The Barons' War 2 - 28mm Medieval Miniatures

End of Day 6 Update - Falkes de Breauté sighted & a new Stretch Goal is available
almost 4 years ago – Mon, May 04, 2020 at 10:35:29 AM

Hello and welcome to our end of day 6 round-up where we have Falkes de Breauté to share with you who is so fresh the putty is probably still wet. :D 

During the First Barons' War as an unquestioning subject of King John, he earned both the title of the king's steward and the hate of baronial and monastic leaders alike. In November 1215, under orders of the king, de Breauté captured Hanslope, Buckinghamshire, a castle of William Mauduit, and soon afterwards he captured Bedford Castle belonging to William de Beauchamp. In reward John allowed him to keep it.  As one of John's four captains of the loyalist army when Prince Louis of France invaded de Breauté was tasked with holding Oxford against the baronial forces. You can read more about him in an update on our first Kickstarter.

Armed with a horrendous falchion variant called a 'Crusader Chopper', which is our nod to his story about his scythe, this is the sort of weapon we think a man like Falkes would be armed with!

Falkes will come mounted on a barded horse and with a heater shield, and as we passed his stretch goal target earlier today he is now available to add to your pledge for £5.  I must say I am really pleased about this as he is one of the characters from this period I really wanted to be able to release. 

With King John's bad boy Baron now unlocked it means it is time for another Stretch Goal.  We have been asked quite a few times now to add command group figures so with this in mind the next pack for us to unlock is a Sergeant with Banner & Musician (1).

In other news, Foot Knights with Two-Handed Weapons 2,  Mounted Sergeants with Spears and Prince Louis sculpts have all arrived with Footsore Miniatures & Games where they are currently being made into masters, I am hoping to be able to share examples of each next week.

I had also planned on finishing another 'Did You Know?' today, unfortunately, however lovely it is to be in isolation with my kids as I get to spend a lot more time with them, today was just one of those days...

~Andy

Did You Know 21 - Why did the Barons rebel starting the Civil War? Bad King John of course!
almost 4 years ago – Mon, May 04, 2020 at 01:27:55 AM

By the time of his death in 1216, it is said that John was regarded as the worst King ever to have sat on England's throne. It is said he was treacherous, tyrannous, cowardly* and cruel a pretty damning statement for most to consider with only a passing familiarity with the period, or only aware of the Disney lion version where he goes by the moniker 'Bad King John'.  

The truth is the reality of John's rule was brutal, leaving us with the picture of a King who was systematically aggressive, violent and arbitrary. His ability and willingness to provide justice to those who sought it was, as far as the King was concerned, a tool for exercising his power to advance the men he trusted and fend off those he did not. 

Some key examples of his notorious actions: 

• His betrayal of his elder brother, Richard the Lionheart, by trying to usurp the throne while Richard was on crusade.  
• He extorted more money from his English subjects than any king since the Norman Conquest.  
• He took prisoners and hostages, several of whom he starved to death. His nephew and rival, Arthur of Brittany, was murdered on his direct order. 
• John's harrying of the Briouze family, and his imprisonment and starvation of Matilda de Briouze and her eldest son. 
• John was able to capture Belvoir Castle by threatening to have its lord (and his prisoner), William d'Aubigné, starved to death if his men did not surrender.  

One of John's favoured tools was disseisin the act to repossession of a subject's lands. Disseisin was indeed a severe blow to a persons' prestige and social status, but more importantly, to the victim, the financial consequences were crippling. For example in 1215 the houses on the land of Henry of Braybrooke were on King John's orders wholly demolished, while a year later order was given that all the properties of William of Hastings were to be wasted, his demesnes destroyed and his castle pulled down.  In both cases, it caused the loss of all unmovable assets, the complete devastation of all property and the ruination of both men.

The King's threat of violence had also become a standard tool of administration, threatened as punishment for relatively trivial offences that merely inconvenienced the kings' household: 

'In 1201 the men of Gloucester had to pay forty marks to recover the king's goodwill, lost because they did not provide him with the lampreys he had ordered for his visit in late October.' 

In 1205, the King ordered Reginald of Cornhill to buy wine for him and send it to Nottingham, warning him to "know that if the wines are not good, we will betake ourselves against you for it". 

Clearly John's government seems to have expected or even wanted, to arouse fear regardless of how trifling the actual offences caused were.

It is safe to conclude that due to his actions, John's subjects rose up in arms against him and demanded reform, forcing the King to commit to Magna Carta, of which, Clause 39 is perhaps the most famous and sums up exactly what was taking place in his Kingdom: 

'No free man is to be arrested, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any other way ruined, nor will we go against him or send against him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.'

In other words, it set out the principle that the King should be bound by the law and could not merely attack his subjects as and when he pleased.

