Richard’s army left York in a grand procession surrounded by music and cheering crowds. For a recently defeated king, he was in high spirits and the morale of the army was good.

His planned route was to be made via Doncaster, down the north / south road,  leaving the main route road at Spink Hill and moving on down through Chesterfield, Derby and Tamworth, allowing the army to approach Coventry from the north west, avoiding Nottingham altogether. This approach brought its own perils as the area around Derby was under Stanley influence and Richard doubted that his army could move here without Stanley being promptly informed!

13th September

Richard reached Doncaster, his approach was observed by Henry’s light cavalry, who promptly withdraw to shadow Richard, while sending fast riders back to Henry to advise him.

Elsewhere, Thomas Holmes, acting as herald, was carrying an instruction from King Richard for John de la Pole (Lincoln) in London, to bring forces to Coventry by the 19th September.

Holmes had already been delayed once at West Rottington due to the presence of Lord Trebian’s Lancastrian patrols. Now he was delayed again at St. Albans, just 20 miles outside London, but this time he was rumbled and detained.

Under questioning he revealed the stated aim of his mission. Fast riders were sent to warn Henry, who was still at Nottingham (100 miles away).

14th September

Once Henry received the news that Richard had reached Doncaster, his army began their march to meet him, by the end of the day, reaching the monastery Felley Priory. Richard was at Bramley (just 30 miles apart).

16th September 

On hearing the report from St. Albans, that the royal army intended to gather at Coventry on or about 19th September, Henry now knew not only where Richard was, but where he was going to.

He could not allow that rendezvous to occur, a reinforced royal army might spell disaster for his respectably sized force of 12,000 men. He decided to deal with Richard immediately and then turn back south to face the southern Yorkists gathering at Coventry. 

By the end of the day, his army, moving north, was approaching Bolsover. Reports were coming in that Richard’s army was just 8 miles away at Spink Hill. The area was pro-Lancastrian, with his uncle, Jasper Tudor having title to the land.

With the approach of night, Richard had set up camp on Spink Hill. His patrols returned with news that Henry was nearby. How unlucky, he had just narrowly missed avoiding Henry altogether. If he would have had just 24 hours march on Henry, he would likely have been ahead of him, passing  Chesterfield and on the way to Derby. Instead, Henry’s army was too close and in the morning there would be fighting. Another chance perhaps, to once and for all, settle this festering civil war. 

The armies would meet at Oxcroft, a featureless, farmed plateau, with its crop of peas, beans and late barley, still being lifted.

17th September 1485 - the armies approached each other, this battle would over-shadow Bosworth in its significance ….. the Battle of Oxcroft Field!

Henry’s army had marched the 35 miles to Nottingham, an important position in central England, that governed the north / south movement between York and London. He was convinced that Richard would only have one of two objectives in mind, Nottingham or London. From here, Henry could intercept that expected approach.

He now needed to know where Richard was. He was certain that the impulsive king might already be on the move to Nottingham. Light cavalry were sent up the northern road to Doncaster (50 miles away), with instructions to report back on any enemy movement.  

Unbeknown to Henry, at the moment, the royal army was of course still in York, making final preparations to march.

7th September. 

As Henry’s cavalry pushed hard to get to Doncaster, they reached the Hamlet of Piggy Longton, in the Parish of Dungborough, estates controlled by the Yorkist, Lord Darcy (above photo).

Here they met determined resistance from Darcy’s Household and leaving several dead behind, they were forced to retreat. Denied the bridge crossing at the Smoggy Brook, they were forced into making a long detour to reach the safety of West Rottington, on the estates of Lord Trebian, a loyal Lancastrian, where they rested their horses and tended to the wounded, before pressing on for Doncaster.

Richard was both grateful to see the degree of potential support that remained loyal to him, but personally frustrated by virtue of his impatience at wanting to start the march south now, but he had heeded the warning of Viscount Lovell that the army was not yet ready.

The harvest was still being brought in and so the magnates had fewer men to spare than might otherwise have been the case.

Richard had lost most of his guns at Bosworth, but had managed to secure a small artillery train from northern nobles and local town arsenals, though a little time was needed for them to be assimilated into his army.

At a Council of War, it was agreed that the army should, if possible, avoid an engagement with the rebel army until such time that support from the south had joined the ranks of the royal army. With Henry likely to control the north/south road at Nottingham, they settled on Coventry as being the most practical rendezvous point for two weeks' time … 19th September. 

To make Coventry for that date, Richard’s army would need to start the 120-mile march in four days' time, on the 9th September, the 11th at the latest if the weather held. There was a renewed urgency in preparations.

