Robin Hood, Soldiers At Silloth & A Time Lord Or Two!

I counted them all out......Just another day in Sherwood Forrest

I decided to playtest another game with the 'Trial By Battle' rules written by Mark Lord. This game followed hot on the heels of the first game ,whilst I had the table top set up appropriately and the 'medieval' toy cabinet open. I decided to play the rules as written without any of my own changes. I should mention that I have since taken delivery of the 'Compendium' that Mark has written but it arrived too late to incorporate any of the new rules etc. I will review this book separately, probably on the back of a third battle report, but this may be a few weeks away because of other plans.

I decided to try flexing the rules by setting up an ambush game with small size units to see how the basic rules felt in this situation. As background, I have always felt that the Robin Hood games call for a 'semi-skirmish' setting not full on formal battles. I don't feel most skirmish rules work as I would like, as they tend to be about individual character action. I wanted small groups, led by characters, engaging with other groups of fighters. So in the game I played the forces were as follows:

Robin Hood and his very merry men:

5 bands of 5 merry men, each led by one of the  character figures,  Maid Marion, Little John, Will Scarlet, Friar Tuck and Much The Millers Son. 30 figures in 5 groups of 6. Robin Hood was the 'general' figure, so I added him to Maid Marion's group.

Sheriffs very mean men:

2 units of 3 mounted men at arms, to the first of which I added the 'general' figure of Guy of Gisborne. 3 units of 6 foot men at arms, 1 group having crossbows. The treasure cart was led by an unarmed carter. 

The Sheriffs men are escorting the taxes to Nottingham castle and being quietly observed as they pass through a village and past a monastery. As they enter more heavily wooded countryside they are urged to be aware and ready to repel any attempt to liberate the tax chest.

Once the last of the Sheriffs men had passed Marion's group, Robin blew on his horn and sprung the trap. Five volleys of arrows rained down upon the convoy from the surrounding trees. 

After the initial volleys, Gisborne's escort took 6 hits and immediately failed the morale test, even with their leaders bonus! This early success for the men of the greenwood boded well as Gisborne died in the action. The rest of his men did not turn and run however, instead pushing ahead to try to escape the trap. They could not see their attackers at this point, merely the continual rain off arrows. Emboldened by the death of Gisborne and the casualties accruing on the other groups of the men at arms, the signal was given to break from the trees and attack with swords and quarter staffs. 

The next unit to break were the other mounted men at arms who had been heavily targeted by the archers. Surely the rest would fall like nine pins! 

This was not the case however with the crossbow armed men fighting fiercely in hand to hand combat, and passing 3 consecutive morale tests! The two other groups also fought on valiantly, although they failed to stop the death of the carter and the extraction of the treasure chest by Friar Tucks group. 

Seeing the treasure disappear into the trees the merry men melted away, leaving the surviving Sheriff's men to limp away to safety.

Conclusion 

The rules held up quite well, although cumulative morale tests quite rightly need to become harder to pass. The need to diminish a unit by 6 stamina points to force a morale test, works well no matter how large the units are. The mechanisms worked as well for these half sized groups as they did for the larger 10 and 5 man units in my previous test game. Overall I enjoyed this untidy skirmish and the end result felt right. It should be noted however that not only did Gisborne die very early, Robins unit were appallingly bad at shooting and close combat, hardly causing any casualties! All mouth and no trousers some would say!  

Three cheers for.......Soldiers In Silloth!

Serendipity is a marvelous thing, and in the case of 'The Soldiers Of Silloth' toy soldier museum, this is particularly true. This wonderful collection is housed in the picturesque town of Silloth, which is a port town on the Solway Firth in Cumbria. This is not a location that one just 'passes by'! I myself had never been to this part of the world, until invited to stay with some very good friends, before we travelled across country the next day to Newcastle, to an all day concert event by my favourite band 'The Unthanks'.  My friends happen to live a mile up the coast from Silloth and we had popped into the town the night before to get fish and chips. As we walked through the town I spotted the advertisement for 'Soldiers In Silloth'. Sadly it would not be open before I had to drive back down to the Black Country, but I was given an open invitation to go up again for a visit, which could of course encompass a tour of the museum.

