Pike & Shotte Siege - The Swedish Attack Chester

With Michaels gardening leave in full swing he left his hoe and hotfooted it over to Wrexham for a meeting of minds in the first ever Pike & Shotte siege!  We ‘borrowed’ some extra rules from the Worcester battle report in the Pike & Shotte book, with my Royalist foote (4 foote regiments under Lord Flasheart) defending against the entire Swedish army commanded by the fearsome Gustavus Adolphus - fielding no less than 8 pieces of ordinance to batter at the walls of the city of Chester (yes, I had staked it for the campaign).  The only bright spot for the beleaguered Royalists being the incoming relief column of horse; 4 regiments of gallopers and two of dragoons led by Brigadier Wolfe.  Victory conditions where for the attackers to get 3 unshaken units inside the walls inside 10 turns. Each part of the walls counted as a building, and could take 10+1D6 hits from artillery before collapsing and creating a breach.

The Battle:

I had garrisoned the city walls by placing my musketeers in the towers (out of reach of ladders), and the pikemen on the walls and gateway.  I also kept a block of pike and some musketeers back behind the walls to act as a fire brigade if any area looked threatened.  Michaels artillery advanced and opened up, with the wall sections on each side of the gatehouse being the targets.  A regiment of Swedish foote was supposed to support each assault when the wall came down, but both seemed quite unwilling to move.  The bulk of the Swedes infantry, three full regiments of foote, set off on an outflanking manoeuvre, trying to get round the shorter side of the city walls where no pikemen awaited them at the top of the walls, just musketeers without support. 

The initial setup.

The bulk of the Swedish foote.

The Royalists positions.

The Swedish pike and dragoons passing a cottage with a distracting looking wench....

Unpainted but in charge - the Royalist chairman and board debate issues next to the supply train and minister.

Sadly (for the Swedes) this advance turned into a farce rapidly, with the constricting terrain of some woods and hedgerows ruining any semblance of a formation, and a consistent failure of their commander to be able to give orders!  Luckily for them that the Royalists had very little in the way of firepower to make them pay for forming a conga line!  Lord Flasheart, lurking around behind the gatehouse, decided things were not moving fast enough, and seeing an opportunity to sweep away the unsupported Swedish musketeers from in front of the gatehouse (the Swedes pike block was far away at the back of the board having a nice conversation with a ‘wench’ of dubious morals) he sent out the King’s Guard. The redcoated pikemen crashed into the musketeers, only to be halted by the hedgerow defences.  It didn’t take long for more Swedish musketeers to hit one flank, while some cavalry were unleashed on the other, and the King’s Guard understandable perished while Flasheart quickly shut the gate again!

The Swedish infantry begin their conga.

Flashearts daring move - sending out the King's Guard before shutting the door quickly when it all goes wrong!

 More important events were happening behind them however, as the Swedes guns finally brought down a section of the city walls.  Its defenders – Hopton’s pike – reformed in the breach, only to receive the same treatment from the nearly cannon, and disintegrate.  The Swedish conga had also finally shaken itself out into a formation of sorts, and, throwing its ladders up against the wall on the side of the city, they began their assault.  The Royalist musketeers   proved to be made of stern stuff however, and their attack failed to gain the battlements.  In the centre at the gatehouse another Flasheart farce saw the gatehouse be left unguarded as a series of orders for the redeployment of men to guard the breach to its left went wrong!  The Swedish yellow coats were swiftly up on their ladders, only for the King’s Guard musketeers to throw them back by weight of numbers before they could open the gate, and secure the battlements once more.

The wall comes down!

Time was running out for the Swedes, and no more so than when the Royalist re-enforcements arrived, streaming onto the battlefield and wiping out the Swedes artillery before charging onwards into their cavalry.  The Royalists had also managed to get another block of pike (Stradlings this time) into the breach, and with only cavalry available the Swedes were unable to take the breach.  Elsewhere the wall to the right of the gatehouse had held – although very badly damaged the Swedish artillery had rolled badly towards the end, and then rolled a fair number of double 1’s, taking it out of the fight.  The Royalist musketeers held the gatehouse and had thrown back the Swedish main assault on the side of the city once more, and time was up.  A victory for the Royalists with no Swedish troops having gained access to the city, and only some musketeers managing to reach the top of the walls.

The bulk of the Swedish foote finally make it into contact, but are unable to defeat Talbots whitecoats.

