The Shed Battles

From Wi411 - Giles Shapes, aka Eric the Shed, has replayed the major battles of the Wars of the Roses with his gaming group and the Never Mind the Billhooks rules.

You will hopefully recall that around 18 months ago Wargames Illustrated published a set of rules called Never Mind the Billhooks, which they [generously: Ed] gave away with Wi393. Written by Andy Callan these rules were designed for simple fast play wargaming set during the Wars of the Roses, with each side fielding around 100 figures. Around that same time my gaming group were discussing our next collective project and playing the dynastic civil wars of the WotR was already high on our wish list. We tentatively played a couple of games of NMTBH and found the rules ticked our top priority boxes:

✅ Fun

✅ Fast

✅ Able to handle multiplayer engagements

✅ Giving the feel of a medieval battle

Suffice it to say our group was hooked.

Onward To War

Somewhere along the line, we decided that it would be a bit of fun to try and refight all of the major historical battles during the war. I don’t think anyone within the group thought we would do it, but a year and a half and several lockdowns later, I’m proud to say we have achieved our goal!

We have now fought sixteen pitched battles in chronological order. These included the lesser-known engagements of Worksop and Pilton in Ireland, and the prelude to Towton - the engagement at Ferrybridge. We have grown to love the narrative that flows from every game of NMTBH and it is fair to say that each battle had its own flavour and story.

We decided early on that rather than a campaign, our miniature War of the Roses would form a series of unrelated battles - what happened in one had no bearing on the forces or set up in the next. This approach negated the need to document casualties, positions and movement – presenting no scarry paperwork.

The vast majority of these games were fought on a 5ft x 12ft table, with appropriate terrain, specific weather conditions required and a series of tailored rules to cater for some of the peculiarities of each battle - many now endorsed by Andy Callan and some finding their way into NMTBH second edition. The games typically involved 4 - 6 players, although some of the very small battles were fought one-versus-one, and for our finale, Bosworth, the Shed saw eight players taking on the roles of the leading nobles from that famous day in 1485. All told some eleven different players featured across the games, with several involved (or at least their figures) in all of the evenings.

All the battles, bar one, were fought in a single evening’s session, thereby demonstrating the fast play quality and versatility of the rule. Towton was the exception, as this was such a large battle to do it justice it took all day to refight, it was our first major game after Lockdown had been lifted in England.

As mentioned, the battles were fought chronologically and the events that took place on the tabletop were written up along with hundreds of pictures via my online Shed Wars blog. All the blog posts include a full scenario set-up, along with the special rules, orders of battle, and in many cases pictures of the table layout. The vast majority of our games repeated the results of their historic counterparts, but there were several occasions when they went all the way to the wire. For example, in our epic refight of Towton, victory was won by the Yorkists on the very last throw of the dice!

As the games were fought and chronicled the blog posts were signposted on a number of the wargaming forums and in particular the official NMTBH Facebook page. It has been immensely gratifying to read the vast number of positive comments relating to the games, and in particular seeing some of our scenarios now being replayed by others. If we have in some way helped to promote both the rules and this period for the wargames community at large I am delighted.

First Battle of St Albans

We pulled out all the stops for this first game with over 50 medieval style buildings to replicate the town for this brutal fight. The alleyway fighting required the creation of a new Billhooks formation known as the Fighting Block which was offici

Battle of Blore Heath

Fought across a boggy stream. In our re-fight, the Lancastrians, under the command of Lord Audley, forced their way to a fortuitous victory against the Duke of York.

Battle of Northampton

This game fought out just like the real battle. The pouring rain negated the impact of the dug-in defending Lancastrian artillery, and Lord Grey turned coat to allow the Yorkist forces to rout the King’s men. As the battle unfolded treachery could have been averted if Alastair had rolled anything but a 5 or 6!

Battle of Wakefield

Fought in the depths of Winter outside the walls of Sandal Castle in Yorkshire, this was our first opportunity to use a custom-made snowy battle mat. With a three to one advantage the Lancastrians decimated the defenders, but unlike history the Ear

Battle of Mortimer’s Cross

With three suns in the sky (a Parhelion), Edward the Earl of March was most definitely in God’s favour as he crushed the Lancastrian forces. This was our first chance to use Irish mercenaries, and they didn’t fare very well.

Second Battle of St Albans

The orders of battle suggested that this should be an easy ride for the more numerous Lancastrians but the dice gods shined kindly on the men of the White Rose. A succession of poor rolls and failing morale saw the King’s forces falter and then rou

Battle of Ferrybridge

Forcing a crossing at Ferrybridge should have been an easy task for the Yorkist army commanded by Edward and Warwick. However stout resistance defined this battle, with the defenders almost holding the entire Yorkist army en route to Towton. A join

Battle of Towton

This was the big one with over 1500 figures on the table (extended to 16ft). It took almost a full day to play. The weather played havoc with both commands, and victory could have swung either way. In the last agreed turn of the day Edwards’ retinu

Battle of Barnet

Fog (aka cotton wool balls) shrouded the battlefield for much of the day and caused much amusement as units went haplessly marching off in random directions. However, as the morning sun burned off the mist Edward’s retinue charged into the traitorous Warwick. A roll of double one should have seen Warwick’s forces flee from the field, but as Warwick personally led his unit a reroll was called for and he survived. A hard-earned Lancastrian victory against the odds. Note - a subsequent conversation with Andy Callan suggests Warwick should have fled and a Yorkist victory won!

Battle of Tewkesbury

With matched sides this epic battle was fought to a draw, both sides battling it out across the field with neither giving an inch or gaining an upper hand. A brutal affair with casualties close to 50% of all on-table units.

Battle of Bosworth

Our final game in this series (… so far) featuring eight players! This battle almost ended in the turn as Richard III charged towards Henry Tudor, trying to persuade a reluctant Stanley to join his cause. With a fortuitous draw of the cards Henry e

What Did We Get Out Of It?

I asked all the players for feedback and what they thought about our series of games. Their responses are a list of wonderful reasons why such a campaign is worthwhile, and in no particular order they included:

A sense of achievement that we have collectively accomplished something few people in the hobby will ever do.
Learning more about a significant part of British history and thinking about how historic battles can be brought to the tabletop.
The visual spectacle of medieval figures on the table simulating the chaos and brutality of war in the period – all jolly good fun.
Encouraging me to pull out the paintbrush and get those figures finished off in time for action.
They provided some memorable wargaming moments and sharing these with friends during a very difficult year made it particularly worthwhile.
Each of the games was so very different and the results were so often on a knife edge
A welcome opportunity/excuse to spend time with friends doing the things we love

By Giles Shapley (Erik the Shed)

Just Talking Billhooks

Never Mind the Boathooks - our first game!