The Man Who Won't Be King

On 23 June, four of Postie's Rejects gathered around my remote wargaming table for a try at the Mortimer's Cross battle.

Lee (Edward IV) and Dan (Herbert and Devereaux) commanded the Yorkist Army (red dice) while Richard (Pembroke) and Steve (Wiltshire and Tudor) commanded the Lancastrian Army (blue dice).  Richard has played the rules before, but this is the first trial for the other three players.  Let's see how it goes.

Armies arrayed for battle.

Lancastrians to the south...

and Yorkists to the north.

The commander attributes generated by players for this battle are,

with all commanders rated as Brave except for Wiltshire who is Inspiring.  Pembroke is most concerned with Winning the Battle, while Tudor and Wiltshire are aiming for Personal Survival.  All three Yorkist commanders are set on attaining Personal Glory. 

The battle opens with both of Edward's wings stepping forward while Edward, himself, remains on the defense.  Remaining on a defensive posture may make attaining personal glory difficult!  Mirroring his enemy across the field, Pembroke orders his two wings forward to contest the ground that Edward wants to grab.

Yorkists' wings advance...

while Lancastrian wings follow suit.

As the wings of the two armies close the distance, first shots of the battle are let loose by Tudor's Battle.  Tudor's archers force Herbert's archers to retire to safety behind their own melee line.  With his own archers falling back, Herbert brings his melee line forward toward Tudor's bowmen.  The Lancastrian archers fire into the approaching enemy before falling back behind their melee line.  No effect is noted.  Tudor's archers, however, delay long enough for Tudor's melee line to counterattack.  In a lengthy melee seeing heavy casualties to all, Tudor's men are repulsed.  They retreat back.  That did not go as planned!  

Tudor's archers retire...

as does his melee line.

Over against the Yorkist Right, Wiltshire strikes first but is, likewise, repulsed.  Casualties are light.  This battle is starting off roughly for the Lancastrians.  Devereaux moves forward into Wiltshire.  After forcing Wiltshire's archers back, Devereaux's melee line collides with Wiltshire's melee line.  In contrast to the action on the Yorkist Left, Yorkist infantry are driven back with great loss to both combatants.  Actually, losses are extremely heavy to Devereaux and his MAA are lucky to remain holding on by only a thread.  Seeing the disruption to the enemy, Wiltshire brings forward his archers and sends a missile volley into the wavering MAA.  One volley is enough to send the Yorkist MAA on their way to the rear as the billmen fall back in sympathy.  Their battle is done. 

Devereaux drives off Wiltshire's archers
 before hitting the enemy melee line.

Wiltshire's archers move up and give the enemy a volley.

That is enough to send Devereux's MAA
and supporting billmen back. 

With Edward still sitting astride the crossroads on defend orders and Pembroke moving up to engage but still a long way away, Tudor counterattacks Herbert.  After scattering Herbert's archers, Tudor crashes into the enemy melee line.  Having already been battered in their earlier fight, Herbert reluctantly retires.  Tudor is too exhausted to follow up this success.   

Herbert and Tudor bashing each other again!

Pembroke advancing down the main road
 as Edward sits on his laurels.

Tudor and Herbert running out of steam as losses mount.

With Edward still struggling to encourage his men to go onto the attack, Pembroke strikes!  Using his archers to soften up the enemy by forcing Edward's archers to the rear, Pembroke plunges into Edward with his first melee line.  Fighting is hot but with Edward remaining at the front, the Yorkists see the enemy off.  In retreat, Pembroke's first melee line passes back through his second melee line.  Now Edward snaps into action!  Following up the retreating enemy, Edward collides with Pembroke's second body of MAA.  In the clash, Edward goes down with serious wounds.  As the Yorkists continue to fight on, they gain the upper hand.  The Lancastrians retire, taking Edward with them!  Determined to rescue Edward, the Yorkists continue to pursue the enemy.  Scattering the single body of enemy MAA, Edward is nowhere to be found among the wreckage.     

Pembroke advances...

crashing into Edward's Battle.

Pembroke's main melee line is forced back...

with Edward in hot pursuit!

Edward overcomes the enemy again but falls in the chaos.
Edward is carried away by the enemy.

Fighting to rescue Edward... 

Pembroke's MAA scatter
 but Edward is not among the casualties.

Seeing Pembroke falling back in the center, Tudor attacks Herbert in an attempt to stabilize the situation so that his flank is not left hanging in air.  In a lengthy melee, Tudor is killed when his melee line breaks.  When the melee line breaks, Tudor's Battle also breaks!  With Pembroke continuing to fall back in the center under pressure from Edward's Battle (well, ex-Edward's Battle) and Tudor broken, the situation looks dire for the Lancastrian Army.  Help is needed.  That help is found in Wiltshire still battling on the Lancastrian Left.  Wiltshire redoubles his efforts against Devereaux.  Devereaux, already greatly weakened by earlier exertions, collapses under these renewed attacks.  Devereaux's Battle breaks.    

Tudor attacks...

but is killed in the hand-to-hand fighting.

Tudor's Battle breaks!