The Royalists horse arrive and charge.

Last gasp at the gatehouse, but the day is lost for the Swedes.

The Royalists Attack

Having played one more than the required 10 turns, we decided to switch it round and have the Royalists attack instead.  The Swedes kindly lent them their 8 cannon, which the Royalists supplemented with another Saker and a mortar to compensate for their fewer numbers (1 less foot regiment than the Swedes used).

The Battle:

I placed one small brigade of foote (Talbots – whitecoats) on the side of the city to try and force a way over the walls, while the bulk of the army formed two columns of attack.  The first to the left of the windmill was to assault a breach in the walls created to the left of the gatehouse.  The second to the right of the windmill was to assault the gateway itself – supposedly an easier target for my cannon to batter down than a wall.  The horse awaited at the back for the Swedish mounted re-enforcement column to appear in its random location.  Michael followed my setup – pike on the walls and muskets in the towers, with some reserves.

The initial setup, Talbots brigade in the white in the foreground.

The central attack column.

Talbots ill-fated, and failure of an attack.

The first clash came on my left, where Talbots foot reached the walls swiftly and began to climb, only to suffer a calamitous defeat and have their pike scattered!  The rest of the brigade was reduced to ineffectively trading fire with the Swedes musketeers for the remains of the battle.  My focus on taking down the walls however, brought more joy, with a breach being swiftly created to the left of the gatehouse, and the pikemen guarding it suffering casualties from the falling rock.  My hopes of a swift assault and victory were ruined however, by some very poor command rolls which saw my troops not move for a number of turns!  The cannon pounded the enemy in the breach, but elsewhere also seemed incapable of hitting the city gate where the rest of the army waited.

The Swedish wall collapses.

Flasheart screams for the assault to begin, but no Royalist will be first into the breach.

To compound matters the Swedish horse arrived, and launched itself into the back of my army, scattering much of my own horse and artillery.  No joy was to be had on my right either, where the gate finally fell, and the King’s Guard pike charged in, scattering the enemy pike and gaining the city, before coming to grief itself in the Swedish counter attack.  Their support, Stradlings foote, had abandoned the gate and headed for some walls which Michael had temporarily abandoned to re-enforce the gatehouse, only to re-occupy just in time, and the assault failed.

The Swedish horse arrive.

Lord Flasheart, victory slipping away, seized the initiative and shouted ‘Follow Me!’ to a regiment of horse and succeeded in clearing the breach, only to find the Swedes had more pike and muskets behind it, and the rest of his army was disintegrating under the hammer blows inflicted by their horse.  The day was lost and he retreated – Victory to the Swedes.

The Royalist attack stalled.

Analysis:

Whether attacking, defending, winning or losing, it was all very good fun!  Attacking the castle appears more difficult than defending it; making sure your cannon don’t have their lines of sight block by your foote moving up, allocating enough men to each hoped for breach, waiting for the re-enforcements to arrive!  Michaels horse certainly did a bit better than mine, helped by cuirassiers and hitting the main body of the Royalist army straight away.  I did a bit better than Michael because I had learnt from a couple of his mistakes, and was more focused with my attacks and artillery, and my foote didn’t have to try and redeploy to the side of the castle.  With the varying angles of hedgerows etc we were very loose with formations rather than enforce the rules on it exactly, which actually looked quite good when a group of horse charged down a lane, or a cluster of infantry assaulted the walls, one of the joys of Pike & Shotte being it has a much lower competitive nature and you can just ‘wing it’ without unbalancing it.  Finally a note about the number of vehicles which appear in the pictures – the bio-titan was hard at work for most of the day!

English Civil War - A Winter of Discontent - The Campaign Overview

The story so far……….

Week 1

In an unusual break with traditional military logic King Charles gathered his forces and marched northward from Oxford in early October 1643. Shadowed by parliamentary forces lead by Earl Michael de Blondeville, assisted by the mercenary Lord Flasheart, Charles turned and defeated his pursuers at the Shropshire village of Much Wenlock. At the same time the army of the west gained control of Cirencester, Bristol and Gloucester. In reply Parliamentarian forces moved to secure Colchester and then to Reading.

End of week 1.

