Ripple Field (1643)

This was the third and final game of my virtual (or proxy) version of Ambuscade! played over the course of three days.  After the work of setting up and playing newish rules for Late Roman and Italian Wars Lion Rampant using a grid, it was nice to return to the English Civil War, which I had already recently played on a grid, and did not have to come up with much of anything new.

Prince Maurice's Royalist army.

The scenario was Ripple Field fought in 1643, about 2,000 men per side, with Prince Maurice's Royalists facing William Waller's Parliament army before the town of Ripple. 

William Waller's Parliament army before Ripple.

Both sides were almost mirror images of each other.  Waller had 4 units seasoned foot, 3 units trained band foot, and 3 units of Haselrig's Lobsters, and a single demi-culverin.  Prince Maurice also had 4 units seasoned foot and 3 units trained band foot, but also had four units of harquebusiers and a light gun.  Also of note: for each side, the train'd bands were opposite the better season infantry. This was perhaps worse for Parliament as the train'd band infantry was holding the center, while it was only on the Royalist left.

After first moves.

Waller's infantry moved forward while Maurice's repositioned itself.  Maurice's cavalry advanced en masse and Haselrig sent two of his three Lobsters forward to meet them.

Royalist cavalry advancing.

Parliament trained band shotte.

Royalist trained band infantry.

The Lobsters seemed to hold their own at first, but then the numbers of Royalists combined with some flanking fire from Royalist infantry caused a unit under attack by Prince Maurice to break and rout.  Using his Pursuit rule (see below), Maurice chased this unit right to the Parliament board edge.

Royalist left/center.

The rest of the Lobsters also faired poorly, with their caracole attacks not proving very effective, or coming out the worse for melees with the Royalists.  The Parliament trained band infantry in the center was also not fairing well, either, with a shotte unit retreating through pikes, disordering them.

The mess of the Parliament right/center.

Pirnce Maurice had galloped through the town of Ripple and attacked disordered shotte units in the Parliament center! However, he routed these and pursed them back in and through the town!

Maurice running rampant in the town.

On the Parliament left, the better quality infantry was able to capture the Royalist falconet and chase off the Royalist trained band infantry.

Waller's seasoned infantry on Parliament left on the offensive

A good shot from the falconet, however, did put the demi-culverin out of action.  In the center, Parliament and the remaining Lobsters had mounted a fierce counter attack, and although taking heavy casualties, they succeeded in disordering several Royalist units.  However, the Royalists were able to successfully rally, and on the following turn, it was Parliament units that failed rallies and routed, with a charge against, and routing of, Haselrig hisself being the end of the game.

Haselrig flees the field.

Parliament was fairly trounced, 4 victory points to 1 (the 1 for capturing the falconet).  However, the Royalist rallies at the end certainly beat probability, so the game could have easily gone the other way - even if Parliament had scored 2 points for merely dispatching more units, combined with the 1 for capturing the falconet, would have been enough. 

Prince Maurice’s ROYALIST ARMY

HARQUEBUSIERS

Att. To Hit 4+ / Def. to Hit 5+

Move Rate: 4 squares

Shoot Rng: 1 square / Shoot To Hit: 5+

Morale:4+  / Stamina: 3

Special Rules: Counter-charge; Pursuit

SEASONED PIKE

Att. To Hit 4+ / Def. to Hit 3+
Move Rate: 2 squares
Morale: 4+ / Stamina: 3 
Special Rules: Pikes

SEASONED SHOTTE
Att To Hit 6+ / Def to Hit 5+
Move Rate: 2 squares
Shoot Rng: 3 squares / Shoot To Hit 5+
Morale: 4+ / Stamina: 2
Special Rules: Skirmish at half move and -1 to shoot; over 2 in range is -1 to hit.

TRAINED BAND PIKE
Att. To Hit 4+ / Def. to Hit 3+
Move Rate: 2 squares
Morale: 5+ / Stamina: 3 
Special Rules: Pikes

TRAINED BAND SHOTTE
Att To Hit 6+ / Def to Hit 5+
Move Rate: 2 squares
Shoot Rng: 3 squares / Shoot To Hit 5+
Morale: 5+ / Stamina: 2
Special Rules: Skirmish at half move and -1 to shoot; over 2 in range is -1 to hit.

