Kern, Gallowglass, and Demi-Lancers: Wargaming Battles in Elizabethan Ireland

To the ill-trained and provisioned un-willing English recruit dragged onto a boat bound for Dublin, Ireland must have felt like the very edge of the world, like the Americas. Outside of the coastal towns, Ireland was almost a wilderness of mountains, bogs, and forest. The Irish looked nothing like the rest of Europe; they used archaic weapons, spoke a different language, practised a different faith, and many lived a semi-nomadic life of cattle herding. Their Lords even practised a different form of law. Ireland remained feudal at the time, with each lord being as independent as a king in his own lands.

The Tudors sought to make Ireland into an English shire: obedient, Protestant, and profitable. Various schemes were attempted but most ending badly; plantations of English farmers pushed the Irish from their lands. Catholic clerics were imprisoned and replaced with English Protestants. Being an Irish Bard or Poet became punishable by death, and Irish lords were forced to surrender their ancient titles and holdings in the hope of being re-granted their lands with English titles, so the ancient O’Neil might become the Earl of Tyrone. Inevitably, this all lead to numerous bloody rebellions throughout the Tudor period for which the English were typically woefully under prepared.

THE IRISH

Through most of the period, the Irish forces hardly changed from something that the Vikings or even earlier Irish warlords would recognise. The lightly-armed Kern was the mainstay of the Irish armies, wearing nothing more than a short saffron tunic with huge sleeves. They were typically armed with dart and buckler or bow. Over time, some firearms became available, and the Kern would also skirmish with the harquebus. Bonnacht were Kern retainers, often with heavier melee weapons and bits of armour. The cavalry was all light horses, riding Irish ponies, and without high saddles or stirrups. They were great skirmishers and scouts but could not stand up to the English horse in melee. 

Finally, there was the Gallowglass, originally Scots mercenary heavy infantry who often settled in Ireland as professional troops for the major magnates. These dour soldiers wore long chainmail hauberks and padded Aketons down to their shins, armed with a double-handed axe or double-handed sword. They were tough warriors who would not look much different from their Viking ancestors apart from their slightly more modern helmets. The Northern Irish also had access to redshanks, who were new Scots mercenaries from across the narrow waters in the highlands and Islands. On occasion, Spanish regulars were also available in varying numbers.

THE ENGLISH

The English were, for the most part, a much more typically European army. Pike and shot were organised and armed along standard European lines, despite not being suited at all to conditions in Ireland. The heavy horses were provided by demi-lancers, which were devastating if the Irish ever stood long enough in the open to be charged, but they rarely did. Of more use was the border horse, who no doubt found the cycle of murder and raid depressingly familiar. Initially, the English also kept a small number of outdated billmen and longbowmen as these were still useful in the broken terrain typical of Ireland. In addition, English armies often had allied contingents of Irish troops: both Kern and Gallowglass.

WARGAMES RULES

There are several rules that cover the period. However, the vast differences between the troop types and tactics employed by both sides may prove difficult to cover with some of these. We have used Irregular Wars, a set specifically designed for the clash of cultures across the period, whether Conquistador vs. Meso-American, Dutch vs. Samurai Pirates or English vs. Irish. Each base is a company. For 28mm we have made these 3-inch squares, which allow some room to add terrain to the bases. Ranges and movement are measured in numbers of unit frontages, so it is easily scaleable up or down.

THE GAME

All of this led up to a demonstration game put on at the Other Partizan show in Newark in October. For our game, the scenario was an English relief column coming to the support of a beleaguered Plantation town of English colonists. The column must cross a river, and it is at this point that an Irish army chooses to ambush them while they are strung out along the road. The game is not based on any specific action, but on the multiple occasions where the Irish ambushed the English at river crossings such as the Yellow Ford, the Ford of Biscuits, the Ford of the Erne, and others. My armies are based around the second Desmond Rebellion 1579–1583; a hugely bloody and long fought war that depopulated the south. The time frame suits my approach, with the Irish only having limited access to firearms - further emphasising the clash of cultures. Each army is split into three commands: vanguard, main guard, and rearguard. Each player commands one of these forces. The rules are aimed at 2 players, but easily scale to the 6 we had during our demonstration games.

The Irish Vanguard blocks the far side of the river preventing the English from reaching the settler town. Each command has a mix of Kern, Bonnacht, Gallowglass, and light horse with one unit of Kern Marksmen carrying a harquebus each. The vanguard also has a company of Spanish Rodelero’s supporting them with sword and buckler. The main and rear guard hide in the woods on the left flank of the English advance. The English commands are also an equal split of pike, shot, light horse, and demi-lancers with a unit of billmen in each command and one of longbows in the main guard. They start the game spread down the length of the table marching up the road. For the Irish, the aim is to inflict as many losses on the English as they can and either drive them off or destroy them entirely. For the English, breaking through the Irish to the settlement with a cohesive force remaining is the key to success. 