Week 2

The following week saw Charles meet up with Prince Rupert, and head into Cheshire. On the edges of the village of Bunbury Earl Michael and Lord Flasheart caught up with them once again, and this time inflicted a stinging defeat on the king, sending the Royalist army tumbling southwards once more. With Parliamentary Troops now holding the south coast ports of Dover, Portsmouth and Poole, as well as Arundel, Charles moved quickly to claim Sherbourne and Lyme Regis and block their passage into the West Country. 

End of week 2.

Week 3

Charles and Rupert were joined by Prince Maurice (Ruperts brother), the Duke of York and Lord Byron to fight an inconclusive draw near Dorchester against Earl Michael and Lord Flasheart. This ended the Royalist interest in Weymouth, but enabled them to gain Devon, holding Exeter, Dartmouth and Plymouth. Parliamentarian forces showed more interest in the midlands, bringing Norwich and Birmingham into the fold. A sour note for Earl Michael was the detection and dismantlement of his spy network by Royalist agents.

End of week 3.

The awards gained: The forces of the king, having thwarted the enemy at the battle of Much Wenlock, had supreme (misguided) confidence in their CO. However Charles spent most of the fighting around Dorchester not using his High Independence ability. They then moved into Lord Flashearts tavern, gaining an Untested regiment of horse. Parliament managed to set up a spy network, which was promptly dismantled, and produce an Academy trained regiment (Sir Adam Duckville's foote) which now performs as Superbly Trained.

We are now up to week four of the campaign, and I’ve attached a lovely map with squiggles on it.  The towns with crosses on are the ones held by the Parliamentarian forces, while the circles are the Royalist strongholds.  Perhaps following tradition the Roundheads have claimed Kent and that section of the coastline (although I have no idea what we’re doing in Birmingham, sorry Aidan), while the Royalists have branched out into the West Country.  I’ve added Falmouth because it surely should be on there, Wrexham though is more of a whim.  Overall we’ve seen a victory for each side and now a draw, and we look forward to Cromwell moving out from his constituency and joining the fight.

Week 4

The Battle of Broughton ended in a Royalist proclaimed draw, and, although it was their army which quit the field, gave the King the opportunity to draw up his men to force a decisive battle against the newly arrived Cromwell and his forces.  At the same time he opened negotiations with that well known mercenary Lord Flasheart about a possible transfer to the forces of light.  Little changed in the country for this action, Royalist troops used some of their few ships to sale to Liverpool and capture it, along with securing Chester, and when Parliamentarian troops gained that important regional centre of Wrexham they sacked it and forced them back to the other Roundhead prize; Shrewsbury.  The explosion of the powder magazine in Wrexham did not help the Roundhead cause. 

End of week 4.

Week 5

Kings Charles' victory over the arch-fiend Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Knockin in early November 1643 sent Royalist supporters into rapture around the country, and sent Cromwell back to London in disgrace, threatening not to reappear for a further 6 weeks.

In the days that followed the Royalists claimed the towns of Manchester, Wakefield and Wrexham. But promptly lost the last when the garrison revolted.  Parliamentarian troops chose to gain Lichfield and Leicester, although to what purpose nobody knows.

Things are not all rosy for Charles however, although Cromwell and his army are scattered or returned to London, Earl Michael de Blondevilles forces remain in the field at some strength, and Sir Brian Cromwell has returned to his home county confident of raising more regiments for his cause.  And to add to this Lord Flasheart, angry at the snub he received at Knockin, is becoming increasingly difficult to control or even retain as a royalist supporter.  Finally, as winter begins to bite, shotte and powder levels are beginning to dwindle. The next few weeks could be a nervy few for all. 

End of week 5.

 Week 6

Charles, Rupert, Flasheart, Earl Michael and the Cromwell's (like the Krays but with ruffs) all took a well deserved break just as characters looking suspiciously like them played the key parts in a sideshow in Cheshire.

The Battle of Middlewich was won by a whisker by the forces of Parliament, who, in a totally unrelated series of events, also captured Caernarvon and that well known regional centre of Wrexham, before using the M1 and A1 to reach Edinburgh.  In reply the Royalists cunningly captured Falmouth, and finally captured Hull via the use of kinda eggs.

This put the Royalists firmly in the lead in terms of powder centres, holding 7 to Parliaments 5 - five shots of powder for them next week! In terms of rewards the forces of the Roundheads gained the news that god is on their side (probably), while Charles received the unwelcome news that Lord Flasheart has appointed himself as a secondary general to the main Royalist army.

