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Sunday dawned bright and clear. I was up very early, for me at least, and met with Gareth Jones & Thrasyvoulos Drakoulis for the trip across the Pennines.
By the time we arrived at the Leeds Wargaming Club's excellent new premises (lucky people) I was almost awake and ready for the first game.
The first round of the Northern League had a medieval theme and I was taking my newly finished Muscovite Russian army for their first competition. The initial entrants are listed below but real life considerations meant that things were slightly different on the day:
As it turned out there were a lot of "heavy metal" foot armies, more than I expected, but with bow armed cavalry and mediocre spear surely I would have nothing to worry about? As it turned out I had quite a lot to worry about.
| Date | 20 Mar 2022 |
| Rules Version | 4 |
| Status | Northern League 1st Round |
| Venue | Leeds Wargaming Club |
| Army | Muscovite Russian |
| Army list | 270.0.07 |
| Army number | 250 |
| Army date | 1450 AD |
| Results | Official results grid |
I finished eighth of ten with 112 points. All in all not a bad days wargaming. I've had worse.
This was not as good as my last competition where I finished seventh of twelve with 143 points from three draws. I think the big difference this time was I didn't have any knights and the spear I was using were mediocre so not as much punch and weaker infantry.
Game #1
| Opposition | Dave Wengraf |
| Army | War of the Roses |
| Army number | 247 |
| Army date | 1486 |
| Initiative | Won |
| My Posture | Defender |
| Terrain | Steppe |
| Game time | 02:30 |
| Attrition Scores | 12/23 to 18/25 |
| Decisive | No |
| Points | 49 - 43 |
| Result | Losing draw |
A classic mismatched set of armies. Having narrowed the battlefield with a river, Dave wanted me to charge headlong into his massed longbows and heavy infantry. He even tried taunting me with accusations of cowardice. I patiently worked both flanks and waited until his battle line fragmented. Once he offered isolated units or small groups as targets I started to take my chances. Not a bad start to the day.
Game #2
| Opposition | Mick Hood & Paul Cole |
| Army | Scots Isles and Highlanders |
| Army number | 187 |
| Army date | 1493 |
| Initiative | Lost |
| My Posture | Defender |
| Terrain | Plain |
| Game time | 01:45 |
| Attrition Scores | 14/24 to 25/25 |
| Decisive | Yes |
| Points | 89 - 21 |
| Result | Loss |
This game didn't last long. I lost the initiative and again fought on a narrowed battlefield; a coast this time. Massed heavy infantry with two handed weapons marched rapidly across the table giving me little room to manoeuvre. Forced into far too many disadvantageous combats the army broke easily. Mick & Paul were a delight to play against. As the picture shows they were playing for fun
Game #3
| Opposition | Thrasyvoulos Drakoulis |
| Army | Medieval Anglo-Irsih |
| Army number | 234 |
| Army date | 1415 |
| Initiative | Lost |
| My Posture | Defender |
| Terrain | Forrest |
| Game time | 02:30 |
| Attrition Scores | 17/24 to 17/25 |
| Decisive | No |
| Points | 48 - 53 |
| Result | Winning draw |
Bottom table for my third game against one of my travelling companions. Again I faced units armed with two handed weapons or spears but thankfully on a full width table. Despite a full on attack by heavy infantry on my right I was able to delay them for the whole game and even managed to spring a trap right at the end as they tried to get past a village. Meanwhile my left flank suffered appalling command dice and only really came into the game towards the end.
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