Dave's Double Disaster

Thursday June 15th 2023 was, to quote FDR, “a day that will live in infamy” for Dave. He ventured from his northern lair to have a double-header of games, the afternoon being a “For King and Parliament” ECW game against myself, and the evening being a Sharp Practice AWI game also featuring Chris and Greg.

The ECW game used the first scenario from “Marlowe to Maidenhythe” fictional campaign book, with Dave taking the dastardly Parliamentarians and myself the dashing Royalists. Due to the authors table lay-out being a rather odd 6 x 5 or 12 x 10 grids we omitted both baselines and hence most troops deployed off-table. The Parliamentarians deployed with their cavalry force on their left wing, and their infantry in a maze of hedges centre and right. The more numerous Royalist cavalry were split between the flanks with the infantry to push up the centre against the enemy infantry behind the hedges.

The Royalists advanced with both cavalry wings,

but the infantry held back. Clearly they didn’t fancy attacking the pike-heavy enemy behind the hedgerows. Dave’s forces stood on the defensive but soon found their ability to manoeuvre against the developing Royalist attack compromised by the terrain. The Royalists quickly managed a cavalry flank attack on an exposed infantry regiment and it broke and fled. Shame that the Royalist cavalry then turned and raced towards the Parliamentarian table edge in search of the baggage train. On the Royalist right wing things were more even as three Royalist “Swedish” units took on two Parliamentarian “Dutch” units.

Both sides eventually lost a unit but Dave’s “gallant Commanding General” Sir Christopher Grey was mortally wounded when he drew a one for “officer wounded” and then a ten” for “effect of the wound”. This one action meant his left wing was now out of command. From then on it was just a matter of time. The Royalist foot took heart at the sight of the cavalry’s exploits and finally advanced in line towards the enemy position.

The Royalist cavalry moved to threaten the Parliamentarian flanks and the response exposed their infantry to withering flanking fire. Suddenly the Royalist cavalry charged back onto the table straight into the rear of luckless Parliamentarian infantry. The battle was decided when the Royalist commander Sir John Boulters turned his rather tardy cuirassier regiment and managed a flank charge into the remaining Parliamentarian left wing cavalry unit.

We both think we got most of the rules right despite not having played them for maybe nine months or more. They seem to give a good, fun ECW battle. The Parliamentarians were “up against” it from the beginning partly due to the scenario deployment, and hardly laid a glove on the Royalists. Maybe Scenario two will be different?

The AWI game was based on a “Sharpe Practice 1” scenario called “Tarleton’s Quarter”, which Dave adapted for use with SP2. The game saw Dave and Greg take the British and Loyalists who were tasked with raiding a farm, which was defended by Chris and myself with a force of defending local partisans and a force of Continental troops marching to help them. The British and Loyalists advanced rapidly onto the table with the British regulars marching straight up the road towards the centre of the farmstead, with other troops fanning out to burn crops and outflank the rebels. Chris gamely advanced his militia to meet the regulars knowing that they were all there was to defend the farm. There was no sign of the Continental troops. Chris managed to form his troops into a ragged firing line facing Dave’s regulars. Dave decided against using cold steel and instead fired, with little effect. Chris replied and we found that his musketballs were nuclear tipped. Carnage ensued. The battle continued until with four flags Chris managed a second volley of 20 dice. This did for the British who with leaders down started to pull back and take hits to their morale.

The British flanks began to threaten the Rebels,

but they in turn found Continental troops and more rebel skirmishers starting to arrive to fight them.

More nuclear-tipped dice from Chris saw the regulars break and the two units of Continental light infantry skirmishers pour fire into Greg’s Provincial Regulars, who in turn pulled back.

With the British mission obviously a failure Dave and Greg retired from the field leaving the victorious rebels to scour the field for souvenirs.

Although it galls me to admit it, the game was won by Chris’ militia with their near miraculous musketry. The two British regular units were hors de combat before any other British units were able to lay a glove on any Rebels, and that proved the pattern of the evening. Chris dice will be subjected to “drugs testing” as their performance was outstanding but as they are owned by “honest Simon” I am sure they are “clean”.

I think that will do for today.

Simon