Blackheath, 1497

This weekend Stuart visited and keen to get our newly painted "peasant" forces on the table we played out two scenarios based around the 1497 Cornish Revolt and the Battle of Blackheath, also known as the Battle of Deptford Bridge.

Blackheath, 1497

During the 1490's Scotland's support for Perkin Warbeck, the Yorkist pretender, put Henry VII's England on a war footing. In late 1496 and early 1497 the English king levied particularly heavy extraordinary taxes. In Cornwall these taxes followed a dispute over the regulation of the region's tin mining industry and led to the outbreak of a rebellion in May 1497. Leadership of the rebels fell to  Michael Joseph, a smith, or "An Gof" in Cornish, and Thomas Flamank, the son a local gentleman who had been involved in the assessment of the royal taxes. With their stated aim being to remove the King's servants who had instigated the taxes the rebels marched on Exeter before heading on to Taunton and then Wells where their cause picked up more supporters including the only member of the nobility to join them, James Tuchet, Lord Audley. Audley may have had a grudge against John Cheyne who had taken up Audley's fathers old offices and was making inroads into Audley's local sphere of influence but his motives for joining Joseph and Flamank as a leader of the rebellion remain unclear.

By the first week of June with their army now numbering perhaps as many as 15,000 men the rebel leaders sent messages from Wells to Bristol ordering the port city to surrender but the mayor replied that Bristol's walls had been manned with men and guns. Not wanting to to besiege Bristol, or having the artillery to do so, the Cornish army attempted to rely on the element of surprise and the opportunity to pick up more support and headed to London via Winchester and Guildford with Audley possibly leading a contingent via a more northerly route through Wiltshire in an attempt to raise further troops or mislead the King.

With Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, headed north to defend against any Scots aggression the King, who had been caught off guard, ordered Giles Lord Daubeney to defend the southern approaches to London. A force of five hundred mounted spears clashed with the rebel army at Gill Down just outside Guildford on 14 June but little seems to be known of what happened in the skirmish. Henry VII assembled an army in which Daubeney was joined by fellow Bosworth veterans John De Vere, Earl of Oxford, Sir Rys Ap Thomas and Sir Humphrey Stanley as well Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex and Edmund de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk. Their noble retinues were reinforced by troops from London as well as local gentry and yeoman making a total force of around 25,000 men.

The rebels headed into Kent, an area from which rebellions had often sprung, but Lord's Cobham and Bergavenny organised the Kentish locals in opposition to them which led the Cornish army to camp on Blackheath, to the south east of London on 16 June. Already suffering from desertions, and knowing that they faced a large royal army it was a difficult night for the rebels whose numbers may have dwindled to around 10,000 men at this point. They had been misinformed that the Royalist forces would not attack until the 19 June so were alarmed when the following morning on the 17 June the attack came. 

The royal army formed into three "battles" with the strongest under Lord Daubeney and Sir Humphrey Stanley attacking over Deptford Bridge across the Ravensbourne River. The bridge was on the main road out from the city and the rebels defended it with archers and possibly some lighter guns. The fighting was fierce as the royal troops forced their way across. As Daubeney led his men through the defenders and over the bridge he found himself surrounded and captured by the rebels only for them to release him as the other "battles" of the royal army under the Earls of Oxford, Essex and Suffolk and Sir Rhys Ap Thomas crashed into the Cornish army from either side. 

The fight quickly became a rout with Thomas Flamank and Lord Audley being captured on the battlefield, Audley's captor being Sir Rhys Ap Thomas. Michael Joseph escaped only to be captured as he sought sanctuary. Flamank and Joseph were executed on 27 June and Audley on 28 June. The rebellion had been crushed but this did not dowse the flames of rebellion in the south west completely as Warbeck's landing only a few months later in September would prove: http://camisado1500s.blogspot.com/2023/11/they-determined-to-repulse-fyer-by-fier.html.

The event is covered by Hall in his usual entertaining style and it would be amiss to not include it here:

"The capitaynes of the rebelles perceavynge they coulde have no aide of the Kentish people, putting their only hope to their powre and fortitude (for surely they were men of great strength, & of no lesse force then valiaunt courage) brought them to Black hethe. iiii. myles from London, and there in a playne upon the top of an hill they ordred their battailes, eyther ready to fight with the kyng if he woulde assayle theim, or elles to assaulte and beate the citee of London: For they thought verely that the king was so afraied of their puissaunce, that he minded nothing lesse then to encountre with their armie. And therefore being enflamed with arrogancy, nothyng mystrustyng, but fermely belevynge that the victory was sure in their handes, they determyned to entre into the cytee of London and to assaute the towre, wherin the king (as thei thought) had prevely enclosed hym selfe. But kynge Henry wrought cleane contrary to their mynde and expectacion, for he never thought to geve theim battaile tyll he had theim farre from their domesticall habitacions and native region, so that they should be out of all hope of aide and comforte. And when they were with their long and tedious journey weried and tyred, and that their furye were somewhat asswaged and fell to repentaunce of their mad commocion and frantike progression, then he woulde in some place convenient for his purpose, circumvent & envyron theim to his avauntage a'nd their destruccion as he did in dede afterward.

