Wednesday, 4 March 2020

Final ECW campaign game

The final game of the English Civil War campaign was not going to stop the Royalist cause from winning. However, it would determine whether the winning margin would be a solid victory (8 regions controlled to 5 regions) or a convincing victory (9 regions to 4 regions).

Action during the game
Campaign map showing Parliament's move on the Royalist held West Midland region.
As the weaker force Royalist forces had the choice of deploying first and opted to secure their left flank by occupying the village and pool all their cavalry together beside the woods that split the battle field. Parliament had secured both hilltops with infantry.

Map of unit deployments
Left side of Parliament's forces
Right side of Parliament's forces
The initial battle moves had Parliament push forward their dragoons to engage their Royalist counterparts. On the other flank they pushed forward their infantry and began bombarding the village. Royalist forces countered and the commanded shot moved through the woods and engage Royalist forces at range.
Dragoons on both sides pushed forward in the fields and were soon engaged in musketry.
Royalist Dragoons occupy the woods
Initial moves on the village
Parliament quickly responded to the appearance of the commanded shot in the woods, moving forward units to quickly suppress the threat.

Royalist commanded shot are quickly engaged.
Once the Royalist commanded shot were suppressed the attack on the village was able to begin in earnest. Forcing the Royalists to commit their infantry reserve to support those forces in the village.

The attack on the village begins in earnest.
With the ever increasing threat to the village the routing of the Royalist Dragoons, the Royalist commander opted to let loose his cavalry in a last bid to turn the battle's tide. The cavalry charged forward into the Parliamentarian dragoons, cavalry and infantry on the hill.

Royalist cavalry charge forward.
The Royalist cavalry with the bit between their teeth swept away the dragoons and launched themselves into Parliament's cavalry who put up a brief resistance before routing. After regrouping there were sufficient units to turn their attention to the few remaining Parliament infantry positioned on the hill.

Royalist cavalry charge gains momentum.
The cavalry charge had swept away their opposition. 
While both forces now on the cusp of losing force resolve. The shock loss of Parliament's left wing and roaming Royalist cavalry was sufficient for the Parliamentarian commander to call off all attacks and cede the field.

It was most exciting seeing the cavalry charge unfold and change the course of the battle which up until that point had been favouring Parliament's forces.

Map of unit movements
A Royalist victory leaves them in control of 9 regions in the campaign and gives them a convincing win. After some 28 battles the campaign comes to a close.

Final campaign map

So what would I do differently if setting up this campaign again?

1) I would introduce leaders into the campaign and allow them in increase their standing with each victory, or reduce their standing with losses. A higher standing would allow additional units to be fielded.

2) Some regions would be of greater value if held. For example, London and the Thames Valley and the West Midlands and Oxford. Holding these regions would also increase the likelihood of fielding a larger force.

20 comments:

  1. Excellent conclusion to your enjoyable campaign. I am quite surprised by the battle outcome in this one. I figured the King had not much chance of victory on the field today. This is why we play the game!

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    1. I too was surprised. The combination of high Royalist dice rolls and low Parliamentarian dice rolls made the charge a success. Another Royalist unit loss would have changed the outcome.

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  2. Very good Peter and rather an excellent terrain setting for the final battle.

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    1. Thanks. The woods in the centre were an advantage for the Royalists.

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  3. Great final game for the Campaign Peter - like the contemporary World, the forces of Reaction are in the ascendancy (sorry my bitterness is showing!)

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    1. It was a fun game to play, and one of the few games in the campaign where a there was such an effective cavalry charge.

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  4. A most entertaining and interesting campaign.

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    1. Thanks. The campaign certainly got a good many games happening on the tabletop.

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  5. As always a great read and enjoyed following the campaign. I liked the post game map showing movements as well as the thoughts on running the campaign again.

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    1. Glad it was an enjoyable campaign to follow. I enjoy doing the maps and they are useful for explaining the moves, which can be difficult to do with photos.

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  6. A dramatic conclusion to an enjoyable campaign. I didn't expect the Royalists to win the encounter. The Parliamentarian commander obviously didn't expect the enemy cavalry to charge uphill so successfully.

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    1. There was a low chance of success, but the dice scores went the way of the Royalists. The one attack up hill was rebuffed, but the damage was done elsewhere. Thanks.

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  7. Nail biting conclusion to the campaign Peter. I’ve drawn lots of inspiration from it. Thank you.

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    1. Thank you. Parliament had a number of missed chances in 1646.

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  8. Speechless... but heads are going to have to roll.
    Thanks for a really enjoyable campaign.

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    1. You cannot fight the Dice Gods when they go against you. Thanks.

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  9. Certainly admire your figures, terrain and buildings - it all looks superb- well done! Cheers. KEV.

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  10. Thanks. The figures are Hinchliffe models.

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  11. A superb campaign. I hope to steal some of your ideas for a 1688 game :)

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    1. Thanks. Hopefully some of the rule mechanisms prove useful for your 1688 campaign.

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