15mm Early English Civil War - somewhere in the southwest of England

Steve H and I played out a game of Pike and Shotte at the club last night.  All the troops are from Steve's most excellent collection of 15mm miniatures.  I took command of a gallant Parliamentary contingent, consisting of two battalia, each of two pike blocks and four sleeves of muskets, one with a medium gun and the other with both a medium gun and a small gun.  There was also a battalia with a unit of dragoons and two commanded shot, one large, and two wings of cavalry, one armed with carbines, the other with pistols, each of three companies.  Steve took command of the Royalists, with a battalia of two pike blocks and four musket sleeves plus a unit of commanded shot, and another battalia of four pike blocks with two musket sleeves, recruited from Cornwall.  Steve also took command of two wings of cavalry, each of three companies.

The disposition of our forces just as we got to grips is shown below, viewed from the rear of the Parliamentarian lines.  We went with a classic deployment with cavalry wings to our flanks.  I placed the commanded shot in the centre, flanked to either side by the pike and musket battalia.  I placed the unit of dragoons to the rear of the woods on the left so they could advance and dismount on the front edge of the woods and harass the cavalry on that flank.  Steve's Cornishmen form the pike block on the right of the photo, while his musket heavy battalia with a unit of commanded shot is in the centre.

View looking along the "deadly field" between the two armies.  Parliament on the left, Royalists on the right.

The dragoons have been doing their stuff and attempting to disrupt the Royalist cavalry on Parliaments left, making them reluctant to charge home with only two of their three units.

This tactic worked as long as I could keep rolling at least one 6 for firing.  So far so good.

Initial musketry on Parliaments right were largely ineffective, but the Cornish pike blocks were getting closer.

An early success for Parliament saw a unit of Cornish muskets break and flee the field.

On Parliaments right, the cavalry watch each other with suspicion, while there is much push of pike and wielding of muskets like clubs in the infantry ranks.

In the centre, Royalist infantry had caused some nuisance hits on the numerically superior Parliamentarians, but in response, the Parliamentarians much regretted allowing their powder to get damp as their fire was ineffective more or less all the way down the line.

Alas for democracy, on the left, the Royalist horse managed to charge and broke the Parliamentarian cavalry on that wing.

By the close of the game, on the right, and much against the odds, the Parliament horse managed to break the Royalist horse, although there would need to be a significant amount of rallying before they would be any use again.  One of the Parliament commanded shot units has wheeled right and taken the Cornishmen under fire from the flank.

In the centre, Royalist horse from the left flank charged in and broke the light gun and a unit of muskets, but pulled up short of the pikes, which had broken a sleeve of muskets in the Royalist line.  Another Royalist pike block had charged the commanded shot, but they were holding their own at least initially.

On the left, two units of horse were waiting their opportunity, while the third was resting shaken.

We agreed to call it a draw, although things were beginning to go the Royalists way.  We agreed that both commanders could report back to King and Parliament that there had been a bloody struggle with great loss of life and maiming, but with little to show for it.  Both sides could lick their wounds and enter another round of recruiting, ready to meet again on another field somewhere in the southwest of England.

This game was great fun to play.  For the first time I got to grips with the proximity rule which restricts what units can do when there is enemy close to their front.  Several other players stopped to say what a great looking table and Steve's troops did indeed look the business.  Thanks to Steve for laying this game on, I really must get on with my 10mm ECW army.

Thanks for looking.

Frodsham Furies Pike and Shotte game

These are some more pictures that have been locked up on my phone since the summer.  Some while back, the inaugural meeting of the Frodsham Furies took place at the Guides HQ in Frodsham, UK.  Neither the figures nor the scenery are mine, all were supplied by the players on the day.  I can no longer remember who won or lost, I think it ended with a minor victory for the team I was on, but that was nothing to do with me as the left wing, which I controlled, did very little but hold the line.

The set up on the left flank, the troops I commanded in the foreground, Dave's, my opponent on the far side.

My troops occupying a bastion which marked the right flank of my command.  Chris commanded the predominantly cavalry middle and used them to great effect by a series of charges and counter charges.

The cavalry ranks in all their glory - of course they weren't so pretty at the end of the day, but neither was the enemy.

Infantry on the right flank.

With a small fort to anchor the line.

Push of pike, which seems to be hurting my blokes quite a bit.

The enemy advance cautiously between trees and fields on my right.

The cavalry engagement in the centre.

The enemy come to grips with my centre.  That cannon next to the farm proved quite effective though.

The infantry advance on my right is pushed back a little.

A view from the ranks.

Steady boys - stirring words from the brigadier.

The table looked awesome and the troops fantastic, all in all a fun day for all involved.  I've still got a Battalia starter pack that I need to assemble and paint, so I can add my own forces to the fray for our upcoming ECW campaign at the Defenders club.

Thanks for looking.