In the meane ceason there was great feare thorough the citee & cryes were made, every man to harneys, to harneys, some ranne to the gates, other mounted on the walles, so that no parte was undefended, and continuall watche was kept by the magestrates of the citee least the rebelles being poore and nedy woulde dissende from their campe and invade the cytee and spoyle, and robbe the riches and substance of the merchants. But the kyng delivered and purged their hartes out of this feare, for after that he perceaved that the Cornishmen were all the daye ready to fight and that upon the hill, he sent streight Jhon Earle of Oxforde, Henry Burchier Erle of Essex, Edmond de la Poole earle of Suffolke, and sir Ryes app Thomas, and Sir Homfrey Stanley noble warryers with a great company of archers and horsmen to envyron the hill on the right syde & on the left, to thentent that all bywayes beyng stopped & forclosed, all hope of flight should be taken from theim : And incontinent, he being as wel encouraged with manly stomacke & desire to fight as furnished with a populous army & copie of artillery, set forward out of the cytee & encamped hym selfe in Sainct Georges felde, where he the frydaye at nyght then lodged.

On the Saturday in the mornynge, he sent the Lorde Dawbeney with a greate compaignye to set on theim early in the morenyng, which fyrst gate the bridge at Detforde Strande whiche was manfully defended by certeyne archers of the rebelles, whose arowes as is reported were in length a full yarde. While the erles set on theim on every syde, the lorde Dawbeney came into the felde with his company, & wout longe fightyng the Cornyshmen were overcome, but first they tooke the lord Dawbeney prisoner, & whether it were for feare or for hope of favoure, they let hym go at librety wont any hurt or detriment. There were slain of the rebelles whiche fought & resisted, ii. thousand men & more & take prisoners an infinite nombre, & emongest theim that black smyth & chiefe capiteins which shortely after were put to death. This Mighell Joseph, surnamed the black smyth one of the capteins of this donge hill & draffe sacked ruffians, was of such stowte stomack & haute courage, that at the same time that he was drawen on the herdle toward his death, he sayd (as men do reporte) that for this myscheuous and facinorous acte, he should have a name perpetual and a fame permanet and immortal. So (you may perceave) that desire and ambicious cupidite of vaine glorie and fame, enflameth, and encourageth aswel poore and meane persones, as the hartes of great lords and puyssaunt princes to travayle & aspire to the same. Some affirme that the kyng appoyneted to fight with the rebelles on the Monday, and anticipating the tyme by pollecie set on theim upon the Saturday before, being unprovided and in no arraye of battaile, and so by that pollecy obteyned the felde and victory."

14 June 1497 and the Cornish army marches into Guildford

The Skirmish at Guildford

We thought the attack on the Cornish army outside Guildford by a force of five hundred "spears" would make a great skirmish game. 

As always the game was played using our adapted Lion Rampant rules. Stuart took command of the Cornish army so I was the attacking player in command of the five hundred spears. For both of the games, perhaps somewhat anachronistically, I have termed the Tudor government forces acting for the King as "Royalists".

Deployment

For this game three large wagons in a column were spread out along a road and were the objectives for the Royalists. The Cornish forces were deployed around the wagons just outside of Guildford (See the picture below).

The Royalist cavalry would arrive on either side of the wagon column. The Royalist player wrote down at the start of the game which units would emerge from which side of the table. The Royalists went first with the units arriving on the table via move activations. Royalist units could not attack on the turn they arrived on the table.

The Wagons

The large Wagons could be used as cover by the Cornish. Any Cornish unit in base to base contact with a wagon received +1 armour against missile attacks.

The Royalists could attempt to destroy the three large wagons if a Royalist unit was in base to base contact with one of them. On its following turn as an activation the Royalist unit could attempt to destroy the Wagon on a 4+ on a D6. As the Royalist aim was to destroy the wagons this activation took priority over a "wild charge" activation. Once destroyed a wagon could not be used as cover. A wagon could be destroyed whilst a Cornish unit was benefitting from the cover of the wagon and the Cornish unit would not be harmed.

The game would end once the three wagons were destroyed or once the Royalist forces had lost over half their strength.

A view from above the table. The three large wagons can be seen in the Cornish column. The Royalist "spears" will arrive from the two longer sides of the table.

A view down the column of rebels as it marches.

The Armies

The Cornish Rebels

1 Unit of Foot Knights (Lord Lord Audley - retinue leader)

1 Unit of Garrison Bill (Thomas Flamank)

2 Units of Shire Archers 

4 Units of Shire Bill

The 500 "Royalist" Spears

4 Units of Demilancers ( one unit contains the retinue leader)

2 Units of King's Spears

2 Units of Mounted Archers

This was a fast game with lots of  fighting but a brief write up is below. As always the captions under the photos are a good way to follow the action.

As the Cornish troops reach the edge of Guildford they are attacked by Royalist Demilancers.

Royalist archers dismount and shoot into the Cornish army.

Thomas Flamank commands the Cornish billmen as they are set upon by the a force of the King's Spears. 

As the Cornish rebels made their way into Guildford they were alarmed to hear the sounding of trumpets and thunder of hooves. The head of the column was suddenly attacked on both sides by heavily armoured English knights and gentry supported by more lightly armed demilancers. The Royalist cavalry crashed into the Cornish troops and sent the rebels reeling back in a series of sharp encounters in the streets of Guildford.