Rumour has it Oliver Cromwell may return this week, although whether he will be seeking another major confrontation is questionable, however his numbers of troops have been boosted by his brothers; Sir Brisn Cromwell, recruiting drive.

End of week 6.

Week 7

The unexpected return of Cromwell, assisting the Earl of Essex and his army, saw King Charles and his new best pal Lord Flasheart try and seize an opportunity to thrash 'Old Robin' and young Oliver before the rest of the Parliamentarian forces could join with them.

They failed. Miserably. The troops of Earl Michael de Blondeville and Sur Brian Cromwell being in plenty of time to rescue Cromwell and the rest, as well as inflicting a stinging defeat on Charles. The less said about Prince Ruperts non-appearance on the battlefield of North Muskham the better.

Cromwell and Essex headed back to London, hoping unrealistically that the stories of drunkenness, madness and previous defeats had been left behind. Lord Flasheart stalked off the battlefield, with his troops completely intact, bemoaning the Kings tactics and threatening to turncoat once more. Sir Brian headed for the seaside, and Earl Michael furtively took a similar road to Lord Flasheart. The king retired to Oxford (again) to practice his next song and dance routine.

In the battles being fought through the rest of the country Parliament succeeded in wooing the scots, adding Dunbar, Aberdeen and Inverness to their collection. The Royalists replied by cunningly gaining the port of Falmouth and Pembroke. 

Another week into the winter, and even the Kings drive is struggling to keep his men in the field against driving fog and blinding drizzle (or was that the other way round?). Following advice from Rupert (not necessarily the best idea) Charles has decided to gamble on one final confrontation against his enemies before the winter weather closes in, hoping to break their will to continue the war into 1644.

It will take him a number of weeks to bring his full force to bear, both sides will spend that time grappling to improve their chances of victory. 

End of week 7.

Week 8: The Beginning of the End

The Covenantor victory at the Battle of Alford ended the Royalist interest in Scotland for 1643, and left the Parliamentarian forces in an unassailable position. They had also gained the key town of Newark, as well as Lincoln and made an attempt to drive into the heartland of the Royalists by capturing Selby, cutting off York and Hull. The King, clearly unperturbed by these events, obviously has one eye on the 1644 bathing season, claiming Scarborough and Bridlington.

With one week to go this left the Parliamentarian forces in control of 21 towns and ports, to the Royalist 19, leaving a puritan victory to the campaign inevitable. However, in an unexpected turn of events the magazine at Caernarfon exploded, wiping out the Roundhead garrison.  If the Parliamentarians are able to stall enough for a stalemate, or claim victory in the large, and last, battle next Tuesday then they will be victorious in the campaign.  Should the Royalists claim victory against the odds then they will be fought their way to a credible overall draw in the campaign.  Although the final scenario is yet to be decided upon do not forget that victory at the Battle of Alford enables the Parliamentarians to pick their ground, and force the Royalists to deploy their forces first.  The Cavaliers do have one ace up their sleeves however, due to their capture of the powder magazine at Scarborough they have the first fire ability for each regiment for the first two rounds of shooting.

End of week 8 and overall final map.

Week 9: The End (yes, actually)

With King’s Charles victory at the Battle of Radway the 1643 campaigning season came to an end.  The forces of Parliament had gained a stranglehold on Scotland and the South-East, however the South-West and many of the countries vital ports remained in Royalist hands, and overall neither side could claim to be victors.

The King can look forward to summers on the beach at Scarborough, and a winter spent in comfort at Oxford with Prince Rupert.  Earl Michael, who can take much of the responsibility for the roundhead successes is heading to Lisborn for some much needed R&R, while Cromwell, Cromwell and Essex take stage in London as Parliament plans next years campaign.  Finally Lord Flasheart, who so nearly changed sides (and sometimes did but very quietly) has a few months holed up in that important 17th Century cultural centre of Wrecsam to consider his choice of ally for 1644.

Many thanks to Red and Michael, our main Royalist and Parlimentarian protagonists, along with Luke for buying into the ECW, and Aidan for providing laughs a plenty and a crucial victory and defeat for his side in the biggest battle, plus a splash of colour to the battlefield with his army.  Between him and Michael the Roundheads can take credit for the best looking bunch.  9 weeks may be the longest RGMB campaign in rather a long time, and ended at the right time; on a high.  Perhaps with the new rulebook in 2012 we can return and do it all again (I might even have painted something, Red‘s army certainly looked more colourful), not that 1644 was a particularly good year to be a royalist…….

