Coming to grips - The battle of Timerton part 4

Welcome back (assuming you have been here before of course).

In the last post I was dealing with the starting moves of the game.  Both sides having to deal with a poor terrain lay out which resulted in them having to redeploy their cavalry wings.  This started before sunrise and visibility was initially restricted.  The time is now 5.36am and the sun is not yet over the horizon.  Sunrise is at 6.00am after which full visibility should be in place, weather permitting.  Oh and I spotted a typo in my last post.  To correct what I posted:  a support order means the supporting unit maintains its distance from the unit it is supporting and cannot run into it.

So with that out of the way it’s back to the narrative.  

Leonard Deanswood takes up the story:

'As the daylight grew in strength what I had taken to be an early morning mist, a thing most common at that place and time of year, became a shower of rain.  Indeed I began to hold a concern that our muskets should be effected by the dampness in the air.  Still ‘twas clear that should our shotte be so reduced the same would hold true for the rebels.'

Weather is determined at the start of the game using the tables in the play sheets.  These covers all of Great Britain except the Highlands and Islands of Scotland which get a separate table.  Each table has columns for each season.  The player rolls 3D6 and adds or subtracts from the total depending on time of day (as the sun's heat changes the air temperature it may effect the chance of mist or fog.  They then check for temperature and wind speed and direction.  Very low temperatures change rain to snow and high wind speeds can create blizzards.  Rain or snow also impacts on visibility and creates a modifier to musketry.  At present visibility is limited due to pre dawn low light but as the sun rises the maximum visibility will rise unless rain reduces it.

Recently uncovered papers from the Whitlocke Collection give some information from the Parliamentarian left.  From the diary of John Whitlocke who served with Brown's Horse on the Parliamentarian left wing.

'Though it t'wer not yet full day, the sun not yet having shown itself , as the light improved we did see that the Cavaliers were coming down upon us apace. They soon drew so close that it seemed impossible that it should not come to sword strokes and I braced myself to give them a charge ere we came to it. Ours being a troop but newly formed I could see some around me slipping into panic fear in apprehension of what was about to befall us, but our Captain shouted encouragements ‘fear not for the Lord is with us’ and the like which did greatly steady our men.   Those two squadrons of the enemy's horse which opposed our front line came towards us at a good round gallop as if to try their swords upon us but drew rein at but a pistol shot of us where they did draw pistols and give fire upon us.  Yet they did no harm to us, leaving us to marvel at God's Mercy towards our cause.  This continued but for a short while before those who faced us seemed to draw courage and did indeed come to hard sword strokes."

Before entering melee combat the attacker must pass a reaction test.  If that allows them to close then the defender has to take a test to allow them to meet the attack.  In this case the two attacking squadrons failed to press home the attack and halted at 10 yards range.  They had sufficient Action Points (AP) to attempt a round of 'steady fire' combat.  Because the Royalists failed to charge home the Parliamentarians don't need to test in response.  If the initial test had been passed then the target units would have tested to see if they break or retire before contact.  In effect both Royalist units have elected to attempt a caracole rather than immediately follow orders to charge home.  Both had an unspent AP which allowed a single round of shooting.  In the next action phase one again failed the reaction test but the second passed and charged to contact.

"although our men fought like the followers of Gideon they were o'ercome by fear and retired most ignominiously.  Yet what else may be expected from half trained boys and men facing gentlemen raised to horsemanship since they could walk?  T'was a great mercy that despite this we did but retire and not flee"   

Parliament's left wing

The formations which are in a 'zig zag' line are disrupted.  This occurs at the end of a round of melee as officers no longer have full control.  This can be better seen below.

A close up of the melee action

In the above photo you can just see that there is a red dice in the frame of the far cavalry unit.  this shows the number of 'hits' being carried which as they have not been used up to reduce the unit's Combat Efficiency (CE) by a full level.  The unit took five hits in the melee four (one per base) reduced the CE by one step the fifth was carried forward.  It requires one hit per base for a unit's CE to drop a level which gives large units a greater ability to soak up casualties and fatigue but the other side of the coin is that they are less manoeuvrable.  At the end of the melee both sides take a further reaction test and this caused the Parliamentarian Horse to retire even though they had the better combat result.  The Royalists failed to score highly enough to follow up in pursuit and so stand disrupted on the line of engagement.

