ECW Campaign Game 6 report

As both sides contest the South East region their recently recruited forces clash at Lenham Heath, Kent. Parliamentarian forces were able to take up position first, followed by Royalists forces who had been camped near the market town of Lenham.

Initial positions

Royalist forces positioned their artillery in the centre hoping to goad the slightly smaller Parliamentarian into making attacks.

Royalist artillery open fire at visible units. The bulk of the Parliamentarian centre remain behind the crest of the hill to avoid being targets. While on their left the cavalry move forward. 

On the far side of the table Royalist cavalry charge the advancing Parliamentarian cavalry, and on the near flank Royalist dragoons and cavalry move forward against the weaker Parliamentarian flank.

Cavalry on both flanks are fully engaged. Meanwhile Parliament centre remain behind the hill under cover from annoying artillery fire

On the Parliamentarian right the Royalist have gained the ascendancy and part of the infantry centre are moved to shore up the flank.

Royalist cavalry push ahead running into dragoon units positioned behind hedges 

With supporting infantry and dragoons drive off the Royalist cavalry who were in a weakened state from their first clash.

On both flanks Parliament cavalry and dragoons are in control and Royalist forces are retreating except for their centre which remains in place.

At this point the Royalist commander was in a bit of a pickle. He had lost more units than his Parliamentarian counterpart and moving his infantry centre forward would expose both his flanks to the roaming Parliamentarian cavalry and dragoon units. With this in mind I decided the Royalists would retire from the field of battle in order and with their artillery.

A victory to Parliament, probably a minor victory given the field was ceded to them.

A map showing the deployment and thrusts (successful and not so successful) of each side

With the game in the bag, I decided to see if the Royalist commander had made the correct choice to retire in order. So I continued on with the game. Parliament forces moved their infantry forward and while taking casualties and losing units, they routed two more Royalist units and Royalist army resolve failed. All remaining units routed leaving the artillery. The correct decision had been made.

I am currently reading "War Games" by Donald Featherstone and in particular the chapter "How to Start a War Game" has taken my interest. There are some interesting rule ideas for deciding when in the day the battle begins, which then dictates the duration of the game and how forces position themselves for the next day if forces meet late in the day.  I plan to use some similar rules for the next game.