Percy (Northumberland) would take the vanward, reinforced by additional bowmen from Viscount Lovell’s contingents. Richard would take the mainward and John de la Zouche  the rearward. Confidence amongst the royal army was slowly being restored. It was time to take the fight to Henry.

Ten days later, rested and re-organised, Henry had learned that rather than falling back on Nottingham (central England), Richard had moved North, with York being his likely destination.

Henry’s ranks were starting to fill with persons of note declaring their support. He was ready to start moving. 

The French and Scottish mercenaries under Philibert de Chandée would form the vanward, John de Vere 13th Earl of Oxford, reinforced by Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, took the mainward and the Stanleys were entrusted with the rearward.

In Henry’s most trusted circle was his uncle, Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke. He would command a small reserve of 200 mounted men-at-arms. The total size of his force at this time was around 12,000 fighting men.

Henry voiced that this force, which would likely grow while marching, was strong enough to take control of London, from where he would have access to the Royal Treasury and operate the levers of power, such as denying Richard of tax revenue and in particular calling Parliament to consider Richard being declared a traitor.

Philibert de Chandée instead advised that Henry move north towards York and deal with Richard quickly by bringing him to battle (again). His caution lay in the question of how easy it would be to practically control London while King Richard was still at large. ‘We shouldst cutteth off the vip'rs headeth’.

Both Oxford and Jasper Tudor agreed with the French commander. However, the Stanley’s felt that the London option was the best, but Henry read their eagerness as the Stanleys reverting to a ‘hedging of bets’ stance, typified by them avoiding a commitment to conflict whenever possible and his mistrust immediately encouraged him to put his authority behind the decision to seek Richard out for battle. They would march north!

Amazon delivered a nice bit of reading yesterday (Sunday). Test of Resolve Additional Scenarios 1455 to 1497, by David Knight and Tim Couper.

This is a collection of the not so well known battles and that brings with it the advantage that these are in the main smaller scenarios, a bit kinder to small collections and not at all demanding on gaming time.

A few of the scenarios take place in built-up areas and I like that in the introduction, there is a straight-up recognition that many gamers will not have enough medieval buildings to cover the area required and so they suggest 2D templates in card or MDF, with maybe the odd building added here or there - a bit of real world aspect to this.

Quite a few of the battles are played out amongst restrictive terrain and on small tables.

The scenarios do reinforce just how capable these rules are in dealing with different levels of battle from small to large.

There are 9 scenarios;

Clyst Heath - 1455

Newnham Bridge - 1460

Worksop - 1460

Twthill (pronounced Tuthill) - 1461

Kingsthorpe - 1469

London - 1471

London (2 days later) - 1471

Deal - 1495

Exeter - 1497

Perhaps one of these is near to where you live!

The booklets are not cheap at £25, that is not a criticism, it is the reality of Print on Demand costs, but it raises the question of whether this is for you.

I have bought heavily into the system and absolutely love it, so it actually works out cheaper than having bought into all the previous systems that I have hoped would work for me. 

I am a completist, so this scenario book happily sits within my collection. I think the two target audiences are those who have smaller collections and smaller gaming areas, but still want the proper taste of Test of Resolve and those that love the system and want more.

[Please note, this is an ongoing post that will be added to. It tells the tale of post Bosworth manoeuvres. How will this power struggle between Richard and Henry be concluded. If you like this sort of thing, please call back over the next few days and check on progress].

In the Year of our Lord 1485, in the Parish of Dadlington, Richard, our most noble king was sorely put to test by Henry Tudor, aided by the treachery of the Stanleys. With troubled days ahead, only loyal hearts can save all.

22nd August 1485

Bosworth battlefield lay strewn with the dead and the dying. The Lancastrians under Henry were victorious, but Richard III, the legitimate king was still alive. 

Towards the end of the battle, he had observed Sir. William Stanley send contingent after contingent of billmen over to Henry’s position and sensing that the odds were now heavily stacked against him, he heeded the advice of those around him and withdrew from the field with his body of horse.

Politically, he needed to be in London (south), but militarily, the moment called for him to move towards his northern strongholds. First he much catch up with Lord Percy (Northumberland), who just hours before had retired from the battlefield without becoming involved in the fighting - if nothing else, Northumberland’s force was at least fresh, offering some security if pursued.

There was of course the question amongst Richard’s party as whether Northumberland could be trusted, but Richard, ever pragmatic, knew that if he was to defeat Henry and the rebellion, then he must galvanise his northern support, not divide them. He was also somewhat accommodating to the fact that had Percy become involved in the fighting, his force would have been at least roughly handled and more likely destroyed, better to have Percy as a significant cadre to build another army around.

