Well I managed to get a couple of big games in during December, one of which was Ramillies, a great Marlburian bash of epic proportions in 15mm (see below, a confident [Umpire Driven "Bot"] French General surveys his dispositions - he may be facing the feared British but he has two line of solid French infantry defending a water obstacle, backed by fortified villages and with "life" insurance of the finest French cavalry behind them - over to his right securing flank is the Elector of Bavaria and his army, what could possibly go wrong?):
John Churchill meanwhile has it in mind to unsettle the Frenchman with his superiority in artillery to both counter battery and bombard the French strongholds before his "obvious" assault with his dreaded British infantry (see below, this activity completely transfixes the Frenchman):
Meanwhile the Duke of Marlborough has amassed the most cavalry seen on a European battlefield facing the Elector of Bavaria's forces. He intends to smash the Bavarians while the French stand transfixed at the British flags; the French haunted by the thought of Blenheim and fixated by Louis XIV's instructions to defend sturdily against the British - aka not be beaten by "them" (see below, the Allied cavalry will soon hurl themselves forward in a desperate gamble):
There are columns of Allied infantry to back up the cavalry by assaulting the Bavarian held fortified villages on the Allied left (see below, a lot depends upon the tenacity of the Dutch infantry):
Meanwhile the British artillery continue to pound away (see below, they are keeping the French artillery quiet with some "good rolling"):
In fact the defenders of Ramillies find themselves situated n a place far too hot and give way to fear and panic (see below, the [yellow counter indicates a] routed unit disrupts the unit [indicated by an orange counter] behind it - in so doing "fixating and worrying" the French commander away from the Bavarians plight, somehow the village needs to be garrisoned again):
Meanwhile the Allied cavalry are trading blows with the Bavarian cavalry away on the other [Allied left] flank (see below, the disruption this leaves the defenders in will be seized upon by the next fresh Allied wave of cavalry):
Before the French can re-garrison an Allied infantry unit takes opportunely enters Ramillies (see below, the French commander in incensed and it will be immediately counterattacked):
All hell has broken loose on the Bavarian flank. Ramillies is being fought over in the background but the Allied infantry have stormed the far right Bavarian village and flanked the Bavarian cavalry line to make a crushing "L" (see below, the Allied cavalry have the upper hand and Elector of Bavaria commits his reserve and hastily sends a note to the French commander pleading for additional help):
The Bavarian flank must hold or the combined French/Bavarian army is lost. The Bavarian infantry has been forced to hold defensively against the cavalry in square which is perilous given the proximity of the advancing Allied infantry - in particular an elite Dutch regiments (see below, the cotton wool smoke indicates how much of a battle there is, all along the line, the majority of it being a head on cavalry-on-cavalry engagement):
The battle swings back and forth. Ramillies had been re-taken by the fierce French infantry counterattack (see below, routing [yellow] and disordered [orange] Allied infantry stream away from Ramillies, however note, the battalions of red coated Danes forming up to the left of the routers. They have secretly countermarched from the Allied right flank to the Allied centre and will again attack Ramillies - another testament to the brilliance and planning of the Duke of Marlborough):
The Bavarian infantry is fighting at hopeless 3:1 odds and the first line of Bavarian cavalry has been swept away - the Bavarian reserve is committed but is ground down by waves of fresh Allied cavalry. There were even sightings of the Duke of Marlborough himself leading the attack in (see below, at last the French commander has sensed something is amiss with the Bavarians - so he is committing French reserve cavalry in, but alas it is only in "penny packets" which is too little too late. By the time it takes to reach the Bavarian flank it will be all over):
The Bavarian infantry breaks and routs away and the remaining cavalry (French and Bavarian) are hopelessly outnumbered as fresh Allied cavalry are ready for a third attacking wave (see below, the second column or rather lined mass are ready to attack Ramillies the hinge of the Bavarian/French line):
The Allied infantry in the centre retake Ramillies (for the third swap in ownership for the day), this time it is the brave Danes who unpack their suitcases and take up lodgings (see below, the French seem to fear every form of "Red Coat" in Marlborough's army):
The Bavarian side of the battle is where all hangs in the balance. Confusion and disruption reign on both sides of the battle lines, the only difference being the Allies can pull their disrupted units out and send in plenty more fresh units (see below, over half the French cavalry will not move or engage in a meaningful way today as it is in the "wrong" place whereas all bar a token force is exactly where John Churchill needs it):
The Elector of Bavaria stands transfixed as powerful formations of Allied horse hold him in square and a line of fierce Red Coats (again not strictly British but lead by an enigmatic character some swear was the Duke re-horsed from a "previous adventure" with Bavarian cavalry) assault the Elector in close quarter fighting (see below, the Bavarians in a tight spot, vexed with both numbers and tactical dispositions against them):
The Bavarians are crushed, the Elector falls badly wounded and is captured, this event causes the first of several French/Bavarian morale checks as the Allies have delivered to date, through crushing routs and combat losses, that are 20% of the total French/Bavarian forces (see below, this game mechanic is an additional "line of sight" morale check that makes some "Fresh" units go to "Disordered", "Disordered" to "Rout" (see below, for atheistic reasons I really think there really should have been more "cotton wool" used at this point to convey the tragedy of the situation):
The Bavarian right flank (aka the Allied left) has crumbled and "gone". It no longer holds any of the fortified villages, its general has been captured, most of its infantry has routed off table and further resistance depends upon reconstituted "disordered" units outnumbered 4:1 (see below, the writing is well and truly on the wall and in actual fact running, kicking and screaming off the battlefield):
The next round causes another army level morale check (25% and 30% checks come in quick succession). The Allied cavalry have pushed the Bavarians completely off the battlefield (see bottom left of the photograph) while Ramillies itself is convincingly held by the fierce Danes and the British infantry (although outnumbered) are now walking up to the water obstacle unopposed (see below, as the French Army now starts its withdrawal in a completely different direction to the Bavarians (see below, this is a strategic disaster, the French King Louis XIV will be most displeased [sent into a fit o rage], even if his "orders" were followed "to the letter" by his Marshals):
The battle of Ramillies thus falls into the strategic category of an Allied "major win", as per history which felt right. The rules were a house rules set and are designed to play very quick (combat and morale factored into one spreadsheet driven dice roll) - in total it took five hours to play the game, so it was able to complete the battle in a single Saturday afternoon (which I consider a major accomplishment). My previous club attempt of refighting Ramillies using "Under a Lilly Banner" rules in 25mm literally took months of actual calendar time (the battle area left set up) and had a playing time of weekends and evenings that tallied in upwards of twenty plus hours. Although that was a beautiful spectacle, "doing the deed" in an afternoon is an Olympic Gold result IMHO ;)