I am really disappointed that having scraped the barrel for a wargaming related post in the middle of a period with no wargaming actually taking place, that I forgot something. Not something interesting, but something nonetheless.
I gave up subscribing to wargames magazines back during the time when I was of no fixed abode and have never felt the need to start again. I am however still on various mailing lists and was sufficiently tempted by an email from the publishers of Wargames Soldiers and Strategy to venture into W.H. Smith and buy a copy of the latest issue, which has a Wars of the Roses theme and promised a scenario for the Battle of Stoke Field. Sadly, it's pretty poor stuff.
As well as a perfunctory and somewhat patronising introduction to the period there are articles on running a WotR campaign, skirmish battles in the period, and the Stoke Field scenario. The 'campaign' isn't anything of the sort, it's a mechanism for generating forces for a game; NB for one game. The skirmish suggestions are at least proper skirmishes rather than punch-ups, but there is no real period detail or in fact any detail at all really. This is a direct quote: "Forces can be chosen in any form from an appropriate army list with a mix of troop types". Indeed so. And the OOBs for the Stoke Field scenario are based on Lion Rampant. Now I rather like those rules - I fully intend to pinch chunks of them for my Romans vs Celts version of Pony Wars, as I have been saying for some years now without actually doing anything about it - but they aren't what I'd choose for refighting a pitched battle.
The non-15th century stuff included in the magazine wasn't much better, although in fairness the rules reviews drew my attention to things I would have otherwise been unaware of. So, it may be quite a while before I buy another copy.
Having said all that, I do own some pikemen who have never seen any action (keep it to yourself, but the pikes aren't very good and could do with replacing) who would do very well for Martin Schwarz's mercenaries, so Stoke Field is a distinct possibility at some point; just not with Lion Rampant though.
Wargaming material is always a bit hit and miss. We're such an eccentric, opinionated bunch it's hard to please oneself let alone anyone else!
ReplyDeleteHard to disagree, especially with your use of the word eccentric; guilty as charged.
DeleteIf only we could get through to TSE. He'd get four quartets out of us!
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