English Civil War - The Battle of Radway

With the cold creeping in, and the increasing damp making misfires commonplace, King Charles has drawn his forces together for one last effort at winning a moral victory. The Parliamentarian commanders, with 1643 looking like ending in success are hoping to add the icing to the cake. The Earl of Essex and Oliver Cromwell, with Scotland secure and Earl Michael de Blondeville and Sir Brian Cromwells men once again in the field, are also marshalling their men on the village of Ratley, barely 10 miles away from the Royalist encampment.

A chance meeting of pickets and some low level discussions later and a date and place has been agreed. Charles winter campaign of 1643 will end on the 28th of November on the outskirts of a little known place called Radway in Warwickshire, curiously close to another battleground…..

Or so they thought!  Two changes of plan later and it was King Charles (Red), Prince Rupert (Chris Fazey) and Lord Flasheart (Rick/me) facing the forces of Earl Michael de Blondeville (Michael) and Sir Brian Cromwell (Luke), following a calamitous event - messieurs Essex and O. Cromwell (both Aidan) suddenly realising they had a (joint) prior engagement with a hairdresser in Loninium!  With the Royalists now with the upper hand in terms of numbers Earl Michael assumed command, and, satisfied that his side have won the 1643 campaigning season, he turns the troops towards home.  Charles, Rupert and Flasheart, saw their last chance of honour, and a possibility to trap and destroy the Parliamentarian army and set off in pursuit. They met the enemy rearguard on the edges of Radway where a river blocked the Parliamentarian path. There was a bridge, but by good Royalist fortune a regiment of dragoons had made it there first and started to stall like champions. As most of the Parliamentarian army looked to charge the bridge some turned to try and delay their pursuers one last time.

Technicals - the Royalist forces now significantly outnumbered their opponents, so a couple of standard foot regiments and a Forlorn Hope changed sides to even it up.  The scenario was one picked from the Blackpowder book, page 118 to be exact, and we tried to get the deployments and rules as close as possible.  They Royalists deployed on the battlefield by mistake(!), and to rectify this the Parliamentarians had first turn.  They had to get 6 or more regiments across the bridge and off the far table edge by the end of the battle (9:45pm of course), any less and the Royalists won the battle, and claimed a share of the campaign spoils in a draw.  Anyone who claims to see Roman legionaries or Father Christmas in any of the following pictures should see a psychiatrist for some expensive and electric-shock related treatment.  Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera, so the Iphone deputised, and the lack of flash and detail at least hides some of the lack of paint on show.

The Battle:

The Royalist army was split into four parts; Lord Flasheart (Rick) commanding the infantry right of centre, Lord Byron and the Duke of York (both Red) those left of centre, and Rupert and Maurice (both being played by Chris) the large cavalry wings, and the dragoons at the bridge.  Red also took the role of King Charles.  For the Parliamentarians Michael controlled two of the infantry brigades (the two on their left side), and was the army general, while Luke had the other infantry brigade (Sir Brian’s men) and the horse brigade (Fairfax).

The Parlimentarians, having conferred frantically and declared their mission impossible, dispatched their horse towards the bridge with all haste, to be followed by one of Earl Michaels foot brigades.  The remaining two foot brigades, perhaps unaware that they had been marked for death and destruction, formed a line of pikes to hold back the veritable horde of Royalists standing around in the village of Radway.

 

And their off! Flasheart decides standing around is for pansies who have forgotten to stick their wig on properly, and leads his four foot regiments in a wild charge towards Earl Michael’s foot and cannon.  Unfortunately he had forgotten that to move so far meant no shooting, something that would hurt later. 

 

Not quite as rash as Rupert’s first suggestion however, and only a couple of poor command rolls prevented his horse being thrown into the front of the enemies pike on the right flank!  On the left Prince Maurice was more sedate, leading his brigade of horse forward slowly, while Bryon, York and Charles struggled to get their foot motivated, and lost one regiment instantly to a single cannon ball.  This failure to pass break tests would soon become a feature of the battle.

 

 Surviving the first volley of musketry, Lord Flashearts men closed to push of pike and started to slug it out blow for blow, with Rupert, now blocked from charging, champing at the bit for a breakthrough.

