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| Yorkists (foreground) and Lancastrians deployed |
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| Skirmishers are the early casualties |
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| Handgunners evade depleted Kerns |
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| Skirmishers evade and archers shoot |
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| Lancastrian archers advance within short range |
Last Wednesday night I went over to Rick's place for a War of the Roses Billhooks Deluxe game. It was a small game of 120 points, to introduce Gary to the rules, and was fought at a crossroads. Rick and Gary commanded the Lancastrians and I had the Yorkists. The forces were similar, the main difference being, a unit of pike on the Lancastrian side and veteran bow and billmen on the Yorkist side. We were pretty rusty with the rules as we haven't played for a while but were soon working through the play deck cards and rolling dice. Early casualties were the skirmishers, followed by the usual shooting with the bowmen once in range. A prolonged and bloody combat at the crossroads saw casualties mount on both sides. In the end the Lancastrian centre and left flank collapsed to hand the Yorkists a hard fought victory.
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| Yorkist men-at-arms attack pikemen |
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| Lancastrian pike rout and men-at-arms attack |
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| Combat is level pegging |
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| A second round of melee |
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| Prolonged and bloody combat |
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| Lancastrian centre and left flank collapses |
Nice! A game I must try sometime. What is the difference between the regular and deluxe version?
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan, it was originally just WotR but the Deluxe edition expands it to other theatres in Europe like HYW, Italian Wars etc.
DeleteBut the rules remain unchanged?
DeleteThe basic WotR rules from 2020 are unchanged but there are special rules and scenarios for all the the other theatres and great photos as well.
DeleteGreat looking game sir!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal, it was a fun game.
DeleteLovely looking game, I've got a set of the free rules but haven't got around to playing it, I take it you're pretty positive about it? I liked the look of the naval version they had st the shows last year too!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain, it’s a lot of fun, card and dice driven. Billhooks Deluxe includes special rules and scenarios for the Italian Wars as well as many other Renaissance conflicts. I have Never Mind the Boathooks but haven’t tried it out yet.
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