Dimbleby (April 1643) - ECW Lincolnshire Campaign Game #1

We played the first game in a new English Civil War pseudo-campaign set in Lincolnshire in 1643 on Saturday morning.  On the campaign board, the Royalists rolled first and got a 1, and Parliament then also rolled a 1.  Royalists then rolled another 1, indicating that due to good logistics, organization, and training, they were able to bypass the first battle square entirely (looking at a 1700s map of Lincolnshire, I interpreted this to mean that the Royalist Duke of Newcastle's Northern Horse and Whitecoats under Sir Charles Cavendish (younger brother of William Cavendish, the duke of Newcastle and commander of Royalist forces in the north) took Grantham by surprise. Parliament forces under Lord Willoughby, including good quality horse raised by Sir Thomas Fairfax (known as "Black Tom" for his dark hair and eyes), rolled a 6 and scored a 'night march' and also avoided the first battle square (Parliament forces at Sleaford start heading west towards Grantham, scouting for the Royalists).  Royalists then rolled a 2 and stopped on the second battle square, making them the attacker and Parliament the defenders (Cavendish heads out from Grantham and find's Willoughby's army at the village of Dimbleby).   

Parliament starting positions. The red and orange battalias are trained bands. 

Parliament (commanded by Lord Willoughby, and played by me) rolled up an army of 3 horse (all elite Fairfax horse), 3 battalia of foot (1 seasoned, which here means average, and 2 trained bands) and 2 commanded shot (both seasoned), supported by 1 heavy gun and 1 light gun.  Cavendish's Royalists maxed out with five horse (all Northern Horse!), but only 2 battalia and 1 commanded shot (although all 3 foot were White Coats - also elite), supported by 2 heavy guns and 1 light piece.  So the Parliamentarians had 31 SP and the Royalists 32, so Parliament could purchase a single earthwork 6" wide and place that two squares in front of their deployment zone.

Royalist starting positions. 

Cavendish's Royalists (played by Gabe remotely) found themselves with two advantages: (1) their army was almost entire classed as Elite (so they would retreat and not lose a Strength Point on a roll of 3+ instead of 4+) and (2) the three units of Northern Horse deployed on their right were faced by a single unit of Fairfax Horse. Because the other two units of Fairfax Horse were tied up by the other two units of Northern Horse on the Royalist left, there was a decided advantage for the Royalist right.

Starting positions. Royalists on left in a single line, Parliament on right in two lines.

Willoughby has draw a less desirable hand than Cavendish - he was outnumbered in cavalry and although he had more infantry, it was mostly trained bands (retreat and not lose a strength point on a 5+). Cavendish also had two heavy demiculverins to Willoughby's one. However, it would be an easy thing to make a defensive line of infantry from the scant earthworks he had hastily constructed over to the hedges by the nearby house. With the cavalry he would just have to see what Cavendish did and react best as possible.

The exhaustion point for both sides was the loss of 10 strength points. An exhausted side's troops could no longer advance towards the enemy, although if they were already adjacent to an enemy the could engage in close combat, and they could of course continue to shoot.  The first side to lose 15 strength points would be deemed broken and would flee the field. 

After first moves. Both playing to strengths, with Royalist cavalry moving on flanks, and Parliament starting to form an infantry line in the center.

Willoughby's Royalist Horse rode out on both flanks, as expected.  So as to not entirely surrender the the left flank, the lone Fairfax horse on the left hooked around the farm and stood ready to receive a charge. The three Royalist squadrons moved into charge range and then stopped, hoping to draw the Parliamentarian force further out... 

Lincolnshire trained bands move into position for Parliament.

Meanwhile on the Royalist left, the two squadrons of Northern Horse clashed with the two squadrons of Fairfax Horse, all in musket range of the right flank of the Parliamentarian foot.  The Fairfax Horse got the better of the Royalists, here, and was even able to strike at vulnerable commanded shot on the left flank of the Royalist foot.

