Nineteen Days in Autumn, authored by Erin Goeres and published by Penguin Viking, has just appeared in hardback (258. Pages) at my high street bookstore (Waterstones UK).

The front cover says ‘offering a new history of 1066’ ….. I won’t know until I’ve read it, but it seems these days that many historical books, as a matter of course promise a revelation and for the most part, you are just getting a re-telling of a story …. After a very fast glance through it, I am not seeing anything particularly revisionist, but this is such a good story, that stands on its own two feet anyway, that I don’t mind either way.

I have only browsed the content superficially, but there is certainly a writing style here that both informs and entertains. Emma Southon (author of A History of the Roamn Empire in 21 Women), puts her finger on it when she describes it as ‘visceral’, which I think she does by giving voice to several of the participants.

The author spends a little time discussing exactly where the Hastings battlefield was, but she doesn’t hang her hat on anywhere in particular. I quite like that her view seems comfortable in cutting past that to the simple fact that it was on a hill with protected flanks due to ravine and woodland etc. As Jim Bradbury says in his Hastings book (Sutton Publishing 1998)  - ‘on the crest of a hill, which ever hill’.

[note - I would add that the Norman left flank should be in the proximity of a small hillock, as when the Bretons broke, they routed to a small hillock, which helps make the traditional site a good fit].

Of Harold’s defensive position, one thing that did catch my eye was ‘They may also have planted sharpened stakes or spears in the ground’, though as an observation of this occurring at Hastings, it is not referenced to a source, but it is a fascinating thought never-the-less as such defences are generally anti-cavalry devices.

I like the little moments of story telling that suddenly pop up in the text - this is Gyrth speaking with Harold, urging that he should be allowed to head the army against William. ‘But remember Normandy. You took an oath not to oppose him. You swore on the saint’s relics to support his claim. You cannot fight him without committing perjury.’ ‘You know I had no choice,’ snapped Harold. ‘He held me captive, he tricked me. What would you have done, Gyrth?’ ……

Nineteen Days in Autumn is a catchy title and it refers to the time between Harold’s victory at Stamford Bridge over the Vikings and his march south to face William at Hastings - and that part of the story is accounting for around 40% of the content, but we are also given good coverage of Stamford Bridge itself and the earlier battle of Fulford, together with the earlier history that brought about these three battle of 1066.

That part of the book looks to be a well told account that is necessary to put the Viking and Norman invasions into context.

My overall early impression that this will be an enjoyable book to work through and will be a useful primer for the two 1066 based games that Legion Games will shortly release.

As an aside, sitting on the shelf next to this book in the shop was another new 1066 related book, simply called Harold (published by Yale). There will be a lot of 1066 interest this year in the UK as the Bayeaux Tapestry arrives on loan to the UK, while it’s usual home at Bayeaux gets a revamp.

The latest release in the Jours de Gloire (Days of Glory) series of Napoleonic games, arrived today from Vae Victis in France.

I only pre-ordered this 3 months ago, so that is quite a fast transformation to it actually getting into print.

This is their biggest package in the series so far with 4 counter sheets.

It covers three battles, all from 1813,  Lutzen, Bautzen and Dresden. Lutzen and Dresden are single Map games, on their reverse sides is the Bautzen 2 map game, though these single maps are only 59cm x 41.6 cm, so putting two together gives a footprint (A1 I think) that is only marginally bigger than a standard wargame map that we see in most American sourced games.

The rules and play aid are still running off the 2021 versions and both (and the play book) include French and English text.

For those who have bought these recent folio games, what you have come to expect is here, it looks exactly the same format and these big battles will fit into the series rather nicely.

Irish Kerns appear in two scenarios in the Test of Resolve scenario books, Stoke Field and Mortimers Cross, with 4 units needed at most.

For these skirmish missile types, my units will be two bases with five figures per base, so 40 figures are needed.

Preferring plastic, this leaves me with a choice of Victrix Games, Gripping Beast and Wargames Atlantic, though really all of these are intended for the early middle ages, rather than the late and so amongst the figures there are quite a few carrying a bit more armour than I would like, including helmets  and bigger shields, though both boxes do have a small shield alternative. The Gripping Beast box seems to have limited poses of bodies and heads.