The rebel archers attempted to shoot down the horses of the attacking cavalry and prevent them from causing a rout of the entire rebel force. The Royalists sent forward dismounted groups of archers who shot back at the rebel troops. As groups of Cornishmen broke and fled the pursuing knights and gentry got carried away and charged into the main body of the rebel force only to be unhorsed and brought down by the Cornish billmen.

The fighting is fierce at the edge of the town.

The rebel army does its best to hold off the attack by the five hundred spears sent to intercept it.

The Cornish close ranks and form a defensive position around the wagons.

The front wagon is captured and destroyed by the mounted archers...

...whilst a troop of demilancers pounce on the rear wagon and capture it...

...but the rebel army holds firm and defends the final wagon, forcing the mounted Royalist's back with heavy casualties being suffered by the attacking cavalry.

At the head of the Cornish convoy Lord Audley and Thomas Flamank rallied the fleeing rebels and formed a defensive position around the lead wagon. The rebels were unable to prevent this wagon from being captured by the Royalist mounted archers. Similarly at the back of the column a unit of demilancers raced through the fields and fell upon the rear wagon, quickly destroying it. It looked as if the whole Cornish force might be overwhelmed  but the rebels held firm. Having suffered heavy casualties the five hundred Royalist spears were forced to retreat. It may have lost a few supplies but the Cornish army would be able to continue its march on London.

James Tuchet, Lord Audley, commands the Cornish army atop Blackheath.

The Battle of Blackheath (or Deptford Bridge) 1497

For this game we wanted to represent the crossing of Deptford Bridge by Lord Daubeney and the fighting on Blackheath. As with the first game we used our adapted Lion Rampant rules. We rolled a dice to randomly decide who would command which force and the result was that Stuart took control of the Cornish army and I played the Royalists.

Deployment

Each army in this game was made up of two Lion Rampant "retinues".

At the start of the game Lord Daubeney's retinue was positioned on one side of Ravensbourne River with Thomas Flamank in command of a Cornish retinue defending Deptford Bridge on the opposite bank. Further up the table, on Blackheath, the retinue of Michael Joseph and Lord Audley was positioned (see the two images below for the initial set up).

The other Royalist retinue under the Earls of Oxford and Essex with Sir Rhys Ap Thomas, started off table and would arrive on both sides of Blackheath. 

Lord Daubeney's retinue took the first turn with the two Cornish retinues going next. Once Lord Daubeney had a unit across the bridge the following turn the Earl of Oxford's retinue would start to arrive. Before the game began the Royalist player wrote down which of the units in the Earl of Oxford's retinue would arrive from which side of Blackheath.

When the Units from the Earl of Oxford's retinue arrived the Earl of Oxford and the units containing the Earl of Essex and Sir Rhys Ap Thomas had to be the first to arrive on the table. Oxford's units could only arrive via move activations on their first turn.

The Ravensbourne River was only crossable at the bridge.

"whose arowes as is reported were in length a full yarde"

So the game did not become an archery duel for it's entirety every time a longbow unit shot, if it was rolling 12 dice and 5 or more 1s or 2s were rolled then the unit was considered out of arrows and could not shoot anymore. If 6 dice were rolled (because the unit was at half strength) and 3 or more 1s or 2s were rolled then the unit ran out of arrows. An arrow marker was placed by the unit to denote the fact it could no longer shoot.

Victory Conditions

The Royalist army would win if Lord Audley and Thomas Flamank (the retinue leaders) were killed or routed and the unit containing Michael Joseph was destroyed or routed.

The Cornish rebels would win if Lord Daubeney and the Earl of Oxford (the retinue leaders) were killed and the units containing Sir Rhys Ap Thomas and the Earl of Essex were destroyed or routed.

Thomas Flamank guards Deptford Bridge with a contingent of archers and billmen accompanied by the few light artillery pieces the rebel army has managed to collect on its march to London. On the other side of the Ravensbourne River Lord Daubeney and Sir Humphrey Stanley prepare to storm the bridge. 

A view above the table. To the right of the photo is the Royalist force that will contend the bridge commanded by Lord Daubeney and Sir Humphrey Stanley. Opposing them are the rebel archers and guns defending Deptford Bridge under Thomas Flamank. To the left of the photo is the rebel camp and the rest of the Cornish army under Lord Audley and Michael Joseph, the smith. The rest of the Royalist force will enter from both sides of the longer table edges once a unit from Daubeney's retinue has successfully crossed Deptford Bridge.

The Royalist force under Lord Daubeney prepares to storm the bridge and cross the Ravensbourne River onto Blackheath.

The attack will be spearheaded by an elite force of Henry VII's Yeomen of the Guard. Members of the guard saw active service at Blackheath. One member, Thomas Greenway, was awarded two tenements in the parish of St. Nicholas Fleshshambles in London in August 1497 for his service in the battle.

On either side of Deptford Bridge the opposing armies prepare for battle.

