Saturday 1 January 2022

The Battle of Longton Fields - 1471 Piggy Longton



Psssst - want to know a secret? Lancastrian King Henry has been staying at Osric’s Chapel in the hamlet of Piggy Longton for the past two nights. Lord Darcy is deeply nervous. He has the responsibility of looking after the king until the forces of Somerset arrive to escort him on to London.


To be honest, it’s not such a big secret, which is why I don’t mind telling you. In fact, it is the world’s worst kept secret and Lord Darcy has good cause to be worried.


It all started yesterday … please use the ‘read more’ tab for the rest of this post.


Henry had returned forcibly to the throne the previous year, seeing off King Edward IV, who fled to exile in France. From there, Edward corresponded with his Yorkist supporters to encourage the raising of rebellion against the Lancastrians, but the moment of opportunity was to unexpectedly come their way sooner than anyone anticipated.




King Henry had travelled to the Midlands to participate in a council of nobles. It seemed to go well and he parted their company to head to London in good spirits.


His journey was to be broken with a short two day stay with his loyal subject, Lord Darcy, while he waited for Somerset’s escort to arrive, to continue the final leg of the journey to London.


Since taking charge of King Henry’s safety, Darcy had his light cavalry out on constant patrol, scouring the countryside for any sign of enemy activity and to close down the movement of ‘outsiders’.


Yesterday afternoon, his currours intercepted two horsemen, Sir. Giles of Chevithorne and his companion, Sir. John Radcliffe. On searching them, they found orders under seal for the attention of Lord Trebian of West Rottingham. The orders came directly from the powerful Yorkist supporter, Salisbury.


On reading the orders, Lord Darcy’s discomfort grew.


‘My Dear and loyal friend Lord Trebian, your information about the King’s visit to Piggy Longton has been most gratefully received by Edward, our rightful king. Understand that I am personally leading a force to restrain Lord Darcy, while we remove King Henry into our custody. We will arrive from the south at noon on the morrow. Your instructions are to attack the hamlet directly from the north to coincide with our arrival. If we are successful, Edward has sworn that you will be granted Darcy’s lands. Do your Duty in the name of your true King. Salisbury'.


Darcy’s only glimmer of hope was that by intercepting the orders, Trebian would not know that he was to be part of the Yorkist attack plan and it would allow the Lancastrian forces to gather and meet the single, but significant threat of Salisbury’s assault.


Lord Darcy immediately charged one his most trusted, Sir Roger, to take King Henry 25 miles east to the safety of the Crispin Priory.


Henry and Sir. Roger


There wasn’t much time. Darcy sent heralds across the estates for his men to rendezvous at Piggy Longton at 7 AM the following morning. Somerset was already on the way to him, so Darcy sent him messages, explaining the situation and urging their earliest arrival.


The Heralds round up the archers


At 7 AM the next morning, Darcy’s forces gathered and Bishop of Dungborough held a service, by the end of which, all could agree that they would rather have the Bishop on their side than against them! 


The Battle of Longton Fields


After a breakfast of sorts, the men moved out into the fields to prepare for battle, bills and swords were sharpened and bows strung. Lord Darcy took the centre, ordering a short section of stakes to be erected.


Sir. Percival Tredington was on the left and Sir. Giles Staverton to the right. Darcy had brought down some artillery pieces that were stored in a barn at Piggy Longton hamlet, but they hadn't proved particularly useful in a previous encounter and he had no great expectation this time, but a bit of huff, puff and smoke might at least make his men feel braver!


It was a bitter winters morning and Darcy’s men chilled and anxious, waited for their foe. Around 10 AM, trumpets announced the arrival of Salisbury, the tell-tale signature of an army on the march shaking out into battlefield formations.


Viewed from the Yorkist positions


It was an open battlefield, with few enclosures. Darcy’s right was bounded by a thickly hedged lane, which he was keen to control, to aid Somerset’s arrival onto the battlefield. 


Salisbury took the Yorkist centre, Viscount Bourchier the right and the ever reliable Sir. John Lisle the left. These three battles advanced to the sound of drums and trumpets, halting at just under 300 yards from the Lancastrian line as Lord Darcy’s arrows started to darken the sky.

Yorkist left


[Admin - The game is played on a 6’ x 3½’ table (though actual deployment sat in a 4’ x 2’ space, with 28mm figures that are set on 80mm bases, each base can be thought of as a contingent. 