I was also surprised to see that in several places, stocks were low or at zero, so I thought I had better jump now, rather than do anymore thinking.

In the end, I went for two boxes, so that I could mix things up a bit. Dark Age Irish from Gripping Beast with 25 figures and Dark Age Irish Warriors from Atlantic Wargames, which say 40 figures, but 10 of those are Irish Wolfhounds, so there are 30 workable infantry.

I don’t think the Wolfhound as a military feature was as prevalent in the late medieval, but certainly a couple dotted around on the bases will add a bit of interest. I might even do a base with a dog handler and two or three hounds just to add a bit of visual interest, depending on being able to build a figure with the right sort of posture.

The Gripping Beast seem to have spears rather than throwing javelins, so there is an obvious difference in size - I may have to operate on them or as is my wont recently …… just go with it and worry not!

Anyway, while we still have the good weather, I will get these glued up outside. 

Our face-to-face game took us to the skies for a change.

Age of Dogfights WWI by Forsage Games is a well produced and executed game of WWI aerial warfare with plenty of options and death.

We just started off with a basic scenario. A squadron of three aircraft per side enter the board and then later each side gets a reinforcement of another squadron of different planes.

The game has oodles of different models and it is the distinct differences between aircraft models that underpins play. My first flight had then Albatros D.V. and I was engaged against Mike's Sopwith Camel, which is what you can see in the photo. Movement is between the nodes and the aircraft stands are fixed at different heights, you just swap them out when gaining or losing altitude.

I have found that air games, rather like naval games, are designed by people who really know what they are talking about, with the danger (for me) that all of that rivet knowledge gets put into a game, becoming more complicated than my limited knowledge of those subjects needs - I would be more than happy with Hollywood style rules!

But here, the designers have managed to impart that knowledge and give the game good subject integrity, whilst still keeping a very playable and enjoyable game.

When we next revisit the game, I rather fancy one side will be trying to bomb a factory and we might even include a couple of their acetate cloud pieces.

There is also a WWII version and both games also do expansions, though from what I saw, the average land lubber would be more than happy with what the base set brings 

I have just concluded Turn 3 of the ongoing 1471 Campaign.

It delivered a battle that I must say has given me one of my best player experiences for as long as I can recall.

I have added all the details to the ongoing report on the Campaigning 1471 tab (yellow tab to the left of this screen).

The above photo shows Queen Margaret of Anjou inspecting her troops and no doubt giving encouraging words and inspiring great things from the soldiers. 

I hope you enjoy it.

The Yorkist situation had become dire (already!). Edward’s heavy defeat at Nottingham had left his army significantly weakened. His options were few. Now at York, one obvious strategy was simply to flee the country, but for the moment at least, the nobles with him swore their continued allegiance and that was enough for him to wait and see how things might develop. 

In reality their fate was bound to his. Had Edward known that Margaret was already on English soil with foreign troops, his resolve may have diminished.

Margaret’s arrival however was also a problem for Warwick. Queen Margaret of Anjou was the wife of Henry VI and a significant supporter of the Lancastrian cause, capable of leading when Henry fell into lapses of mental illness. 

If the Queen had the slightest suspicion that Warwick intended to usurp royal power by replacing Henry with the amenable Clarence, she would, without doubt use all of her power and influence to destroy Warwick, even with all the possibilities of that turning into internal rebellion within Lancastrian ranks.

No! He must keep his powder dry and at least appear to be acting fully on Henry’s behalf, so marching south to capture Henry at London was for now out of the question.

Oxford favoured going north and dealing with Edward before he could recover from the recent defeat, but Warwick wanted to wait for Margaret to join him for a combined assault on York, so that their attack would be overwhelming and decisive …… and of course Margaret would be close by.

His Machiavellian mind already saw the opportunity of both defeating Edward and taking Margaret into custody at the same time, allowing him to then deal with Henry! The external consequences on the continent could be dealt with at a later date.

Nottingham served as a strategic choke point on the York to London road. Warwick would use this as a counter argument to Oxford, advocating that in staying at Nottingham for now was actually the best way of defending London, especially with the immediate threat from Edward practically non-existent! 

