I was very taken by John Cooper's book, "The Heart and The Rose" and the possibilities of scenario building with his suggested wargame.
The Earl of Lennox ("The Rose") leads 10,000 men to rescue the young Edward V from the clutches of his step-father, the Earl of Angus (The Heart). Lennox is met by his uncle, the Earl of Arran, with 2000 men that deny his crossing of the River Avon (one of seven rivers so named in Britain) near the village of Linlithgow Bridge, 4 Sept, 1526.

Lennox prepares to cross the Manuel Nunnery ford and is already under fire from one of Arran's well place guns:


The opening moves are here:
https://inredcoatragsattired.com/2019/06/18/battle-of-linlithgow-bridgeopening-moves/
Being unable to sit but for short periods, this will take days (most likely) to play out.

Nice looking game there, Bill, and developing into an interesting battle.   

Although, I must confess, I was slightly confused at first with the references to 'Essex' until I realised you'd probably been overdosing on the painkillers when you posted your report ....  

Good heavens!!   Lennox! Reading about Essex in Ireland and writing about Lennox - more old age than pain killers but they were likely in the mix.
Thanks! And have credited you on the blog post after I correct ten or so occurances.

 

Lovely stuff, Bill ! 

Cheers - Phil

Good game, good game. The brits will recognise that as a Brucie, Bill.

Great report, looking forward to more to come!

Thanks Bill, interesting situation.

Quote from: d_Guy on 19 June 2019, 12:06:39 AM
Good heavens!!   Lennox! Reading about Essex in Ireland and writing about Lennox - more old age than pain killers but they were likely in the mix.
Thanks! And have credited you on the blog post after I correct ten or so occurances.

No worries, Bill. I'm very prone to this kind of thing, myself, these days (and crediting me wasn't necessary btw, but which, on reflection, is no surprise coming from yourself because you are such a gentleman). I thought it might also have been all the recent talk about Essex on the "Argh I HATE that manufacturers bases..." topic. Although I must say, I am kind of disappointed that you've updated it now because I was so looking forward to the next part of the report when Essex pulls off his mask ,"Mission Impossible" style, and everyone says, "Ah! It was Lennox all along!"   

Thanks for highlighting such an interesting battle that usually only merits a sentence, if at all, in the few books I have of that era of Scottish history. Looking forward to the conclusion.

Very nice Bill .

Thanks all! Apologies for posting a slow motion game.
@Leman - I couldn't find it in my handy British slang dictionary (a necessity for understanding this forum http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/index.htm ) so provisional thanks! 

@Westie - it is a little known battle, doesn't even have a header slug in Cassell's Battlefields of Britain and Ireland. Even Melrose gets at least that. Linlithgow Bridge had as many as fourteen thousand men engaged with some substantial fighting and for this period, some very interesting tactical problems.

I am less a gentleman than an habitue' of giving credit. Most here know that I am (among other things) retired clergy. We are trained to always credit sources in sermons - I will confess it is a rule most often honored in the breach. 

I was in Linlithgow last weekend.

They seemed largely unaware of it.

I know you were with your daughter but did you have any opportunity to go down along the River?

Britain has too much history! Here we sign everything along with the obligatory gift shop with postcards, tee-shirts and rubber tomahawks.

We did meander along the loch, and poked our noses into the palace.

Bill, there was a light entertainer called Bruce Forsyth who compered a gameshow back in the 70s called The Generation Game. It involved fathers and daughters, mothers and sons etc competing against each other in some very silly activities, after which Brucie would often say Good game, good game. This would then be followed up by the scores on the doors - well, there were only three TV channels here in those days. Anyway, a very unusual battle to cover from one of my favourite wargaming periods - very refreshing and informative.