Minster Gate Bookshop Revisited

Hello There! The day before I visited Vapnartak 2026, I had a tour around York and revisited the Minster Gate Book Shop again.

Again there was a noticeable change in the stock in the History and Military History sections.

After a while I walked away with the following.

While these subjects are not my usual interests for less than four pounds each I added these to the collection.

I have a few publications on the Roman Army and I had a look through this and felt it would be a useful addition. Also the Towton book was also interesting, especially as we passed the battlefield on the way home.

I originally had a creeping feeling that I had this already but thankfully I was incorrect.

I have a small force of  Resistance, which could be the basis of a good game. I do not have anything specific on this subject so was pleased to find his. Also another couple of additions concerning Normandy. This time from the German and British perspective.

This last item came from an Oxfam shop on the high street. It was hidden behind a number of other books and not easy to find. I already have the first part and this concentrates on the large Capital ships in the Kriegsmarine, some destroyers which were formally from other nations and an errata from volume one.

Diceni Wargaming Show Norwich 2023

Hello There! There was a show last week at the Forum in Norwich called Diceni. It is held in the entrance hall of the forum and includes many different forms of wargaming and gaming, including Historical.

The New Buckenham Historical Wargamers were asked to put a game on and as it had a local connection they did a small part of Ketts Rebellion when Norwich fell to Robert Kett, a member of the minor gentry, after a previous attempt at taking the city had failed.

Considering the small venue the show had a very good turnout with the public showing a lot of interest in the games

The game by the New Buckenham Historical Wargamers included the club scenery and some newly scratch built city walls which held two of the old gates of Norwich

Norwich was then the second largest city in the country, next to London, so the seizure of it by the rebels represented a big gain in their position 

The club display included a small display case which held figures from other periods of history that the club wargames.

Proof that the sun does not just shine on the 'righteous'!

The game was full of small vignettes and farm animals which moved round during the game, which the public were invited to participate in.

The ubiquitous flock of sheep were also included which have now appeared in many games at the club over many centuries of warfare!

Some of the walls were manned by various figures to show off the clubs painting talents

The local clergy were also involved in placating the rebels

The Government forces which managed to enter the city to try and take back control

There were plenty of baggage and carts on show which remind me |I have plans for a feature for WSS on logistics in wargames. 

Further photos are here but there follows a brief description of the game:

These actions were all based on real events within the medieval walls of Tudor Norwich, including the Royal army's assault and breaking in of the St. Stephen's and Brazen gates, and then the many bloody brawls within the streets and alleys of England's then second city as the Royal troops fought to regain control by taking the market place in the centre ; and unfortunately losing a number of their cannon to a rebel counter-attack as they cleared the city! This second, larger, Royal army under the Earl of Warwick eventually defeated and routed the rebel host on Dussindale heath. The first Royal army, under Northampton, had been driven from the City a month before, when there had been more bloody fighting for various gatehouses and throughout the city.

Latest Purchase of Books

 Hello There! As a follow on to the Battle of Bosworth game and after a visit to Hay on Wye, (secondhand bookshop heaven!), I purchased a number of books, (the exact number of which is not available to my wife). One of them was this.

As mentioned before I know little of the medieval period let alone the Wars of the Roses. I have seen a number of semi biographical documentaries on the television, (Antonia Fraser comes to mind), over the years but have little idea of in what order it all slots together. I hope this book will clarify this for me. I am aiming for an overview of the whole war next.

Again this is intended to fill the gaps in my knowledge of the period. On the plus side I can visit the battlefields much more easily than any other period.

Lastly this tome covers the time from 1286 to the Wars of the Roses. The author links the more recent vote of Scotland for a devolved parliament to the history of this period.

I will review these books when I have had the time to paint them and add them to my 'read' list in due course.

Battle of Bosworth

 Hello There! At short notice the New Buckenham Historical Wargamers put on a Saturday game of the Battle of Bosworth. Although not my normal period of history that I game I wanted to see how the 'Impetus' rules worked again, as thanks to covid it had been a long time since I had last played the rules.

Here are some of the troops waiting for battle. While I am not up on the troop types these men were very well turned out. 

The set up was done using the Osprey campaign book although during the set up the discussion of recent evidence showed that an alternative site for the battle had been muted.

As I am normally a Napoleonic wargamer I tried to resist the mindset that the artillery would be all dominating. These guys would have been more effective if they had actually loaded some projecvtiles in the cannon rather than just the charge!

The units looked even better on the table with one of the clubs sky boards behind. Both sides lined up with their archers to the front and cavalry to the rear waiting to see where they could best be used. 

After the opening moves Richard III used his archers to soften up the enemy, not wanting to merely pile in. I played the Duke of Norfolk and there was a marsh in the middle to the front of my line. I did not feel I could clear the marsh before the enemy reached me and then fought at an advantage being formed while I was still at least disordered trying to get through the marsh. 

I was rather blessed on the dice front and consistently throwing 5's and 6's for Impetus did not do ME any damage at all. Well at least on the firing. I was also fortunate on losing the disorders at the end of the moves.

Here the enemy started to come forward and bit the bullet for crossing the marsh as it was a better option than getting shot at by loads of arrows. 

I liked the look of this 'fluff'. I have been considering making one of these as I have purchased an amount of big barrels from a company which also supplies items to 'rig' a 28mm resin hulled ship I have in the pipeline.

Here is Richard III's base and was very colourful he is too. As the game went so well he made some plans to finally deal with those two princes in the tower, back in London. (Obviously he is supposed to have already 'done' this historically?!").

An after battle report is available on the New Buckenham Historical Wargamers Facebook page, here along with further pictures of the day.

My deepest comiserations to my opponent facing the hail of arrows as ny dice throws were very against him on the day. I have been there, got the 'T' shirt and know what it is like!