Beaufort's Waterloo

A couple of weeks ago I ran another game of A Coat of Steel at my local wargames club (The Jersey Privateers). Fortunately I was able to run the game with the same players as the battle of Sodbury Marsh. In the interim time between meetings I re-read the rules too to identify where mistakes had been made. The game ran smoothly, much better than the previous game. All in all it was an extremely bloody affair.

I pitched the game in the earlier years of the conflict, the year was a 1459 and Richard, Duke of York was facing off against the 3rd Duke of Somerset. Both armies were high in morale, perhaps too high for the battle. This is an area that I am looking at more carefully. Units with high courage will last along time, and this makes for a bloody affair when engaged in close combat.

The Lancastrians pretty much ran across to meet the Yorkist line. They dispensed with bow fire completely. I did think that they were going to have to return fire on one occasion, but they passed the necessary check.

Meanwhile the Yorkists poured bow and cannon fire on them. This was made ineffectual due to the prevailing winds. Perhaps God favoured the rash! The melee that ensued was a complete bloodbath, with Richard taking a wound and the Yorkist main ward losing their prop. However the Duke of Somerset met his demise in the latter stages of the battle. Despite this the Lancastrians held their nerve and kept on fighting to the bitter end.

It was an enjoyable afternoon with plenty of positive feedback, which I am really pleased about. I look forward to the next game. In fact one of the more seasoned gamers brought up his collection of DBA based War of the Roses miniatures for me to take a look at. He went away with the base sizes I use so hopefully in the not to distant future some larger games may be played.