URBAN WARRIORS BATTLE IT OUT IN KIRRIEMUIR

At the monthly Sunday meeting of Kirriemuir Wargames Club some of the members played host to a number of visitors who took part in an Urban War competition. The games system devised by the Edinburgh based company, Urban Mammoth, has been building in popularity over the past two years and the participants had an enjoyable day, each competitor playing a total of four games.

The nine play areas provided by the host club varied from post apocalyptic, industrial complexes, through Orcish urban settlements to dense jungle terrain. Players accumulated points for each game depending on how successful their victory was. The numbers in the competition were smaller than anticipated but the event was characterised by good, relaxed sportsmanship all round with participants vowing to return next year for an enlarged competition.


"the competition in full swing"

Medals were awarded as follows. Best Player Craig Lafferty, Forfar, 2nd Anthony Purdie, Edinburgh, 3rd Martin Lee, East Kilbride, Best Painted Army Grant Murray, Memus,2nd Anthony Purdie,3rd Stuart Ronald, East Kilbride.

Ian Fergus was thanked for the work he had done in organising and running the competition.

The combination of holidays, sports events and fantastic summer weather reduced numbers for the rest of the club too. Three club members had other important calls on their time with Charles Grant senior and Phil Olley busy with a photo shoot for a forthcoming book. Charles Grant junior, a serving officer in the army , had duties of another kind at Holyrood Palace.

However, despite all that, eleven likely lads from the senior section of the club played out a War of the Roses scenario on a large twenty feet by six feet table with the town of St. Albans at one end.

"It's a long way to St Albans, its a long way to go..."

The battle , known as Second St. Albans, wrong footed the Yorkists who expected the enemy to appear from the north-west. The Lancastrians, led by Grahame Paterson, eventually battled their way through the town to appear in the rear of the Yorkist army commanded by David Mathieson.

Notable events included Gordon Yacomine’s tenacious defence of the town
"This area of St Albans came to be known throughout the course of the day as 'The Hot Gates', where Gordon's valiant Yorkists saw off 2 consecutive battles of Lancastrian scum. At the end of that however, out of arrows, exhausted, and on the verge of their morale collapsing, the brave '300' settled down with a flagon of ale in one hand and a serving wench in the other to wait out the remainder of the battle."

Dale Smith’s stubborn resistance against the entire Lancastrian rabble was also worth a mention, but alas as more and more Lancastrians emerged from the town his line was being flanked and re-inforcements were not to arrive in time to prevent this.


. Game organiser and umpire Steve Rimmer declared the game a draw which could have changed history if it had really happened that way.