FALCONET (Light Artillery)
Att To Hit -- / Def to Hit 6+
Move Rate: 2 squares
Shoot Rng / Shoot To Hit: 
Short Rng (0”-6”):   12 dice @ 5+
Med. Rng (6”-12”): 8 dice @ 5+
Long Rng: (12”-24”): 8 dice @ 6+
Morale: 5+ / Stamina: 1
Special Rules: May offer closing fire with successful Morale check. May share a square with another friendly unit. 

Sir William Wallers’s PARLIAMENT ARMY

HASELRIG’S LOBSTERS
Att To Hit 5+ / Def to Hit 4+
Move Rate: 4 squares
Shoot Rng: 1 square / Shoot To Hit 5+
Morale: 3+ / Stamina: 4
Special Rules: Caracole; Skirmish

REITERS
Att To Hit 5+ / Def to Hit 4+
Move Rate: 4 squares
Shoot Rng: 1 square / Shoot To Hit 5+
Morale: 4+ / Stamina: 3
Special Rules: Caracole

HARQUEBUSIERS- same as Royalist SEASONED PIKE- same as Royalist SEASONED SHOTTE- same as Royalist TRAINED BAND PIKE - same as Royalist TRAINED BAND SHOTTE - same as Royalist

DEMI-CULVERIN

Att To Hit -- / Def to Hit 6+

Move Rate: 0

Shoot Rng / Shoot To Hit: 

    Short Rng (1-2 squares): 12 dice @ 4+.
    Med. Rng (3-4 squares): 9 dice @ 5+ 

(4 dice if ½ strength)

     Long Rng (5+ squares): 6 dice @ 5+

Morale: 5+ / Stamina: 1

Special Rules: Has 6 Strength points. May offer closing fire. May share a square with another friendly unit. Cannot move during game, but receives one deployment move of 2 squares before first player’s regular turn.

RULES FOR GRIDS:

A. MOVEMENT

1. Diagonal moves are not allowed.

2. Cavalry move 4 squares

3. Infantry moves 2 squares

4. Light artillery moves 2 squares

5. Culverins and other heavy artillery cannot move at all, but receive one free deployment move of two squares into a “forward position” at the beginning of the game.

6. Artillery units may share a square with another friendly unit, including another artillery unit.  Dice for shooting and melee attacks by a single units against two units sharing a square must allocate 2 of 12 (or 1 of 6 if halfstrength) dice towards the non-artillery target.  If both units in the square are artillery pieces, divide the dice evenly. 

B. RANGES

7. Muskets: 3 squares (over 2 squares is -1 to hit)
   Pistols: 1 square
   Light Artillery: short range 1-2 squares, medium 3 squares, long 4-5 squares
   Heavy Artillery: short 1-2 squares, medium 3-4 squares, long 5+ squares

8. Line of sight is calculated from center of originating square to center of target square (use a stick).  If the line passes over a square that contains another unit, or obstructing terrain such a a building or woods, then there is no LOS.  If the line touches the corner but does not cross the square, there is LOS (this is possible at direct 45 degree angles).

C. SKIRMISH ORDERS

9. All units armed with ranged weapons, and light artillery, may make a half move and shoot at -1 to hit.  This can be move/shoot or shoot/move.

D. ORDERED ACTIVATIONS/REACTIONS.

10. Move, Shoot, Skirmish actions are considered automatic, and no activation roll is required.

11. If attacking an enemy unit, the attacker must pass a Courage test. Usual modifiers apply.

12. A Countercharge and Closing Fire action requires a Courage test.

E. COMBAT

13. An attacking unit can attack an enemy unit in an adjacent (but not diagonal) square. IF the defending unit is in a building, or woods, or behind an obstacle, and loses the melee, the attacking unit will “carry the position” and move into the square vacated by the enemy.

14. Attacks on Guns:  Guns will always test against Morale to offer closing fire (at close range). If the attackers take casualties and fail the morale test, they fall back to the second square from of the gun. If they pass the morale test, they will “carry the position” and move into the gun square. The gun crew is assumed to flee. No melee is fought.  If the gun is sharing the square with another non-gun unit (see above), the attacker will fight a melee with that unit (if it weathered the closing fire from the gun).  If that unit loses and retreats, the gun crew flees and, again, the attacker moves into the gun square and captures it.

F. RETREATS

15. A unit retreats half a move after losing a melee or failing a Rally test. Retreat moves are always towards controlling the player's starting edge. If the retreat is into a square occupied by another friendly unit, the retreating unit will pass through that unit (and any others) until it reaches an empty square.  Units passed through must pass a Morale test or become Disordered (although they are not required to retreat from failing this test).  If the retreating unit is retreating because it lost a melee, but did not become disordered, it too must pass a Morale test or become disordered due to it retreating through friendly troops.

SPECIAL RULES:

• Caracole:  The unit may make a half Move and then a Shoot action. If the enemy fails a Morale test due to the Shooting the unit may now perform a free Attack activation (if within range), moving into contact with that enemy unit and immediately resolving an Attack.

• Pursuit: If this unit has charged or counter-charged an enemy unit, and the result of the melee is that the enemy Routs (a result of 0 or less on a Morale test), then this unit will move towards the enemy table edge in a straight line and stop at the edge. If this line brings it contact with another enemy, it will attack it. If that second melee also results in a Rout, the victorious unit will not Pursue a second time. If the table edge is a terrain feature, the unit will stop in the square in front of that feature. 

• Counter-charge: When enemy unit has successfully diced to attack this unit, but before it moves, this unit may test for a counter-charge by passing a Morale test. If successful, both units meet halfway between their start positions and both count at Attacking. If test fails, stand in place for enemy charge. May not be used if Wavering.

• Pikes:  Pike units are -1 to Defense Value if attacked by another unit with the Pikes rule. If an Attack ends with both units still in contact (i.e. a tie), the enemy must retreat (unless the enemy is also has Pikes). If a unit with Pikes enters rough going, no longer contains at least 6 models or is Wavering, it does not receive the Pike bonuses. 

• Skirmish: This unit may choose to make half move and shoot at -1 before or after this movement takes place.

Nantwich (1644)

Royalist right, looking towards the center of the board.

Last Saturday morning I hosted a remote game of  the battle of Nantwich using The Pikeman's Lament, with Gabe as the Royalists and myself as Parliament.  The Pikeman's Lament rules were heavily modded to allow for movement and range measurement on a grid and to eliminate activation rolls for movement and shooting.  They also used a morale check in place of a attack activation roll, and all shotte units could skirmish with a half move and -1 to shoot. 

Starting positions, with Royalists on left and Parliament to right.

The scenario was based on the battle of Nantwich in 1644, which was a victory for the great Parliament general Sir Thomas Fairfax.  I used a scenario I found in Miniature Wargames #75.  I built the little Acton church specifically for this game the day before. The scenario called for a lot of hedgerows, more than I possessed.  But as it so happened there were lavender clippings left out to dry in the basement, so those were conscripted to table use! I rather like the look!

Turn 2? Parliament reiters advance and are fired upon by Royalist artillery.  

I had to have a hard think about how to treat the hedges for the game. Under Pikeman's Lament they might be obstacles and cover, which would require units to move up to them and stop, and the continue moving past them the subsequent turn.  As cover they might increase Stamina by 1. They might also obstruct line of sight which would make shooting attacks worthless.  Instead I decided a hedge simply cost a double move to cross, and if they obstructed LOS it was simply -1 to hit.  They had no influence on melee other than it cost extra movement for the attacker to contact its target. 

Looking down the road towards Acton church from the Royalist right.

The written scenario called for half of the Parliament cavalry to be "Dutch style."  For Pikeman's Lament this would mean to use the Trotter profile (which I call Reiters), who can use the Caracole rule of riding close, firing pistols, and closing for melee if they disorder their opponent.  I think 1644 is a little late for Parliament armies to still be using this tactic, especially for an army with Sir Thomas Fairfax in it.  Fairfax was an excellent cavalry commander, and it was his cavalry combined with Cromwell's which made up the core of the New Model cavalry a year later. I have an unit profile for "Fairfax" or "Northern" horse which is simply a high-morale Galloper profile (no wild charge), but opted to follow the scenario and use Reiters instead (superior Parliament horse plus numerical superiority for Parliament infantry seemed a little unfair, too).

Infantry in the Parliament center advances on Acton church.

The game was played in about 2 hours, 15 minutes. On the Royalist left, Parliament Reiters advanced and were engaged by Royalist harquebusiers (a "generic" cavalry), with support from Royalist trained band infantry, and took the worse of it.  On the Royalist right, Royalist harquebusiers engaged Parliament harquebusiers, and although the Parliament horse was dispatched, the Royalists were beat up enough to not take further action in the game.

View from Parliament right, looking towards the advance on Acton church.

In the center, the Parliament infantry trundled along up to the hedgerows lining the road to Nantwich, where they began to pepper the Royalists in the churchyard with musket fire.

View from Royalist left, earlier in the game, when Royalist harqueusiers had not attacked yet. Unit labels are actually from the previous Aylesbury ECW game. 

Parliament Trained Band pikes attacking by the Acton churchyard.

As the Parliament player, things were getting dire for me: my cavalry had been routed, and although the Royalist cavalry had taken casualties they were still on board, disadvantaging me on victory points. My best shot was to press forward in the center and get a bunch of units across the road, which could gain me victory points to force a tie.  The Parliament trained band pikes did well, besting the Royalist seasoned pike.

On Parliament left, Royalist cavalry finishes off last of Parliament reiters.

Parliament pressing forward in the center across the Nantwich road.

Parliament shot and pike crossed hedge at the road. They were not met with a fierce volley as some decent shooting by Parliament the turn before had disordered the demiculverin in the churchyard. The Parliament shotte were then able to loose some volleys without the -1 for shooting through obstructing hedges (5+ to hit!) and starting piling up casualties on Royalist shot units.

The Parliament assault on Acton!

Here you can see the Parliament infantry having crossed the road hedgerow, and the pikes pressing into the open field beyond.

As is often the case, however, the furious comeback late the in game came up short.  We were playing until nine units had been removed from the table (about 40% of the starting units, not including artillery), and then would count up victory points.  When the 9th unit was removed, only a Parliament pike unit stood on the Royalist side of the road, and a single Royalist cavalry unit was on the Parliament side.  This meant that no victory points were assigned for having more units on the opposing players side of table, and that the Royalists' receiving 2 victory points for loosing fewer units was enough to win the game 2-0.

End game, with Parliament forces that could have forced the tie, and possibly even the win if they had taken the gun in the churchyard, stalled on the road.

It's only now, looking at the pictures, that I realize how close Parliament was to actually winning the game - if one or two additional Parliament units had crossed the road, and if Parliament could have seized the Royalist gun in the churchyard for 1 VP, they could have won 3-2.  But I think I was too conservative with my reiters early on, and took too long trying to soften up the Royalist center with shooting (at 6 to hit), with little effect, when sending the infantry over the hedge a turn or three earlier would have made their superior numbers more effective. 

This remote game went faster than the previous Dornach 1499 game, almost certainly because there were no morale rerolls.  This was tempered by the hedges dampening the effectiveness of musketfire which extended pay a bit.  I think if the game had been relatively open terrain, it would have been closer to my two hour goal.  Again, it was great to push my 28mm armies around with another player.

Aylesbury (1642)

This Pikeman's Lament game is loosely based on the battle outside of Aylesbury on November 1, 1642.  Prince Rupert had taken the town of Aylesbury for the Royalists, but received advanced warning of the approach of a Parliamentarian force from Stony Stratford under Sir William Balfour.  Rupert headed north and found Balfour's forces on the opposite bank of the River Thame (a tributary of the River Thames). According to the account of Lord Nugent, despite the River Thame being swollen by rains, Rupert charged across the ford, broke through the first two lines of Balfour's infantry and plunged into the center of Balfour's horse. Sir Lewis Dives came up with Prince Rupert's reserve, and Captain Blanchard with Balfour's.  Rupert was driven back across the river, received a Parliamentarian charge, and was driven back to Aylesbury in confusion.

Starting positions, Parliament on left, Royalists on right.

For a game version, I interpreted this as two armies of equal size of 14 units each.  The Royalists started with their cavalry deployed in front of their infantry, and Parliament started the other way around with their infantry deployed in front of their cavalry.  Both sides had 2 pike and 5 shotte units, all of which were Trained Bands as this was early in the war (so worse morale and difficult to move).  The non-foot was  comprised of 1 dragoon unit, a demi-culverin, a falconet, and six units of horse each (a mix of reiters and harquebusiers for Parliament, and a mix of harquebusiers and over-enthusiastic cavaliers for Rupert).  The middle two sections of the river were fordable at no movement penalty. The rest of the river was a double obstacle.  We were using the "A Pride of Lions" formation and flanking rules from WSS #104 as well.  Play would continue until 14 units were lost cumulative of both sides.  Unit profiles are at end of this post, as are victory points.

Starting positions, view from Royalist side. The skinny sections of the river in the middle are the easy crossing area.

I was the Parliament player and Pete was the Royalists.  My strategy was to move the infantry line up about 12" closer to the river then hold fast, keeping the cavalry in reserve and waiting to see what happened next.  Pete's plan involved Rupert attempting a flank across the flooded river on one side and a flank by the bulk of his infantry on the other side of the ford. 

I guess we'll never really know who had the better strategy because all that poor quality infantry really took its toll on the Parliament side. I consistently could not get my lines in order early on. Things really started to go pear-shaped though when one of my two pike units botched an early Morale test and left the field along with Capt. Blanchard. Rather quickly, I found myself without infantry on my right flank. I made a good show of a counterattack across the middle of the river but poor morale dice rolling undid that.

In the end, Parliament lost 8 units or so to the Royalists' 4, although Rupert did flee the field. Although an entertaining game, especially trying out the flanking and formation rules from the 'Pride of Lions' article, it was hard not to note the rather extreme poor dice rolling by Parliament. 

We really liked the formation and flank rules.  Turning units was a little tricky as the article doesn't go into much detail, so we had to work stuff out on the spot, but it definitely changed the look and feel of the game.  One rule change we would suggest is that pikes and horse units may always be allowed to turn to face an opponent charging them (so they never fight with half dice) (although note that cavalry charged in flank may not countercharge).

Parliament infantry already out of line

 

Capt. Hume's Parliamentarian cavalry moves to protect the left flank

Early in the game and for a second things look okay. To upper right, Rupert is about to cross the Thame, with Parliament firepower awaiting him, and a sizable brigade of Roundhead reiters in reserve.

A lone Royalist cavalry unit charges headlong across the ford.

Photos are a bit of a mess, seeing as they are a combination of mine and Pete's.

This was Parliament's last gambit to spark a little counter-attack across the river and get a pike unit and some cavalry in amongst the unprotected Royalist shotte. They were driven back by musketry and poor morale checks.

End of the game.

UNIT PROFILES:

CAVALIERS

Attack Action 5+ / Att To Hit 3+ / Def to Hit 5+

Move Action 5+ / Move Rate: 12”

Shoot Action / Shoot Rng: / Shoot To Hit

Morale: 3+ / Stamina: 3

Special Rules: Galloper; Counter-charge; Sweeping Advance

HARQUEBUSIERS

Attack Action 6+ / Att. To Hit 4+ / Def. to Hit 5+

Move Action 5+ / Move Rate: 10”

Shoot Action 6+ / Shoot Rng: 6” / Shoot To Hit: 5+

Morale:4+  / Stamina: 3

Special Rules: Counter-charge; Sweeping Advance

DRAGOONS

Attack Action 7+ / Att To Hit 5+ / Def to Hit 6+

Move Action 5+ / Move Rate: 12”

Shoot Act. 5+ / Shoot Rng: 12” / Shoot To Hit: 5+

Morale: 5+ / Stamina: 2

Special Rules: Skirmish

TRAINED BAND PIKE

Attack Action 7+ / Att. To Hit 4+ / Def. to Hit 3+

Move Action 6+ / Move Rate: 8”

Shoot Action / Shoot Rng: / Shoot To Hit

Morale: 5+ / Stamina: 3 

Special Rules: Pikes (+1s already applied above)

TRAINED BAND SHOTTE

Attack Action 7+ / Att To Hit 6+ / Def to Hit 5+

Move Action 6+ / Move Rate: 8”

Shoot Act. 7+ / Shoot Rng: 18” / Shoot To Hit 5+

Morale: 5+ / Stamina: 2

Special Rules: None

REITERS

Attack Action 6+/ Att To Hit 5+ / Def to Hit 4+

Move Action 5+ / Move Rate: 10”

Shoot Action 6+ / Shoot Rng: 6” / Shoot To Hit 5+

Morale: 4+ / Stamina: 3

Special Rules: Caracole

DEMI-CULVERIN

Att Action -- / Att To Hit -- / Def to Hit 6+

Move Action -- / Move Rate: ZERO

Shoot Act. 7+ / Shoot Rng 36” / Shoot To Hit: 5-6+

Morale: 5+ / Stamina: 2

Special Rules
Short Range (0”-9”):   12 dice @ 5+
Medium Rng (9”-18”): 8 dice @ 5+
Long Range: (18”-36”): 8 dice @ 6+ 

FALCONET

Att Action -- / Att To Hit -- / Def to Hit 6+

Move Action 6+ / Move Rate: 6”

Shoot Act. 7+ / Shoot Rng 24” / Shoot To Hit: 5-6+

Morale: 5+ / Stamina: 2

Special Rules:
Short Range (0”-6”):   12 dice @ 5+
Medium Rng (6”-12”): 8 dice @ 5+
Long Range: (12”-24”): 8 dice @ 6+ 

SPECIAL RULES:

• Caracole:  As an Ordered activation, successful on a 7+, the unit may make a half Move and then a Shoot order. If the enemy fails a Morale test due to the Shooting the unit may now perform a free Attack activation (if within range), moving into contact with that enemy unit and immediately resolving an Attack.

• Sweeping Advance:   If this unit wins a melee (where it uses its Attack Value, i.e. an Attack or a Counter-charge) and pushes its enemy back, it must follow up in contact and immediately fight a second melee against that same unit, unless it already has a Blown Horses marker. If the original enemy unit the unit has been removed from play, the attacking unit must choose to attack another unit within a move of its current location; it will not follow up after this second combat. If there is no unit to attack, it moves a full move towards the closest enemy unit. After making a Compulsory Follow-Up, place a marker by the unit – the unit may not make any more Compulsory Follow-Ups the rest of the game.

• Counter-charge: When enemy unit has successfully diced to attack this unit, but before it moves, this unit may test for a counter-charge at 7+. If successful, both units meet halfway between their start positions and both count at Attacking. If test fails, stand in place for enemy charge. May not be used if Wavering.

• Galloper:   When within charge range of enemy cavalry, this unit must test for a Wild Charge at the start of your turn by making an Attack Action.  If the Wild Charge test is failed and the unit does not charge, you may activate this unit as usual during your turn. When this unit of brash cavalry is charged by cavalry, it will always attempt to counter-charge.  Movement increased to 12”.

• Pikes:  A unit of 6 or more models which is not in rough terrain and not Wavering/Disordered with this rule has both Attack and Move at 6+ and the unit Attacks and Defends with +1 to their dice scores. Pike units do not receive the +1 to Defense Value if attacked by another unit with the Pikes rule (so Pikes vs. Pikes is always both sides hitting on 4+ unless one side is less than 6 stamina points). If an Attack ends with both units still in contact, the enemy must retreat (unless the enemy is also has Pikes). If a unit with Pikes enters rough going, no longer contains at least 6 models or is Wavering, it does not receive the Pike bonuses. 

• Skirmish: As an ordered activation test at 7+, unit may choose to make half move and shoot at -1 before or after this movement takes place.

• Wild Charge:  If this unit is in attack range of enemy unit, you must test to activate an Attack; this is the only order this unit can be given. May not charge if Wavering.

SCENARIO RULES:

Scenario is played until half the total units on the table have been removed. Then award points as follows:

• +2 to the side that has had less units removed from the table.

• +2 to the side that has more units on the opposite half of the table than it started on.

• +1 to the side that has lost fewer command stands

• +1 for every duel won