The Armies

The Cornish Rebels

Thomas Flamank and the rebels defending Deptford Bridge

1 Unit of Garrison Bill (Thomas Flamank - retinue leader)

2 Culverins

1 Unit of Garrison Archers

2 Units of Shire Archers

4 Units of Shire Bill

James Tuchet, Lord Audley and Michael Joseph, An Gof

1 Unit of Foot Knights (Lord Audley - retinue leader)

1 Unit of Garrison Bill (Michael Joseph, An Gof)

2 Units of Garrison Bill (Audley's retainers)

1 Unit of Garrison Archers

2 Units of Shire Archers

3 Units of Shire Bill 

The "Royalist" Army

Giles Lord Daubeney's "Battle"

1 Unit of Foot Knights (Giles Lord Daubeney - retinue leader)

1 Unit of King's Spears (Sir Humphrey Stanley)

2 Units of Demilancers 

1 Unit of Yeomen of the Guard (with handguns)

3 Units of Shire Archers

2 Units of Garrison Bill 12 points

John De Vere, Earl of Oxford's "Battle"

1 Unit of Foot Knights (John De Vere, Earl of Oxford - retinue leader)

1 Unit of King's Spears (Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex)

1 Unit of Demilancers (Sir Rhys Ap Thomas)

3 Units of Shire Archers

2 Units of Shire Bill

2 Units of Mounted Archers

A brief write up follows with the picture captions also describing events.

The Royalist attack begins and the Yeomen of the Guard attempt to force their way across the bridge.

A bloody melee takes place as the Royalists storm across Deptford Bridge and the Yeomen of the Guard suffer heavy losses.

As the Royalists force their way over the bridge the rebels open fire with their light guns...

...the rebel gunners work quickly...

...and several blasts of hail shot are sent into the attacking Royalists.

With their infantry having cleared a bloody path the King's Spears and demilancers charge across the bridge.

The defending Cornish troops are driven back in the fighting.

More cavalry from Daubeney's retinue charge across the river.

With drums beating Lord Daubeney ordered his men over Deptford Bridge promising them they would be richly rewarded for their valour by the King. Daubeney had told them the rebels would simply flee once a determined attack was made but this proved untrue. A force of Yeomen of the Guard were the first to attempt to force a crossing but they suffered terrible casualties when they were met with a storm of arrows followed by a wall of billhooks.

Behind the Yeomen of the Guard came Daubeney's billmen. Supported by their archers on the other side of the Ravensbourne River they finally managed to gain a foot hold and drive the Cornish troops back. Their success was short lived and they were horrified to discover that the rebels had positioned some light guns at the foot of the slopes leading up to Blackheath. The rebel gunners sent blasts of close range hail shot into the advancing Royalists causing yet more heavy casualties.

A view from Deptford Bridge looking onto Blackheath. Fighting is taking place on the other side of Ravensbourne River and Royalist reinforcements are arriving. To the centre right the Earl of Oxford, Sir Rhys Ap Thomas and the Earl of Essex can all be seen entering the field whilst opposite them, on the left, a force of mounted archers has dismounted and is shooting at the rebels defending the bridge.

The Earl of Essex and Sir Rhys Ap Thomas lead their contingents of cavalry onto Blackheath.

On Blackheath Lord Audley and Michael Joseph are yet to commit their forces. They watch the fighting taking place below them around the bridge.

Thomas Flamank and his men put up a brave defence as Lord Daubeney's forces storm across Deptford Bridge...

...Flamank is surrounded on all sides and slain in the fighting.

With the bridge now uncontested Lord Daubeney leads the rest of his men across.

A view of the table from above. Around the bridge on the right the last few units of rebels from the force that defended the bridge are attempting to fight off Lord Daubeney's men. At the top of the photo more Royalist troops have arrived under John De Vere, Earl of Oxford. In the bottom left corner the rebels under Lord Audley and Michael Joseph are in good order and as yet uncommitted to the engagement. In the bottom centre of the photo dismounted Royalist archers have taken up position around the building.

A veteran of the battles of Barnet, Bosworth and Stoke, John De Vere, Earl of Oxford, leads a force of Royalist billmen and archers onto Blackheath.

So far the fighting had centred around Deptford Bridge. Lord Audley and Michael Joseph remained in a strong defensive position on the top of the heath and had not been tempted down to the river in support of Thomas Flamank and the men defending the crossing. Flamank's men had fought bravely but as units of Royalist cavalry rode over the bridge they began to flee. Some attempted to get back onto the heath and join with the main body of the rebel army but their path was blocked when a force of Royalist mounted archers arrived. The archers dismounted and sent a rain of arrows into the Cornishmen still fighting along the river. Flamank was killed in the fighting, refusing to surrender to the King's troops.

Further up on Blackheath the remaining two "Battles" of the Royalist army arrived under the Earl of Oxford,Sir Rhys Ap Thomas and the Earl of Essex "noble warryers with a great company of archers and horsmen to envyron the hill on the right syde & on the left". Their banners fluttering in the breeze they began to form up against the rest of the Cornish army which had held firm under the leadership of Audley and Joseph.

De Vere's troops form up against the rebel army on the heath.

Lord Audley and Michael Joseph have seen what happened to their comrades around the bridge and prepare to sell their lives dearly.

A force of demilancers charges into Lord Audley and attempts to cut him down in the hope that this will cause a general rout of the Cornish army. The cavalry are unsuccessful and Lord Audley drives them back.