[reader note - I am going to place 2 separate orders into the pot for Warwick, one to attack York now and one to wait for Margaret’s troops. Whichever order is drawn first will be acted upon, the other will be discarded. This reduces my influence over the campaign ….. I actually think he should attack now, but we shall see!].

Random Event Table - a 5 is rolled, a contingent of Flemish Handgunners join Edward’s army at York.While only a token force, Edward is so desperate for troops that they are heartedly greeted.

Drawing Orders, There are 6 orders in the pot, including the two orders for Warwick.

Order 1 - NOTTINGHAM, Warwick’s army stays in position, giving time for Queen Margaret to bring her reinforcements up from the south coast. He advises both Oxford and Clarence that it will serve Henry best if the Lancastrian army decisively defeat the Yorkist uprising with the help of Margaret's foreign troops. Warwick has allowed his political ambition to cloud his judgement on military matters. 

He has Oxford send 1 x militia south to Northampton to ensure its Lancastrian support. 

Order 2 - LONDON, Suddley continues to maintain the London Garrison, with a duty to protect Henry.

Order 3 - SOUTHAMPTON, Fauconberg sends 1 x militia to Devon. The remainder of his force combines with Queen Margaret to advance on Bristol.

Order 4 - YORK, Edward decides the army will stand and fight here. His forces begin the construction of defensive positions.

Order 5 - NOTTINGHAM, Warwicks alternative orders to attack York ….. discarded! (See order 1)

Order 6 - SHREWSBURY, the Yorkist garrison of 1 x militia, leave the city gates and return to York to join the desperate Edward. Shrewsbury’s two Bailiffs pleaded with the garrison to stay, but to no avail.

Edward’s army still had a presence, but it wasn’t one that was strong or confident enough to take on offensive manoeuvres at the moment.

Had Warwick made the right decision? On balance, we might sit on the fence, combined with Margaret, their armies would almost certainly sweep the Yorkist to one side, their defeat total, but alone, Warwick could probably, but not definitely defeat Edward, though of course this single issue was not the only one playing on Warwick’s mind.

Oxford, an aggressive commander, simply saw the decision not to immediately attack as an opportunity lost, but having voiced that, he agreed to abide with Warwick’s choice.

So no action this turn, but certainly an important setting of the scene for what might follow.

Looking at the points value for influence and control over the country, as the turn ends, the Lancastrians have 8 victory points to the Yorkist 3, Warwick’s grip is tightening.

Check out the Campaigning 1471 yellow tab to the left of the screen for the full story in chronological order.

More will be added once Campaign Turn 3 has been played.

I have opened a new tab in the menu on the left called Campaigning 1471.

It will be added to over time, giving the full story as it happens in my Wars of the Roses campaign.

Having given up on Google's Blogger, no further posts about the campaign will appear on the Battlefields & Warrior Blog, but it should all be manageable here, albeit with fewer photographs.

Game turn 1 is over there now, just click on the tab.

New in today at my bookstore (Waterstones - UK). 

First Kings - Forged by Vikings in England and Norway, hardback 246 pages by R.A.J. Waddingham, published by The History Press.

I picked this up to have a look at the history 150 - 50 years before 1066, the setting of the scene if you like of power brokers and the inter-relationship between England and Norway.

I had a quick scan through in the shop and I have the impression that there is a delivery of an awful lot of useful information, without any distraction of filler content, this author knows their stuff and they want you to know that!

'No previous southern king had ruled in York. The seat of an influential archbishop and a teeming centre of trade, its mint was soon stamping out coins declaring Athelstan rex Anglorum.'

Another book to move up the reading queue!

Well …… I think I am about done with Blogger for now.

At one time, when posting on Blogger, you just pressed the 'publish' button and hey presto, the post was live and at the top of everyone's blog reader.

Over the last few months, there have been delays in blog entries moving from submitted status to posted status and the Battlefields & Warrior Blog has been impacted by this.

The longer you wait for the posting to happen, when it does appear, the further you will have fallen back down a reader list and once you go off page 1, it becomes increasingly unlikely that the post will be noticed and read.