Choices for Henry were a little less clearcut. He was grateful for Sir. William Stanley’s intervention, but vexed that his support had only become so obvious, late in the battle. Of more immediate concern was why Lord Stanley had chosen not to show his support more demonstrably, but diplomatically he accepted the excuse that Stanley had been guarding the rebel flank from a possible manoeuvre by Northumberland.

Never-the-less, Henry was reluctant to send the Stanleys and their fresh cavalry in headlong pursuit of the fleeing Yorkists …. he wanted them on a tight leash for now! Not that the Stanleys had any hope of convincing Richard that they were still loyal to the crown - those bridges had been well and truly burned.

Instead, Henry sent off Sir. John Savage and his light cavalry to follow the retreating Yorkists and establish their movements and intentions

In due course, Henry would follow, taking the army to Nottingham, a Yorkist stronghold and a days march away. He believed Richard would retreat to that position and attacking him early, before he could recover his strength had obvious advantages. In any case, Nottingham, was a central location, if Richard had escaped him, from there Henry could strategically move either north or south as the situation dictated.

First, he needed to rest and re-supply his army. He sent heralds to the major population centres to give the news that Richard and the royal army had been defeated in battle and actively went about recruiting, hoping to persuade those who had hesitated in joining the rebellion, to do so now.

Time was not on Henry’s side, his war chest courtesy of the King of France (Charles VIII), still had the funds, for now, so he could continue to pay his French mercenaries and of course to others, he could make promises of titles once the crown was his!

More to come ***************

For our face-to-face last night, Anzio hit the table and once again gave a good game.

This is a game in which individual hexes matter ... all of the time. You fight over a relatively tight band of the map in what is a slugfest in the mud, but the nuances that spring from positioning are impressively engaging.

As an invasion game, you might see the Allies as being the natural attackers, but the fact is that both sides are on the attack and there is as much, if not more for the German player to do in this game.

The rules are cleverly contained in just 4 pages, but there are a couple of areas that could have rule lawyer types having disagreement. Next time we play, I will actually note the instances and set in stone the interpretations that we are happy with.

Important elements of the campaign are here, movement is difficult and allied combined artillery, naval firepower and air support can start to inflict a lot of pain on the German powerful mechanised formations. I remember reading about this, where German companies were taking 70% and upwards casualties and still functioning.

The VP's are strangely presented by way of awarding the allied player a rank, in our game the Allies were a Major or something like that, which is the middle score and I would suggest that means a draw - the German assault was spent, but the Allies were contained ..... sounds a bit historical! :-) 

Overall a good game, that keeps the interest of both players and can play to a conclusion in a single evening session.

I have been working towards putting together a Bosworth scenario and became both intrigued and frustrated at the conflicting accounts.

Of interest is the mention or lack thereof of the French and Scot soldiers that had landed with Henry on the Welsh coast as his invasion force and how they may have influenced the battle.

Anyway, in the end, I have gone for a bit of a zoomed in look at the battle. One of the sources that I am giving voice to is Jean Molinet, a Burgundian chronicler and though he was not at at the battle, he wrote an account just five years later, based upon interviews of mercenaries that had been present, returning to the continent.

His relevance is that he is a counter-balance to the Tudor post battle propaganda, which has tended to underplay the significant of the French and Scot contribution to the victory. Molinet’s text brings a different perspective of their involvement. 

Against him, are the hugely inflated numbers of army size that he quotes, but that may simply be his witnesses exaggerating, while on points of fact such as where they were in the line and how the battle unfolded might be considered more accurate.

Anyway, by-the-by much of what I have gone with accords with the recent writings of Mike Ingram in his Bosworth book about the newly discovered location of the battle and also the official Test and Resolve Bosworth scenario by the rules’ authors.

I have put a full description of the choices made in the scenario design and a brief AAR of its first playing, up on the Battlefields & Warrior Blog. LINK 

https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2026/07/bosworth-scenario-building.html

New out, issue 141 of the bimonthly Wargames Soldiers and Strategy.

The UK is about to go through a period of uncertainty as far as magazines are concerned. As a major news chain on the high street and magazine distributor, WH Smith has been a familiar name to all and one that has surprisingly been in business since 1792 (yes, over 200 years).

Last year it was bought out and re-branded as TG Jones (everyone I know still calls it Smiths), but sadly, the brand is looking at seriously downsizing their presence on the high street.

The consequences for the magazine industry are significant and over the past month, I have noticed in my supermarket that the range of mags on the shelves has doubled, as titles seek to keep a public presence. Also some magazines have been giving very generous offers on yearly subscriptions, to hoover up those customers that currently buy off the high street.

