Battle of Adwalton Moor - AAR 2 - For King and Parliament

Finally back to the original plan for Roundway Down and Adwalton Moor which was to test out For King and Parliament - the ECW version of To The Strongest. I switched to 6mm for this (but kept the terrain identical, so a far less crowded battlefield). So first a quick AAR and then some comments on the rules.

Starting positions

Battle Report

Royalist Horse surged forward to the enclosures where they were well received and beaten off by the commanded musketry and dragoons. The Royalist Foot then went in, and it wasn't until the 2nd line went in that the enclosures were cleared - on particular commanded musket regiment was still going at the end, reluctantly pulling back to conform with the remaining troops. A late left-flank charge by Royalist cavalry was met the sole Parliamentarian cavalry unit who won, but then got taken out themselves by the Royalist 2nd line. On the right flank two regiments of horse were eaten up in trying to fall on the Parliament Pike & Shot who didn't even bother to go to hedgehog.

Royalist foot advancing whilst the cavalry goes in against the enclosures

I called time about turn 15, by when the Royalists were in control of the enclosures, and Parliament only had two fresh P&S units to defend the ditch, against 6+ Royalist units and a cavalry unit about to wreak havoc in their rear. And Gog an Magog never fired at all.

Interestingly whilst tactically it looked like a clear Royalist win the FKaP victory coins gave a 14:13 victory to Parliament - but the coin numbers may have been skewed by too many colonels! 

The battle at its height from behind Royalist lines

The Rules

I must admit I do quite like the basic TTS mechanism. Drawing cards is actually way faster than rolling dice, and of course I'm always up for anything played on a grid. But something didn't seem quite right with FKaP. In the end the attacks became a real slog (realistic?), with time after time units either not activating, or missing, or having hits saved. Getting on a flank improved things (double opportunities), but in the end it really did just feel like which side could turn over the 8+'s (and then the 9+'s) fastest. An odd thing about cards is that you don't feel the same agency as you do with dice, especially when you opponent has just had a run of 8s and 9s and so you know there won't be many left for you! The slagging match, and the fact that units typically fought to elimination also meant it was a very static game, lines advanced to contact, 10 rounds of push-of-pike, and then it was all over. The previous run of Adwalton Moor had felt far more fluid. I did like the morale test for units adjoining a rout though - just as in SLS!

The Royalists surge forward!

I seem to remember having enjoyed the original TTS more. Checking back missile fire is 8+ (as FKaP), but doesnt reduce to 9+. Melee hits start at 6+, not 8+ - so far more bloody. If I play FKaP again I might well be tempted to revert to TTS values. I also though that there was minimal difference between the different Pike&Shot units, just ammo counters, and dragoons seemed very resilient (they save on 6+ not 7+). The ammo chit system worked well though and wasn't too onerous (Note: I tracked it by adding a chit to a unit when it fired, not giving each unit 3 chits to start and taking away, reduced the clutter on the board).

So, not as good as I'd hoped. The TTS/FKaP system still has a lot going for it,  far more my cup of tea than Pike & Shotte, and the FKaP rule book is a joy to behold. If I was to play it regularly I think I might make a few house rules/TTS throwbacks to make it better suit my gaming style.

ENDEX positions

What is interesting though is that the two games of Adwalton Moor bracketed the real result, one giving a good Parliamentarian victory, one giving a good Royalist victory, whereas the real battle more of less split the field.

Battle of Adwalton Moor - AAR 1

Next in my series of chronological ECW battles is Adwalton Moor. It's quite a different one as the ground is dominated by the enclosures right in the middle, and the inbalance in pikes and muskets (and horse)  between the two sides. But it's a nice sized battle (c. 8-10 regiments each) and a better test of rules than the brief skirmish at Roundway Down.

Gog and Magog - the big Royalist guns

The original intention was to play this with For King and Parliament, and I set it all up with 20mm on the Hexon (so ground scale about 100m per hexon, frontage scale of 50m per hexon - so a bit crowded). I ordered the rules, and then due to a postcode mixup with auto-completion the rules spent about a week or so in the Birmingham sorting office. Not wanting to hang around I decided to crack on with the game with my own rules (currently called  ""I die by these things" - not 100% happy).

View looking NW from the Royalists lines towards the Parliamentarians

The Royalists went straight into the attack, with the big cannon doing a bit damage the musketeers in the enclosures before friendly-fire became too dangerous.

Defending the enclosures

On the Royalist left flank a the Purple regiment rolled Elite for quality (I roll only as each unit needs to know) and ploughed into the weaker commanded musketeers defending it. The musketeers were pushed back, but a second line Red regiment moved up to block the Purple's exit as they made there way through the enclosures.

The "elite" Purple Regiment pushes forwards (excuse the orange plumes!)

In the centre it was even bloodier, with commanded musketeers and dragoons suffering frontal attacks from  infantry and horse, and a flank attack from the Royalist dragoons. It eventually all got too much and the Parliamentarians pulled back over the ditch and out of the enclosures, and the weakened Royalists poured in.