In our first game, the English commanders chose to concentrate all three commands on destroying the Irish ambushers whilst attacking the blocking vanguard with a couple of units of horse to try to delay their forces crossing the river in support. This initially worked well, and they were able to hold the Irish off for a number of moves. However, the rearguard eventually began to buckle and the blocking force crossed the river into the English vanguards’ flank. The English army began to dissolve. We have played the same game again with different results each time. In the first, the English dissolved pretty quickly, leaving virtually no intact forces on the table. In the second, the Irish rearguard was too eager and, attacking unsupported, was quickly destroyed after the loss of their Lord. This allowed the English to concentrate on the much-reduced Irish main guard and vanguard and eventually drive them back to defeat. This last game was a much closer-fought engagement, but all three were fun and interesting games.

SPECIAL RULES

• Pike – Plus 5 against horse to the front, charging units lose charge bonus if charging to the front.
• Polearms – plus one melee to front and against pike at all times
• Wild – No movement penalty in rough ground
• Targeteers – plus 3 against pike
• Reiver –Treat as foot during melee or shot phase if in rough ground
• Loose – Turn 90 or 180 degrees for free, may reload black power and change facing in same action

USING LION RAMPART AND PIKE'S LAMENT

In previous WS&S articles, such as Edinburgh’s Burning from WS&S and the The battle of the Spurs from WS&S 126, we used a combination of Pikeman’s Lament and Lion Rampant. Use the leadership rules from Lion Rampant and the rules for pike, shotte and artillery from Pikeman’s Lament. Treat demi-lancers as Elite Cavalry, borderers as Heavy Cavalry and light horse as Lights Horse with javelins. Billmen count as Expert Heavy Infantry and Gallowglass as Armoured Warrior Infantry. Sword and buckler count as Heavy Infantry and Kern marksmen as Raw Shotte (Pikeman’s Lament). Bonnachts count as Skirmishers and Kern as Light Infantry with javelins.

OTHER GAMING OPTIONS

Outside of the rebellions, warfare was endemic in Ireland throughout the period; Irish lords fighting each other for supremacy, particularly the Butlers under the Earl of Ormond and Fitzgerald’s under the Earl of Desmond. In the north, the O’Neil fought the McDonnell Antrim Scots for control of Ulster. Regular Continental forces of various sizes even appear at times, with the Spanish sending small contingents on a number of occasions; the Pope sending a small army of 700 Spanish and Italian mercenaries to support Fitzgerald in the second Desmond Rebellion; and the Spanish sending an army of 3,300 to support O’Neil towards the end of the Nine Years’ War. This gives the gamer lots of scope for different types of games and alternative histories where the Spanish actually linked with the Irish to provide a real headache for the English.

You can also consider the other significant military adventures of the Elizabethan English, more than I had realised until recently. Armies of thousands were sent to support the Dutch Protestants in the United Provinces and equally so to Newhaven (later Dunkirk) and Brittany. Added to this were the two massive combined arms raids on the Spanish Peninsular. Described by Jonathan Davies as counter armadas, these were massive undertakings with lots of wargaming possibilities.

RESOURCES 

The gamer is blessed with several resources. From a clothing and uniforms perspective, a quick internet search will garner multiple illustrations of the troops of the period alongside images of re-enactors. Osprey has a title dedicated to the period, and Helion has at least 3 for the English, The Tudor Arte of Warre volumes 1-3, with a further one for the Irish due any time. The Osprey for the Armada also provides a treasure trove of images and information for the English army and any Spanish troops you may want to add. 

From a historical background perspective, in addition to the above-mentioned volumes, Cyril Falls’ book Elizabeth’s Irish Wars is very good, particularly for the later Nine Years’ War period. A personal favourite of mine is The Twilight Lords by Richard Berleth, with a particular focus on the Desmond Rebellions and the near genocidal ethnic cleansing practised by both sides, particularly in Munster. I hope this short overview provides some inspiration for anyone fascinated with the period. WS&S

I have detailed my progress with this project on my blog, so anyone interested can see the development of the forces, the troop and figure manufacturers, the painting and basing used, plus the after-action reports for each of our games so far. You can access these at gapagnw.blogspot.co.uk.

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This article was featured in Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy Magazine 128. Discover this issue, and others, in our webshop: