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."

English Civil War Battle-Maker

This system is meant for the The Portable Pike & Shot Wargame rules, and is still a work in progress. However, tomorrow morning I will play the first (remote) game in a campaign set in Lincolnshire in 1643, so I wanted to get this posted before then.

1. CAMPAIGN BOARD:

Standard chutes-and-ladders campaign board. Both sides get a chit, and roll 1d6 and move on board accordingly. When they come to a 'battle' square they stop and a game is set up. This does mean that each battle square (except the last) could be played twice (or more, if landing on 'bad weather' or other negative event multiple times).  

2. FORCES RANDOMIZER:

Credit where credit's due: these tables are derived from the Very Civile Actions ruleset, a variant or add-on to the Spanish Fury! ruleset by The Perfect Captain (now retired).  You can download the Spanish Fury rules as well as the Very Civile Actions additions at the Perfect Captain's website.  I have always been intrigued by these rules but have never tried them. I have only completed the tables for '43-'44 Eastern Association and '43-'44 Newcastle at the moment...

(a) PARLIAMENT:

1642 Edgehill/London

50% of cavalry must be Reiters

May include London Trained Bands, Reiters, Trained Band Foot, Harquebusiers, and Dragoons

1643-1644: Waller/South

50% of cavalry must be Reiters

May include London Trained Bands, Reiters, Seasoned Foot, Trained Band Foot, Lobsters, Harquebusiers, and Dragoons

1643-1645: Northern Association

May include Reiters, Fairfax Horse, Seasoned Foot, Trained Band Foot, Harquebusiers, and Dragoons

1643-1644: Eastern Association

May include Fairfax Horse, Ironsides, Seasoned Foot, Trained Band Foot, Harquebusiers, and Dragoons

1d3+2 horse (roll 1d6 for each: 1-2 Fairfax Horse, 3-4 Ironsides, 5-6 Harquebusiers)

1d3+1 battalia (roll 1d6 for each: 1-3 Seasoned Foot 4-6 Trained Band Foot)

1d3-1 commanded shot (same as battalia above)

1d3 artillery (1 heavy then 1 light, and so on)

1645: New Model Army

50% of cavalry must be Ironsides

50% of foot must be New Model Foot

May include Ironsides, New Model Dragoons, Seasoned Foot, and Harquebusiers

(b) ROYALIST:

1642-1643 Oxford

50% of cavalry must be Cavaliers

May include Oxford Foot, Cavaliers, Lifeguards, Trained Band Foot, Harquebusiers, and Dragoons.

1643 Cornwall/Hopton

50% of foot must be Cornish Foot

May include Cornish Foot, Seasoned Foot, Trained Band Foot, Harquebusiers, and Dragoons.

1643-1646 Wales

May include Lifeguards, Seasoned Foot, Trained Band Foot, Harquebusiers, and Dragoons.

1643-1644 Newcastle

50% of cavalry must be Northern Horse.

50% of foot must be Whitecoat Foot.

May include Northern Horse, Whitecoat Foot, Seasoned Foot, Trained Band Foot, Harquebusiers, and Dragoons.

1d3+2 horse (half rounded up are Northern Horse, then roll 1d6 for each remaining: 1-3 Northern Horse, 4-6 Harquebusiers)

1d3+1 battalia (Half rounded up are Whitecoat Foot, then roll 1d6 for each remaining unit: 1 Whitecoat Foot 2-3 Seasoned Foot 4-6 Trained Band Foot)

1d3-1 commanded shot (same as battalia above)

1d3 artillery (1 heavy then 1 light, and so on)

1644-1645 Oxford Reform

50% of foot must be Oxford Foot

50% of cavalry must be Cavaliers

May include Oxford Foot, Cavaliers, Lifeguards, Harquebusiers, and Dragoons.

1645-1646 Post-Naseby

May include Seasoned Foot, Trained Band Foot, Harquebusiers, and Dragoons.

(c) NOTES (from Very Civile Actions):

Harquebusiers: Composed of troops that had seen a campaign or two, and perhaps some time on the continent or against the Scots during the Bishop’s Wars, these types of soldiers were at every major battle in the English Civil War. Fairly well armed, adequately trained, and moderately enthusiastic

Dragoons: Although often looked on as foragers and scouts, Dragoons of the Civil Wars were actually more highly thought of. Early armies had large numbers of them, but as the war progressed better quality mounts went to the Cavalry and their quality and numbers declined.

Cavaliers: While this term was applied to Royalists in general, it was often used specifically for their excellent quality horse, although they were unfortunately not disciplined in reining in their mounts after successfully seeing off their opponents.  Not all nobles and gentlemen of legend, there were certainly many of them in the ranks. Not found in Cornwall, Wales, or Post-Naseby.

Lifeguards: These represent the very best of Royal regiments, including the Royal Lifeguard of horse, Rupert’s regiment, and perhaps the Prince of Wales regiment.

Northern Horse: Renowned for their relief of Pontefract Castle, deep in enemy territory, the Northern Horse had a fearsome reputation well before that. Under Lord Goring, and especially Sir Marmaduke Langdale, these loyal troopers had a long experience of success in battle, and though beaten at Marston Moor, they proved more successful than Prince Rupert’s southern regiments.

Reiters: Parliamentarian horse were trained along Dutch lines, with a slow trot and a reliance on firepower. It took a series of defeats at the hands of their more modern-minded and trained Royalist opponents to start throwing away their old manuals.  In South or with Waller, must be at least half of Horse.

Haselrig's Lobsters: Sir Arthur Haselrig’s cuirassiers were the only regiment of its type during the war. In the early years, they were the toughest opponents the Royalist horse was to face, although they did suffer serious checks on occasion, such as at Roundway Down.  Use only in the 1643-1644 period in the south or with Waller only.

Fairfax Horse/Ironsides/New Model Horse: Black Tom Fairfax was the heart of the Northern Association, even when he wasn’t in supreme command. Under his steady leadership his cavalry developed into hard riding professionals who proved themselves more than capable in the Nantwich campaign. May also be used as Northern or Eastern Association horse.  Also use as Cromwell's Ironsides or as New Model Army horse.

Seasoned Foot: Composed of troops that had seen a campaign or two, and perhaps some time on the continent or against the Scots during the Bishop’s Wars, these types of soldiers were at every major battle in the English Civil War, except early on when Trained Bands were more prevalent. Fairly well armed, adequately trained, and moderately enthusiastic, they could be used to represent numerous armies. 

Trained Band Foot: While many trained bandsmen had seen action before and during the war, they were generally unenthusiastic about stand up battles. That is not to say that they didn’t fight; in fact most of the fighting in 1642 was done by these men. Often ill equipped.

London Trained Bands: London was the centre of the Parliamentarian world, and there were many who were zealous for the cause. Though poorly trained, the London Trained Bands were better motivated than their county counterparts. They weren’t keen on straying too far from home as William Waller found out, but they could be counted on to fight hard when it suited them.

Oxford Foot: The King’s army of Oxford was the best armed, trained and officered of the Royalist armies. This army was unbeaten on the field from late-1642 to mid-1645 (although many of their battles were draws). They marched and countermarched from Cornwall to the gates of Windsor castle. Their destruction at Naseby spelled the end of the King’s cause.

Cornish Foot: These stubborn soldiers were officered by their ancestral leaders. Before the storm of Bristol where they took so many casualties, Cornish troops proved capable of fighting against the odds in a most fanatical manner, as at Landsowne and Braddock Down.

White Coat Foot:  Adwalton Moor, Wakefield, and finally Marston Moor proved that surrender was never on the minds of the Northern foot. Sternly officered and well equipped (after the Queen arrived with Continental munitions), these troops commanded the north, chasing the Fairfax’s into Hull until the arrival of the Scots tipped the balance against them.

3. UNITS USING 'PORTABLE PIKE & SHOT WARGAME' PROFILES:

• Reiters = Dutch Cavalry. SP 3. Move 3. Weapon range 1.
• Harquebusiers = Swedish Cavalry. SP 3. Move 3. 
• Lobsters = Curaissiers. SP 4. Move 3. Weapon range 1.
• Cavaliers, Lifeguards, Northern Horse, Ironsides, Fairfax Horse = Swedish Cavalry (Elite rated)
• Trained Band Foot = Battalia or Commanded Shot (Poor rated)
• Seasoned Foot = Battalia or Commanded Shot (Average rated)
• London Trained Bands, Oxford Foot, Cornish Foot, Whitecoat Foot, New Model Foot = Battalia or Commanded Shot (Elite rated).
• Light Artillery* (Falconets) = SP 2. Move.2. Range 4.
• Heavy Artillery* (Demiculverins) =  SP2. Move 0. Range 8.
• Dragoons.  SP 2. Move 2. Range 2. Dragoons are deployed up to 4 squares forward of friendly units.

*Heavy and light artillery have SP of 2, but if engaged in close combat their SP counts as 1 and the following rules applies: if heavy artillery obtains a result where it must retreat, it is instead immediately destroyed, as its crew has run away, unless its attacker has also obtained a retreat, in which case the heavy artillery simply remains in place.  In short, artillery cannot resist attacks for very long, if at all. L To do so successfully, it must win the combat (inflicting a SP or a retreat result) and also not take a SP itself. Artillery in fortified positions are obviously more likely to succeed at this.

4. RANDOMIZED DEPLOYMENT:

These deployments are cribbed from several historical English Civil War battles. The 12" and 6" notations indicate how far from the starting table edge the forces are deployed.  

5. BEFORE THE BATTLE:

If the attacker has more SP, defender may add and place one 6" section of earthworks for the difference in total strength points.  If the defender has more strength points, attacker may purchase Dragoon units,  at 2 SP each, to make up the difference (rounded up) (so if defender has 3 more SP, attacker can add 2 Dragoon units for 4 SP).

Defender may place earthworks, if any, 12" (2 squares on my gridded games) forward of their starting line (so if defender's random deployment placed their front line 12" from the table edge, they can deploy earthworks up to 24" from the table edge).  Attacker may deploy dragoons, if any, 24" (4 squares if using Portable Wargame) forward of starting line. 

Heavy artillery can be start with more than one unit per square.  Both sides then advance any heavy artillery 1 square forward of their starting positions, with additional heavy artillery to the left or right of that first unit.  This is where heavy artillery will remain for rest of game.

Austrian, Belgian, French, and Prussian (c.1900) Painting Guide

These are from the French encyclopedia Nouveau Larousse Illustre published in Paris in 1900 by Claude Auge. [Updated to add some better quality images of French uniforms from the 1897 edition]

French Uniforms (1897/1900):

Austrian Uniforms 1900:

Belgian Uniforms (1900):

Prussian Uniforms (1900):

Piacenza (1495) - Charles VIII's Italian War campaign game #6

Repulsed at Sezza and fought to a standstill at Terracina in February 1495, and thus having failed in his goal of claiming the crown of Naples as his own, the French army of Charles VIII made its way back north through Italy.  All of Italy was now united against him in the form of the League of Venice, and as the French entered the Po River valley in June, they were racing against a large Italian army under Venetian command.  Having crossed the Po near Piacenza, Charles found himself before the Italian host with no choice but to give battle.  

French artillery.

The Italian league under Venetian command.

Swiss pikemen in French service.

In this final, concluding game of the 'snakes and ladders' campaign based on the Italian War of 1494-1495, the French had reached the final battle square first, so were deemed the 'attackers.'  As a bonus for reaching the final square first, the Italians had to subtract one unit from each category after rolling on the army randomizer table.  Since each side had won two battles, each also received a 'captain.'

The French readied for battle.

French artillery and a 'captain.'

The Italians rolled better than the French but after subtracting one unit from each category both sides ended up with an  equal number of strength points (the Italians had an edge in number of men at arms and the French had more pikemen).  So while reaching the final square first did not give the French an advantage, it did cancel out an Italian numerical superiority.

French troops.  I got my dslr camera out for this game. Fun to play around with the focus but I had the light setting wrong...

Italian troops.

The French also ended up with more heavy artillery which was better arrayed.  A plan was therefore hatched to try and really soften up some targets with the guns before closing with the weight in pikes (I again forgot to implement the 'Opening Barrage' pre-game phase).  Missile troops and a spare pike unit would shift to the right to help counter the Italian cavalry.  The Italians devised a plan to run all their heavy cavalry, behind a screen of light cavalry stradiots, into the middle of the French line, where weaker missile troops defended the artillery.

Landsknecht in Venetian service.

Looking over the field from the French right.

At first the French artillery seemed to do well, with an Italian men at arms unit was completely destroyed by the French heavy guns!  But then things took a turn for the worse.

French guns open fire

The Italians rolled forward regardless of the French artillery, and all of a sudden the French had ceded the middle of the board to the Italians uncontested.  The French line attempted to advance and meet the enemy, but missile fire and melee attacks were useless with many (many, many) 1s rolled...

Venetian Landsknecht advancing.

A French gun was destroyed by Stradiot javelin light cavalry tactics, and the attending French captain killed in action.

French missile troops, attempting move forward and dole out a lost SP or a retreat result to clear the way for heavy infantry, would instead miss and then take SPs from remarkably accurate Italian missile troops.  Destroyed French units began to pile up, and the lost SPs soared quickly to 15, with 20 being the exhaustion point!

French archers, with a SP taken.

Venetian stradiots.

Meanwhile, the numerically inferior Italian landsknecht pike mass finally hit the Swiss by the woods... 

Landsknecht

...and like elsewhere the French could not make headway.  More SP were lost. The situation was dire. The Italians were looking at a victory point blowout, in control of 2 board quarters, contesting the other two, and having destroyed four French units already.

Push of pike

Charles VIII decided to be decisive.  The French pikes attempted a counterattack, supported by artillery and missile fire as much as possible.  The ranged attacks were helpless. Charles himself join a pike attack to try and turn the tide - Charles was captured as a result!  

Here you can see the Italian cavalry lined up in a long attack vector to assault French missile troops and artillery.  The battle was basically over just a this began to materialize.

The French king captured and their counter-attack foiled, the Italians still needed to knock the French down another 2 or 3 strength points.  On the far Italian right, accurate crossbow fire dispatched some Swiss halberdiers who were on the brink, and then a flank attack by doppelsoldners destroyed a French pike unit to seal a very lopsided victory.

End of game.

Doppelsoldners who dealt the finishing flank attack are in the middle there.

So the campaign ends with a bit of a catastrophe for the French - their king captured (or dead), his army soundly beaten despite an even footing (and possibly an advantage if the pikes had been brought to bear sooner), and the Kingdom of Naples still standing.

The French right has pulled back here at end of game, so you can see the three full strength gendarme units sitting pretty...

This was the concluding game using the 'chutes and ladders' campaign and battle generator.  The games looked great and the rules were equally engaging with armies of varying sizes and composition.  The random deployment system worked particularly well, creating not-always-optimal initial deployments that made me feel like I was stepping into a historical situation rather than a game.

The historical campaign of 1494-1495 involved two field battles at best (Fornovo and the lesser known Rapallo) and one siege (at the fortress of Mordano).  My fictionalized campaign generated six field battles, so in this regard it was a great success, since it still felt like I was using a historical setting but I getting more table use of my figures. 

The battles themselves were generally well balanced, although I think missile troops are suffering from issues which plagued them when I was adapting and modifying Lion Rampant for Italian Wars play. Namely, they either feel too much like light skirmish troops who are easy targets for pikes and armored cavalry, but if make them more resilient they start to feel too much like later era musketeers....  The Developing the Portable Wargame ancient rules do include a "close order archers" unit profile, which has a SP of 4 and a range of 3 squares.  4 SP would make missile troops more resilient but would probably lose close combat since they do not have the +1 of heavy infantry or cavalry.  Increasing all missile troops or 4 SP (maybe only a 3 so as to keep pikes as the main infantry force) would also raise the exhaustion point considerably, which would give armies more time to implement strategies - too often I felt one army hit its exhaustion point too soon, usually when things were just getting interesting.

I've put the Italian Wars collection back in its boxes and shelves for now, but I'm sure they'll be back out soon as I'm almost done painting the last 60 of my Essex Miniatures pikemen, and a campaign of many "small battles" would be perfect for the Spanish campaigns of Gonzalo Cordoba in southern Italy during 1502-1504.