Mortimer's Cross

The purpose of this article is to provide enough information for readers to play a small battle from the War of the Roses, using any of four rules sets. As the same time, this will provide a side-by-side comparison of how each rules set reproduces the actual battle.

Historical Background

For those of you who don't play Kingmaker, here is the historical situation. Lancastrians - King Henry VI, Queen Margaret, Edward (Prince of Wales), and the Tudors. Yorkists - Richard (Duke of York), and sons Edward, George (Clarence), and Richard (Gloucester). In 1460, the Yorkists captured King Henry and the Lancastrians killed Richard, so Queen Margaret was leading her faction, and Edward led his as the new Duke of York.

Much of the Yorkist power base was located in the Midlands, and in the "Welsh Marches," the English counties adjacent to Wales. In 1461 the Lancastrians launched two campaigns. Queen Margaret would attempt to break Yorkist power in the Midlands, while the Tudors advanced out of Wales to break Yorkist power in the Welsh Marches. While Warwick (the Kingmaker) held off Margaret, Edward collected his supporters from the Marches and formed up to wait for the enemy at the crossroads town of Mortimer's Cross. The Tudors approached from the south, determined to seize the crossroads and break Edward's army.

The Forces Involved

The Yorkist army consisted primarily of local men (Shire Levy) from the surrounding area. The Lancastrian army was basically Welsh, with a large contingent of Irish, and some French and Breton mercenaries. Each army was organized into three battles, each with its own commander.

Lancastrian Army

Main Battle - Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, Commander
Knights, Men at Arms, Welsh Longbowmen, Welsh Spearmen, Shire Longbowmen, Shire Levy

Vanguard - Owen Tudor
Welsh Spearmen, Shire Longbowmen, Shire Levy

Rear Guard - James Butler, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde
Irish Kems, French and Breton Crossbowmen and Spearmen, Irish Gallowglasses

Yorkist Army

Main Battle - Edward, Duke of York, Commander
Knights and Men-at-Arms, Retinue Longbowmen, Shire Longbowmen, Shire Levy

Vanguard - Sir William Herbert
Shire Longbowmen and Shire Levy

Rear Guard - Sir Walter Deveraux
Shire Longbowmen and Shire Levy

Game Terrain

The game map is shown on a grid. Here is table of scales and rules to determine just what size the map grid represents. The hills have gentle slopes and are covered with woods. The river is unfordable.

Map of Mortimer's Cross Terrain

General Rules

The knights and men-at-arms may start the game mounted or dismounted, but may not change their status during the course of the battle. The Retinue and Welsh archers ahve stakes. The Yorkists set up first, the Lnacastrians move first.

Optional historical rule: All units must spend the whole battle dismounted, and noen of the archer units have stakes.

Set-specific Rules

In WRG, each army has one general, EHC, C, lance, mace, sword, order. Optionally, if both players agree, each army can also have two subgenerals, EHC, C, etc.

In DBM, Edward and Pembroke = generals, Owen Tudor, Herbert, and Deveraux = subgenerals, and Butler = allied general. DO NOT use the rule for allied generals becoming unreliable on the first roll.

In WRG, Armati, and Medieval Tactica, Yorkist units are allowed to set up in the second deployment area on the Yorkist right. In DBM this is covered under the ambush rules.

Mortimer's Cross: WRG = town; DBM = Built-Up Area; Armati, Medieval Tactica = decoration. The roads are optional.

Victory Conditions: DBM, Armati, Medieval Tactica: as per rules. WRG: When half of opposing army units are routing, below half strength, or off the board. Yorkists cannot win if Edward is dead.

Army Lists

WRG 1420-1700

WRG 1420-1700 Lancastrians

Figures	Troops	Type and Armament
1	General	EHC, C, Lance, Mace, Sword, order
6*	Men-at-arms	EHC, C, Lance, Mace, Sword, order
6*	Men-at-arms	EHC, C, Lance, Mace, Sword, order
6*	Men-at-arms	EHC, C, Lance, Mace, Sword, order
16	Retinue Archers	MI, C, Longbow, Sword, order
24	Welsh	MI, D, Spear, Knife, close order
16	Shire Archers	LI, D, Longbow, Sword, order
16	Shire Archers	LI, D, Longbow, Sword, order
16+	Shire Levy	LI, D, Bill, Knife, order
16+	Shire Levy	LI, D, Bill, Knife, order
12	Irish Gallowglasses	LI, D, Javelin, 2H Sword, order or open order
12	Irish Kerns	LI, D, Javelin, Shield, order or open order
20	French Mercenaries	MI, M, Crossbow, Sword, order
*If the MAA start the game dismounted, they may form a single unit of 18. They would then be: EHI, C, Mace, Sword, order
+The Shire Levy may start the game combined into a single unit of 32.

