Captain Blackadder's right-hand regiment.
A rare sight - English Civil War armies facing each other across a tree-strewn battlefield in Chester! The battle itself is a little complicated to describe due to the excessive amount of running away both sides did once again. This time round it was the (completely painted) Parliamentarian forces of Captain Blackadder (Aidan) who faced the (slightly less painted) Royalist forces (mine). We used the ‘Warhammer Ancients: English Civil War’ rules and mocked up armies roughly similar in points. The Parliamentarians outnumbered the Royalists so were rated ‘Steady’, while the kings men all became ‘Elite’.
The battle itself followed a distinct deployment and pattern. Both sides setup with blocks of pike flanked by musketeers - the Parliamentarians having the better of this with five units of muskets to the Royalists one. The cavalry of each side, gallopers all, deployed facing each other, and Captain Blackadder also employed a unit of skirmishing muskets in the buildings to his right.
Both sides began by advancing to within around 8” of the other, with the cavalry eying each other warily, before first the rebels, then the royalists unleashed volley fire into the enemy. This disposed of around 5-6 rebel musketeers, and about 7 royalist pikemen. The Royalist pike on the left then charged, and successfully drove two units of musketeers and a unit of pikemen from the field. It was also a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of day, which ended up with the Royalist pikemen all wearing armour. This, along with the elite higher toughness, was a distinct advantage.
At this point most of both sides decided to flee in panic, and it all becomes a bit hazy. The Parliamentarian horse did successfully drive the Royalist horse and Colonel-General from the field, while the clash of pike on the right ended with the royalists fleeing. All powder had been expended by both sides by the time the last royalist musketeers were caught between Blackadder’s skirmishers and the rest of the rebels pike, and the battle was over. The Parliamentarians had won, but not by a big margin, and more men had fled the field than had died.
Analysis:
Once again panic played a huge part, and the strength of the pike blocks was demonstrated. The elite Royalist pike managed to drive off a much larger enemy thanks to their extra toughness and armour, and caused massive panic in the enemy ranks in doing so. However the Royalist horse was not so impressive, and the enemy having got the charge they fled never to return. Musketeers were mostly unimpressive again, and all had fired all their shot by the end with only a few casualties! Their strength appears to be in potential, and they did make a mess of the two Royalist pike units early on.
The Parliamentarian infantry centre.
The (slightly less painted) Royalists opposing them.
Complete Parliamentarian deployment.
The two armies face each other before battle commences.
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