The battle lines form as the fight moves from Deptford Bridge and onto Blackheath.

With shouts of "Traitor!" Giles Lord Daubeney engages James Tuchet, Lord Audley in a one on one duel. Lord Daubeney is slain and the Cornish army cheers.

The fighting on the heath continues as the Earl of Oxford leads the Royalist infantry against the rebel army.

Cavalry and infantry from the retinue of Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex, support the Earl of Oxford as the fighting continues.

John De Vere, Earl of Oxford is brought down in a clash with some of Audley's well armed retainers.

There was a brief lull in the fighting as Deptford Bridge was secured by Daubeney's "Battle" which marched up onto the heath and joined with Rhys Ap Thomas, Oxford and Essex as they prepared to crush the remaining rebels. To the Royalists surprise Lord Audley ordered the attack as the Royalists were still forming up and battle was rejoined on the heath. A strikeforce of demilancers attempted to charge down Lord Audley but his retainers successfully drove them back. Then in the chaos of the melee Lord Daubeney challenged Lord Audley and the two dueled until a blow from Audley's poleaxe felled Daubeney, an event which heartened the rebel army.

As the fighting continued on the heath it was John De Vere, the Earl of Oxford who fell next. The veteran of Barnet, Bosworth and Stoke was finally defeated by a rebel army! Sensing victory the Cornish forces pushed forward and within moments both Sir Rhys Ap Thomas and Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex had also been unhorsed and taken by the rebels. With the loss of their leaders the Royalist army broke and fled the battlefield. The Cornish rebels had defeated Henry VII's army just miles from London!

As Oxford's men fall back, the Earl of Essex leads a charge against the Cornish army.

In the chaotic melee Sir Rhys Ap Thomas is the next Royalist leader to be unhorsed.

The Earl of Essex charges Michael Joseph, the smith, in an attempt to bring down one of the rebel leaders, but it is Essex who is defeated and captured. With no captains of note left the Royalist army flees and the Cornishmen have won the day!

 We really enjoyed these two games. Blackheath was a real epic, essentially two battles in one with a resounding victory for the Cornish rebels! The first part was the "Battle of Deptford Bridge" as Daubeney pushed across the river in the face of fierce resistance and the second was the fighting on the heath, the "Battle of Blackheath". In this second part, to my dismay, all of the Royalist leaders were defeated. Stuart's plan to not commit any of Audley or Joseph's retinue to the fight around the bridge and instead hold them in a position where the later arriving Royalists could not surround and overwhelm them proved to be really effective. In fact when Audley and Joseph's retinue did start to move it quickly overwhelmed my Royalists who were spread out all over the battlefield.

The archery ammunition rules worked really well and forced us to play differently. Had we not introduced the ammunition rules for this game it would have been completely dominated by archery as we would have both attempted to keep our forces back and win the inevitable archery duel. The archery did still play an important part, as did the light rebel guns, but it was not as dominant as it would have been. The chance we could run out of arrows made us both more cautious about when we used our archers and which targets we chose. I am sure we will be using these extra rules again.

German Peasants' War crossbowmen and arquebusiers

Progress on my German Peasants wars collection continues with the addition of some missile troops. Here we have a unit of 24 peasants and landsknecht armed with crossbows and arquebuses. The figures are a mix of Steel Fist, Grenadier, Old Glory, Wargames Foundry and Warlord Games figures. Whilst some of the units of peasants for this collection have been put together so they could be used as German or Tudor rebels this unit is specifically for the German Peasant's War of 1524-1526. The peasant bands included many landsknecht in their ranks so each of the 6 bases in the unit is a mix of men in peasant garb and more flamboyantly dressed landsknecht. By the 1520s you would be unlikely to find landsknecht fighting with crossbows but some of the landsknecht in this unit carry them as a nod to the fact the peasant bands were armed with whatever weapons they could get their hands on.

It was fun putting this unit together and they work well when deployed in front of the rest of the peasant band as shown in the photos below.

A unit of peasants armed with crossbows and arquebuses.

28mm Peasant shot.

The unit is a mix of peasants and landsknecht.

28mm Peasant and landsknecht shot.

 

16th Century Janissaries

Today's post sees a return to the Ottoman army with some more janissaries. The figures are from the excellent Warfare Miniatures Ottoman Turkish range. The range represents the janissaries of the 17th and 18th centuries but as these particular figures are armed with bows or swords and shields they also work well for the 16th century. I have tweaked some them a little to make them more suitable for the 1500s but there are no great changes to the miniatures. As discussed in my original post on the janissaries, https://camisado1500s.blogspot.com/2020/05/early-16th-century-janissaries.html, it is difficult to know how they looked on campaign during the first half of the sixteenth century. I have serious doubts as to how much of the "classic" janissary uniform would have been worn on campaign, included the famed "ak börk" or "bork" white caps, and how uniformed they would have been.