The fight in the centre

On the right flank the Royalists tried the outflanking manoeuvre which had worked so well in real life, but another Red regiment blocked their way, and good musketry saw one horse regiment off, but no worry, a second was on it's way.

Royalist high water mark - about Turn 8/9

That was pretty much the initial Royalist high water mark, because then the tide turned.

The Purple's finally grind to a halt at push-of-pike

On the left the Purple's were pretty weak by the time the reached the far end of the enclosures, and the combined fire of the Red and the now recovered musketeers broke the Purples. A regiment of Horse was though still trying a southerly outflanking manoeuvre.

Going round the S flank

In the centre the Royalist units holding the enclosures were pretty fragile from losses suffered on the way in, so once the Parliamentarians had reformed outside the enclosure, and now protected by the ditch they were able to cause several units to fallback, and then domino style there was a pretty comprehensive rout of the Royalist 1st line.

Valiantly fighting the Royalist cause!

On the right the Royalist 2nd line cavalry was no better than the first line, driven off by fire, and taking its recovering partner with it.

With a bit of breathing space the Parliamentarians moved back into the enclosures, ready to receive the Royalist 2nd line in the centre, but now with a safe left (P) flank.

It then went downhill quite rapidly for the Royalists. On their left flank the probing cavalry came up against well positioned Parliamentary pike and shot who sent them packing. Roundhead cavalry then gave chase, but the Royalists kept in reasonable order as they pulled back, their pursuers being slowed by some good shots form the guns. In the centre the Royalists pike couldn't penetrate the enclosures, with Fairfax's dragoons and commanded musket pouring fire into them, but they managed to push forward a bit on the left, but then started to receive flanking fire. On the right flank the Royalist reserve Pike tried to come through the empty enclosures and onto Fairfaxes flank, but again the defended hedgerows were too much.

Fairfax's muskets catch some Royalists in the flank.

The mounting damage and demoralisation had the Royalist on the verge of withdrawal for a turn or two (they dipped below the 50% level mid-term, but some prompt rallying saved them), but then the Roundhead cavalry caught up with the Royalist cavalry just as they pass through the gun line, and Newcastle's vantage point - it was carnage and it was all over.

Parliamentary Horse on the counter-attack

Thoughts

A good game I think, and pretty messy with all those enclosures so no great crashing together of pile lines and push of pike. Slight feeling that musketry was too powerful - regularly seeing off the cavalry, although holding the hedges was more balanced. Also not many real infantry melees as resolve waivers before that - but that is exactly what SLS was always meant to make happen - probably need to double check if its as true for ECW. Also not sure that the SLS Retreat rule is right for ECW - particularly if you're carrying a huge pike - if you do have to withdraw my guess is you drop the pike and run - again more reading needed. But otherwise pretty happy with the rules.

So now time to play through with For King and Parliament as the rules have now arrived, and swop out all the 20mm troops and hedges for 6mm ones - so should have a less crowded battlefield and 1:1 frontage to hexon ground scale (both 100mm).

Hopton Heath #2 - My Bucket-of-Dice Rules

Every back to their starting places...

Now to play through the scenario again, using the "bucket-of-dice" version of my nascent ECW rules. I tried the BOD approach with my medieval rules after Agincourt last year so thought I'd try them out here. Card based activation and my custom ECW cards all laid out.

A similar Dragoon - on - Dragoon battle on the flanks as before. The opening salvos quite lethal but then with dice lost for open order (firer and tgt) and soft cover (-'ve for Royalists) settle down in Turns 2 and 3. Units can take ~5 hits before breaking, most Dragoons have now taken 3.

The parliamentary foot is again being battered by Roaring Meg (well in fact meg keeps missing and its the light gun which is scoring the hits!)

Left (Royaist) flank with the Roundheads in the enclosures. Every unit dices for Troop Quality ONLY when they first need to know it. A good smattering from +2 to -2 with most at 0 as expected.

Not hanging around so the Royalist charge (gallop) forward to meet the advancing (Trotting) Roundheads - and no mistakes about column! The Roundheads have a TQ of -2 so unsurprising they get routed by the Royalists. The victors roll for the follow-on and get advance but not pursue and so gallop into a risky spot in the midst of the Parlimentarian units before they run out of puff.

Actually feeling less keen on the BOD model as it does give big swings each turn, may go back to my custom D8 - but actually the +/- die I picked up at Games Expo are working very well for determining Troop Quality so I may use those. Will run this game to conclusion and then try with the "old" ECW set - I think with this few DMs the BOD approach is maybe superfluous.

Battle of Hopton Heath - 1643 - ENDEX and AAR

Hopton Heath came to an end at Turn 7 with a decisive Parliamentarian victory.

