PROJECT LEWES

  I think this is the last of the Rebel cards - more a Character Card than a Command Card albeit that this Bishop of Worcester is capable of commanding a unit he is attached to. I decided for the first time to helmet my character, but try to imagine (as I must) an older man beneath the great helm - late sixties most probably. Both of my armoured bishop models are more physically agressive (weilding weapons) than I imagine either man to have been. I see no reason why they wouldn't take the field; however, and would need serious protection.

  I have just finished reading Battle Song by Ian Ross, an histoirical fiction published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2013. I tend not to make time for reading but whilst home for a spell of leave I decided to immerse myself in this narrative which I must have bought about two years back. Including historical afterword, the hard back edition runs to 404 pages and tells the tale of Adam de Norton, a squire on the tournament circuit with his master Rober de Dunstanville who both become followers and soldiers in the service of Simon de Montfort. The story culminates at the battle of Lewes. It looks like it's the first in a trilogy, followed by War Cry and the King's Enemy . I really enjoyed this piece of escapism and of course, it's right in my field of interst. I do highly recommend it to anyone who likes fiction and this period. Like so many books of it's kind it could do with a movie treatment but then whoever takes it up wouild most likely make a pig's ear of it....

  Battle of Lewes by Andy Gammon Before getting into the meat of this post, I'd like to refer you to the following website by illustrator Andy Gammon whose image I have included above:  https://andyggammon.myportfolio.com/projects His illustration is clearly of Lord Edward crashing into the London Militia, leading the vast cavalry host of the Royal army. *** Alright, onto my considerations for purchasing figures for my Royal army. I've not yet finished the rebels but they are all over bar the shouting. I will be retiring within the next 12 months and expect this and my other projects to start seriously accelerating toward their end-state ... and not before time. As is universally recorded, the Royal host was seriously larger than the rebels in both cavalry especially and in overall numbers. Some have it as high as twice as large as the rebel army. In figure terms I had previously resigned myself to having a number of figures half as large again as my rebel army. My rebel army ...

I know very little about Henry of Sandwich but it's not for want of trying. He features as little more than an historical footnote across the internet, known for rebelling against the King with Simon de Montfort and for being Bishop of London, but little else. Our Bishop was witness to the Inspeximus of Magna Carta in 1265 when King Henry promised (for the third time) to abide by its provisions. The difference this time being that the King did so following his defeat at Lewes and thus did so under sufference. Whilst on the one hand, one might expect one of the witnesses would be the bishops assembled (eight others) so this might not necessarily signify the Bishop's political affiliations. On the other hand, he was excommunicated by the Papal Legate following immediately after the rebellion failed at Evesham, thus he was clearly identified as having been in rebellion himself. Of the lay signatories listed are Simon de Montfort Earl of Leicester, Hugh Despenser Justiciar of Engla...

  My last and I feel my best command card is of course the King himself, Henry III. His was actually the first of the three illustrations I drew for the Royalists after two previous failed attempts. I find the artistic process unpredictable. Lord knows how anyone makes a living out of it. Becasue he is the commanding general he gets a command rating of 9 (very good) and three bonus attacks for any unit he is attached to. After all, he's the bloody King ... right? I went for a low key Special Rule (apart from Household) of Rex Non Potest Peccare - "The King can do no wrong." It will basically (in all likelihood) remove the chances of a blunder when issuing commands. Anyway, that's about it for command cards. I had a lot of enjoyment creating them and hope you like them. 

  I really can't imagine where I got this creative burst from but after a year of procratinating and avoiding these cards and illustrations I've just been seized with enthusiasm. This is my imagining of the King's brother, Richard Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans. He has command of the central ward. Apart from his division breaking on the day and his having been ignominiously bailed up in the windmill, we have not a lot to go on for what attributes he might have had on the field. I've decided to make him cautious in command. He was known to have rebelled against his brother previously but clearly stood by him during the Montfortian rebellion - possibly due more to anmimosity toward Lord Simon than devotion to his brother. Perhaps he was present more for form's sake and appearances than heartfelt enthusiasm? I've taken the Cautious Special Rule from Black Powder commander attribute options.