As an example Miniature Wargames (monthly) in the August issue is offering 12 months subscription for an amazing £9.99 demonstrating their need to protect their sales base.

We can only wait and see how all of this plays out. I have noticed that one of my photography magazines and an art magazine are now appearing on my supermarket shelf.

Anyway, we have three wargame magazines in the UK, so fingers crossed for them.

Today I picked up Wargames Soldiers and Strategy issue 141, my favourite mag and probably the one I am most likely to subscribe to. Their rate is 39.50 Euros for 6 issues (1 year), which I think is around £35.

The theme is about the enemies that challenged early Rome's dominance, but there is a good spattering of other topics too, including Monmouth's First Rebellion, a Boer action, Airborne at Oosterbeek and the 1945 Siege of Königsberg. There are replay articles on the 'Battleground HD' system and 'Sand' game, plus the usual columns and reviews etc, so looking like a good cover-to-cover read for me.

As to the Roman related stuff, I was pleased to see a Trebia scenario in there, with the supporting photographs showing the Epic figures from Warlord Games. I'm not sure though that I like the block effect of the infantry.

Anyway, good luck to all of the magazines and to TG Jones and their staff, hoping that closures are not as serious as anticipated.

Bosworth 1485 - The Downfall of Richard III by Christopher Gravett, published by Osprey Publishing

There is now a watershed for the telling of the Bosworth story.

Prior to 2009, the account was centred on the battle taking place at Ambion Hill, very much reinforced by the Local Authority deciding to build their visitor centre there, together with an associated battlefield walk.

In 2009 two archeologists, Glenn Foarde and Ann Curry, funded to the tune of one million pounds, discovered that the battlefield was actually 2 miles away from Ambion Hill. The new site was complete with finds of artillery shot and some artifacts, though notably no arrowheads have been found. It is broadly accepted that this is the site of the battle.

Christopher Gravett had already written about Bosworth for Osprey before 2009, so this new book was a re-evaluation based around the new location and evidence.

We get the usual style and format of the Osprey ‘Campaign’ series, so it is an easy read with plenty of illustration and good maps that support the account.

It begins with a bit of background to the Wars of the Roses and then moves on to the reputations and personalities of King Richard III and Henry Tudor. 

Henry, part funded by France, lands in Wales with his invasion force and then we have the important indications as to how popular his grab for the crown might be, by those on his journey who fall in behind him and those who are less certain bedfellows.

Once we get to the battlefield, the intrigue of who will remain loyal, switch sides or just not participate in the fight becomes key to developing the battle story, but it is all somewhat tamed by the simple fact that despite this being a pivotal late medieval battle and occurring just over 500 years ago, we are still unsure about many things, including how armies actually fought, where they deployed and the true actions / intentions of some key commanders.

The battle is described in some detail, with Gravett taking the view that the king’s army was deployed in a very long line, which would have put Northumberland on Richards left flank and by implication, on the other side of the marsh, with Northumberland and Lord Stanley perhaps holding each other in check.

The text concludes with a summary of Henry’s later years as king.

I have been wanting to do a wargame scenario on this battle, so I deliberately bought this title as a post 2009 guide to the latest thinking on the battle location, the line of march, the dispositions and the conduct of the battle and it does a good job in imparting the necessary information and taken alone, I would have accepted all of that.

However, I also bought Richard III and The Battle of Bosworth by Mike Ingham, published by Hellion, which is also a post 2009 book, so that I would get the broadest picture possible of events.

Both books are very good ……. But, rather than help the scenario build, they disagree on battlefield deployment, with Ingram having the armies located parallel to the Roman road, fighting across it, while Gravett has the armies positioned as though they had deployed directly from road march, fanning out, so that the road ran through both armies.

The difference between the two accounts gives a 90˚ tilt of the battlefield. From a scenario design perspective that is not as significant as it might seem as both accounts maintain that a marsh covered Oxfords right flank and we can use that as a central pivot.

Where there are important differences, it is on the actual deployment of troops. As stated, Gravett has Northumberland in extended line beyond the marsh, which in effect isolates his influence from the fighting between the vanguards of Oxford and Norfolk, though does put him closer to the Stanleys.

By contrast Ingram has the royal army deployed in depth, with Norfolk in front, followed by Richard, followed by Northumberland. This puts the entire royal army in front of Oxford and the impact of the marsh is one of simply shrinking the available frontage of both armies to fit that gap, though again making it harder for the royal army to bring their full numbers to bear at once.

