Battle of Wakefield

On February 3, 2001 the Warlords undertook a refight of the War of the Roses' clash at Wakefield. This was the latest in a series of WOTR refights that I have organised at the club based on the excellent series of articles by E. J. Cruttenden that appeared in Wargames Illustrated. Unlike the previous battles we have attempted, this was not a straight up slugfest. Instead the battle recreated Richard, Duke of York's attempt to break out through the Lancastrian troops that were confining him to Sandal Castle.

The background to the battle is critical to the refight. The Duke of York was campaigning in the north late in 1460AD, when he found his army outnumbered and sought refuge in Sandal Castle. The Lancastrian armies possessed no siege equipment and therefore were consigned to either waiting the Yorkists out or, alternatively, tempting them out.

A Yorkist foraging party was attacked by the Duke of Somerset while returning to the castle. Richard of York saw men approaching Somerset's flank that were carrying the banners of his ally, John Neville. Unbeknownst to Richard, Neville had defected to the Lancastrian cause and when the Yorkist forces sailed out of the castle thinking their reinforcements had arrived, they were set upon by both Somerset and Neville.

Attacked on all sides, even the intervention of Salisbury with the remainder of the castle garrison could not prevent the demise of the Yorkist leader.

The Refight

YORKIST

Duke of York (Greg Jennings)

Kn(O) CnC, 4 Kn(O), 6 Bd(O), 12 Bw(S), 2 iBd(I), 4 iBw(O), 4 Bg(O)

Earl of Salisbury (Rhys Batchelor)

Kn(O) SG, Kn(O), 2 Bd(O), 4 Bw(S), iBd(I), 2 iBw(O)

LANCASTRIAN

Duke of Somerset (Mike Campbell)

Kn(O) Gen, 2 Kn(I), 3 Bd(O), 6 Bw(S), 2 Bg(O)

Northumberland (Rob Cameron)

Kn(O) G, Kn(I), Cv(O), 3 Bd(O), 6 Bw(S), 2 Bg(O)

Neville (Alex McEwen)

Kn(O) G, Kn(I), iLH(O), 3iBd(I), 8 iBw(O), 2 iBd(I), 4 iSp(I), 2 Bg(O)

Roos (Peter Page)

Kn(O) G, Kn(I), 2 Bd(O), 2 Bw(O), 2 iBd(I), 4 iBw(O), 2 Bg

Exeter (Russell Briant)

Kn(O) G, 2 Bd(O), 4 Bw(S), 2 iBd(I), 3 iBw(O), 2 Bg(O)

Clifford (Allen Yaxley)

Kn(O) G, 3 Bd(O), 6 Bw(S), 2 iBd(I), 4 iBw(O), 2 Bg(O)

Wiltshire (Phil Malthus)

Kn(O) G, Bd(O), 2 Bw(S), iBd(I), 3 iBw(O), 2 Bg(O)

So we have 2 Yorkists up against no less than seven Lancastrian generals. The terrain and deployment were as per the following map.

Fortunately for the Yorkist army they did not have to deal with the combined Lancastrian forces from the outset. At the start of the battle only Somerset and Neville opposed York. As the battle progressed further generals were added in the following order:

• Northumberland (L).
• Roos (L)
• Salisbury (Y)
• Exeter (L)
• Clifford (L)
• Wiltshire (L)

The timing of the entry was determined in part by die roll (in our refight all troops bar Wiltshire's command turned up at the earliest possible opportunity).

The victory conditions were relatively simple. York had to get himself and part of his army across the River Calder to win the battle. A draw was achieved if he could extract himself and part of his army and get them back to Sandal Castle. The Lancastrians achieved victory if they demoralised both Yorkist commands AND killed the Yorkist leaders.

To ensure adherence to the historical scenario York was compelled to spend the PIPs of his first three turns attacking Somerset.

The Battle

Greg used York's Pips to attack Somerset but the first few turns were characterised by York having extremely poor shooting/combat dice. This allowed Mike to dismount Somerset's men at arms. Alex spent his PIP die maneuvering Neville's command onto York's flank.

Realising that Neville was now no longer an ally, York needed to react to the flanking threat. However his PIP dice now became as poor as his combat dice, allowing the Lancastrians to close both frontally and in the flank. York was quickly demoralised and with that went the chance of a Yorkist victory.

As the other Lancastrians joined the battle, Greg tried to withdraw his troops to the safety of the castle. He was joined by Rhys' Salisbury who undertook a covering action as the Yorkists fled to safety. Rob Cameron's Northumberland was overzealous in his pursuit and eventually (Greg's abysmal run of PIPs continuing) succumbed to demoralised retinue bow. He failed his lost general roll and the Lancastrian command broke.

With the various Lancastrian commands breaking up in pursuit, it looked like Greg was going to get York and the required elements back into the castle. Peter's Roos was too far away to impact on the action as York fled back along the road towards the castle gates. Enter Russell's Exeter! Two PIP rolls of 6 allowed him to emerge from the woods on the left and scoot his general's element along the side edge of the table to cut off York's retreat 200 paces from sanctuary. By engaging in combat with York in front of the castle gates he allowed the pursuing Lancastrians to catch up with the fleeing Yorkists. The Duke of York fought valiantly over two bounds of combat but was eventually felled when one of his demoralised Men at Arms was recoiled into the side of his element.

While this combat was being fought out Salisbury's command was demoralised. With York's death all that stood between the Lancastrians and an overwhelming victory was the death of Salisbury himself. By this time Allen's Clifford and Phil's Wiltshire had entered the battle.

To prevent the Lancastrian victory Rhys had to get Salisbury off the table. We now had the comical situation of watching Salisbury flee across the table pursued by six Lancastrian generals (the only remaining mounted elements). Eventually he was forced into battle and dispatched by Lord Roos. So a decisive victory to the Lancastrians and Mike Campbell's first winning multiplayer venture in eight attempts.

Comments:

While the battle achieved the historical outcome I feel the scenario was unfairly weighted too heavily on the Lancastrian side. Notwithstanding Greg's truly horrific dice, I feel that as a game it would have been far more interesting if Neville's allegiance had been up for grabs. Perhaps a die roll that brought him into the game on the Lancastrian side on a 1, Yorkist side on a 6 and kept him out until the next bound (when he'd re-roll) on anything else.

   Any suggestions or comments please contact Peter_Dunn@compuserve.com