Further to this, having recently read a translation of Konstantin Mihailovic's account of the Ottoman army in the second half of the 15th century I thought it would be interesting to include his description of how the janissaries were organised in the post. Whether or not he was actually a janissary seems up for debate, he may have been some kind of Serbian auxiliary providing support to the janissary corps. Writing between 1490 and 1500 his chapter concerning the organisation of the Imperial court describes the janissaries as such:

"And at the court there are about four thousand Janissaries, and among them there is the following organisation. They have over them a senior hetman called an aga, a great lord. He receives ten gold pieces a day, and his steward, one gold piece a day. To each centurion they give a gold piece every two days, and to their stewards, a gold piece every four days. And all their sons who grow out of boyhood have a wage from the emperor. And no courtier who permits himself something will be punished by the honest ones by fine, but rather by death; they dare not however, punish any courtier publicly, but secretly, because of the other courtiers for they would revolt. And no Janissary nor any decurion of theirs dare ride a horse, save the hetman himself and the steward. And among them it is so arranged that some are archers who shoot bows, some are gunners who shoot mortars, others muskets, and still others, crossbows. And every day they must appear with their weapons before their hetmans. And he gives each one a gold piece per year for a bow, and in addition a tunic, a shirt, and large trousers made, as is their fashion, of three ells of cloth, and a shirt of eight ells. And this I myself distributed to them for two years from the imperial court."

This extract from Mihailovic's memoirs provides evidence that the janissaries might have been in some kind of uniform as they were provided with their clothing each year. The addition of these figures dressed in blue means that I can still field the various units in the collection as uniformed or they can be mixed to provide even more colourful units of janissaries. The last few photos below show these new figures mixed in with those completed a few years ago, dressed in green and red. 

Attacking Janissaries - the figures are converted Warfare Miniatures Janissaries.

28mm Janissaries with bows from Warfare Miniatures.

Early 16th Century Janissaries.

One of the officers  is wearing an animal skin carrying a halberd. Perhaps he is a "centurion" or "steward" as described by Konstantin Mihailovic.

Early 16th Century Janissaries.

A mix of Old Glory, Assault Group, Essex Miniatures and Warfare Miniatures Janissaries. The flags are also all from Warfare Miniatures.

Janissaries for the first half of the 16th century. Note how two of them are mounted. These must be the "hetman himself and the steward" as, according to Mihailovic, no other janissary "dare ride a horse"!

Szina, 1528

In January my friend Tom visited and we started the wargaming year with a big set piece battle. Last year all of the games Tom and I played involved fortifications in some way so we thought it would be good to have a change and game the follow on clash from our 2021 Tarcal scenario, https://camisado1500s.blogspot.com/2021/08/tarcal-1527.html, the battle of Szina, 1528, which took place in modern day Slovakia. As this was a scenario from the civil war in the 1520s Kingdom of Hungary it also gave me the chance to field my newly completed voynuks as some of John Zápolya's eastern European mercenaries.

Szina, 1528

The Ottoman defeat of the Hungarian King, Louis II, at Mohacs in August 1526 led to civil war in Hungary. Louis II died without an heir and Ferdinand of Habsburg had a claim to the Hungarian crown, being Louis II's brother-in-law.  In December 1526 Ferdinand was elected by a faction of the Hungarian greater nobility and Catholic clergy. They hoped his family connections as a Habsburg would mean he could defend the kingdom against the Ottoman threat. Ferdinand's election ignored the fact that just a month previously much of the lesser nobility of Hungary had proclaimed John Zápolya, Voivode of Transylvania as their King.

On 27 September 1527 Ferdinand's army, commanded by Nicholas, Count of Salm, defeated Zápolya's smaller force at Tarcal (see the link to our refight of this above). Zápolya escaped the field returning to Transylvania. Here he raised an army of around 13,000 Transylvanian, Serbian and Polish troops and within 6 months was able to challenge Ferdinand's claim to the crown again. Zápolya advanced into Hungary being joined by perhaps as many as 2,000 Hungarian troops as he entered the kingdom. Initially things went well for him as his army pushed back the forces of one of Ferdinand's captains, Péter Perényi, and besieged the towns of Sárospatak and Sátoraljaújhely.

To combat Zápolya's invasion Johann von Katzianer, a veteran commander who had led much of Ferdinand's infantry at Tarcal, and Bálint Török, who had fought at Mohacs and Tarcal, headed towards the city of Kassa with an army of around 13,000 to 14,000 men. Their army was comprised Hungarian, Austrian and German troops including contingents of landsknecht. There was already discord in the ranks of John Zápolya's mercenary army as hostilities were breaking out between the Serbian and Polish troops. Despite this Zápolya advanced towards the Habsburg forces and the armies met at Szina, not far from Kassa, on 20 March 1528. 

Zápolya's army attacked but being comprised mainly of light cavalry it could do little to break the ranks of the disciplined landsknecht. It seems the most steadfast of his troops were the Polish infantry who put up a hard fight until their artillery was captured. This was the turning point of the battle being followed by a rout in which Zápolya himself was nearly captured. Around 300 of the Polish infantry were slain whilst several thousand of the other mercenaries were killed as the army broke and fled. The light horse of Bálint Török and Lajos Pekry pursued Zápolya's horsemen catching them on 25 March where they inflicted yet more casualties, effectively destroying the army. John Zápolya fled to Poland but Sigismund I, the Polish King, would not provide him with aid driving Zápolya into an alliance with the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman. A year later the Ottomans would strike back at the Habsburgs and besiege Vienna in September 1529.