When he rejected the charter only a few weeks after signing the result was chaos and civil war. The rebellious English barons** offered his crown to the son of the King of France, Louis, who invaded and occupied half of the country, including London, within a year. John died with his Kingdom in flames and his reputation deservedly in tatters.

*I don't believe it is true that John antagonised elements of the baronage because he lacked in martial prowess, or that the king was 'Softsword', (a coward) as the chroniclers would have us believe. His reluctance to commit to pitched battles was entirely conventional in an age when all leaders preferred to avoid them – John's arch-enemy, Philip Augustus, King of France shied away from a setpiece battle at least as frequently as his protagonist. We should not mistake John's military caution for cowardice.  In his defence (no pun intended), John prosecuted siege warfare with the sort of energy, determination and success that is usually only spoken of regarding his father Henry II and brother Richard the Lionheart.

**Even though chronicle sources allege that the whole of the baronage united against John, this was not the case – not least because there would have been no possibility of civil war without two sides trying to resist the other. By the spring of 1215, the estimation is that of England’s 197 baronies only 39 were in active opposition to the king, with perhaps the same number acting in his support.

Hello on Day Five! 😊
about 4 years ago – Thu, Apr 30, 2020 at 04:15:20 AM

Good morning everyone and welcome to day five, I hope everyone is safe and well.  This morning I have more photos from Paul to share with you, he has completed the Foot Knights with Two-Handed Weapons, the Mounted Sergeants with Spears and we also have a work in progress of Prince Louis, the self-styled King of England.

First up are the new knights and these guys look the business, they are going to be both very hard to move from a defended position and devastating in attack if the crossbowmen don't get them first!

Next, we have the mounted sergeants with spears a nice alternative to the sergeants with hand weapons.

Last of all (but not least) is the work in progress of Prince Louis the leader of the rebel barons who was almost successful with his invasion.  We have chosen to style him wearing his prefered kettle helm, which it was said gave him improved vision during a battle.  He will be mounted on a barded horse and have a heater style shield.

Besides working on these great new sculpts we are currently putting together a number of example 500pts army list to give you some ideas for force composition, we will be sharing these in future updates. 

We would like to end by saying it is great to see this project continuing to move forward, both of us are still blown away by the fact we have almost reached the total we raised by the end of the first Kickstarter with still ten days to go.  This is phenomenal support and we are looking at further ways this can be rewarded.

~Andy & Paul (Hobday & Hicks)

Creating a Retinue for our Barons' War Skirmish Game
about 4 years ago – Wed, Apr 29, 2020 at 05:07:08 AM

I asked George Asling to put together a brief overview of our thoughts behind force building for the Barons' War skirmish game, as he built the lists, which I share with you in this update.  Before we get into it a point about the use of this term 'skirmish', I am using it in conjunction with these rules to denote a game that isn't 'rank and file' with mass blocks of troops manoeuvring on an open-ish battlefield.  This game is played out using groups of warriors in loose formation on a tabletop with plenty of terrain.  I just wanted to clarify this point and will cover it in more detail later.  Over to George...

There is one unavoidable truth about the forces deployed by the various factions in medieval Europe and especially during the time of the Barons' Wars, and that is they are all pretty similar in terms of armament and tactics. These similarities create a fascinating dilemma when creating 'factions' for a tabletop game, how do you add flavour and individuality to something that, at first glance, lacks both qualities?

Deciding on a skirmish game very early on was a huge boon when answering this question. As the focal point of a typical force is a baron, knight or another martially skilled individual, their character and leadership style is key to bringing flavour to your retinue in The Barons' War game. With this in mind, the next logical step was to provide choice, and lots of it, for the player to find a leader that fits their play style or theme and build a force around. You may choose a headstrong, brute of a character to lead from the front cleaving enemies in two or a more tactical leader who excels at controlling the field and ensuring the right group of warriors hit the right enemy at the right time. The myriad of named characters available give an excellent base to start from; however, covering every baron or knight or appealing to everyone's playstyle is a tall order. A system is in place which allows the player to build a hero that is worthy of their retinue's adoration and respect by selecting armour, weapons and traits to suit. 

The leader itself is but one part of the command group at the centre of your retinue. This hero is accompanied by any number of retainers that all bring different skills and abilities to the table, from a bannerman that aids in delivering clear commands to your retinue to a priest that can bless your actions and hopefully, God will favour you. The player may decide to add a bodyguard to jump in the way of that fatal blow or a musician to bolster morale and make sure orders are heard further afield.

