Though slightly outside the WRG 7th rules period, the army of Henry VIII has much to offer in the way of a final, tran force to include in the Book III revisions. Initially, Terry Briggs of Florida commissioned me to do this list. I explained to him that probably the army would not be acceptable for tournament play as it is over a generation removed from the cut-off 1485 A.D. date of WRG 7th. That did not deter Terry, however, so I accepted the commission and went to work.

First of all, if this army was to get any play at all, it must by necessity be restricted to the earliest part of Henry's reign, the 1509-1513 period. Secondly, this time frame included the famous Battle of Flodden (Sept. 9, 1513), as well as Henry's first military expedition to France, which culminated in the Battle of the Spurs (Aug. 16, 1513). With these campaigns as the basis of my research and the time restrictions met, I present the following: the army of Henry VIII.

LIST 185: THE ARMY OF HENRY VIII

C-i-C as heaviest armored English troop type @100 1
PA Standard as King's Banner or Banner of St. Cuthbert @30 1
Sub-Generals as heaviest armored English troop type @50 -3
Ally-General Emperor Maximilian as SHK, L/Sh 075 (C) *1
P Standards to accompany Generals @10 All
King's Spears Reg A EHI, 2HCT @10 3-7
Extra to upgrade to SHK, L @9 2-5
Gentlemen Pensioners/Men-at-Arms Reg 8 SHK, L 018 -12
Reduction to reduce SHK to Reg B EHI, 2HCT @-9 (E)All/0
German Men-at-Arms Reg B SHK, L/Sh @20 (C) *2-5
Demi-lances Reg B MC, L @6 6-24
Extra to upgrade from MC to HC @2 -1/2
Prickers/Northern border horse Irr C LC, JLS @4 (E) 12-36
Extra for LC to MC, L @0 -1/2
Extra for MC to HC @2 -1/2
Retinue archers Reg 8 LH19 LB @6 B-16
Yoemen of the Guard Reg 8 HI, 2HCT @7 B-16
English levy billmen Reg C MI, 2HCT @4 24-96
English levy archers Reg C LMI, LB @3 48-192
Reduction of levies to Reg D @-1 (E) 1/3-All
Extra to upgrade levies to Reg B as garrison troops @1 -36
Extra to upgrade levies to HI/LHI @2 -48
Extra to mount levies, guard, retinue on horses @2 Any
Men of the Western Marches Irr C LMI, 2HCW/JLS @3 (E) -24
Almayne (German) Pikemen Reg B MIg P @4 (C) 32-64
Extra to upgrade to HI @2 -1/4
Almayne handgunners Reg C LHI, HG @5 (C) -16
Sailors Reg C LMI, LB @3 (E) -24
Extra to upgrade to LHI @2 Any
English 'Morris-pikes' Reg C MI, P @3
Extra to upgrade to HI @2
Organ guns with Irr C crew of 3 @15
Bombards with Irr C crew of 4 @30 (E)
Archers stakes to cover I elements frontage @2
Caltrops to cover I element frontage @4
Up to 16 Regular command factors @10 Pts
Up to 6 Regular command factors @5 to provide billmen with detachments of archers.
Up to 4 Irregular command factors @25 Pts.

German SHK may use wedge. The restrictions noted * are used if the German Emperor or any German SHK are used. The letter code (E) applies only to armies in mainland England, while (C) applies only to Henry's continental invasion force.

At the beginning of the 16th century, there were very few armored men-at-arms available to Henry, Oman notes only a "few hundreds" (289). He also refers to the fact that the King's Spears and other ranking nobles fought on foot instead of on horseback. Other sources do point out that some nobles did fight mounted, but not in appreciable numbers. Therefore, I have opted to allow Henry's SHK to be either on foot or mounted at the players discretion. The Gentlemen Pensioners represent all other available men-at-arms which the king could hope to entice into campaign'.

The German Emperor Maximilian accompanied Henry for a time in 1513 during the French invasion. To replicate this, the option of having a German ally-general accompanied by German knights is allowed (although I have allowed a larger number than actually participated). If the German Emperor is used, he can command any German (Almayne) troops and must be escorted by the German SHK unit.