A view of the table. On the left is the Habsburg army with the cavalry contingent at the top and the infantry in the fore. On the right is Zápolya's army with the Balkan cavalry on the bottom right and the mercenary infantry arrayed beyond the horsemen. 

A view down the line of Zápolya's army. The Polish infantry have deployed amongst the artillery in a defensive formation. 

Scenario

As with our previous refight of Tarcal it is hard to find much information on this battle in English. What details we did have we used to put together the following scenario. As always the game was played using an adapted version of Lion Rampant. Each player had a cavalry, infantry and artillery retinue.

The game was played out as a pitched battle with both forces deploying facing one another.

Victory

For the Habsburg forces to achieve victory they had to kill or rout John Zápolya. For Zápolya's army to achieve victory it had to rout or kill over half the points values of both the Habsburg cavalry and infantry retinues. If both of these objectives were achieved by the players in the same turn then the game would be considered a draw.

Activation Fails

Each turn each player took 5 cards from a deck. Any King, Queen or Jack cards from the 5 they took could be used to get a reroll on an activation fail for that turn for one of their retinues. At the end of the turn all unused cards were put in a discard pile. Once the deck ran out a fresh deck was used for the reroll cards.

As the discipline of the Habsburg troops was also a factor in their victory we also made it easier for the landsknecht arquebusiers to roll a "shoot" activation than is normally the case in our rules to represent this.

Artillery

This was a pitched battle in which the taking of Zápolya's artillery was a key moment. To represent this each player had a third retinue of 4 culverins. This retinue could attempt to activate at the start of each player's turn after which they could activate their other retinues. The artillery retinues did not have retinue leaders like a normal retinue.

Discord in the ranks

As Zápolya's mercenary army was suffering from discord in the ranks before the battle any unit in Zápolya's army that rolled a blunder result in an activation would shoot if missile armed or attack if melee armed the nearest friendly unit of a different type if this was possible rather than rolling on the blunder chart. For example a pavise infantry unit that rolled a blunder would not attack another pavise infantry unit within 4" of it but would attack a light cavalry unit 6" from it as the cavalry unit would be of a different type.

John Zápolya and his household guard are deployed behind the heavy guns and mercenary infantry.

Ferdinand of Habsburg's army under the command of Johann von Katzianer and Bálint Török. 

A view of the infantry contingent of the Habsburg army. The landsknecht and Hungarian infantry are deployed around the guns. Johann von Katzianer can be seen under the yellow Habsburg flag bearing the red saltire in the top right of the photo.

The Armies

We decided to dice to see who commanded which army in this game and the result was that Tom took command of the Habsburg forces whilst I took command of John Zápolya's mercenary army.

The Army of Ferdinand of Habsburg

The infantry under Johann von Katzianer

1 Unit of Foot Knights (Johann von Katzianer retinue leader)

4 Units of Landsknecht Pike

3 Units of Landsknecht Arquebusiers

1 Unit of Landsknecht Halberdiers

1 Unit of Pavise and Arquebus Infantry

The cavalry under Bálint Török 

1 Unit of Gendarmes (Bálint Török retinue leader)

2 Units of Gendarmes

2 Units of Hussars

2 Units of Hungarian Horse

1 Unit of Lancers

Artillery

4 Culverins

The Army of John Zápolya

The cavalry under John Zápolya

1 Unit of Gendarmes (John Zápolya retinue leader)

1 Unit of Gendarmes

2 Units of Hussars

5 Units of Balkan Cavalry

The mercenary infantry

1 Unit of Foot Knights (Polish Mercenary captain retinue leader)

3 Units of Pavise and Arquebus Infantry (The Polish infantry)

2 Units of Eastern Armoured infantry (The Serbian infantry)

1 Unit of Mercenary Shot

1 Unit of Levy Pike

Artillery

4 Culverins

The captions under the photos are a good way to follow the game but a brief write up also follows.

The battle commences with a long range artillery bombardment from the Habsburg army. Some of the gun crews in Zápolya's army take casualties.

Following the opening artillery salvos Johann von Katzianer orders a general advance of the Habsburg army.

Zápolya's mercenaries open fire on the advancing Hungarian and German horse.

Hungarian hussars and horse archers are joined by Imperial gendarmes for the attack.

An overview of the field as the Habsburg forces push forward.

The day started with the crack of cannon fire as Johann von Katzianer ordered his guns into action. Shots crashed into Zápolya's mercenary troops killing some of his artillery crews. As the guns opened fire the horns and drums of the Habsburg army sounded and a general advance on Zápolya's position began. The landsknecht marched grimly towards the rival Hungarian king's forces whilst the cavalry raced ahead to charge onto Zápolya's right flank.

Hungarian hussars and then Imperial gendarmes and lancers crashed into Zápolya's Serbian and Polish infantry. A series of fierce melees developed with both sides taking casualties. The mercenary infantry were driven back but Zápolya's lines held forcing the Habsburg cavalry to wheel about and regroup. There may have been ill discipline in Zápolya's army previously but in the heat of battle most of the troops held meaning Bálint Török and his cavalry were unable to sweep them away.

Battle is joined as a unit of hussars charges into a formation of Zápolya's Serbian mercenaries...

