Kingmaker - Wars of the Roses

With the Wars of the Roses campaign about to start with my son, Jack, here is an overview of what this is all about.

The boardgame 'Kingmaker' is being used as the source for the campaign. We are essentially playing the boardgame as is but instead of resolving any battles as per the game, these will be played out on the tabletop. Sieges will be resolved as in the boardgame however, although we may chose to play one or two on the tabletop if viable.





Rules used will be my own which are a heavily reworked version of General de Brigade. They are still in the test stage and are constantly being updated.

Army lists have been prepared for each card in the game. For those not familiar with the game, each player is dealt a certain number of cards from the card deck at the start of the game. They consist of Nobles, Titles, Offices, Mercenaries, Bishops, Ships and Town. The first four are given a strength value. That value determines the strength of the army contained within the army lists. I will cover more of the rules as the campaign progresses.

Figures will be 6mm Baccus but until these have been painted my old 15mm range will be used (I am reducing the numbers in the army lists for 15mm).

 The campaign map.

The winner of the campaign is the person who controls the last surviving crowned royal piece. The claims and succession to the throne are as follows:

Lancastrian Claim

1. Henry VI (current King)

2. Margaret of Anjou (Henry's Queen)

3. Edward of Lancaster (Prince of Wales, Henry's only son)

4. Beaufort (can only be crowned King when all of the above have been removed.

Yorkist Claim

1. Richard of York

2. Edward, Early of March (Richard's eldest son)

3. George, Duke of Clarence (2nd son)

4. Richard, Duke of Gloucester (3rd son)

In the early moves it was very much a case of assembling forces and identifying the best way of capturing Royal Pieces. Jack developed a clear lead on this gaining control of George of Clarence and Edward Earl of March. He had also assembled a sizeable force in the vicinity of London threatening to capture King Henry VI who was in residence there. I, on the other hand, controlled nobody! 

I saw an opportunity though of capturing George of Clarence from Jack who was busily attempting to evacuate him through the port of Milford Haven (south west tip of Wales). I sent a force under the command of none other than Neville - Earl of Warwick (The Kingmaker) together with Nobles, Clifford, Scrope and Cromwell towards Milford Haven with the intention of intercepting Jack's force before they could embark their ships. Using the road network I achieved my aim and Jack's force under the command of Stafford - Duke of Buckingham with Hastings - Earl of Worcester came out to meet my force.

We were set for our first battle, the Battle of Milford Haven. I only had a slight advantage in numbers despite having more Nobles. This could go either way and I need to gain possession of a royal piece pretty damn soon.

This battle will be reported on soon.

In the meantime:

This little lot arrived from Baccus. So some heavy duty painting ahead!