Each army now has one Battle broken.  Next army to break a second enemy Battle can claim victory.  We need not wait long.  As Tudor's archers slowly retire from the field, they deliver a long-range volley.  It hits home.  Herbert's wavering MAA are destroyed!  This battle is over!

Herbert breaks!

Victory to the Lancastrians!  Congratulations to the Lancastrian commanders, Richard and Steve!  Well done, guys!  To the Yorkists, Lee and Dan, it was a close and hard-fought contest, but it was not to be on this day.  Edward IV will not be King.  Reports still are not listing his where abouts.  The Butcher's Bill illustrates the closeness of this battle.  With one broken Battle each and all Battles suffering from their efforts, the outcome was really a toss-up until the very end.  After a seemingly endless string of Lancastrian losses on the table, that run is broken.  

Butcher's Bill

To read Richard's account of the battle, please visit Battle of Mortimer's Cross. 

Thanks to all players for providing a very enjoyable game.  That was really great fun and much appreciated.

One more Mortimer's Cross battle to fight and chronicle and then what?

Saturnine Orogeny

I must credit Andreas Johansson with the title for this post.  Andreas sometimes pops in to leave a comment and his thread of the same name on the SoA forum inspired me to take on his terminology in my painting wrap up for the first half of 2025.  I know there is still part of the 30th remaining but I have essentially closed out the Painting Log for June.

What is Saturnine Orogeny?  Andreas defines it as a combination of "saturine" which alchemists associated lead to the planet Saturn, so an old meaning of "saturnine" is "of or relating to lead or lead poisoning."  "Orogeny" means "mountain-building."

Since my goal is to reduce the size of The Lead Pile, I really ought to focus on mountain erosion than building but I will stick with Andreas' terminology. 

In the first half of 2025, I managed to see 429 figures muster out from the painting desk while only purchasing 101 figures.  Without checking, I reckon almost all of the new figures brought in were to supply the 15mm FPW project with cavalry and commanders from 19th Century Miniatures.  Even given the figures purchased, the size of The Lead Pile fell by over 300 figures in the first half of 2025.  Good start to the year!

The leading pie chart illustrates that SYW dominated production, but Biblicals slotted into second place.  These two periods accounted for nearly 60% of all painting efforts. Still, at least eight different periods saw some additions so variety was quite balanced.

As for a breakdown by figure size (scale), painting efforts were evenly split between 15/18mm and 25/28mm figure sizes.  Size distribution in 2024 was lopsided with 15/18mm figures taking the largest percentage (63%) of effort.  With a more even split between the two figure sizes, a shift to the larger figures will help bump up the counts when adjusted for Painting Points are considered at year end.

How did your painting output fare during the first half of 2025?

Mortimer's Cross II

Last week, Peter (Grid based wargaming) joined me in a remote refight of the Battle of Mortimer's Cross.  Peter's account of the battle can be read at the link above.  Before the game, Peter, announced that he would take command of the Yorkist Army (red dice).

Edward's Central Battle

The reason given for choosing that army was that the briefing showed the table layout from behind the Yorkist lines.  I clarified that there were cameras behind both army lines, so he did not need to stick to commanding the Yorkists.  Peter remained steadfast and commanded the Yorkist Army in this refight.  The Lancastrian Army carries the blue Combat Effectiveness dice.  The objective is to break two of the three enemy Battles before the enemy can return the favor.

Army deployments

Army deployments

Let's see how the battle played out.

The battle opens with Tudor's advance on the Lancastrian Right.  Herbert counters that movement by putting his own ward into motion.  Herbert's archers hit Tudor's archers will missile fire.  Rather than retiring in the face of volleys, Tudor's archers absorb the damage and stay put.  Within striking range of Tudor's Battle, Herbert's melee line attacks.  Faced with unfavorable odds against Herbert's MAA, Tudor smartly withdraws his archers having delayed the enemy just long enough to prevent them from closing this turn.  Perhaps retiring the bowmen earlier would have been a better choice?

Herbert attacks!

In the center, Pembroke's archers send a volley of arrows into Edward's archers.  Perhaps a bit surprised by this long-range missile exchange, Edward's bowmen turn and break for the rear.  The archers' response was so chaotic that even Edward's leadership could not stop the race to the rear.  Not a good start for Edward although he does press forward toward Pembroke with his main melee line.  On the Lancastrian Left, Wiltshire's poor archers are driven off by Devereaux's bowmen.   

Edward's archers break...

and head to the rear.

Wiltshire's archers are driven off!

On the opposite wing, Tudor advances into Herbert as both melee lines collide.  In frenetic hacking and slashing, both Battles are worn down before Tudor's infantry are forced back.  Exhausted, Herbert cannot follow up to press his advantage.

Tudor crashes into Herbert!

Melee grinds on...

as casualties rise...

until Tudor is driven back.

Action in the center sees much the same.  A tremendous clash between Pembroke and Edward puts Pembroke's main melee line to flight.  Only Pembroke's household prevents Edward from pushing straight through the enemy to his front.  

Pembroke's melee line breaks!