...the hussars are driven off by the Serbian infantry only for a unit of Imperial gendarmes to crash into them and send the Serbs fleeing from the field.

Zápolya's Polish mercenary infantry are the next to be engaged, charged by a detachment of Imperial lancers. The lancers are driven off but inflict high casualties on the infantry.

At the other end of the field Zápolya's mercenary cavalry, comprising mostly of Serbian and Transylvanian light horse, are yet to engage.

Zápolya's infantry and guns open fire on the advancing landsknecht causing terrible casualties.

Other than his own bodyguard John Zápolya has one unit of heavy horse. They charge into the advancing Habsburg infantry and a bloody hand to hand clash takes place...

...neither side shows any quarter and the horsemen are driven off.

In the centre of the field Johann von Katzianer's infantry advanced with caution against Zápolya's centre which was held by further detachments of mercenary infantry with Zápolya himself deployed behind them and surrounded by his mounted bodyguard of household men at arms. On Zápolya's left flank his mercenary cavalry, a motely assortment of Transylvanian and Serbian light horsemen, did not commit to the fight. Instead they watched the landsknecht pike and guns that Katzianer had deployed facing them. It was a stark comparison to the other end of the field with neither force being willing to make the first move.

Katzianer's infantry in the centre were met with devastating volleys of arquebus shot from Zápolya's mercenaries and grapeshot from his artillery. The landsknecht pike, advancing shoulder to shoulder, were killed in droves. This led a unit of heavy cavalry, that had joined Zápolya's army as he advanced into the kingdom, to break ranks and charge into the landsknecht. Having seen the landsknecht come under such heavy fire the charging men at arms thought they would be able to break them. The landsknecht held firm and drove Zápolya's men at arms back whilst a unit of Hungarian infantry fighting for the Habsburgs fired at close range into the disordered heavy cavalry sending them back in flight.

A view down the field. The Habsburg cavalry are continuing the attack on Zápolya's infantry.

Zápolya's infantry hold formation and the guns continue to fire...

...inflicting further casualties on the advancing landsknecht.

On Zápolya's right flank the Habsburg horse battle against his mercenary infantry.

The Habsburg infantry are reinforced by another artillery piece but they are suffering terribly as they attempt to break into the Polish infantry of Zápolya's army.

During a lull in the fighting Bálint Török reforms the cavalry in preparation for another attack...

...whilst John Zápolya remains sheltered behind his heavy guns and the pavises of the Polish mercenaries. 

Whilst there has been much bloodshed on Zápolya's right flank, on his left most of the cavalry are still yet to engage. Only the heavy cavalry and some hussars have been routed following a charge into the advancing landsknecht.  

Bálint Török leads his heavy cavalry into the infantry yet again. He is unhorsed in the melee, a blow to the morale of the Habsburg army.

Whilst Zápolya's left flank and the Habsburg right remained unengaged in the centre of the field it was now the turn of the landsknecht infantry to show ill discipline and many of them fled in the face of constant volleys of shot from Zápolya's mercenary infantry. The Habsburg attack on the centre had failed. As the landsknecht fled some of Zápolya's light cavalry finally joined the action riding out to chase them down.

 The fighting continued on Zápolya's right flank as Bálint Török led the Habsburg cavalry in further charges. The Polish mercenaries were pushed back and Zápolya's guns were over run but Zápolya's lines held. Bálint Török was brought down in an attack on the Polish mercenaries, a blow to the morale of the already exhausted cavalry. With the infantry routed and much of Zápolya's light horse remaining fresh the Habsburg cavalry sounded a retreat. For the Habsburg horse and Zápolya's Polish and Serbian infantry it had been a long and bloody fight. John Zápolya's army held the field and the remaining Habsburg commander, Johann von Katzianer, withdrew.

In this renewed attack on Zápolya's infantry all of his guns are captured and many of his Polish mercenaries slain...

...but the mercenary captains of Zápolya's army keep their men in formation and manage to drive the Habsburg cavalry off again.

The Habsburg cavalry attack stalls again. With the landsknecht infantry having sustained heavy losses in their attack on Zápolya's defensive formation and Zápolya's light horse contingent yet to really engage the Habsburgs retreat from the field.

 Another hard fought game. I think deployment was key in this one. To win Tom had to get to John Zápolya's unit and defeat it but Zápolya was positioned amidst a strong defensive formation of guns and pavise infantry which proved very difficult to break. The guns in Zápolya's army were effective when defending against the landsknecht at close range whilst those in the Habsburg army were firing at long range and achieved little. This had a big effect on the result.

I suppose this also shows that even in a chaotic game like Lion Rampant, or at least our amended version of it, if you follow some of the tried and tested defensive formations of history they can achieve results that would be expected. That being said there were moments when it did look like Tom's attack with the cavalry would prevail and sweep away my infantry. As we could play cards to counter activation fails this meant that the ill discipline rules for Zápolya's army didn't have an effect whilst, counter to history, it was the landsknecht infantry that suffered from terrible discipline in the game with a few of the units failing their morale and routing very quickly.

It was great to get so many different units on the table; landsknecht, gendarmes, hussars, balkan cavalry and eastern European infantry with pavises and heavy armour. This is definitely an area of gaming Tom and I will be revisiting and we are keen to get the Ottomans into another game later this year.