Ingram takes us a step further by showing the French contingent suddenly appearing on the left of Oxford, in effect becoming an independent flanking force arriving against Norfolk and Ingram goes as far as to describe the French as being Henry’s vanguard. [the sentiment being that though the French presence was important to the outcome, it has been deliberately diminished by subsequent Tudor accounts].

So having found a new battle site (not Ambion Hill) the narrative of deployment is still open to interpretation, which I find frustrating from a scenario design point of view, but very satisfying from the intrigue of an evidential analysis perspective.

Rather than choosing which text I prefer, it leads me instead to conclude that each book enhances the other. Both reach their conclusions by evidence / source based reckoning. I’m not sure how Ingrams version of the meeting forces wheeling from road movement, to moving either side of the road in such a clean and tidy way works.

The Gravett solution deals with the approach of the armies by road, with the forces fanning out from march formation into position, with the road ending up running through the positions of both armies.

I do like that Gravett opens his account with the advice that ‘What follows is one view of events on that summer day in 1485’, Ingrams account might as well say the same thing and so both books sit easily on my shelf to be enjoyed.

From the Book;

‘The retainer recruited men from his own household and obtained lesser men such as archers or billmen, from his tenantry, paying for their services.’ 

‘The Song of Lady Bessy says Lord Stanley, Sir William Stanley and Gilbert Talbot met together 3rd May and pledged support for Henry’s bid for the crown.’

‘Even Lord Stanley was granted permission to return to his seat at Lathom in Lancashire to organise his troops.’

‘The rebel division manoeuvred left, keeping the marsh to their 

right side.’

‘… no arrowheads have been found, but a brisk exchange must have taken place as the distance between the two sides closed. It would also be at this stage that any hand-gunners present would have opened fire.’

‘During this struggle between the vanguards, Norfolk’s troops began to lose cohesion and the line was slowly pushed back.’

‘Perhaps at this juncture Lord Stanley’s persistent refusal to join the royal army spurred Richard to demand his son’s death, something that would have been performed in full view of everyone.’ [blog note - Richard held Stanley’s son, Lord Strange, as hostage and he was present on the battlefield].

‘Salazar is also said to have advised Richard to escape the field, but he refused.’

‘At full gallop, perhaps some 200 fully armoured cavalry closed on the troops surrounding Henry.’

Resource Section.

My sister webspace ‘COMMANDERS’  showcases the various figure and boardgame systems that I am enjoying and gives a flavour of where current projects are up to. Link.

https://commanders.simdif.com/dear_diary.html

If you do a Google search for wargame or model shops in a region etc, there aren't many .... unlike the times of old!

I spotted a new retail arrival in northern England ..... Warlord Games have dipped their toe into high street retail and their first shop is in Wigan.

Anyway, roadworks and the sat nav having fun aside, we got to the shop and found nearby parking, but from the approach I made, I had no idea that the shop is little more than a stone's throw from the town centre, which is vibrant and gave me a Waterstones (book shop), an HMV (Vinyl) and a very nice independent coffee house, so all told, a good retail experience. My other half found plenty of other shops to please!

Anyway, I obviously spent most of our staying time in the Warlord Games shop. They have pretty much everything 'Warlord' put out, but I was also pleased to see that they had a selection of Perry product.

There are four gaming tables in the shop and there is very much a community emphasis. While I was there, a bloke asked about Konflict '47 and the staff took some models from a display cabinet and set up a knock-about game to demonstrate the system.

I had gone with the intention of getting a small box of napoleonic Epic cavalry to base up and compare their 'look' with the 10mm cavalry base that I did a few weeks ago (80 x 60mm).

Anyway, when I got there, I got a bit overloaded with what to get and got tempted by some 28mm Pike and Shotte, the rigged ship starter set (Commander of the Seas?), the WWII naval (Pacific) starter set, 28mm 1066 Saxons (starter set) and some 28mm Perry plastic Light French Companies.

In the end I went back to the core plan and bought a box of Epic Heavy Cavalry and was surprised to see that the sprue also include horse artillery, so I have also been able to make up a three gun battery (on a single 80x40mm base) to compare with the 10mm one I made.

Anyway, an enjoyable day and hoorah for Warlord Games having a go at reversing the decline of wargame product on the high street. 

I need to double up the number of archer bases in the Wars of the Roses collection and that includes my single crossbow unit, which up until now has been fine acting as a skirmisher base.

So time to make a second base and also looking to add a (dead)  man of mystery to the scene.

There is a post over on the Battlefield & Warriors site that looks at his construction and building of the base. 

Link

https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2026/07/crossbow-base-fallen-man.html