The demi-lances and Prickers were the available cavalry which the English maintained during this period. It appears that the demi-lances were often made up of garrison troops (which had a better morale than the average recruit) and as such were limited in use either in France or for local disturbances at home. The Prickers, or Northern border horse, are harder to establish. They fought often as lidht troops, foraging, raiding, etc., but at Flodden, Holinsted stated that the English cavalry commander, Dacre, "Gave a charge on them (the Scots) with his horsemen" (Burne 170), necessitating their being closer order troops. I therefore have allowed the English commander to upgrade some of them to MC and HC.

In England, the longbow remained the weapon of choice even as the gunpowder weapons gained predominance on the continent. Henry VIII, an archer himself, preferred the longbow because of its precedence, familiarity and availability to the English militia.

The favored 'bow and bill' combination had seen numerous tactical utilization during the Wars of the Roses and was considered adequate to deal with traditional Scots invaders as well as European cavalry armies. English levies or militia were called up in emergency situations, yet they trained and fought in units under regular commanders. As Cruikshank noted, English morale in 1513 was "Higher than at any other point in the century" (205), and for this reason, they are rated as Regular C. As stated before, garrison troops had an even higher morale, so the upgrade to Regular B for some is allowed (entire units only!).

At Flodden, numbers of levy contingents did not exhibit high morale, the Lancashire and Cheshire levies routing very early on. For this reasonv the (E) army list must reduce at least 1/3 of its levies to Regular D status. Many of the troops continued to have armor retained from the previous century. For this reason, allowances are made for upgrading to a heavier armor class. Oman also mentions the Men of the Western Marches, but there is really no description of them given. I have opted to assume an Irregular warrior, fighting with traditional 2HCW and JLS. In any event, it makes for an interesting variant!

Also at Flodden, there were from 1000-1200 English marines and sailors present, described by Burne "Sailors and soldiers were almost indistinguishable" (158). For that reason, they are represented by longbowmen, optionally upgraded to LHI. The 'Morris (Moorish)-pikes' are mentioned by Oman as being in the companies of the Duke of Buckingham, Lord Lisle and Lord Abergavenny. These troops carried the German/Burgundian pike instead of the English halberd and were few in number, but an interesting addition to the army.

Henry made use of available artillery, utilizing it in open-field as well as siege situations, though he was still constrained by the transport limitations of his age. Civilians were still used as gunners and drivers. The problem was getting the artillery from place to place. As Dupuy points out, "To move a heavy English cannon, over good ground,... took 23 horses (with the projectiles) carried in wheelbarrows ... or an a man's back. The gunners pace was the measure of a field artillery's speed: the gunner walked beside his gun" (451). Besides the artillery, Henry's transport for the invasion force in France carried with them 5200 bows, 2000 demi-lances, 4000 pikes, 5000 bills and 5000 archer's stakes and casting caltrops! An army duly prepared to meet the chivalry of France.

In a way, this army would be interesting to fight with - not far removed from the Wars of the Roses list, yet offering German mercenaries, numbers of artillery and troops not fielded a short generation before. After having designed this list, I'm half tempted to dust off those boxes of English longbowmen and go to it -- it might just be fun!

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barker, Phil. ARMY LISTS SK. III. WRG, 1982.
Burne, A.H. THE BATTLEFIELDS OF ENGLAND. N.Y.: Barnes & Noble, 1973.
Cruickshank, C.G. ARMY ROYAL. Oxford: Clarendon P, 1969.
, Ernest and Trevor. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MILITARY HISTORY. N.Y.: Harper & Row.
Fuller, J.F.C. A MILITARY HISTORY OF THE WESTERN WORLD VOL. I. N.Y.: De Capo Press.
Morgan, Kenneth. THE OXFORD HISTORY OF BRITAIN. N.Y.: Oxford, 1984.
Oman, Sir Charles. HISTORY OF THE ART OF WAR IN THE 16TH CENTURY N.Y.. E.P. Dutton & Co.
Seymour, Wm. BATTLES IN BRITAIN VOL. I. N.Y.; Hippocrene, 1975.
Smurthwaite, David. BATTLEFIELDS OF BRITAIN. London: Webb & Baue 1984.
Wise, Terence. THE WARS OF THE ROSES. London: Osprey, 1986.