The Hunt for "The Bastard" Heron

 

Skaithmuir is burning. Todhillrigg too. John “The Bastard” Heron with his outlaws, a band of true devils, crossed the River Tweed on Christmas Eve and struck coldly against both bringing fire and the sword.

Then back to his lair at Marl bog he retreated, Grendel-like, on a snowy, cold Christmas Day, the blood of a dozen Scots on his hands, a hundred sheep and cattle missing.

The year is 1508 and Sir Robert Kerr, Warden of Scotland’s Middle Marches, has mustered a force of 4,000 men to cross the Tweed into England and bring John Heron to justice.

But a spy brings news of Kerr’s force to Heron before they reach the Tweed, giving him time to gather his own force to oppose them at East Learmouth.

January 17, 1508, 11:00 AM

The snow has already stopped when the Scottish column enters West Learmouth. Across Duddo Burn, a ragged looking force of English archers and billmen exits Broomy Knowe and forms into two lines. Spies have told Kerr and Argyll that Heron is in East Learmouth, but here are other unexpected men.

The main body of Highlanders push forward towards East Learmouth anyway, their blood boiling. While others angle south towards the smallish height of Blake Law to guard against a flanking attack.

The Earl of Argyll is a fierce man, not afraid of the sword. He leads his men forward, halberds, and bows in hand against the English, cutting John Heron and his outlaws off from the town.

A fierce fight ensues, as the battle enters its second hour. Brave men fall on both sides, but the Scottish guns send the English right flank into a panic.

And where is John Heron? Dead as stone on the field, a pike through his gut. But so is the Earl of Argyll a heavy loss for all of Scotland.

The game is “The Renaissance,” a Musket & Pike title by John Tiller Software.

This scenario is purposefully only eight turns and can be played in less than an hour. I have scripted the English AI, but not the Scots. Playing as the Scots is a challenge and can be difficult depending upon your choices. This scenario might also be fun to play head to head, as both forces are of a similar size.

I do not have access to the OOB editor for this title, so I haven’t created a leader card for Sir Robert Kerr. I have only used units from the Flodden OOB that are present within the game. The map is a sub-map that I created from the original Flodden map within the game.

This scenario is fictional, but Border Reivers crossed over both sides of the Tweed during this period and John Heron and Robert Kerr are both real. In fact, John “The Bastard” Heron would ultimately take part in the ambush of Kerr that cost him his life in 1508. And King James IV of Scotland would use Kerr’s death as a pretext for war, some five years later.

To download this scenario and map file please go here.