At the other end of the battlefield a desperate fight had developed, as Earl Michael’s Swedish foot regiment, resplendent in their yellow, and using the feared ‘Follow Me’ command, charged into the dragoons guarding the bridge, watched by Fairfax’s horse regiments.  Unbelievably the Swedes bounced off and dissipated; the Parliamentarians most powerful regiments vanishing in a flash!  It would be down to the horse to see the job done now.

 

A nicely painted Sir Edward Verney putting in a colourful appearance in support of the foot regiments fighting in the centre, dispelling rumours that he had actually died a year earlier.

Fear (and sponsorship by Red Bull) lends wings to the Parliamentary horse of Fairfax as they race across the bridge and fling themselves upon the dragoons, only to see the defenders resist every effort to dislodge them, the initial charge coming within a whisker of breaking them however.

 

And might well they worry, for behind them a disaster has occurred, with Maurice spotting an exposed flank and sending his gallopers to take advantage to the cheers of the kings foot regiments!  Two of Sir Brian’s foot regiments vanish in minutes, leaving the final one alone, and Earl Michael’s foot unsupported and under immense pressure.  They did succeed in shaking the Royalist gallopers and trotters however, and they would struggle to continue the pursuit of the remains of the Parliamentarians later.

 

Earl Michael’s men managed to drive the King’s Lifeguard (redcoats) back to their starting positions, but the pressure of numbers and some appalling break tests began to tell, with one Roundhead regiment after another fleeing.

 

Suddenly its down to a nasty push of pike fight, with three large regiments picking on two artillery and a standard Parliamentarian one.  The cannon crew swiftly flee, however Earl Michael’s foot give Hopton’s a very bloody nose and stick it out.

 

With their defensive line collapsing, and expecting Ruperts horse to be unleashed any moment the Parliamentarians continue to scrap for the bridge, with the remains of various foot brigades clustering, hoping Fairfax can find them an escape route.

 

Unbelievably they are granted a reprieve as Earl Michael’s foot, assailed in combat ion three sides refuse to give in and hold up the Royalist advance!

 

The bigger picture, showing how far behind the Royalists are from the Parliamentarian survivors by the bridge.  Rupert in particular is struggled to make his men understand the word ‘Charge’, probably something to do with his pronunciation of the ‘r’.  The roundheads need six regiments to escape to claim victory, and four horse, plus 3 foot, are gathered around the bridge.

 

Ruperts men sudden work out what their glorious leader was screaming at them (blue in the face by now) and launch a 40”+ charge on the rear of Fairfax’s horse.  Sadly for them they are seen off in short order, and retreat to wait for the rest of their brigade to arrive.

 

The magnificent last stand of Sir Michael’s foot; finally wiped out to a man by one of Byron’s regiments.

 

And not a moment too soon for the Royalists, as the dragoons suddenly, with no warning, melt away into the evening, and Fairfax’s horse pour across the bridge and away towards London.

 

However it is too late for the remainder of the Parliamentarian foot, as Rupert and his horse return and send them reeling away on the wrong side of the river.  With 9:45pm upon us, Royalist foot regiments closing in to assist Rupert, and the enemy foot looking extremely unlikely to recover the Roundheads concede and victory goes to the Royalists, along with a share of honour in the campaign.

Analysis: 

I picked the scenario on the basis that being in the Blackpowder book would mean it was general well balanced rather than risk the campaign result on an oddity, and it didn’t disappoint!  Although extreme pessimism seemed to reign on the Roundheads side through the early parts they got organised, and their plan was general quite sound, with the horse and a foot brigade marked for escape, and the rest as a delaying force.  

Their undoing was the heroic, and at times mathematically unlikely, survival of the dragoons by the bridge  Even then the last ditch defence by Michael’s foot regiment, and Chris/Rupert’s failure to launch an early charge following the breakthrough, gave the Royalists a taste of fear and possible defeat, and it was only right at the last moment that the Royalist horse caught up and prevented the Parliamentarian foot from escape and victory.

So a nice balanced game overall, and keeping the result of the battle, and of the campaign hidden right down to the last moments of the last battle, nice place to sign off I think.

A Winter of Discontent - Week 8

The Covenantor victory at the Battle of Alford ended the Royalist interest in Scotland for 1643, and left the Parliamentarian forces in an unassailable position. They had also gained the key town of Newark, as well as Lincoln and made an attempt to drive into the heartland of the Royalists by capturing Selby, cutting off York and Hull. The King, clearly unperturbed by these events, obviously has one eye on the 1644 bathing season, claiming Scarborough and Bridlington.