WRG 1420-1700 Yorkists

Figures	Troops	Type and Armament
1	General	EHC, C, Lance, Mace, Sword, order
8*	Men-at-arms	EHC, C, Lance, Mace, Sword, order
8*	Men-at-arms	EHC, C, Lance, Mace, Sword, order
8*	Men-at-arms	EHC, C, Lance, Mace, Sword, order
16	Retinue Archers	MI, C, Longbow, Sword, order
16	Shire Archers	LI, D, Longbow, Sword, order
16	Shire Archers	LI, D, Longbow, Sword, order
16	Shire Archers	LI, D, Longbow, Sword, order
16+	Shire Levy	LI, D, Bill, Knife, order
16+	Shire Levy	LI, D, Bill, Knife, order
*If the MAA start the game dismounted, they may form a single unit of 24. They would then be: EHI, C, Mace, Sword, order
+The Shire Levy may start the game combined into a single unit of 32.

Medieval Tactica Lancastrian

#	Unit	Size	Usage	FV	Melee	Missile	Morale	Skirmisher
1	Knights	16	Heavy Cav.	6	Lance	-	+3	-
1	Ret. Archers	16	Longbow	3-6	Various	Longbow	+1	0
1	Welsh	24	Heavy Inf.	4-6	Spear	-	0	-
2	Shire Archers	16	Longbow	3-6	Various	Longbow	+1	0
1	Borders	24	Heavy Inf.	3-6	Spear	-	0	-
1	Kerns	16	Skirmish	-	Various	Javelin	-	0
1	French	16	Skirmish	-	Various	Crossbow	-	0

This army has six break units plus two skirmish units. It will break if three break units are eliminated. Army must form up into three battles, with at least two units per battle.

Medieval Tactica Yorkists

#	Unit	Size	Usage	FV	Melee	Missile	Morale	Skirmisher
1	Knights	16	Heavy Cav.	6	Lance	-	+3	-
1	Men-At-Arms	16	Heavy Cav.	5-6	Lance	-	+1	-
1	Ret. Archers	16	Longbow	3-6	Various	Longbow	+1	0
3	Shire Archers	16	Longbow	3-6	Various	Longbow	+1	0
1	Borders	24	Heavy Inf.	3-6	Spear	-	0	-

This army has seven break units. It will break if at least four break units are eliminated. The army must form three battles, with at least two units per battle.

Armati
Lancastrians

# of Units	Type	FV	Protection	Weapons
1	KN	6[2]0	+3	Lances
3	LB	2[1]1	+1	Longbows
1	FT (Welsh)	5[1]1	+1	Spears
1	FT	5[1]1	+1	Bills
2	SI (Irish)	3[1]2	+2	Javelins
2	SI (French)	2[1]1	+2	Crossbows

Yorkists

# of Units	Type	FV	Protection	Weapons
1	KN	6[2]0	+3	Lances
1	DMA*	6[1]1	+2	Various
4	LB	2[1]1	+1	Longbows
1	FT	5[1]1	+1	Bills

CR: H:5, L:2, BP:3, Init: 5 for both armies.
Mixed terrain: 2 selections each
*DMA have a unit BP of 3

DBM
Lancastrians and Yorkists

Troops	Type	Lancastrian	Yorkist
Men-At-Arms	Reg KN(I)	3	5
Retinue Archers	Reg Bw(S)	5	5
Welsh Spearmen	Irreg Ax(X)	5	-
Shire Archers	Irreg Bw(O)	7	13
Shire Billmen	Irreg Bd(I)	8	8
Irish Gallowglass	Irreg Ps(S)	6	-
Irish Kerns	Irreg Ps(I)	6	-
French Crossbowmen	Irreg Bw(O)	6	-

Comments

Historically, the Irish charged the Yorkist right, but were eventually thrown back. Troops from the Yorkist right and center attacked the enemy battles in their respective left flanks. The Lancastrians were broken, and Edward marched on London to be crowned King Edward IV.

The more complex the rules, the more flexibility they provide in representing the numbers, armor, and weapons of the various troop types. DBM provides some more flexibility, and WRG the most. The simpler rules do not have enough "unit definition" to accommodate both the Kems and the Gallowglasses in the Irish forces. But the simpler rules are easier to play.

WRG and Armati are limited in how they portray medieval organization and command. DBM is better, and Medieval Tactica is right on. You have to set unit sizes when using WRG, and battle sizes when using DBM. It is hard to match the Armati list to a historical army, since the units in Armati are more symbolic. I could not use the actual DBM scale of 200 to 1000 men per stand, so I just matched the number of figures to those used in other rules.

Armati makes no distinction between Shire and Retinue archers and Medieval Tactica makes only a small distinction. Yet a contemporary source considered one Retinue archer worth two Shire Archers. Consider changing the Retinue FV to 4 6 in Medieval Tactica and 3 [1] 2 in Armati.

This is not a balanced battle. The Lancastrians must advance and survive the Yorkist missile advantage to bring their superior numbers to bear. And who lurks in the woods?

Credits

The detailed information on troop numbers, types, and dispositions is taken from estimates in the article "Mortimer's Cross, 1461" by John Barratt, in the pilot issue of Battlefields, a new magazine from Partizan Press, which I highly recommend. Battlefields of Britain by David Smurthwaite and the Osprey book The War of the Roses by Wise and Embleton both have some information on the terrain and the progress of the battle, but they both place the forces rotated 90 degrees, with the Lancastrians approaching from the west, and the Yorkists defending in front of the river. This is possible, given the limited information available, but it is not likely.

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© Copyright 1996 by Terry Gore

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