So putting a lot of effort into a blog post isn't worthwhile at the moment.  

It has just taken Google 27 hours to publish my most recent blog post and I must have pretty much fallen off most Blog Readers by now.

This recent post in particular had a ton of work behind it and will go largely unread,  so it's just not worth doing this meatier stuff anymore on the Blogger platform.

Google Blogger has been made aware of the posting delays, but to date the problem persists. For whatever reason, Google have been very slow in responding and so the time has come for me to step back from the Blogger platform until a more reliable and timely service can be restored.  

I will continue posting snippets here to my Commanders site, which I fund and functions as intended.

Inspired by the campaign section in the Wars of the Roses, Hail Caesar Supplement by Warlord Games, I have put down a structure to run a themed campaign, giving a nod to the events of 1471.

The map includes Tewkesbury and Barnet, the locations of the two significant battles from that year, but anything is possible.

The notes include a campaign sequence of play, an Events Table, starting forces and admin notes.

I'm hoping that this initial play testing of the campaign will bring a lot of fun and good play.

For anyone interested in such things, there is a lot of information over on the Warrior & Battlefields Blog at this link;

https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2026/08/practical-campaigning-1471.html

Following our game last week, last night we swapped sides and had another go.

The Normans had an unusually good opening with their archers disordering the Saxon line in 3 places and their infantry managing to break into the Saxon position two of those locations. The game then settled into pinning, inflicting casualties and looking for positions of advantage against the shieldwall.

The Bretons on the Norman left collapsed quite early, encouraging Harold's men to come off the hill and start to press against that flank. The Bretons began to flee in greater numbers, exposing the Norman flank and in their efforts to deal with that, they became a little stretched in the centre.

The Papal flag provided some good narrative. It was dropped by a routing Norman unit, captured by a Fyrd unit, re-captured by Norman cavalry and once again dropped in a rout. This time the Fyrd unit that captured it brought it back into the interior of Harold's lines (worth 5 victory points to them).

The fighting was intense enough for Harold to lose both flank commanders, Leofwine and Gyrth.

By the end of the game, casualties were high, both sides were freely routing and battle became defined by small knots of men fighting independent of anything resembling a unified line.

It was close, but in the end, the victory points tipped enough to favour Harold, despite a last-minute personal intervention by William, who risked all to have one last crack at Harold's centre.

All-in-all, another good game, with both sides fully engaged and a game conclusion reached, with the last turn played.

Drive on Voronezh (28th June - 24th) arrived in the UK today from Legion Games following direct pre-order and what a lovely package.

For those in the UK, this arrived in a very durable card sleeve without any signs of damage and there were no associated import costs / duties.

The package is a delight, if all my WWII stuff looked like this I would be more than happy. Of note, the map by Edmund Hudson is very attractive, very clean and clear with overly sized hexes that with take the large counters nicely. The counters will stand out against the muted tones of the map.

The design is by John Theisson. A turn represents 2 days, units are mostly divisions for the Germans (two steppers), a hex is 9 miles. 

highlights are; move / combat / exploit phasing, stack 3 divs plus 1 brigade (for the Germans), all round zocs - zoc bonds, mech attacking on the move, HQ's, supply, voluntary combat, results use disrupt, step loss, retreat, elim. Uses random events based upon chit draw ..... these events are powerful enough to change the narrative in a zoomed in space, but gentle enough that the randomness does not cruelly deal a blow.

All of this is wrapped up in a less than 12 pages of rules, in a readable and nicely presented rule set. I have not played yet, but my instict is that this will be an easy to get into system that will punch above its weight.

Overall a delightful package that begs an early outing. 

The recently released Wars of the Roses supplement from Warlord Games is superb. Full of information and rich in both historical and ‘what if’ scenarios.

At the end of the book is a campaign system that I am quite enthusiastic about.

There is a bit more information over on the Battlefields & Warrior Blog, which discusses the new supplement and also links to a gamers YouTube channel, which showcases the start of his new campaign.

Taken together, there is much there to enjoy. LINK

https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2026/08/campaigning-two-nice-sources.html