The rules used are Second Edition Sword & Spear by Great Escape Games and normal victory conditions are in play (i.e. the breaking of the enemy).


The only Special rule is that on turn one, on the first dice draw, 5 Lancastrian and 2 Yorkist activation dice are openly drawn from the bag, to ensure that the Lancastrians have a chance to open the battle and use their archers first. The armies deploy, facing off at Maximum longbow range.


Before play, some units were randomly selected to be militia. By coincidence, both sides each had four militia units, spread between archers and billmen.


The dynamics of the game are that Lancastrian reinforcements (Somerset’s lead elements) will arrive at some point on Darcy’s right, but it is Darcy’s centre and left that are going to come under the most pressure early in the game].


Narrative.

Darcy noticed that the Yorkists had both ‘long spear’ and crossbow out on their right. Clearly these were foreign troops and for Edward to already have mercenaries in the country meant that a serious insurrection was under way. He needed Somerset urgently!


Somerset had understood the political and military impact of the Yorkist sympathiser Trebian, getting Darcy’s lands, as Darcy had always been a natural counter to the Trebian power base in the region. Accordingly, Somerset had broken camp and marched before daylight, so that he could reach the battlefield and influence the battle. His lead elements were now close to the battlefield.


Early manoeuvres.

The Lancastrians did get their arrows off first, but they suffered the most as the return volleys took down some of their best archers. Of significance was that Salisbury in the centre didn’t wait for the conclusion of the opening archery duel, rather, he sent his dismounted Men-at-Arms forwards straight away, with supporting billmen to their right.


Darcy, aware he was outnumbered, joined his own Men-at-Arms and moved them forwards, ready for the inevitable clash of heavy armour on heavy armour.


Salisbury was surprised to see the Lancastrians so well organised and in such numbers, but he remained in the belief that Lord Trebian would obey his orders and soon come bursting onto the battlefield, to attack the Lancastrians in the rear ranks, ensuring a swift victory.


First clash


The first clash occurred on the Yorkist right, as Bourchier edged his crossbowmen forwards and brought the pike up. Sir. Percival Tredington responded by sending his light cavalry forwards to deal with the crossbowmen, before the situation could deteriorate. The charge made good progress, but the crossbowmen were not cleared from the field and as the cavalry became entangled with them, Yorkist pike advanced to support the melee and dispersed the cavalry.


Tredington, on the Lancastrian left now, looked seriously compromised as the pikemen pressed on. He began to manoeuvre into a better defensive formation.


Somerset starts to arrive.

Lead Lancastrian reinforcing elements made it to the edge of the battlefield, with the mounted Men-at-Arms arriving first, followed by billmen. Sir. John Lisle on the Yorkist left saw the threat and moved part of his wing to line the hedged lane and face the Lancastrian reinforcement.

Men-at-Arms clash in the centre. Stanley brings up support 


In the Centre, Darcy was coming under extreme pressure, he had lost many archers and his Men-at-Arms were now engaged by both Salisbury’s Men-at-arms and William Stanley’s levy billmen. This centre could become broken before Somerset had any chance of reversing Lancastrian fortunes.


Losses to date

Yorkists 1 bow. 

Lancastrians 1 Light cavalry, 3 bow.


The battle increasingly favours the Yorkist forces.

The Yorkists increasingly dominated the battle. On their left, Sir. John Lisle went over onto the offensive,just as Somerset’s mounted Men-at-Arms dismounted at the hedged lane and prepared to assault his wing. Things were very much in the balance there.


In the centre, Salisbury pushed, pushed, pushed! against Darcy’s Men-at Arms, who were on their last legs …. Just one more push!


On the right, Bourchier was likewise pressing his opponent, who had formed what surely must be a last stand against the pike. If the Yorkists could roll up the right and collapse the centre, then victory surely could not be far away ……. "but where the hell is Trebian"? was there some treachery yet to reveal it’s hand?


The Lancastrians waver.

Losses amongst Darcy’s army mounted [forcing the army to take its first Army Break Test - which saw another archer unit rout].


In the centre, his Men-at-Arms finally broke and Darcy made a lucky escape to a neighbouring contingent of bill, belonging to Sir. John Flory, whom he ordered to pull back.


