Braddock Down 1643

Pete and Jamie were over on Saturday afternoon for the Last Game of the Year, in this case, the English Civil War battle of Braddock Down in January of 1643 using Pikeman's Lament. The historical context was the Royalist Baron Ralph Hopton was trying to break his Cornish army out of Cornwall but was blocked by a Parliament army operating out of Plymouth under Colonel William Ruthven. Ruthven was hoping to score a quick victory to quash Royalist support in Cornwall altogether, and thought he had pounced upon the stragglers of Hopton's army – only to discover he was facing Hopton's main army as a whole. Both sides drew up on opposite slopes of Braddock Down, and Hopton's Cornish Pike attacked. Parliament fired but once (hitting two Cornwall men) and then turned and fled, ending the battle!

This game was very enjoyable, which is especially important for two reasons: first, because I had ginned up a very diverse set of unit profiles that I was hoping would give a much more balanced game with the right amount of period flavor (I'm going to post all of those up in a separate post). In this particular game, the new units featured where a new Harquebusier cavalry unit (a slightly less enthusiastic Galloper with no wild charge and a pistol attack added) representing "generic" English cavalry for the period used by both sides, '42-'42 Harquebusiers (Trotters) representing early Parliamentarian cavalry which used Dutch cavalry tactics, the vaunted Cornish Pike (regular pike but with better Morale and Move scores to represent their enthusiasm), regular infantry divided into Seasoned Regiments (regular Pike and Shot) and Trained Bands (lower Morale and Move scores to represent their slight lack of enthusiasm). Finally, I used the artillery rules I have been using in my Italian Wars games (reload actions, dice thrown varied by range), and artillery units counted as their own "companies" (so failures trying to shoot or reload did not count against your Officers' companies). Also, I increased all infantry movements to 8". All unit profiles are included at the bottom of this post.

The second reason this game's success was important was the victory conditions set out. As you can see, I poured lines of flock about 12" from each long board edge. Braddock Down was fought in a slight depression between two low hills. Both sides deployed on an opposite hill. The flock lines represent the hills. Since this is essentially a defensive battle for the Royalists, Parliament's goal is to have units outnumbered the Royalist units on the Royalist hill. The Royalists want to push the Parliamentarians back to their starting positions, so their victory condition hinges on outnumbering the Parliamentarians in the middle zone. Therefore, a "major victory" for each side becomes evident (for both sides, really, have +1 unit than the other in both the middle zone and the Royalist zone), with draws and possible "minor victories" as well. This doesn't seem complicated or even particularly innovative but I've become aware recently of how often players in a game will keep their armies stationary and "play it safe" by slugging away with ranged attacks, which is particularly boring and unsatisfying if nothing else. "Objective zones," or whatever you'd like to call them, force the players to actually fight for "control of the field".

I probably gave Parliament too much infantry and had too much of it be "Seasoned Regiments" instead of "Trained Bands" but oh well. Since there were three of us, and since Parliament had 13 units vs. the Royalist 10, I took a smaller portion of the Parliament forces with Pete taking the majority, and Jamie played the Royalists. The starting dispositions found the Royalists on Beacon Hill, with their center held by the Cornish Pike, their left by two units of cavalry and a falconet, and their right by three cavalry units and falconet. Additionally, a unit of shot (Seasoned Regiment) were deployed forward behind hedgerows by the farm. Opposite them, Parliament had cavalry on the wings and a larger mass of infantry in the center.

(Above: Starting positions, Parliament on bottom, Royalist on top)

(Above: Parliament infantry)

(Above: Another view, Royalists on left, Parliament on right)

Parliament surged off the hill and into the low ground, and its cavalry attacked on both flanks. On the Parliament right, harquebusiers used their follow-up attack to destroy a shot unit and rode right up on to Beacon Hill. On the left, Pete rolled boxcars and then another 6 and received a reinforcement unit of more '42-'43 Harquebusiers, and shooting by Royalist Dragoons was ineffective. With Parliamentary horse on the hill and the bulk of the Parliamentary infantry already halfway across the low ground in the middle, things seemed to be going extremely well.

