Saturday 13 October 2018

ECW Campaign Game 5

Game 5 of the English Civil War campaign has Parliament and Royalist forces facing off near the market town of Appleby. Rather surprisingly Parliament recruited well. Possibly excessive rents charged by landlords had created an environment for strong Parliamentarian support.

Opening positions
This was going to be an interesting battle. The smaller Royalist force, strong in infantry, was able to use a wood to protect its right flank and position most of its cavalry on the left flank.

The centre of both forces move forward to hold the centre hill
Parliament gained the centre hill and battle commenced in the centre. Parliamentarian cavalry were pushed forward. 
Royalist gallopers charged forward into the advancing Parliamentarian cavalry
Casualties start to mount in the centre
The move to occupy the centre hill provides an advantage when in melee, but not against musketry, and Royalist infantry were maintaining steady fire without running out of ammunition.

Unit losses were starting to appear in the Royalist centre
The Parliamentarian line looks fragile after losing units in the centre and cavalry flank 
The centres of both forces were begging to crumble as reserves are thrown in.
The Royalist reserve cavalry charge forward and shatter the Parliamentarian centre and resistance. 
A hard earned Royalist victory. Three areas that assisted their victory:

  • A strong infantry centre and good use of the wood to protect a flank
  • Not running out of ammunition meant Parliament could not take advantage of the hill
  • Parliament forces had evenly split their cavalry each flank, rather than placing a larger group on the open flank

Battle moves

6 comments:

  1. Looks like an interesting and enjoyable game. I presume there were good reasons that Parliament didn't send some of their left wing cavalry around the wood? or ride it behind the infantry to reinforce their right.

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    1. There were 2 constraints which meant they remained fairly inactive. Firstly, they moved up to help support the infantry in the centre due to their narrow frontage. And secondly, the number of activations a side can do (dependent on how many units a commander can see within 2 bounds) meant the available activations were consumed with the centre and other wing.

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  2. A very nice scenario that looks a good one to keep in the bank and play again in the future.

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    1. It turned out to be a close game. If the Parliamentarian forces had survived for one more turn it is very likely they would have won.

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  3. Perhaps the Royalists cannot recruit but they know to pick their ground and win a battle.
    Good stuff, Peter! I enjoy seeing your colored battle maps. They have a distinctive artistic flair.

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    Replies
    1. Drawing up the maps, particularly the second map showing the movements, allows one to think about the tactics and how they worked or did not.

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