Somerset's men attack across the lane through hedges

It was only on the Lancastrian right where any gains were being made. Somerset’s Men-at-Arms were engaged in fighting amongst the hedges of Long Lane, while Sir. Giles Staverton took the right wing onto the offensive to assist Somerset. This all rather looked too little too late.


What! - the Yorkists waver!

Incredibly, Sir. Percival Tredington on Darcy’s left dealt a huge defeat upon the pike, at a stroke restoring some balance to that wing, while on the Lancastrian right, the combined efforts of Staverton and Somerset had smashed Sir. John Lisle’s wing.


If it were not for Darcy’s centre being close to collapse, it might have seemed that the Lancastrians had turned the battle. Salisbury’s closest aide thought they should withdraw, but Salisbury would have none of it. Instead, even as his army was forced into its first Break Test, he pressed on, obsessed with taking Darcy.


[note - the situation has come to the point that the next loss in the game to either side will determine the winner].


Sir. William Stanley wins the day!

Salisbury was right to believe that the centre would be where it would finally be decided. Sir. William Stanley captured the Lancastrian guns, signalling the end of the battle as the Lancastrians finally lost the will to fight on and retreated in haste.


Fortunately, with Somerset having secured the Lancastrian right flank, Darcy was able to fall back onto that. The Yorkist force was in no fit state to pursue or to risk crashing into the rest of Somersets fresh forces. 


Instead, they moved up into Piggy Longton and secured the hamlet.


Salisbury knew that a counter-attack from Somerset was a certainty, as soon as the bulk of his fresh forces reached the battlefield. He urgently needed the assistance of Lord Trebian - but what of him, could he still be trusted? 


By the time darkness had fallen, Salisbury had already established a number of early warning outposts, sending his light cavalry out on reconnaissance missions. He had no idea where Henry was, it was time to visit Lord Trebian and get to the bottom of things.


At Somerset’s camp, plans were being discussed into the night. Should they immediately strike at Piggy Longton, or should they isolate and deal with Lord Trebian at West Rottington first, before he could join Salisbury. Somerset had already made up his mind.

 

Conclusion.

Well that was as tight as it gets. For most of the game, things were against Darcy and getting worse. Somerset took a long time to get into action and Lancastrian early losses were huge, especially amongst their archers, so much so, that there came an imbalance of missile capability in the game, with the Yorkist archers able to dominate the ground in front of them.


It was not too surprising that Somerset was able to smash through the Yorkist defence amongst the hedges, what was a surprise …. more like a shock really, was the destruction of the mercenary pikemen by Sir. Pervival Tredington’s own shattered wing. 


It re-set the tactical situation on that wing and contributed 6 points to bringing the first Yorkist Break Test closer and when that did happen, quite a few of the Yorkist contingents failed their test, gaining themselves each an extra hit! nibbling away at the offensive capability of the Yorkist army.


If Henry had been captured, then Lord Darcy would have been stripped of his titles. The dynastic change to the loyalty of Piggy Longton would see Lord Trebian become a more powerful and influential figure in the region.


However with Somerset’s army already sitting at the doorstep and King Henry for the moment in safety, all is not likely to be so straight forward for Trebian and the Yorkist ambitions.


What bothered Somerset most was the presence of foreign mercenaries on English soil, was Edward already back in the country? It was a matter of urgency to restore confidence by quickly retaking Piggy Longton and then ensuring that Henry was safely returned to London, before Edward could get there first.


Resource Section

Here is a previous post that discusses the history of Piggy Longton. LINK

http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-battlefield-to-fight-over-often.html


A collection of Piggy Longton related earlier posts. LINK

https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/search/label/Piggy%20Longton

 

My sister webspace COMMANDERS is being re-configured to showcase various figure and boardgame systems that I am enjoying and give a flavour of where current ongoing projects are up to. Link.

https://commanders.simdif.com


41 comments:

  1. Excellent Piggy Longton, the return. A most enjoyable read to start 2022 with a bang.

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    1. Thanks Phil and it looks like this battle has gifted us the next one.

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  2. Great stuff once again Norm - was this a solo game or did you have several players controlling the different factions of the two armies? I am assuming Lord Trebian was unavailable to play, hence the scenario mechanism to exclude him from the action?