Battle of Lostwithiel

This Saturday I was lucky enough to be invited to join a select group of 28mm ECW gamers at the Community Centre off Dover Drive in Ellesmere Port.  The event was organised by Aiden, who supplied a large slice of the troops and scenery, while Michael, Dennis and John brought along the remainder of the forces involved.  The table was set up with an impassable river along the eastern edge (River Fowey?), with a fortified village on the western flank.  Us Royalists entered from the northern table edge, while the treacherous Parliamentarians deployed along the centre of the table. The Parliamentarians aimed to exit their infantry off the southern table edge, representing them making it onto boats in Fowey and getting back to safety, while their horse aimed to get off the northern table edge by breaking through Royalist lines, with a view to riding north to Plymouth as fast as possible.  The game was broken up with a series of event cards, which Aiden played whenever he felt things needed livening up.  We played using Warlord Games Pike and Shotte.

Setting up, looking east with Royalists on the left and Parliamentarians on the right.  Dennis (Royalist) is placing his gleaming infantry, with little to indicate the massed hordes of extra shiny cavalry he has waiting to the rear.  John (Parliament) is frantically garrisoning the village and fortifying it with anything he can lay his hands on.

 Some of the Parliamentarian forces waiting for deployment.

 Looking west from the banks of the Fowey.  Dave is placing a battalia of foot which caused me no end of trouble in the centre.

The game ebbed and flowed nicely.  Early Parliamentarian efforts to charge cuirassiers into the Royalist centre came to naught when they were repulsed, although this pinned one of my battalia of foot into a hedgehog from which they couldn't escape for most of the battle.  Having failed to get the horse out, the Parliamentarians tried, with varying success, to withdraw to the south.  In response, the Royalists signalled a general advance with Dennis' infantry storming the fortified village to the west, Mike and I taking on the centre (Dave and Aiden) and Chris keeping the east occupied and putting pressure on the small village at that end.  Ammunition was in short supply, each time a unit fired a card from a deck of 54 cards was removed.  These cards were placed in table in carts of buildings, which acted as arsenals for the armies.  In trying to move one of the carts off table, Aiden threw a double 6, resulting in a colossal explosion, destroying almost half of the Parliamentarian arsenal.  At the same time, a thick fog decended, reducing visibility to 12", greatly restricting the ability of artillery to support.  The ebb and flow of battle dwindled the remaining Parliamentarian ammunition supply to zero, just as a card was drawn which suggested reinforcements had arrived in Fowey and that they needed now to hold on and secure the field of battle.  Simultaneously, Royalist cavalry and infantry arrived on the western flank and attempted to roll up the Parliamentarian flank and storm the remnants of the defenders in the fortified village, respectively.  The end came, by mutual agreement at the point where the Royalists had achieved a minor victory through destroying more units than had managed to exit the table prior to the change in battle plans.

Dennis' cavalry (commanded by Chris) flowing around the rear of the fortified village in the west.

 My unit of infantry in saffron coats, still in hedgehog at the end of the game.  Dave's infantry in red were responsible for keeping them and the infantry in blue pinned more or less where they started.

 Chris's Royalist cavalry flowing around the eastern edge of the battlefield and around the back of the eastern village.

 A general view of the battlefield at the end of the day.

All in all a fun game and day out, played with a friendly bunch of gamers.  I'm going to have to add a 28mm ECW battalia to my collection to keep my end up so to speak.  Thanks to all involved, especially Aiden for the organising.

Thanks too for looking.

English Civil War in 10mm

This last couple of weeks I have been mostly painting part of a Pendraken 10mm ECW Parliamentarian starter pack that I picked up at WMMS back in February.  I needed a change from all the browns, greens and black of the cold war gear.  I've decided to set them up for Pike and Shotte, as I really like Black Powder.  Initially I based them 8 infantry to a 40x20mm base, with two bases of shotte and one base of pike.  On reflection and after discussions at the club with Ian and Rick, I'm going to add another stand of pike to each unit to give the impression of bulk that the pike deserve.  The horse are based three to a 40x20mm base and initially I thought two stands per unit, but I'm leaning towards three stands per unit.

The whole group painted so far, three units of infantry (2 stands each of shotte and one of pike) and 2 units of horse(each 2 stands).

 Detail of the three units of infantry.

 Old Pendraken "Ironsides" horse, orange sashes.

 As above, blue sashes.

 Detail of command pike stand with commander and drummer plus standard bearer and pikeman.

 The "redcoats".

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 The "greencoats"

 The "bluecoats".

 The units of horse.

In the starter pack, for £25 (as of April 2013), you get enough infantry for seven units of two shotte and one pike stand, plus some spares, and seven units of two stands of two horse, plus a single piece of artillery.  Good value in my opinion.  For an additional £8, I should be able to add enough pikemen to base up the extra 7 stands of pike.  With some commanders, that should be enough to field a couple of "brigades" of 3 or 4 battalia of infantry, plus a couple of battalia of horse and an artillery piece.  Enough for a medium sized engagement!

Thanks for looking!