Here is Norchester- a town well fortified, now, with its new line of modern defences. The medieval walls are now partially protected by trenches, two horn works and the famous Bishop's Bastion.
The siege lines have expanded, too. Next outing I hope to have a tented camp to stand alongside the baggage train.
Above and below, the battle from behind the Parliamentarian lines; left and centre.
... and the right. Here, the Parliamentarian cavalry triumphed- Prince Rupert had to leap a hedge to seek the somewhat illusory protection of a unit of Royalist forlorn hope!
Above, the normally sleepy village of Soggy Bottom. The impious crophead dragoons have stabled their horses in the churchyard! And finally, below, a short video of the battlefield.
Partizan was a fine event, as ever- very well organised, indeed, a well-oiled machine. There were some super games of which my favourite was Aughrim, which I'd have watched all day, if I'd not been a tad busy. That Omaha Beach game looked most impressive, and the Bodkin's Roman vs. Sassanid game, and others. It was super chatting with so many people, at least five re-enactors pointed out their regiments on the table. A terrific show!
Here are some super photos of the Relief of Norchester game that my friends helped me take to Salute last weekend. The photos were taken by chum Ian Notter. Above is a shot of the parliamentarian Great Battery, which had just commenced its bombardment of the eponymous city.
...and here is the city Norchester, itself. You will be able to make out the tall buildings of the Flemish merchants' quarter (Norchester exports wool to the Low Countries), and the bombardment has already damaged the ancient bell tower of St. Andrew's church. Beyond the city is Norchester Great Wood.
The other end of the battlefield is defined by the Bishop's Wood. Above and below, there was a massive cavalry clash on this wing, with over 300 horse in 15 regiments fighting to more or less mutual destruction. We used the For King and Parlaiment rules to fight the battle, everyone picked them up and it ran smoothly.
On the other wing, above, Hesilrige's heavily-armoured lobsters (right foreground) held the Parliamentarian left flank throughout the day, resisting numerous charges!
And finally here is a view down the battlefield showing many of the 27 foot battalia that were engaged. The battle was extremely close- the Royalists were behind most of the day, and down to four medals just after lunch, but managed to squeak a narrow victory an hour later, forcing the parliamentarians to lift the siege!
Above is a brief video that I shot before the event.
...and I was delighted to win an award for the game- best 25/28mm game, second year in a row!
I'd like to thank everyone who helped m to deliver the project, particularly Ian Notter who helped a great deal with the modelling and advice, as well as the photography. Huge thanks to those who played on the day and helped me to engage with the public- especially FK&P stealth co-author Andrew Brentnall. Also thanks to everyone who dropped by for a chat, and apologies to anyone I didn't manage to talk to- it was insanely busy. And finally a big thank you to the South London Warlords who, as ever, did a fantastic job running the event.
I will be taking the game to Partizan next month. If you'd like to play, please drop me a line. In the meanwhile, the brave citizens intend to bolster the defences of Norchester with some state-of-the-art renaissance fortifications, to be erected in front of the medieval walls.