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    1. Thanks Keith, it was a solo game. Trebian was sidelined for two reasons. Fistly the battle was to happen in the fields, from an attack direction that could not be from Trebian's West Rottingham estates and if Trebian had joined in, it would have been overwhelming force and all sense of play balance would have been lost.

      I had just painted up the Henry figure and wanted a scenario that had similar properties to the battle of 1st St. Albans in terms of the vulnerability of Henry.

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    1. Thanks Michal, it is taking a life of its own with story and character expansion.

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  4. Excellent narrative setting the scene for the game, and the tabletop looks good with troops and terrain.

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  5. Thanks Peter, certainly a fine game to kick the year off with.

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  6. A splendid narrative of the action Norm!

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  7. Thanks David, I have been lucky to get a series of such good games out this setting.

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  8. A cracking weaving of background and then game action into a narrative: great way to kick off 2022!

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    1. Thanks Ed, a good start to the year, now just to get more of the same :-)

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  9. Hello Norm,

    Another great report to add to the annals of Piggy Longton. The figures and terrain look really great.

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  10. Thanks Shaun, it was very immersive, but like you, the rules tinkerer is coming to the fore and I am sketching out notes for a home brew set. :-)

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    1. lol. All part of the hobby - I find rule tinkering and writing nearly as fun as playing.

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  11. What's not to like? A beautiful period, report, with splendid figures!!

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    1. Thanks Phil, it is the campaign that keeps on giving.

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  12. Great AAR and more impressive figures on eye catching terrain, whats not to like :-)

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  13. That's a lovely looking game Norm! The background fluff was great and once again Piggy Longton has delivered a great scenario and game. I really must try and give these a rules a run out this year.

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    1. Thanks Steve, I particularly enjoyed weaving the background tale into the whole imaginations thing this time around. I like the Sword & Spear in terms of interaction and result, though it can sometimes feel a bit contrived with all of the dice and in this instance, it took a while to play the game as it is on the bigger side for S&S.

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  14. Following the Piggy Longton Chronicles with great interest, Norm. and thanks for a Sword and Spear batrep, also. I'm going to get S and S on the table this year.

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    1. Thanks Steve, I have been surprised just how much storyline has been pulled out of this place - even this battle sets the scene for the next one and introduces new characters.

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  15. Norm, as others have stated, your style brings this contest to life. Gripping narrative and lovely photos. Thank you.

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  16. Thanks Johnathan, I hope we see you 2021 WotR armies gracing your table / blog this year, though have just read on another blog that you will be opening the year with samurai - isn’t it a wonderful hobby!

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  17. Lovely stuff to start the year Norm, splendid and engaging narrative. You have definitely thrown off the yoke of ‘small spaces’ and joined the big league 👍 I only have one problem it makes me want to paint my unstarted WOTR figures but then who is going to do the Napoleonics !!! 😡

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  18. Thanks Matt, I have just stopped the (slow) WotR proiduction line to do a month of ACW, just to keep the plates spinning :-)

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  19. Thanks very much for that Norm - lovely visuals too. Has reminded me that Sword & Spear looked quite an interesting game.

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  20. Hi, glad you enjoyed it. I like the way that Sword & Spear allows units to go and so their individual tactical thing, it doesn’t seem so fixed on the ‘line them up and move forward’ formula that competition rules seem to favour.

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  21. Hi Mike, Happy New Year. Piggy Longton is fast becoming the most dangerous place in England to live :-)

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  22. That’s a real neat slice of the WoTR cake. Your collection is still looking really nice and that table is pretty ace as well. You might end up with a collection of short historical fiction at the end. 😀

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  23. Hi Stew, It does lend itself to that and each time out, it manages to accrue a couple more bases.

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  24. Apologies for the late visit and comment, Norm, but these are beautiful images of WotR gaming. Another period that I love too.

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  25. Thanks Dean, one to collect after your ECW project :-)

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  26. Great looking game, continuing your splendid Piggy longton chronicles,always nice to ser something set in 1471!
    Best Iain

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  27. Thanks Iain, 1471, a most splendid vintage :-)

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  28. Thanks Ray, the numbers are starting to build.

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  29. Felt sure I had left a comment earlier Norm but once again I say thank you for the pleasure this blog brings, Piggy Longton just keeps on giving :)

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  30. Thanks Lee, it has certainly created some very interesting scenarios that I will be keen to revisit as troop numbers build.

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Thanks for taking the time to comment