(Above: Parliament center advancing)

(Above: Parliament center advancing)

(Above: Royalist harquebusiers)

But then the Royalist falconet fired upon aforementioned Parliament harquebusiers on the hill, and routed the unit, including its officer. This triggered a morale check on the other cavalry unit in that company, which also failed and fled. With the Parliamentary right gone, the Cornish Pike advanced down off Beacon Hill, and good shooting sent a unit of Parliamentary muskets packing as well. To top it off, Jamie rolled boxcars and the Royalists ended up with unit of Harquebusier reinforcements as well.

(Above: Cornish Pike at center right. This is just before the Parliamentarian cavalry at the left side there ran away)

 

After this counter-swing in fortune, the Parliament left's cavalry kept chipping away at the Royalist right, pushing them further and further back onto the hill. And in the center the Cornish Pike's advance faltered and began to break up. The "game clock" stopped when one side hit 50% units lost, and the Royalists were right on the brink. Parliament clearly had control of the middle zone, but the Royalists enjoyed a very slight (2 vs. 1) unit advantage on their hill. So Jamie played a little "dirty pool" (as described by Pete) and had his harquebusier unit attack Parliament pike in close order, a melee he predictably lost and therefore "stopped the clock." Parliament enjoyed a 5 units vs. 2 advantage in the middle ground and 1 vs. 2 disadvantage on the hill, so it was ruled a minor victory for Parliament.

(Above: Endgame, I think. You can see how close Parliament pike units were to climbing Beacon Hill in the center there)

 

You could argue that Jamie's "clock-stopping" was gamey and thus the "objective zones" victory condition didn't alleviate the sort of gamey-ness I was trying to solve. But I figure at least he was still attacking and not just turtled up, which is the behavior I am most-seeking to disincentive.

Further rule suggestion/modification arising from this game was to make it a little easier for guns to fire, since they are already limited by their needing a reload action and their limited shooting dice at longer range, a suggestion I agree with – if a falconet is only throwing 4 dice at 8"-16", you might as well let them plug away a bit.



ORDER OF BATTLE:

HOPTON (Royalists)

Horse Company #1
Dragoons 3pts
Dragoons 3pts
Dragoons 3pts

Horse Company #2
Harquebusiers 4pts
Harquebusiers 4pts

Foot Company
Seasoned Shot 4pts
Trained Band Shot 3pts
Cornish Pike 6pts
Cornish Pike 6pts
Cornish Pike 6pts

Falconets x 2 (6 pts)
Two light guns. These are hidden behind a horse unit. Secretly designate which.

TOTAL 48 points

RUTHVEN (Parliament)

Horse Company #1
Harquebusiers 4pts
Harquebusiers 4pts

Horse Company #2
'42-'43 Harquebusiers 4pts
'42-'43 Harquebusiers 4pts

Foot Company #1
Seasoned Shot 4pts
Seasoned Shot 4pts
Seasoned Pike 4pts

Foot Company #2
Seasoned Shot 4pts
Seasoned Shot 4pts
Seasoned Pike 4pts

Foot Company #3
Trained Band Shot 3pts
Trained Band Shot 3pts
Trained Band Pike 3pts

TOTAL: 49 points

UNIT PROFILES*

HOPTON'S ROYALISTS

HARQUEBUSIERS 4 Points
Attack 6+ Attack Value 4+
Move 5+ Defense Value 5+
Shoot 6+ Shoot Value/ Range 5+/6"
Morale 4+ Max. Move 10”
Stamina 3 # of Figures 6
Special Rules: Counter-charge; Compulsory Follow-Up (as per rulebook but can only be done once per game per unit)

DRAGOONS 3 Points
Attack 7+ Attack Value 5+
Move 5+ Defense Value 6+
Shoot 6+ Shoot Value/ Range 5+/12”
Morale 5+ Max. Move 12”
Stamina 2 # of Figures 6
Special Rules: Skirmish

