Britcon 2019

Usually, our penultimate wargames show of the year, Britcon is more of a competition event than a traditional show; but it is local and Steve and I take a participation game along on behalf of the Lance & Longbow Society.  This year our game was a fictional scenario set in the 1470's, with two local families, the Lowthers and Stricklands, coming to blows in an escalating row over manorial rights and boundaries.  The catalyst had been the capture of the Strickland heir by a raiding party of Lowther retainers.  Sir Thomas Strickland has therefore raised a small force and headed north to free his son, Walter.  For his part Sir Hugh Lowther  has also gathered his men together to defend his home.  The two forces meet a few miles south of Penrith near the hamlet of Clifton.  Word of this serious breach of the King's Peace had reached the Warden of the Western March, Richard of Gloucester and he, together with his retinue is heading south to restore order.  This gives the participants just 1 hour to defeat the opposition before Richard arrives.

An overview of the battlefield

Over the weekend we ran the game five times, with the score 3 to 1 in favour of Lowther; though in the majority of cases the result was very close, with both sides suffering very heavy casualties. Many thanks to our volunteers from the general public; Tim, a New Zealand gamer on a touring holiday, Mike, Jim, David and another Tim, who had gamed at university a few decades ago, but not since.  They, together with Andy, Peter, Steve and Will helped the weekend pass quickly, even though the show as a whole was pretty quiet other than the Saturday morning.  Special mention must be given to Dave for providing the essential liquid refreshments and to Lynne, a newcomer to wargaming, who played a couple of games on Sunday.

Fenwick's spears about to attack Conyer's archers

Lowther's archers supported by Pennington's men at arms

The only other game was a Thirty Years War battle, Breitenfeld, using Pike and Shotte rules.

Swedish cavalry commander

Swedes on the left, Imperialists the right

Imperial infantry

Swedish infantry

A mass of Imperial cavalry beginning their advance