No time to present a battle report yet from last week's game but time to offer up an overview of the scenario in play. Solden Hill will take to the table in an encore presentation on Wednesday. Until either last week's battle report appears or Wednesday's game is played, here is a brief scenario outline to fill in the gap.
SITUATION
An isolated portion of the Lancastrian Army occupies a strategic position on Solden Hill. Edward IV receives reports of a lone Lancastrian Battle atop Solden Hill guarding the road north. Edward sets out quickly to seize the hilltop before enemy reinforcements arrive.
ARMY SIZES
Both armies have three Battles. The Lancastrian Army has commands of Somerset, Northumberland, and Pembroke. The Yorkist Army has commands of Edward IV, Stanley, and Suffolk.
LANCASTRIAN ARMY
Somerset – 2x Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)
Northumberland – Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)
Pembroke – Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)
YORKIST ARMY
Edward IV – 2x Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)
W. Stanley – Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)
Suffolk – Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)
DEPLOYMENT
An isolated portion of the Lancastrian Army occupies a strategic position on Solden Hill. Edward IV receives reports of a lone Lancastrian Battle atop Solden Hill guarding the road north. Edward sets out quickly to seize the hilltop before enemy reinforcements arrive.
ARMY SIZES
Both armies have three Battles. The Lancastrian Army has commands of Somerset, Northumberland, and Pembroke. The Yorkist Army has commands of Edward IV, Stanley, and Suffolk.
LANCASTRIAN ARMY
Somerset – 2x Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)
Northumberland – Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)
Pembroke – Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)
YORKIST ARMY
Edward IV – 2x Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)
W. Stanley – Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)
Suffolk – Men-at-Arms (CE6), Retinue Archers (CE4), Retinue Billmen (CE5)
DEPLOYMENT
The Lancastrians deploy one Battle atop Solden Hill, facing south. No Yorkist forces are deployed at the start of the scenario. Each commander will role for Rating and Priority after the Lancastrians have placed one command upon Solden Hill.
REINFORCEMENTS
Turn 1: The Yorkist Army arrives on the southern table edge.
Turn 2: Two Lancastrian Battles arrive on the northern table edge, either on or west of the road.
TERRAIN
Solden Hill and woods are ROUGH ground.
SPECIAL RULES
No special rules apply to this scenario. Well, Edward is allowed +1DRM to his Leader Rating die roll before game begins. Everyone else receives Rating and Priority as rolled.
GAME LENGTH
REINFORCEMENTS
Turn 1: The Yorkist Army arrives on the southern table edge.
Turn 2: Two Lancastrian Battles arrive on the northern table edge, either on or west of the road.
TERRAIN
Solden Hill and woods are ROUGH ground.
SPECIAL RULES
No special rules apply to this scenario. Well, Edward is allowed +1DRM to his Leader Rating die roll before game begins. Everyone else receives Rating and Priority as rolled.
GAME LENGTH
Scenario lasts until one army breaks.
INITIATIVE
Yorkist Army has Initiative on Turn 1.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
Be occupying Solden Hill when the opposing army breaks. Otherwise, draw.
INSPIRATION
INITIATIVE
Yorkist Army has Initiative on Turn 1.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
Be occupying Solden Hill when the opposing army breaks. Otherwise, draw.
INSPIRATION
This game derives from Scenario 4: TAKE THE HIGH GROUND in the outstanding book referred to below. I made slight modifications to the scenario but the core concept remains intact – an army attempting to seize and hold onto a vital piece of real estate before enemy reinforcements arrive.
Thomas, Neil. One-Hour Wargames: Practical Tabletop Battles for those with Limited Time and Space (pp. 72-73). Pen & Sword Books.
Thomas, Neil. One-Hour Wargames: Practical Tabletop Battles for those with Limited Time and Space (pp. 72-73). Pen & Sword Books.
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| Battle of Solden Hill |
Good scenario, all nicely set up, looking forward to reading the battle report when it is posted.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Donnie!
DeleteLooks like a nice straightforward scenario Jonathan, and these are often the best. I'll look forward to the AARs.
ReplyDeleteMost of OHW scenarios are straightforward and easy to put on the table.
DeleteAs soon as I read it, I thought I recognised it as an OHW scenario, Jon. Look forward to seeing how it plays out with your WotR rules.
ReplyDeleteYou have a keen eye, Keith!
DeleteI see Blunders on the Danube has a WotR battle report; all the cool kids obviously do WotR! ☺
ReplyDeleteMust revive mine. Biased as I wore the Percy livery for 5 years....
Looking forward to Cunaxa.
Neil
Yes, I am following the herd at the moment. It is about time that I got this collection out and into battle.
DeleteNice touch to ‘mirror image’ the OHW scenario 4, Jon. That particular scenario has given a LOT of good games 👍🏼
ReplyDeleteThanks, Martin!
DeleteLooks like an interesting scenario Jon. I'm hoping one of these days that you will reveal a green hex terrain but your existing one does the job well enough.
ReplyDelete"One of these days" may just require me to open up the gaming table to no grids to get the green base. For F2F play, I may decide to ditch the hexes altogether although I do like hexes. My five-inch hexes are brownish and my four-inch hexes are green. Two units fit much better on the five-inch hexes. While the bases may look jarring to the eye on the brown/grey hexes, the bases are actually flocked in a brownish mix too. The green tufts make the bases look much greener than they actually are.
DeleteYou'd see a lot of brown on my WotR bases, though I've rarely been anywhere in England where you get such an effect. For realism I should really go for a mixture of greens, but the "mainly green with a bit of brown" sets the figures nicely.
DeletePerhaps I should go green and drop the hexes?
DeleteA simple but elegant scenario, particularly challenge with relatively small numbers of units/troops
ReplyDeleteSimple but elegant...that's me.
DeleteThe advance detachment holding on until reinforcements arrive is always a goody.
ReplyDeleteThe first game last week was a goody, indeed! Now, I need to recount that adventure.
DeleteA good scenario, should play out pretty well. 😁
ReplyDeleteIt should!
DeleteLooks an interesting scenario, can't wait to see how it plays out
ReplyDeleteGame #1 was a good one. Wednesday's Game #2 I expect no less.
DeleteSounds like it's going to be a fine game on the cards. I bought the book specifically for the scenarios a timely reminder that I really must make more use of it.
ReplyDeleteThe book is worth the price for the scenarios alone. You should consider bringing some of the scenarios to the table.
DeleteIt's a great scenario which I immediately recognised from OHW! Looking forward to it with your splendid armies!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks, Iain! Report up now!
DeleteA nice scenario and a great idea to use a OHW's one, which actually fits the bill rather nicely. Interesting to see you have only a 1/3 of the units as archers, or with shooting ability. With my current reading it seems that at least half or more of the army would be archers, but then the evidence is not that conclusive, possibly very much depending upon each battle fought...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Steve! If you look closely, the archers are actually double-sized units so this brings archers up to half of Each Battle.
DeleteThanks for clarifying this Jon:).
DeleteYou’re welcome!
Delete