CORNISH PIKE 6 Points
Attack 6+ Attack Value 5+
Move 5+ Defense Value 4+
Shoot -- Shoot Value/ Range --
Morale 3+ Max. Move 8”
Stamina 3 # of Figures 12
Special Rules: Close Order

SEASONED SHOTTE 4 Points
Attack 7+ Attack Value 6+
Move 5+ Defense Value 5+
Shoot 7+ Shoot Value/ Range 5+/18”
Morale 4+ Max. Move 8”
Stamina 2 # of Figures 12
Special Rules: First Salvo

TRAINED BAND SHOTTE 3 Points
Attack 7+ Attack Value 6+
Move 6+ Defense Value 5+
Shoot 7+ Shoot Value/ Range 5+/18”
Morale 5+ Max. Move 8”
Stamina 2 # of Figures 12
Special Rules: First Salvo

FALCONET 3 Points
Attack -- Attack Value --
Move 6+ Defense Value 6
Shoot/Reload 8+/6+* Shoot Value/Range 5-6+ /12”*
Morale 5+ Max. Move 8”
Stamina 1 # of Figures 4
Special Rules: *Reload: After a successful shooting action, cannot fire again until making a reload action at 7+, then 8+, 9+ etc.
Closing Fire on test at 8+.
Short Range (0”-6”): 12 dice @ 5+ (4+ if target Close Order) target @ -1 stamina & auto Morale test
Long Range: (6”-16”): 4 dice @ 6+

RUTHVEN'S PARLIAMENTARIANS

'42-'43 HARQUEBUSIERS 4 Points
Attack 6+ Attack Value 5+
Move 5+ Defense Value 4+
Shoot 6+ Shoot Value/ Range 5+/6”
Morale 4+ Max. Move 10”
Stamina 3 # of Figures 6
Special Rules: Caracole

HARQUEBUSIERS 4 Points
Attack 6+ Attack Value 4+
Move 5+ Defense Value 5+
Shoot 6+ Shoot Value/ Range 5+/6"
Morale 4+ Max. Move 10”
Stamina 3 # of Figures 6
Special Rules: Counter-charge; Compulsory Follow-Up

SEASONED PIKE 4 Points
Attack 7+ Attack Value 5+
Move 5+ Defense Value 4+
Shoot -- Shoot Value/ Range --
Morale 4+ Max. Move 8”
Stamina 3 # of Figures 12
Special Rules: Close Order

SEASONED SHOTTE 4 Points
Attack 7+ Attack Value 6+
Move 5+ Defense Value 5+
Shoot 7+ Shoot Value/ Range 5+/18”
Morale 4+ Max. Move 8”
Stamina 2 # of Figures 12
Special Rules: First Salvo

TRAINED BAND PIKE 3 Points
Attack 7+ Attack Value 5+
Move 6+ Defense Value 4+
Shoot -- Shoot Value/ Range --
Morale 5+ Max. Move 8”
Stamina 3 # of Figures 12
Special Rules: Close Order

TRAINED BAND SHOTTE 3 Points
Attack 7+ Attack Value 6+
Move 6+ Defense Value 5+
Shoot 7+ Shoot Value/ Range 5+/18”
Morale 5+ Max. Move 8”
Stamina 2 # of Figures 12
Special Rules: First Salvo

*NOTE:  I have opted to tinker with things like Morale and Attack activation values more so than Stamina or Attack/Defense Values. During the Braddock Down game I tried to pay attention to Cornish Pike morale checks, because I had increased their morale to a base of 3+.  I feel confident in saying Cornish Pike passed morale checks at 3 times and perhaps more by exactly hitting their target number. If their base morale was 4+ and not 3+ then all those passes are instead off by one and a Waver result instead. Similarly, the Harquebusiers have lower morale than their more rambunctious Cavalier cousins and the big difference between the foot of Seasoned Regiments versus Trained Bands is willingness to Attack and Morale and not Attack Values or Stamina.