Following his victory at Hedgeley Moor John Neville, Lord Montegu, continued north, rendezvoused with the Scottish peace emissaries, and then returned with them to Newcastle. Meanwhile the defeated Lancastrian forces regrouped at Alnwick Castle. There they became aware that Edward IV was moving north with a large army to attend the peace conference in Newcastle and then move against the Lancastrian uprising in Northumberland. To forestall this eventuality Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, led the Lancastrian host southwest into the Tyne valley. He was possibly hoping to by-pass the Yorkist forces in Newcastle and move back into Yorkshire closer to the Lancastrian heartland. Sometime around May 11th he reached the Hexham area and made camp on the Hexham Levels, south of the Devil’s Water near Linnel’s Bridge, a tributary of the Tyne. He had with him about 2,000 men though some sources put it as low as 500.
Montegu was made aware of Somerset’s location twenty miles to the west of Newcastle and decide to move against him with a force of 4-5,000 men. After a night march he arrived on the high ground overlooking the Lancastrian camp and immediately attacked.
It was a short but enjoyable battle...for me anyway, as I was playing the Yorkist rearward. The Lancastrians actually had some success with archery as the Yorkists advanced towards them, but with no faltering, it was a bloody victory to the Yorkists.
The original victory conditions was for the Lancastrians to survive for 12 turns, but on reflection it was felt this was not an achievable objective, so it was reduced to 8. In the game above they were all out by the end of turn 6...although one company did break and flee...hence escaping the massacre. Matching the game with the historical events, I wonder if the Yorkists should be allowed any archery at all...if they take the time to stop and shoot, then my feeling is the Lancastrians would take the opportunity to flee.