With one week to go this left the Parliamentarian forces in control of 21 towns and ports, to the Royalist 19, leaving a puritan victory to the campaign inevitable. However, in an unexpected turn of events the magazine at Caernarfon exploded, wiping out the Roundhead garrison.  If the Parliamentarians are able to stall enough for a stalemate, or claim victory in the large, and last, battle next Tuesday then they will be victorious in the campaign.  Should the Royalists claim victory against the odds then they will be fought their way to a credible overall draw in the campaign.  Although the final scenario is yet to be decided upon do not forget that victory at the Battle of Alford enables the Parlimentarians to pick their ground, and force the Royalists to deploy their forces first.  The Cavaliers do have one ace up their sleeves however, due to their capture of the powder magazine at Scarborough they have the first fire ability for each regiment for the first two rounds of shooting.

As before, Red for Royalists, Blue for Parliamentarians, and a big cross for the now extinct town of Caernarfon.

English Civil War - The Battle of Alford

This weeks scenario has it basis in the 1645 Battle of Alford. Without going into too much detail Alford is North-West of Aberdeen, and the site of one of the Royalist Earl of Montrose famous victories. This one, unlike the others, saw him outnumber his reluctant Covenanter enemy Baille, and having driven away the enemies horse wings the Royalists wiped out the entire of the enemy foot centre in a crushing victory (no pressure there then Red).

This week Lord Flasheart and Earl Michael de Blondeville will be joining forces for the first time since the Battle of Broughton, however, with our battle taking place North of the border they will be adopting different names once more as Maj. General William Baille (the commander of the Covenantor foot) and the Earl of Balacarres (commander of the horse).  With Charles taking the part of the Earl of Montrose.  

There will be a (badly drawn) map of the battlefield, with both sides drawn up in the traditional style of foot with horse wings.  We will need almost all of mine, Red’s and Michael’s models, with the exception of the cannon (no, not even Falconet’s Red), due to the total lack of them.  The Covenanter’s will only need one commander each however.  The lack of trust in their subordinates, and poor quality of those available, ensured they did not delegate their powers.  To compound this Colonel Alexander Lindsey; the Earl of Balcarres as he will be know, is classed as High Independence (so that’s +1 to his command rating if first to give orders, but blundering on a 1,1 or 6,6).  Meanwhile the commander; Maj. General William Baille is the opposite and of Low Decisiveness (must re-roll if gets 3 moves).

In contrast Montrose is one of the great success stories of the civil war, and finally has the boot on the other foot.  He is permitted up to five (including himself) command figures, with two to be classed as High Independence, and one as Low Decisiveness.  Lord Gordon (master of horse on the right) and Napier are the former, while Viscount Aboyne (master of horse on the left) is the latter.  The other two posts are for Angus MacDonald (foot) and Col. James Farquharson (foot) - pronounce that if you can.  Finally to pile the worry upon the Covenanter’s two regiments of Royalist foot are to be termed Elite (4+) to represent the veteran Irish fighters.

The deck appears stacked, however the victory conditions are that the Royalists must rival the historic success of Montrose, and convincingly decimate the Covenanter’s; with 10 Covenantor regiments in the field this equals reducing them to fewer than 4 before time expires.  

The Battle Itself:

And so to the day of the battle itself, and with the table set the Covenanters were in position first, the impetuous Lord Balcarre (myself/Rick) taking control of the left flank of two horse and three foot regiments, while the more hesitant army commander Maj. General Baille (Michael) took the right, with one horse, three foot and the forlorn hope under his direct control.  The Royalists were somewhat sluggish, having to finish their chips and vinegar first, before unpacking the entire army man for man.  The position of army commander; the Earl of Montrose, went to Chris Fazey, who also controlled the horse of the bonkers Lord Gordon (2 horse and one dragoon regiment on the Royalist right flank).  Red became the hesitant Viscount Aboyne (left flank of horse) and Lord Byron, controlling all four large foot regiments that made up the Royalist centre.  As noted previously there were no cannon involved in the making of this film.

 Lord Byron insisted that historically the Royalists waited in ambush behind the hill (Royalists to the left), so it was left to the Covenanters to take first turn and make the first offensive move from the starting positions you see here.

