This is a solo refight of the first battle of the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of St Albans 1455 when the Lancastrian army of the Duke of Somerset, on the way to Leicester with King Henry VI, was attacked while in St Albans by the Yorkist army of Richard, Duke of York. This was fought yesterday using my new Dominion of the Roses solo rules.
The battle opens with the Yorkist Battles of the Duke of York and the Earl of Salisbury advancing, archers to the fore, while the Battle of the Earl of Warwick sought to slip into St Albans through the alleys and gardens. Salisbury's archers traded arrow for arrow with those of Baron Clifford, who despite having some protection on the edge of St Albans, failed to win this arrow exchange. However, the Battle of the Duke of York took heavy fire, scattering its archers and forcing a quick advance into melee. There they fared no better and eventually retreated in disorder. Yorkist reserves, such as they were, moved across to fill this gap on the Yorkist right.
By now, the troops of the Yorkist Battle of the Earl of Warwick were inside St Albans and fell upon the Lancastrian defenders led by the Duke of Somerset. However, against the odds their first attack was repulsed with heavy casualties. The Lancastrians of the Earl of Northumberland, having seen off Richard, Duke of York, surged forward, but the thin line of Yorkists held firm, cutting down the first line of Lancastrians. In St Albans, the Earl of Warwick's men tried again, eager to reach and capture the King. This time, house by house, street by street, they pushed the Lancastrians back. By now on the Yorkist left, the Yorkist Battle of the Earl of Salisbury was exchanging blows with the Lancastrian defenders of St Albans led by Baron Clifford, although with no discernible result. A skeptic might question the commitment of these two nobles, as despite both archery fire and hand to hand fighting casualties on both sides were minimal.
In the centre of St Albans, the Yorkists of the Earl of Warwick, still using the lanes and gardens where they could, had cleared the centre of Lancastrians and revealed King Henry VI with his small bodyguard. The Earl of Northumberland desperately threw his men forward again seeking to break the Yorkist right, but could not break the Yorkists. With the king in sight, the Earl of Warwick and his remaining men fell upon the King's bodyguard, dispatching them and seizing the King. But as they did so, the Lancastrian left led by the Earl of Northumberland finally prevailed and broke the Yorkist right. The Lancastrians had lost their centre (and the king), but the Yorkists had lost their right flank.
The Earl of Warwick wasted no time and swung his victorious troops to his right, hitting the flank of the Earl of Northumberland. Aided by his integral archers, most of whom still had full quivers, and no doubt buoyed by their capture of the king, the Earl of Warwick's men gave no quarter, and caught unawares the Battle of the Earl of Northumberland disintegrated. With only the Battle of Baron Clifford remaining for the Lancastrians, they tried to slip away but took heavy casualties in doing so.
Victory for the House of York, despite a shaky start.
