Late Imperial Rome - western

Deciding to add the western version of the Late Imperial Roman was not a difficult decision to make as a third of the needed elements were done. Adding the legionnaires, cavalry and generals arrived quickly, but painting was delayed pending which shield patterns to paint. In the end, the selection was based solely on unusual patterns and colour found among units serving in Gaul and Africa.

All figures are Old Glory with the exception of the equites Alani from Blue Moon manufacture. Two elements of legionnaires represent a palatine unit (with draco standard) with an optional third representing the limitanei. The mounted wing are two units of equitatae.

A second command are of different units but mirror the composition of the first. These will eventually clash with the many barbarians crossing the Rhine and Danube and engage the eastern Roman in the civil conflicts that punctuated the 4^th century AD.

Ireland 1450 – A Collision Course game

The Medieval Irish and Anglo-Irish are recent additions to the War of the Roses project; these were recently used with both sides scoring a victory. Both games used the collision course variant and I decided today to experiment further.

Both armies appeared on the field and deployed for battle. The Anglo-Irish vanguard deployed to line and awaited the arrival of troops to form the left flank and the Irish auxiliaries on the right. At the opposite end of the field, the enemy were in a state of confusion as units were slow to move into formation.

As the Irish formed their line, skirmishers took cover in the woods positioned on both flanks.

Ready for battle, the colonist moved forward and once in range, began showering the Irish ranks with their arrows. On the Anglo right, Irish auxiliaries moved in the wood to clear the enemy positioned there.

Unfortunately, the conflict in wood took an unexpected turn as half the auxiliary units were put to flight. Seizing the moment, the Irish centre launched their attack on the vanguard aided by skirmishers on their right flank.

The battle hung in the balance (3-3), but Anglo persistency prevailed and the colonist would claim a pyrrhic victory (4-3). Nonetheless, the Irish felt satisfied at having struck a heavy blow against their rivals fighting on the other side.  

 

Observations.

This exercise lasted 13 turns. Poor pip scores hampered the Irish deployment, but in hindsight this worked well to draw the colonist closer to the Irish position. In the third hour (turns 9-12), the luck of the Irish returned, nearly turning the tide of battle bringing the score even. Certainly, worth a repeat.

Medieval Ireland

Adding the Anglo-Irish and Medieval Irish army came about by accident and not by design. Reorganising and refurbishing the collection to build a Yorkist and Lancastrian army, I ended with extra elements of longbowmen. Thinking how best to use them, I recalled the Duke of York spent time in Ireland prior to the Wars of the Roses and looked to the Anglo-Irish list for a possible solution. Other boxes with extra elements, I found enough to build a basic army. 

I had planned to order Medieval Irish from Donnington Miniatures, then remembered the Welsh army (III/19a) in the collection were actually Donnington Irish Kern. It did not require much thinking, the unbeaten “Welsh” were transformed into Medieval Irish (3 x LH, 3 x 3Ax, 6 x Ps). With little rebasing needed, the Anglo-Irish have an opponent. Extra elements of kern were used to fill the army of Anglo-Irish. Packing a lighter punch, the Medieval Irish should offer an interesting challenge to use. 

The armies complete, I spent time researching Irish history of the late 15^th century, the reverse of my usual approach to building any army. Conflicts between the two did not reach the same scale as in England, these being mostly skirmishes, raids, and a few sieges (Dublin). Of interest were the various clans aligning with one or the other faction, sending mercenaries on a number of occasions. The feuds among clans, such as the FitzGeralds and Butlers are covered in the Irish Medieval History channel. The bloodiest medieval battle, the Battle of Knockdoe (1504), is offered on the same channel, see link below.   

Readers wishing more information about Irish medieval history, I found the below listed topics extremely helpful. 

Recommended reading or viewing.

History of Ireland (1169–1536)

The Statutes Of Kilkenny

Irish Medieval History Channel

Clans and Dynasties Channel

Battle of Knockdoe, August 19, 1504.

French, Burgundian Ordonnance and German armies

The reorganisation and refurbishing of the late medieval collection have moved along nicely. All armies are double size or 24 elements strong to play the larger game or offer players a civil war option for a game. An element of mounted crossbow is missing from two commands and these have been ordered to complete the army. Finding a manufacturer with miniatures compatible to Legio Heroica was not easy, but two were found.

The Italian Condotta are last on the project list. There are more than enough crossbowmen and spear to fill out the infantry and cavalry will be ordered on Mirliton, their Condottieri look superb.

French Ordonnance IV/82b

With the exception of the Old Glory artillery, all figures are Legio Heroica. Next to the Swiss pikemen are French pike, based on a 40mm x 40mm stand as they are classed as horde and have nine figures to improve their appearance as solid horde. An element of skirmishing crossbowmen remained in their box while photographing, a slight oversight. Flags were remade giving a neater appearance to the whole.

Burgundian Ordonnance IV/85b

The ‘b’ sub list represent the Burgundian Netherlands army of the Maximillian era and for that reason I have Flemish pikemen in place of the German mercenary. This army has yet to be tested but should prove an interesting opponent for the later German armies.

Medieval German IV/13d

The ‘d’ sub list represent the Imperial armies of the Italian Wars and feature landsknecht mercenaries for the units of pikemen, swordsmen, handgunners and artillery.

Medieval German IV/13c

This sub list offers a better representation for the clerical, city-state or princeling armies that fought within and outside the empire. For our games, I have used the DBMM army list to modify the composition of infantry and the number of cavalry in wedge formation. Both commands lack an element of mounted crossbowmen and these have been ordered on Blue Moon miniatures. 

Fine Tuningthe Medieval German Army

WedgeFormation in DBA3