The Battle of Bosworth Field and the Wars of the Roses - MeG Players Podcast Episode 9



Welcome to the latest Mortem et Gloriam Players Podcast additional content blog post.

In this episode Ray, Richard and Nik look at the Wars of the Roses with special emphasis on the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Follow this link for the podcast - https://rayfredjohn.podbean.com/e/episode-9-the-battle-of-bosworth-field/

The lists discussed, figure suppliers and suggestions for reading material are all below.


Lists

Here are the lists that the guys drew up - these are Maximus sized lists, larger than usual in the case of the Bosworth ones. As ever there may well be errors with these, they haven’t been list checked, so you have been warned …

First are the Bosworth Field lists created by Richard for the SoA Battle Day. The special rules are noted on each at the bottom.



Ray's Lancastrian


Nik's Edward IV


And the Lancastrian and Edward IV in Pacto version. Note that as usual these are pretty much a straight conversion from the Maximus lists and so have not been drawn up to a specific points value. 




15mm Figures

Essex Miniatures Later Medieval range (of course) - https://www.essexminiatures.co.uk/collections/15mm-medieval-later-medieval-early-renaissance

Donnington “New Era” range - https://shop.ancient-modern.co.uk/wars-of-the-roses-143-c.asp

Fighting 15’s a small WotR range - https://fighting15s.com/product-category/gladiator-miniatures/wars-of-the-roses/?v=79cba1185463

Legio Heroica Burgundian/WotR - http://www.legio-heroica.com/Borgognoni-en.html

Lancashire Games medieval range - https://lancashiregames.com/lg/15mm-medieval.html

Peter Pig - https://www.peterpig.co.uk/23%20Wars%20Of%20The%20Roses.html

Khurasan Miniatures are currently working on a Wars of the Roses range and the pictures of the masters suggest it will be a good range – no date for release as yet.


28mm Figures

Perry Miniatures, their plastics are a mainstay - https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product-category/metal-ranges/war-of-the-roses/

Front Rank - https://www.frontrank.com/product-category/medieval/the-war-of-the-roses/

Foundry - https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/men-at-arms

Books

There are many many books published on the Wars of the Roses and a search on Amazon or suchlike will bring up a slew of results from which you can take your pick. We’re going to stick to some rather more focused books mainly looking at specifics.

I’d also mention The Battlefields Trust - https://www.battlefieldstrust.com/ - as a useful resource on British battlefields. The Battlefields Resource Centre is especially useful - https://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre-entrance/


Battles

“The Wars of the Roses: 1455-1485” by Michael Hicks - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wars-Roses-1455-1485-Essential-Histories/dp/1841764914/ - Osprey general history overview.

“The Wars of the Roses” by Terry Wise - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wars-Roses-Men-at-Arms-Terence-Wise/dp/0850455200/ - an old Osprey covering the wars; probably dated now.

“Towton 1461: England's bloodiest battle” by Christopher Gravett - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Towton-1461-Englands-bloodiest-Campaign/dp/1841765139/ - Osprey on the battle.

“Tewkesbury 1471: The Last Yorkist Victory” by Christopher Gravett - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tewkesbury-1471-Yorkist-Victory-Campaign/dp/1841765147/ - actually covers Barnet and Tewkesbury.

“Bosworth 1485: The Downfall of Richard III” by Christopher Gravett - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosworth-1485-Downfall-Richard-Campaign/dp/147284341X/ - possibly the most famous battle of them all for the period, but this book now superseded by the Mike Ingram one.

“Richard III and the Battle of Bosworth” by Mike Ingram - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Richard-Battle-Bosworth-Retinue-Regiment/dp/1912866501/ - the most up to date analysis of the battle.

“The Battle of Northampton 1460” by Mike Ingram - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-Northampton-1460-Mike-Ingram/dp/099307779X/ 

“The Battle of Edgcote - 1469: Re-evaluating the evidence” by Graham Evans - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-Edgcote-1469-Re-evaluating-evidence/dp/179461107X/ - an often overlooked (and misspelled) battle, this is a good piece of investigation looking at the evidence.


Weapons

“The Great Warbow: From Hastings to the Mary Rose” by Matthew Strickland and Robert Hardy - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Warbow-Hastings-Mary-Rose/dp/0750931671/ - probably the best overall assessment of the “longbow”.

“The Longbow” by Mike Loades - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Longbow-Weapon-Mike-Loades/dp/1782000852/ - a shorter but still good book on the “longbow”.

“War Bows: Longbow, crossbow, composite bow and Japanese yumi” by Mike Loades - https://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Bows-crossbow-composite-Japanese/dp/1472825535/ - allows comparison between the main missile weapons of the medieval period.


Armour, etc.

“Armour of the English Knight 1400-1450” by Toby Capwell - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Armour-English-Knight-1400-1450-2015/dp/0993324606/ - covers the period before the Wars of the Roses but full of loads of useful information about armour of the elites; the 2nd volume which will cover the Wars of the Roses is due out any time now. A man who really knows his stuff.


YouTube also has a number of lectures by Toby Capwell on arms and armour which are incredibly interesting (if you like the subject) including two on Richard III and his armour in the light of his scoliosis:

Richard III: The Scoliotic Knight with Dr Tobias Capwell - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_1aS_KpJaw&t=30s

Richard III Society: Leicester Conference - Grey Friars Dig: Adapting King Richard III's armour - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sn9F0VHTjY&t=104s

Dr Tobias Capwell: Building Medieval Plate Armor An Operator's Guide - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COAIQPsgZWY&t=650s

Lecture by Dr. Tobias Capwell - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvNhje84Iwg

Agincourt - Medieval Myth Busting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1dFzFwgrfE


Other useful links for MeG gaming

Mortem et Gloriam Wargames Page on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/763293233817810

MeG Website - https://mortem-et-gloriam.co.uk/meg/ ; there are ready made lists to download and links to other resources.

MeG Forum - https://mortem-et-gloriam.co.uk/smf/index.php

MeG YouTube videos - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPemvpT3ANJ45P9XXGgTcLA ; introductory videos from author Simon Hall on how MeG plays.

Society of Ancients - http://www.soa.org.uk/joomla/ ; the bi-monthly Slingshot journal is a great publication for the ancient/medieval period.

The SoA also have a forum - http://soa.org.uk/sm/ - useful for asking questions and where you can get info.


Podcast Feedback, Suggestions, etc.

Post on the Facebook group or email us at MortemPod@yahoo.com with any feedback/ideas relating to the Podcast – we are always on the lookout for ideas for content – or questions for the guys to answer in a future episode.




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