With both Tudor and Pembroke teetering off balance, only the Lancastrian Left hangs on.  That stability quickly does an about face when Devereaux drives Wiltshire back.  All across the battlefield, the Lancastrians are hard pressed and being shoved backwards.  Could the battle be over almost before it begins? 

Wiltshire driven back!

Even though knocked about by Herbert, Tudor does not give up his position easily.  Still under orders to engage the enemy to his front, Tudor's melee line moves through his archers.  To counter Tudor's ambitions, Herbert's melee line passes through its archers to take the fight to Tudor.  Swapping positions as they bear down on the enemy, Herbert's billmen take the lead.  Hitting Tudor, Herbert forces Tudor's melee line backwards.  This retrograde uncovers Tudor's bowmen who choose to stand firm.  Letting loose a volley of arrows as Herbert closes, Tudor's archers stop Herbert's attack!  Hoorah!

Tudor's melee line advances...

only to be pushed back...

but Tudor's archers halt the enemy's attacks.

In the center, both Pembroke and Edward bring forward their Household to contest the ground.  After a lengthy and very costly melee, Edward's Household troops retire.  On the Lancastrian Left, Wiltshire, having already taken heavy casualties, once again dives into Devereaux.  This time, Wiltshire prevails and Devereaux falls back onto his archers.

Households smash each other in the center...

while Wiltshire fights Devereaux.

Situation from west as both armies are ground down.

Having seen his Household thrown back in the center, Edward orders his melee line of MAA and billmen forward into Pembroke's Household troops.  In hard fighting, Pembroke's Household holds on to see Edward call off the attack.  Edward retires.  This reprieve allows the Lancastrians a chance to rally.  

Edward counterattacks in the center...

but makes little progress
 as both combatants grind each other down.

Pembroke gets a reprieve in center.

Back on the Yorkist Left, Herbert continues to press Tudor vigorously.  Already weakened from earlier efforts, Tudor's melee line crumbles when Herbert's archers deliver a punishing volley.  Tudor's MAA scatter as his billmen fall back behind the cover of his own bowmen.    

Fighting on the left...

leads to the destruction of Tudor's MAA.

Lancastrians pushed back everywhere!

In an attempt to reverse recent fortunes, Pembroke gathers his Household supported by MAA and lunges forward into Edward.  While Edward's MAA are destroyed in the fighting, his billmen cling on and see Pembroke's heavy foot repulsed.  Poor Pembroke!

Pembroke attacks in the center...

and is repulsed!

By this time in the action, both armies are becoming brittle.  A good shove anywhere might send one Battle over the edge and then to the rear.  This is exactly what happens in the fight of Wiltshire against Devereaux.  In hand-to-hand, Wiltshire's melee line pushes into Devereaux's billmen and the billmen scatter.  Devereaux's Battle breaks!

The destruction of Devereaux.

Getting word that the Yorkist Right has collapsed, Herbert, on the left redoubles his efforts against Tudor.  In the fighting, Tudor's billmen are driven back but Herbert's Battle is wavering as well.  Even in a weakened state, Herbert presses on.  First his melee line forces Tudor's archers back uncovering the barely hanging on billmen.  Moving his archers forward, Herbert delivers the coup de grace to Tudor's billmen.  Tudor breaks!   

Herbert drives Tudor back!

Tudor breaks!

With each army now having a wing broken, the race is on to break one more formation.  Wiltshire, on the Lancastrian Left, and Herbert, on the Yorkist Left, turn inwards toward the center of the battlefield.  Wiltshire is on Defend orders so must change orders before attacking inward toward Edward.  Herbert, however, remains on Engage and pushes on!

The wings turn in.

With Pembroke already locked into combat against Edward, turning to face the new threat from Herbert is not possible.  Wheeling to his right, Herbert's bowmen send a volley of arrows into Pembroke's already weakened retinue.  His household routs!  The clash in the center is fierce but Edward gains the upper hand and sends Pembroke's billmen packing.  Casualties mount as Pembroke's MAA finds themselves in an uneven affair.  Finally, the Lancastrian MAA scatter and Pembroke breaks.  Wiltshire is confined to the role of spectator as he cannot change his orders to possibly save the day.

Herbert turns in toward Pembroke.

Scrum in the center between Edward and Pembroke.

Edward gains the upper hand...

as Wiltshire looks on.

The Lancastrians see defeat!

This battle is over!

Congratulations to Peter for a very well-fought and battering contest.  Both armies put on a good fight but Peter and his Yorkists prevailed in the end.  There must have been a leader casualty or two along the way, but any such casualties are lost to time.  Did Wiltshire's reluctance to join into the center fray spell defeat for the Lancastrians?  We will never know.  In the words of Nathaniel Bedford Forrest, Peter got there the firstest with the mostest!     

Only Pembroke's archers remain.

Great job, Peter, and thank you for a very enjoyable game.  The Butcher's Bill does not look too lopsided but Peter caused casualties where they mattered most.  with such a back and forth clash, an even allocation of casualties is not surprising.  Play time was about two-and-a-half hours.

Great fun!