 24th, 27th and 29th of June. Also sent on the 2nd, 9th, 12th and 17th of July.

 It seems his campaign of 'terror' bore fruit as on the Lords of Dawkinsholme combined with a large contingent of Spantalian mercenaries (hired and personally lead at great expense by Lord Balforth) set forth to put the upstart Lord in his place. For his part the Lord lead his forces to meet them at Stremleys pile.

The field of battle

 As with Rippletons Mound I have used my 2mm medieval forces to recreate the battle. My 2mm forces use a colour coded system to identity them:

The army colours are Blue for Bolted Crevice and White for Dawkinsholme.

The unit colours are:

Knights: Gold

Men at arms: Silver

Leve: Red

Archers: Green

Cavalry: Yellow.

As with the previous game I will be using One Hour Wargames by Neil Thomas (heavily modified by myself). In this game I have gone BIG so decided to split the forces into three 'battles' just like real medieval armies. These activated alternately driven by an initiative roll each turn. I promise I will post my modified rules soon.

The forces arrayed for battle, Bolted Crevice at the top and Dawkinsholme at the bottom.

The forces of Bolted Crevice deployed as follows

Lord Crabbidge lead the left battle consisting of 3units of Archers and 3 of Leve.

Lord Stratle lead the main battle of 3 Leve and 2 men at arms

To the rear Lord Phalappe command the reserve battle of 2 Knights and 2 Cavalry ordered to only commit to the battle once the main lines clash.

In response Dawkinsholme deployed thusly:

Lord Cravages battle held the right made up of 3units of knights and 2 units of Cavalry.

Lord Braffads battle of 3 Archers supported by a unit of Leve stood ready to take the hill.

On the left the main battle lead by Lord Balforth and his Men at Arms supported by 5 units of local and mercenary Leve.

The view along the Dawkinsholme Battle line just because.

And the opposition line for the sake of it.

The battle got underway with Braffad's archers marching up the hill.

On the Dawkinsholme right Balforth and Stratle advanced on each other.

Cravage ordered the Dawkinsholme horse forward to smash the enemy flank.

Right into a storm of arrows unleashed by the Bolted Crevice bowmen!.

First blood to the men of the Crevice!. (Dice display damage, skulls show units that require a morale test).

Rightfully pi**ed off at being constantly being called a tw*t Balforth orders the charge!.

As does Cravage!!.

The situation as it nears elevensies. 

From here the battle descend into a grind as units became bogged down in combat. Depending on your view point this is either pretty historically accurate as the battle became a game of who can break who first or just really boring. I personally loved it as units beat on each other until ones nerve gives way creating gaps in the line ready to be followed up, victorious units smashing into the flanks of already hard pressed enemy formations. You get a real sense of heaving battle lines pressing on each other. However that being said it wasn't without its tactically decisive moments:

As Cravage makes headway against Crabbidge Phallape orders the reserve Crevice horse into the enemy flank.

Causing the opposition to began to crumble!.

Braffads archers watch from the hill taking pot shots at unengaged enemy troops.

Seeing the issue Lord Phallape orders his cavalry to dislodge them!. Que one suicidal head long charge into the enemy position!.

The grind between the infantry continues.

The forces of Dawkinsholme begin to waver!.

Casualties among the knights began to reach alarming levels.

Having seen off Cravages' horse Phallape orders his knights into the enemy infantry!.

The position as afternoon tea looms.

The situation on the hill becomes increasingly grim for Braffords troops. 

So grim in fact they decide to leg it!.

With Brafford and Cravage having fled the field Lord Balforth realizes the battle is lost and with great annoyance leads the remaining forces of Dawkinsholme in retreat.

The field of battle belongs to Bolted Crevice!.