The museums opening hours are sadly quite short, being confined to about 4 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday during the summer season. The owner, Tim Barker, is however extremely helpful and will always endeavour to open up for a visitor by appointment, if you contact him beforehand.

In September 2024, I returned for a very enjoyable short stay with my friends and finally got to go around the museum. Tim's collection is really worth seeing and even a jaded old toy soldier man like myself, found plenty of interest. I spent about an hour and a half devouring each display and then chatting with the volunteer who had opened up for me on behalf of Tim. 

Unfortunately, Tim had to go away that weekend, so I didn't get to meet him. This was a shame as he played a small but excellent part in one of my favourite films of all time, 'Coast to Coast', with fellow Dudley lad, Sir Lenny Henry. I would have enjoyed asking about his experience of the film, but perhaps I will meet him the next time I visit, or at  the Plastic Warrior show which I think he attended in the past.

I took way too many photographs, not all very good. Additionally, I don't want to show all of the museums exhibits! Much better you visit for yourself if you are able. I have however included some of the better photos to give you a flavour of this small but super museum!

I suppose I should just say a little about the museum exhibits themselves. They are comprised, as far as I am aware, solely of Tim's own collection.  You are given a comprehensive tour through history with examples of soldiers by most of the worlds makers, but with a special emphasis on the British makers, as you might expect.  The majority of the exhibits are comprised of full sets of poses of plastic soldiers. There are however substantial representations of hollow cast figures and examples of other mediums such as paper and composition. There are an awful lot of figures packed into the two rooms and I wholeheartedly recommend a visit. It is also free to go in, which is amazing! 

There is a Facebook page, 'Soldiers In Silloth', where Tim posts details of opening hours and provides a phone number (016973 31246) on which you can contact him to check on opening hours or arrange a visit. 

As the vicar said to the actress......A Time Lord or two!

Some of you may have noticed a certain scarf wearing timelord popping up in the background to some of my games. This is a curious situation as I am not too sure why he turns up! Is he merely observing or does he indeed influence events in ways which I have not yet detected? Who knows!?

The good Doctor is a Britains conversion gifted to me by the ever generous Paul Watson. He needed a repaint but looks the part I think. The gift included the Dinky Police Box which is very much under scale but has a battered charm to it that I like.

Since his arrival, a doppelganger arrived at Apperley Towers, purportedly from the Corgi Dr Who range, accompanied by his companion k9. I have wondered whether he is an imposter (the Master in disguise?) or just a time anomaly?  All of this time travel business makes my head ache.

He travels in a Tardis that I acquired separately, which is much more to scale by another manufacturer. He definitely looks the part but I don't know..........?

Who would you choose?

Tara a bit!

Medieval Mayhem, Manoeuvres and Garden Campaigns !

I counted them all out......Medieval Mayhem!

A few months ago I bought a copy of 'Trial By Battle', a set of 'quick and easy medieval wargames rules' written by Mark Lord and self published via Amazon. the words 'quick and easy' always interest me and whilst my go to rules for combat in this era remains Lion Rampant, I thought I would try them out. What follows is a battle report of my first solo game with the rules.

I set up a fairly plain (by my standards!) battlefield, although I couldn't resist adding a small hamlet to the side of the table allowing for some interested observers (keen eyes may spot a very unusual observer, who often appears on my battlefields). 

The armies are not historically accurate, as Henry the 5th certainly didn't lead the red rose of the Lancastrians against the white rose of the Yorkists, but I love the model and that's always good enough for me. (The figure is a beautifully made Britains figure which I lucked upon, slightly damaged, for two pounds at a recent toy fair).

The two evenly matched armies faced up to each other and their leaders gave short pithy words of encouragement to their men, before letting loose the dogs of war!

The humble carter, suddenly realising where he was, managed to extract a high turn of speed from his horse! Just in time, as the sky overhead darkened with the first flights of arrows!

The mounted knights on both wings charged headlong at their opposing numbers whilst the archers in both armies loosed flights of arrows at the enemy lines. The first victory came as the mounted knights on the Lancastrian right were forced to a morale test, which they lost and immediately turned and left the field!

The Yorkist cavalry cantered forward to press their advantage against the unit of archers standing to their front. The archers managed to fire a volley of arrows into the knights before contact, but then had to draw swords.

