The battle of Ludlow was fought using the Kingmaker board game rules rather than fought on the tabletop. With the heavily outnumbered Greystoke there could only be one result which the game confirmed. He was quickly defeated.
This was bad news for me with only Stanley, Pole and Howard now under my control. As Jack continued to consolidate his hold on the south of England I focused on the north. With more Nobles joining both our forces I took the opportunity of moving my forces into York which I now owned and took control of Richard Duke of York. With an Archbishop present I held a coronation crowning him King.
This spurred on Jack who captured London and Henry of Lancaster. He also quickly took control of Margaret of Anjou and Edward of Lancaster now having the whole of the house of Lancaster in his possession. He was not as yet in a position to Crown Henry. He also had two Yorkists, George Clarence and Edward Earl of March. He had them both executed.
Percy, Earl of Northumberland, declared for Jack in his fortress at Alnwick Castle. With Neville, Earl of Warwick, joining my forces, it was clear that I had to purge the north of opposition. I drew an embassy card with the King travelling to Ravenser on the Yorkshire coast. This put a slight spanner in the works as I now had to split my forces to provide the King with an escort.
Pole, Duke of Suffolk, took command of the main force, and with Neville, Earl of Warwick, and Howard, Earl of Essex, laid siege to Alnwick Castle.
The overall situation at this stage in the game.
A closeup of the siege at Alnwick Castle.
Normally we would have played out the siege as per the boardgame rules. However, we decided that it would be fun to play this one out. With my total of 260 points to Jack's 200 (Percy's 100 + 100 garrison) I would have won in the boardgame, but not so sure now!
You may be wondering why Percy and Neville have so quickly reappeared having been killed off earlier in the game. That's my fault. Whenever I have a pack of cards in my hand I automatically shuffle them without thinking. That is what happened here! Their offspring were clearly all to keen to get back into the fray.
There will be a delay before I can get this onto the board. I will need a castle! Leven Miniatures looks favourite. Almost certainly new figures will need to be painted. So onward to:
NEXT: THE SIEGE OF ALNWICK CASTLE
Great to see some more progress on the Kingmaker Campaign. Look forward to seeing the battle played out. The Leven Castle is a great piece and should work a treat for the game you have planned.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Richard P
Yes the Leven castle pieces do look good and versatile. I hope to create something that looks at least similar to Alnwick castle with regard to its outline although reduced. It is one big castle!
DeleteI have been keeping an eye out on ebay for this game for a while but decent copies are pricey. I also quite fancy Hollandspiele's Table Battles with the WOTR expansion but again copies in the UK seem expensive. I have wanted for a long time to build up a couple of WOTR armies with miniatures but the thought of starting such a large project from scratch is too daunting.
ReplyDeleteKingmaker is a good game for generating tabletop battles in a campaign setting. The early exchanges tend to be smaller so not so daunting to build an embryonic army. I am hoping to get this campaign underway again soon. The only project that is not solo and relies on the availability of my son.
DeleteDid you get the Leven castle components, Jon? They look really good but I don't have the right armies to justify a castle.
ReplyDeleteNot yet. They will certainly be purchased at some point but toying with the idea of playing out sieges as per the game and only wargaming pitched battles. At least for now anyway. Its a matter of having the time to this in with the other projects.
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