  Thus far, I have done very little about the Royal army at Lewes so this is an important step in the right direction. Unlike the Rebels, the Royalist army only has three wards or divisions and therefore only three commanders. The right ward (almost all of the cavalry) is under the command of Lord Edward 'Longshanks', Prince of Wales. I wanted him to look angry so I hope the drawing conveys a menacing young Prince. I've given him a Special Rule of 'Hoptspur' which more or less drives him and units in his command to advance to contact. I've also tried to make returning from off-table more difficult given the historical pursuit of the Londoners on the day. I haven't explained the Household Special Rule on the card. This allows him to ignore his first casualty result by swapping to a foot figure - assuming his horse is incapacitated instead and he continues to fight dismounted. I'm giving that rule to Commanders and mounted bodyguard units.

  Hopefully you find this rendition of Lord Simon de Montfort convincing as a champion and rebel leader. I decided to give him an external padded arming cap and you can imagine he has a cervellier beneath his maille coif. As the commanding general I gave him a command rating of 9 and a bonus attack rating of 3. If I ever adopt the Conquest of Champions supplement to fighting the baronial wars, I would give Lord Simon less personal attacks at Lewes due to his leg injury on the day. These bonus attacks in my view can combine both personal, physical contributions to melee but also the inspiration within the ranks felt by soldiers finding their leader and hero fighting by their side. I also decided to borrow the special rule Decisive from the  Black Powder  wargame rules without alteration. I think he deserves it. I'm now ready to move onto the three royalist command cards and drawings - the King, Richard and Prince Edward. I may also develop cards for my two Bishops and bo...

  I am perhaps best pleased with my representation of Robert de Vere from my first four command drawings and cards. I must be becasue I've started signing them - such vanity. I don't have much of an imagination and I have to copy from other images which I merge. The happy coincidence is that I'm not very accurate so when I copy a face from another sketch it takes on a whole new look without even having to try. Essentially they are original creations. I'd suggest that Robert de Vere was near his prime at Lewes and actively fought throughout the Montfortian campaign. This is a serious man. I have nevertheless kept his bonus attacks at two as a ward commander. I invented the special rule Hold Your Lines as I am mindful he holds the left wing of the army and presides over the London militia who famously faced off the host of royalist horse. As I've posted previously, we do not know how long the lines held before they were carried off. I've decided to insert some ch...

  I've been active on generating more command cards for this project which has required revisiting my drawing skills, such as they are. I admit to being the least satisfied with this image personally but those whom I have shown it disagree - so who am I to judge? I am giving my ward commanders a command rating of 8 as a default. Whilst Gilbert was very young and thuis relatively inexperienced, his social status as an Earl leads me to surmise he would have been listened to by the common man and thus obeyed by the common soldiery. I'm only giving my ward commanders 2 bonus attacks to units they are attached to, but three for the army commanders. I invented the special rule, 'Brother Thomas' and I'm going to remodel my command vignetes and will include the younger Thomas de Clare on his brothers base. Each sketch I draw I'm trying to something a little different. So far one holds a mace, this one a helm and the other two a sword in different attitudes. 

It has been my practice in recent times to generate unit and command cards for my wargames. I find that the statistics and special rules together with helpful reminders for the various attributes are invaluable in aiding how I play. Anything which lessens the number of times I reach for the rulebook is helpful in speeding up play. When it comes to the mid-thirteenth century we really have precious little in the way of images for the actors of history. Aristocratic seals are the last word in how our protagonists were arrayed for battle but their faces are unknown to us. Very few monumental (funerary) effigies survive to give us basic facial impressions beyond a handful of senior nobles and the royal family. Those of the barons often have damaged faces. Of course, we can't be certain if the monumental effigies even of kings bear any real likeness to the deceased but we can at least glean their style of appearance. King Henry III, for instance seems to have worn his wavy hair flowing ...

Bow & Blade: LEWES Just yesterday (March 12) I was browsing my podcast list in Spotify to see what was new amongst my favourites and I saw that in November last year the gents on the Bow & Blade podcast broadcasted on the battle of Lewes - see above link. This was particularly gratifying for me as they did so in a  response from a request I had posted them some time ago and I received several mentions ... 'Greg from Australia'. I was quite surprised and chuffed. If you don't do Spotify, the episode has been listed on the Medievalist website:  Medievalist: Bow & Blade battle of Lewes  and I won't repeat much of what they wrote. For those of you who might not be aware, the hosts are Professors Kelly DEVRIES and Michael LIVINGSTON. Michael left and Kelly right Whilst neither gentlemen profess to be 13th century specialists, they discussed the battle at some length and it prompted me to give some deeper consideration of Simon de Montfort's dispositions for b...