Infantry drawing closer, but still out of musket range. In the distance, cavalry swirls about in close combat.

Royalist Northern Horse clashing with Fairfax Horse. 

Whitecoat infantry battalia moves to block Fairfax horse from feasting on vulnerable commanded shot.

The Parliament demiculverin scored a hit on the Royalist artillery, and Parliament infantry was able to score hits with muskets here and there on the cavalry to its right. Rather suddenly, the Royalists had sustained 6 lost Strength Points to a mere 2 or 3 for Parliament. 

Parliament's center block of infantry forming up.  In the distance the three squadrons of Royalist Northern Horse can be seen milling about (but not attacking).

Willoughby now had his stronger right flank of cavalry advance, and his Whitecoats battalias closed into musket range and engaged in close combat with the Lincolnshire trained bands.

Royalist whitecoats preparing to fire.

But the lone Parliament cavalry squadron was wiley and managed to only be engaged by one of the Northern horse at a time, and the while the Lincolnshire trained band fell back before the Whitecoats, fighting was fierce and the Whitecoats fell back as well. 

Parliament falconet in action.

Parliament trained band, pushed back after close combat results in both sides retreating a square. Whitecoat battalia (with yellow flag) which retreated seen in distance.

At this point the two Northern Horse squadrons on the Royalist left were broken and Willoughby's army hit its exhaustion point.  As Willoughby's forces began to pull back, Cavendish ordered his foot forward en masse, peppering the Whitecoats with musket fire, while his victorious cavalry on his right swept around the flank of the Royalist infantry.

This battalia (seasoned troops and not trained band) have advanced into this vulnerable position with no fear of a flank attack by the whitecoat battalia, because the royalists have hit their exhaustion point and will not advance towards the enemy any more.

Willoughby rode about, trying to get his foot to hold to the front and flank simultaneously. But before he could really get his line situated, one of his cavalry squadrons on his right was broken by that same lone unit of Fairfax Horse, and a general retreat ensued.

Cavendish tries to hold the line.

Other than maybe needing to tweak the artillery rules a bit, The Portable Pike & Shotte Wargame plays evenly and fast, as I have come to expect from this family of rules.  The battalia units, which are a mix of pikemen and musketeers, are a nice addition, and balance between horse and foot feels correct and in line with the historical matter (and not just a rephrasing of Napoleonic infantry square rules/concepts).  

The victorious Lord Thomas Willoughby.

The artillery rules as written do not differentiate between heavy and light, and only have a range of 3 squares, hitting at 5+ at 1 square and 6+ at 2-3 squares.  I snagged my stats from the Italian Wars, and said that light guns move 2 squares and have a range of 4 hitting on 5+, but heavy guns don't move at all but have a range of 8 hitting on 5+.  Both have a SP of 2, and react per rules to hits from shooting.  However, if they take a hit in close combat, and the attacking unit does not retreat, they are automatically destroyed as the civilian crew flees in the face of advancing troops.  The effect of this is that heavy guns have many targets early on but then less so as line of sight is blocked by their own troops. Light guns move about in support of infantry, but are also easily overrun. In theory, an army hitting hits exhaustion point could fall back to its starting positions and the heavy guns might be critical in saving the day (if they can cause enemy to also hit exhaustion point for a draw, or even to win the game).

Post-game, the agreement was that hitting your exhaustion point after losing 1/3 of your total Strength Points means that each player needs to chose carefully as to when and where to direct attacks.  In the case of this game, the Royalist decision to hold back the attack by the numerically superior Northern Horse on the right flank, but to proceed with the attack between evenly matched horse on the left, probably predetermined the ultimate defeat of Cavendish's army.  And the rules are such that you almost always realize it when you've made what is probably a fatal error.  In turn, this is what I really like about these rules, because one can say "oh that was the wrong move" and not "oh I lost when all those dice rolls went the wrong way."