Meanwhile, in the centre of the field, fortunes were reversed as the other Lancastrian knights charged and swept through a lance of Yorkist Knights. Threatening the centre of the Yorkist line, the commander joined his foot knights and prepared to receive the charge. 

The archers of both sides fired volley after volley of arrows, gradually wearing each other down as the casualties mounted. Eventually, failing a casualty driven morale test, a Yorkist unit broke and fled the field. 

The Lancastrian archers meanwhile held off the charge by the mounted knights although they were losing ground and it was surely only a matter of time.

Henry realised he needed to join the fray if the battle was not to be lost. He led his foot knights into the side of the melee. Over the next two turns the archers broke and fled but Henry and his knights finally forced the Yorkist knights to break and turn from the field.

Meanwhile another unit of Yorkist archers had broken and the Yorkist general was forced to now make an army wide morale test which he barely made. 

As units collapsed around him, the Yorkist general plus his foot knights continued to hold off the Lancastrian mounted knights. Realising however that he had only two units left to the enemies four, he finally conceded and left the field.

A hard fought victory to Henry and his Lancastrian force!

Conclusion and thoughts on the rules

As I think I have said before, the ever popular 'one hour rules' are generally too simplified for my taste. These rules are in essence, not that far removed from the medieval one hour rules, except for three main differences.

First of all there are six troop types not four. I could argue for seven if you are covering periods where cavalry are not light skirmishers, but are not in full plate armour, and eight if you want to differentiate for frenzied attacks by 'barbarian' types such as Vikings etc. Six is however better than four ,in my opinion.

Secondly, troops have a saving throw against hits, which adds another chance element into the game. Lack of certainty makes for a better game in my view.

Third and most importantly, we have simple morale tests. When any unit sustains six or more wounds it has to take a morale test and roll seven or less on two d6. Anything over and the unit flees. This is such an improvement on the one hour rule idea of 15 wounds and the unit runs. It always feels such a slog to me, to have to accumulate 15 wounds.

Overall, I am very pleased with my first taste of this rule book although I can already see some additions and refinements I would like to make. They are simple, they are quick and I found the game ebbed and flowed nicely giving uncertainty until almost the end. I intend to try them out again with a different sort of game....maybe Robin Hood and his very merry men versus the Sherriff of Nottingham and his uncouth men!

I have compared them to the one hour rules, simply because they are similar and are intended to cover broadly the same sort of game. I know the one hour rules have a lot of fans and I understand why, but these are, in my personal opinion, an improvement. Try them and let me know what you think.

Lion Rampant is probably still my favourite as it adds even more mechanisms and detail, but this rule set could be a favourite for a quicker game.

I counted them all out......Manoeuvres

I mentioned last time out that I had been present at her majesties armed forces manoeuvres on Salisbury plain, but was having some difficulty in obtaining permission to share this splendid sight with my readers.  Well with the help of a box of fine Cuban cigars  and a flutter of the old school tie, I have managed to get permission to show you a few pictures. Enjoy.

The identity of the individual units must remain a secret, but no doubt they will be identified as we cover campaigns and engagements in the future.

Three Cheers For......Garden Campaigns

Todays arrival. I added this tome to the library here at Apperley Towers, as soon as I saw it was available to buy. I am a big fan of the works of Paul Wright and I have each and every book he has written on the subject of wargames with our beloved toy soldiers. I do not have the space and, or, opportunity, to really play full 'Little Wars' ala H.G.Wells, but I will always have the ambition to do so! Regardless of this, Pauls books serve to fuel and inspire my toy soldier antics and I am thoroughly looking forward to reading this latest volume. Even unread I am confident to say 'highly recommended'! 

As The Vicar Said To The Actress ...... Medieval Cart 

I couldn't leave without an honourable mention for my medieval Carter and his conveyance who starred in my battle report. This superb model was sold to me by Peter Cole of Replicants fame at the annual Plastic Warrior show last year. It really is full of character and extremely useful for any period up to the 18th century. Peter only had eight of these for sale last year (as he was experiencing some technical difficulties with one of the moulds if my memory serves me correctly). I am hoping he will have a few more for sale this year as I want another two for my collection. I love Peters work and have a lot of Replicants figures here in various armies. His Medieval, English civil war and Western figures are particular favourites. If you are not familiar with his work, have a look at his website www.replastic.com.

Tara a bit!