  Any type of missile or bow armed fighting men are not recorded as having been present at Lewes in significant numbers or having made any significant impact. Nevertheless, they were sure to have been present if only to enabled harassment of an enemy force before the large bodies of spear and mounted soldiery came to grips with one another. There is every reason to assume that crossbow armed foot would have been included in the general call-to-arms on either side and so it is that I have elected to furnish my rebel reserve ward with a small unit. I love these sculpts from Crusader Miniatures (pack MCF031) which I ordered through Northstar Miniatures . They were no-fuss constructions - very little clean up needed and just glue in the crossbows. I chose of round off one of the more peaked helmets through filing just to add variety. I don't often get to build small units so this was a rapid treat for me. Next up ... some spear armed foot.  

  I seem to be forever saying , 'these figures have been a long time coming' and so they have. I think I finished painting them several months ago but only finished the bases today. Of all the shots to cover this post with, I decided my top-down view would best shop my injured horse with that gorgeous smile. For the visitors of this blog (as opposed to the followers), this posting is of the last half of my Reserve Ward knights of the rebel army at Lewes which I am also fielding as Simon de Montfort's bodyguard. Above is my depiction of William de Vescy charging in alongside Walter de Colville. All of these figures as with the rest of the Bodyguard unit are Crusader Miniatures and Gripping Beast (pretty sure). I'm pretty well wedded now to my lances of thicker wire and home made grapers. I have Humphrey de Bohun with an improvised red difference on his family blazon (arms) and thought to give him a brass finished helm. In the centre is Robert de Ros and the leftmost in...

It's been a long time since I advanced this army and painted some knights but here they are - at least half of the unit. The miniatures are a combination of Griping Beast and Crusader Miniatures - my two favourite manufacturers for knights of this era. These five gentlemen represent the first half of the Reserve Ward knights for Simon de Montfort's rebel army. It is the last unit of ten knights I have to paint for this army so I suppose it represents a benchmark. The second half of the unit is already underway. I don't normally paint half-units but as I wanted to represent them fighting from horseback as well as on foot, ten figures in heraldry is quite enough to be getting on with at one time. I am representing these knights on foot as well as horseback becasue I want them to be capable of acting as Simon de Montfort's bodyguard. As such, I've developed a Special Rule for Hail Caesar rules and for the time being I'm calling it 'Household'. Quite simply,...

A happy coincidence is Jason Kingsley's latest posting on YouTube of his experiment with the proto-great helm. This constitutes another valuable piece of experimental analysis  in broadening our understanding of armour in the high middle ages. A take-away for me is an appreciation of how mounted commanders of foot soldiers are more likely to have been armoured. Leading a body of spearmen (for example) a commander has an advantage on horse back - to gain a greater view and appreciation of the tactical environment from the height advantage. The soldiers would be looking to the leader for commands and direction and he is more easily seen - his gestures and voice being elevated above the ranks. Conversely, a commander of foot cannot see nearly as well from behind or within a great helm. He also cannot hear or be heard as well. The sensory deprivation and impact on communication seems likely to me to have seen adoption of a great helm in this role as a last resort under extreme circumst...

  I'm soon to commence building and painting a bodyguard unit of knights for my Rebel army and for this I have a beautiful selection of 28mm mounted figures and their dismounted equivalents from Crusader Miniatures . The interesting feature of the dismounted knight sculpts is that all of them are depicted fighting on foot and wearing the iconic great helm. These figures look fantastic but I do not believe they are accurately portraying how knights fought on foot, so I thought to put up a short discussion on a subject you won't often find. It really cuts to the purpose and use of the great helm in this period. Perhaps one of the reasons for a lack of discussion on the subject and likely one of the contributing factors in motivating figure sculptors is the scant evidence we have specifically for the mid-thirteenth century. Nevertheless, there are consistencies in development of helmet design preceding, following and cutting through the period which enables a clear and logical ana...

One of the several difficulties I face in returning after so long to my research is my own lack of notes on the subject. I have several books on Lewes and they are all boxed and in storage (unhelpful). I have created documents in the past but they are often thin on citations - which of course is my own fault - requiring me to go over ground I must have covered before. This is very much like genealogy except I'm not related to anyone. I have to be certain the names refer to the men actually at the battle on the day. This can be tricky as men had a habit of naming their sons after themselves for several generations - so I need to make sure I am including the right Robert or John and not their father, uncle, nephew or son. The spelling varied greatly in this period which affects search engines and when it comes to discovering blazons in armorial rolls and the like I may need to go further afield than just England. I had also made mistakes in my previous list for the knights I decided ...