The rank and file of the retinue have been divided up into four categories, experienced, regular, irregular and green. The elite fighters such as knights and sergeants will fall into the experienced bracket. These warriors are the most disciplined and battle-hardened available, their prowess on the field is unmatched, and the chances of them fleeing a fight are slim. This level of training comes at a price, however, and a group of experienced soldiers carries a hefty points cost. Regular and irregular will form the backbone of most retinues, and these categories are populated with warriors such as spearmen, billmen, archers and crossbowmen. Lacking the training and discipline of a knight but still grizzled veterans in their own right, they can hold their own in combat and will only flee in the most desperate situations. Finally, we have the green category, mainly made up of peasants, the levy, pressed into fighting by their duty to their lord. Fighting for their lives they pack a sting so are not to be dismissed lightly, but when the fight gets thick, they tend not to hang around very long. 

When it comes to numbers, there are no limits on how big or small a group of warriors can be other than the points allowance of the game. One thing to bear in mind when the player is building their force is no matter how large a group is they will only get one activation per round. Tying up points into a large group of knights may seem reasonable at first, but they will soon run out of steam and be left open to attack. A typical group is usually around 3-7 men, but the player has the choice to go as big or as small as they wish.

Across both barons and companions, one thing that medieval Europeans were not lacking were instruments of death. A design goal from the beginning was to represent these weapons and allow them to bring character and tactics to their wielders. Spears, for example, have the advantage of reach, preventing an enemy carrying a shorter weapon from counter-attacking. On the other hand, a two-handed axe has considerable potential for damage but is slow to swing, the bearer will pass their damage roll easily but will always attack second against a lighter weapon. Bows are quick to fire and have a range advantage, whereas crossbows are slower to reload but pack a bigger punch against armoured warriors. The level of training and social standing will dictate what weapon options are available to each warrior type but rest assured that there is a wide variety of choice available to all troop types.

An example of all the above would be the humble sergeant who can be recruited in two main varieties, foot and mounted. Each one of these varieties has four armour options available to them and an average of 5 weapon choices each. That is roughly 40 different combinations for just a single sergeant!

Not only is there the standard options available you also have the opportunity to augment a group of warriors with add ons like adding a sergeant to a group of spearmen to keep them in line and boost morale or a priest to ensure God is with you which provides other advantages.

 In this update we have only touched on the warriors available specific to the First Barons War, the list is ever-growing however, including but not limited to post Hastings factions in Britain, the Anarchy and the Crusades for example.

Below is a sample 500 point army list that can be made with the contents of the rebel pledge to give you an idea of how a force looks. 500 points is an excellent sized introductory force, but the game can grow to 750 or even 1000 points once you become familiar with the rules. Currently, we are regularly playing with 1000 points.

Polite Notice: Any rules discussed above are subject to change. The game is in an alpha state and playtesting is ongoing, I'm not precious about rules and if something doesn’t work or doesn’t provide a fun gaming experience once you have given it a try could be removed, improved or changed.

~Andy

Last Update at the End of Day 3 - a quick round-up 😃
about 4 years ago – Tue, Apr 28, 2020 at 03:01:33 PM

As my day three here in the UK comes to a close we have managed to unlock the Mounted Sergeants with Spears making them available to add to your pledge for an additional £7 and added Falkes de Breauté as our next stretch goal. Thank you, everyone!

Falkes de Breauté was an Anglo-Norman soldier, possibly a mercenary, of dubious parentage with no particular aristocratic standing. Described mostly as the illegitimate child of a Norman knight and a concubine, possibly a knightly family from the village of Bréauté. Most chroniclers describe him as from common stock often referring to him by his first name which was derived from the scythe he once used to murder someone as a sign of contempt. You can read a bit more about him here, he was someone I wanted to include previously but we didn't have the opportunity.

Foot Knights with Two-Handed Weapons 2

Even though they are not completely finished Paul has shared with us an image of the foot knights we unlocked as I went to bed on day one.

I particularly like the chap on the far left with the two-handed axe and already have plans for him in my retinue, the guy next to him taking a swing is looking pretty deadly too.  In all fairness, I'm not sure I would want to mess with any of them!  These should be finished shortly and when they are I'll add an image on the main page in the pack list.  Paul also let me know that Little John and Will Scarlet are well underway alongside Prince Louis himself, I will share pics as soon as I have something to show you.

FAQ

I have been asked the following questions a couple of times over the last few days, so as well as adding them to the FAQ I have tacked them on the end of this roundup, below.

First time using Kickstarter. How and when do I select the packs I want?

After the Kickstarter finishes for everyone who has pledged an area will become available which you will have access to. Inside there you will be able to choose the packs you have pledged for. We will also be adding the decal sheets, extra shields and other sundries in here to include in your pledge if you choose to do so.

I just want to clarify something that I may not have made very clear all packs will come with shields, bases and weapons including spears where needed.

First time using Kickstarter. How and when do I pay for postage and packaging?

Postage and Packaging will also be charged in the pledge manager.  You can add an amount for postage to your pledge now if you choose or you can wait until the campaign ends and pay your postage in the pledge manager.

If you have any other questions regardless of what they are please ask I really am here to help in any way I can.

~Andy