Frustrated by the delays in the Dragoons clearing the enclosures Turns 3 and 4 saw the Royalists send one Regiment of Horse against the Royalist cavalry, and another against the infantry - straight over the poor bunnies! The Royalists caught the Roundheads in column, so the defenders only got 1D (cf 8D for the attackers), so it was a bit of a blood bath. Interestingly though there are no rules  for victors to get drawn off the board when in pursuit, and the attackers suffered no damage or disorder at all - so just reformed back off the ridge. The cavalry attacking the infantry had a tougher time. The rough ground caused no negatives at all (just relates to movement), and the receiving shot delivered a punishing closing fire. They elected not to go into hedgehog in order to get the shots off, so it became 1 Cav unit vs 1 Pike and 1 Shot - but there didn't seem to be rules for such mixed melee i.e. apply the +'ve DMS for one and -'ve for the other. I took what I think was a sensible course and the cavalry was soon routed.

Turn 5 and 6 still saw no progress on the Dragoons, but each Parliamentary unit was now Shaken, but the Roundheads only had 2 damage each. Roaring Meg continued to punish the Parliamentary line, eventually routing the right shot unit. In return the Roundhead gun put some more damage on one of the two remaining Royalist cavalry units, and put it into disorder. This was crucial as it then couldn't change into line, so Parliament was able to do a double move with its remaining cavalry unit and rout the Royalists (again with the 8D:1D ration but advantages switched). To put the final nail in the Royalist coffin their right flank Dragoons were finally routed by the stiff fire from their Parliamentary opponents. The Shot reinforcement has also just arrived on the Parliamentary side - but too late to join the battle.

Chasing off the Royalist cavalry

The Royalist dragoons break

The final positions

So, not a bad game, and Pike & Shotte certainly plays quickly and simply. However I do have a few reservations about them in terms of how I like to play:

• Musket fire is far too long
• There is no progressive degradation
• There is no danger or chasing off, always a key ECW feature, and victor has complete control post-melee (not even Quarrie had that!)
• Pike and Shot as separate units
• Artillery seems too effective

The bucket-of-dice works fine, and will be interesting to see how the  BOD version of my own rule stacks up which I'll use to replay this scenario over the next week.

Looking at Hail Caesar and Black Powder (thanks to the recent free PDF deal) all three sets are pretty much the same mechanics throughout, and musket has a range of 18" in BP (against move of 12" for Inf, 18" for Cav, 9-12" line frontage, and Horse Arty range of 36") - so it gives me a good idea of how that must play. So not my ideal, but I can certainly see it as being pretty playable.

Battle of Hopton Heath - 1643 - STARTEX

View NE from above Royalist lines

With a still limited playing area the next game up was the Battle of Hopton Heath which took place in 1643 just outside of Stafford. I've been close to the site several times on trips to the Uni but never actually walked the site - must do so next time.

It's the first in my 1643 series of games for this year (last year was 1642), and as a large skirmish (~1200 men a side) ideal for the reduced tabletop. Since I was doing it in 20mm I decided to give Warlord's Pike & Shotte a go, although unlike with Rommel I'm not expecting much form them - but be interesting to see how they play.

The Parliamentarians had about 500 Inf, 400 Cav and 300 Dragoons, with 200 extra inf to arrive later. They established  defensive position along  a low rise, between two sets of enclosures and with the front of the infantry partly protected by a rabbit warren (!). The Royalists had 800 cav and 300 dragoons. They also had the Roaring Meg siege mortar to put terror into their opponents, with bot side also having lighter pieces.

Since the 500 inf were going to equate to what I normally think of as one unit, that equated to 3 P&S units (as they treat the shot sleeves as separate from the pike block). So that gave about 150 - 200 men per P&S unit, about 1:20, so the order of battle was as follows:

Parliament: 2 x shot, 1 x pike, 2 x Dragoons, 2 x Cav, 1 x small Inf reinforcement
Royalists: 4 x cav, 2 x Dragoons

Slightly more dragoons than in reality but needed to be split on both flanks and didn't want to mess around with small units.

The game has about 9 turns, assuming a standard 20min per turn elapsed time, 3pm start and dusk at 6pm. If that's tight I might play to 7pm.

On turn 1 Hastings (commanding the Royalists) failed his order roll for both Dragoon units, so nothing happened. On Turn 2 he succeeded on his R flank and the dragoons went forward. Roaring Meg roared, and caused zero damage, as did the lighter guns on both sides. The defending dragoons let rip at the advancing Royalists and caused 1 hit, but the Royalists failed to return the favour.

Parliamentary gunners keep their cool as the Royalist dragoons advance

Then the first surprise. Despite being 18" (1 hex = 3" for this) away the shot could take on the waiting cavalry. Given frontages I'm estimating each hex at 50m, so that's a 300m engagement! (The rules do say that ranges are set to be "playable" not accurate). Two of the Royalist cavalry units took a hit.

Turn 2 over. On to Turn 3.....