 The aggressive Earl of Balcarre is first off the mark, driving Lord Gordon’s dragoons back, and advancing swiftly into musketry range.

 His horse swiftly come a cropper however, in a way that followed historical events nicely, when Lord Gordon’s horse counter attack, driving one regiment from the field and the other to lick its wounds behind the foot.  It would play little part in the rest of the battle.

 On the right hand side of the Covenanter line the hesitancy of Maj. General Baille started to take effect, as his foot waited in vain for orders that simply didn’t come.

 The sole involvement early on being a horse clash on the right, where Viscount Aboyne’s men got the better of Baille’s horse not once, but twice, but a well placed double 6 ensured they remained in play, abet a lot further back than the rest of the Covenanter army.

 With Baille’s foot held back by their commanders inability to roll under 9 (for 4 turns running) it was leftto the Earl of Balcarre to push on with the attack.  Following history both Covenantor horse flanks had been destroyed or rendered useless, so the Royalist horse turned inwards to attack the flanks of Balcarres foot regiments, just as Lord Byron pushed his own forwards to assist.

 The attack on Tabot’s (whitecoats) regiment failed, and the Royalist trotters were forced to retreat, thanks in no small part to the enfilading fire from Bailles Forlorn Hope.  Hopton’ (bluecoats) large regiment was forced to retreat however, but Gordon’s horse found a charge into the front of the pike a completely different prospect, and soon fled, along with their brigade commander, from the field, leaving Montrose to command the remaining troops himself.

 With the failure of the horse charge the lead regiment of Byron’s command came under heavy musketry fire, and also fled, with Byron amongst them!  The tide had turned in favour of the Covenanters, victory for the Royalists looked far, far away, and most importantly with the demise of Byron the Earl of Montrose (Chris) gained control of virtually the entire Royalist army, leaving Red just the Viscount Aboyne and his few horse to command.

 Montrose redressed his lines, bringing the foot regiment off the hill to mend the hole, while Viscount Aboyne scored a victory with his second attempt (and 3rd ‘Follow Me’ order)to charge the flank of Talot’s whitecoats, driving them from the field.  Baille remained indecisive.  An attempt to follow this success up by Montrose failed however, as his foot regiment was firstly defeated in combat, then destroyed by the musketry of Hopton and Stradling’s (blackcoats) foot regiment, leaving a hole again.  Still Baille did nothing.

The Earl of Balcarre then gave the order to his remaining horse regiment to ‘charge the dragoons on the hill!’.  They thought he said ‘Charge the pikemen in the front!’, and did so - blunder all round, and a substantial defeat for the horse, although somehow they still remained on the field near the edge of the village of Alford.

 By this time Montrose and Aboyne seemed to have assumed that Bailles men were not going anywhere, and were lining up for a final tilt at the remains of the Earl of Balcarres forces when suddenly Baille became all decisive!  In a turn where not a command role was failed he outflanked Montrose’s foot, poured fire into Aboyne’s horse, and finally attacked the house containing Aboyne’s dragoons.

 The attack on the house however did not go as planned, with the dragoons causing the foot regiment to flee!  Along with the sudden demise of Hopton and Talbot (Balcarres last two foot regiments) to more dragoon and musketry fire, this was almost a turning point, putting the Royalists within a long reach of a very unlikely victory.

Baille outflanked the other Royalist foot regiment however, and even a last charge by the last of Aboyne’s horse could not dislodge his redcoats.  Time and the battle had run its course and although they had made a good fight back towards the end it was the Royalists who tasted defeat, and the Covenanters that secured a further victory for Parliament.


Analysis:

An interesting battle, I had tilted the scenario the Royalists way (Elite troops, more commanders, less hesitancy), but given them a tough target to achieve victory - 7 out of 10 Covenantor regiments to be destroyed by the end.  However it was the government troops, and in particular my flank that took the fight to them.  My tactics were quite cavalier in a sort of ‘charge and the devil take them!’ kind of way, but seemed to put early pressure on and work.  However towards the end the pressure of fighting most of the Royalist army had taken its toll, and I ended with only one regiment of horse left.  The first two thirds of the battle the Royalists were on the back foot, and a government victory never seemed in doubt, however, with the speed that Blackpowder often conjures up, it turned around and given another 2-3 turns I think we would have been in real trouble and facing defeat.