I have received a photo report from an early adopter of "Northampton 1460" who has tried the game solo. Apologies if the pictures are a bit small or indistinct, but they're what I've been sent.
The report opens in turn three (yes, the weather cards have been placed incorrectly on the turn track, but it doesn't matter for the moment). The Yorkists have tried to negotiate, and then excommunicated the Lancastrians. The Lancastrians look to me to have initiated the cavalry combat and won it. Even so, the Yorkist morale is higher than Lancastrian, so that's good for them. They have sent in Fauconberg's battle to start the attack on the fortifications.
It seems that the Lancastrians hit back at Fauconberg in their turn as the Yorkist morale is dropping. There's a few Lancastrian casualties at the back of the board, however, so in the balance.
Two turns on and Edward of March has got stuck in as well. Unluckily for the Yorkists Grey has not swapped sides, so it is going to be a hard slog. The Lancastrians have had an artillery misfire - probably in turn 5 - as they've only got two cannon counters left. However, the red 6 on the board is for their artillery fire this turn, and that means the Yorkists have taken casualties and their morale is now in danger of causing them to rout.
In this picture I think that they've failed the morale test as all their counters are piled up behind the Lancastrian defences.(I hope the die roll isn't from the morale test, as you roll higher than the morale number to rout, not less. Only time in the game when low numbers are good and high, bad).
From a comment from the player added to the picture, I think all the Yorkist leaders got rounded up and killed, making this a significant Lancastrian victory. Losing the cavalry battle at the start of the game means the Lancastrians have pursuit troops, which makes it harder for the Yorkists to escape if things go badly.
So, history turned completely on its head.
Thanks to Richard for sharing his pictures with me.
The report opens in turn three (yes, the weather cards have been placed incorrectly on the turn track, but it doesn't matter for the moment). The Yorkists have tried to negotiate, and then excommunicated the Lancastrians. The Lancastrians look to me to have initiated the cavalry combat and won it. Even so, the Yorkist morale is higher than Lancastrian, so that's good for them. They have sent in Fauconberg's battle to start the attack on the fortifications.
It seems that the Lancastrians hit back at Fauconberg in their turn as the Yorkist morale is dropping. There's a few Lancastrian casualties at the back of the board, however, so in the balance.
Two turns on and Edward of March has got stuck in as well. Unluckily for the Yorkists Grey has not swapped sides, so it is going to be a hard slog. The Lancastrians have had an artillery misfire - probably in turn 5 - as they've only got two cannon counters left. However, the red 6 on the board is for their artillery fire this turn, and that means the Yorkists have taken casualties and their morale is now in danger of causing them to rout.
In this picture I think that they've failed the morale test as all their counters are piled up behind the Lancastrian defences.(I hope the die roll isn't from the morale test, as you roll higher than the morale number to rout, not less. Only time in the game when low numbers are good and high, bad).
From a comment from the player added to the picture, I think all the Yorkist leaders got rounded up and killed, making this a significant Lancastrian victory. Losing the cavalry battle at the start of the game means the Lancastrians have pursuit troops, which makes it harder for the Yorkists to escape if things go badly.
So, history turned completely on its head.
Thanks to Richard for sharing his pictures with me.
Hi Trebian,
ReplyDeleteapologies for this being unrelated to the post, but a friend and I are using Op14 for the first time and inevitably a few queries have raised themselves. Any chance you'd be willing to answer a couple of specific questions if I post them here, (or via an email)? I can be contacted on peter.godden649@gmail.com
Cheers,
Peter.
I'll email you direct rather than clog this post up with non-related items.
Deletehello there,I had the pleasure of buying a copy of your game this past weekend, from the Northants Battlefield Society stall at The Battlefields Trust East Anglia regional study day. The game looks v. interesting, thanks, and I'm glad to contribute a little, too. Nice to meet Phil, who said he's the one on the blog who 'usually turns up late and beats him!'..
ReplyDeleteAmong the speakers, Michael Jones on the Black Prince was excellent, and I see he is booked for your society too. He is well worth a listen and has interesting asides on his research among Red Army WW2 veterans, too.
Thanks again for the game!
I hope you enjoy the game. There's more on this blog about it, if you look.
DeletePhil does turn up late, and he does often win. I offer no explanation as to why that might be.
If you aren't following the Northamptonshire battlefields Society on Facebook, I suggest you find us for all our latest news.
Thanks, I've been enjoying your blog for a while and was really pleased to pick up the game. I'll give Facebook the swerve, though 😉. Keep up the good work, anyway!
DeleteOkay. We have a website as well if you search for us on line. we find FB is the quickest way of letting people know what is going on.
Delete