The centre from Parliament's side of the table

A short Fragment exists describing the opening shots from the Parliamentarian Infantry.  It's author is unknown.

"As we crested the rise we saw the enclosures of the village to our fore and within them a mass of men marching towards us, 'tho through the gloom we could see little detail of them.  Only a faint gleam where pike points could be seen reflecting the early morning light but little else.   I told my men to hold their match within their cupped hands both to hide it's glow  from the enemy and to give a measure of warmth so that cold fingers should not fumble when called into service."

And the Parliamentarian right wing

Turn two ended with just the one clash as most troops are still attempting to manoeuvre around the blocking terrain.  Turn three is going to be messier though. 

The first musketry erupts in the centre

In the picture above the Parliamentarian regiment has fired a volley (cost 3AP) rather than close the range.  Smoke markers show they have shot and add to visibility issues.  They will move in the marker update phase at the end of the turn.  The volley was fired at 75yards range and unsurprisingly had no effect.  To score hits the unit requires an adjusted dice roll of 15 or better.  Three D6 are rolled and adjusted for range, training and tactics.  The 'to hit' score of 14 is deducted  from the adjusted roll and if the result is a positive number that number is the hits scored by each shooting base.  Six bases fired and if (for example) the final score had been plus 2 the volley would have scored 12 hits.

These are 'mixed fire power' troops so they perform slightly better in fire combat but are less keen to close to hand to hand and have a lower bonus in melee than mixed shock or pure shock types.  on the right edge of the image you can just see a triangular marker with a number 1 on it.  This is a defensive fire marker.  It shows that the Royalists have kept back 1AP to use in shooting during the Roundhead turn in case the enemy tried to close on them.

The fragment continues:

'As soon as the enemy drew within long musket shot I ordered a salvee not in any hope of doing great execution upon them but to cause my men some measure of activity both to keep their minds from fear and also to ensure their muskets were cleared.  I also sought early knowledge if their powder be damped before we came to a killing range such that  charges might be drawn and reloaded at necessity.  Such wisdom had my service in the German Warres taught me as .......(the fragment ends here)'

Over on the Roundhead right a serious cavalry melee is under way.

Parliaments right wing in action

John Whitlocke's account continues:

"Once our squadron had passed through our supports we at once drew reign and reformed in good order.  From my place I then clearly saw Ablett's Horse engage with the Cavaliers.  Neither side gave pause but charged straight aways one into the other.  For a few minutes the matter hung in the balance 'til the cavaliers gave some little ground afore they turned away and fled. I saw one of their officers unhorsed and lie without movement upon the ground with non to give him succour.  This I now perceive to have been Colonel Pargetter, whose death did gravely discomfort the enemy."

Passing through lines requires one unit to stay stationary for the entire action phase.  Their 3AP are spent  to allow passage think of it as the cost to open then close files to allow the passage.  They are also showing a defensive fire marker as they failed a reaction test to close to melee on the disordered Cavaliers and had unused AP.

The Royalists took three hits per base in the melee which dropped their CE to Wavering from Nervous.  That is also more than the one hit per base in a single combat round needed to trigger a risk to the general check.  Each hit per base after the first adds 1 to the risk to general dice roll.  In this case adding 2 to the dice roll.  The roll was spectacularly bad (11 on 2D6) which gave an adjusted total of 13.  Any result of  13 or higher is a killed outright result!  It's important to note that only hits inflicted in the current round of combat count for this test, carried forward hits from previous rounds of melee or shooting are ignored.   For comparison the Parliamentarian commander had also led from the front and was subject to a risk check but only suffered a slight wound which has no effect. 

Overview of the field end of turn 3

At the end of turn three the Royalist forces are slowly moving slowly forward on their left (nearest the camera in the overview picture) but things are not going to plan on their right!

You might have noticed that I use a number of markers on the table.  These are not altogether necessary but as I am playing solo and handling around 50 units it helps me keep track of things like compulsory moves.  The only markers that are really needed are the CE indicators and hit counters as these provide limited information to players on unit status.  I add a unit tag as I dislike flipping back and forth through rosters to check factors for reaction tests and combat modifiers.  The main markers I use are retire, pursue and flee along with reserved fire markers showing how many AP are being held back.

I have just about covered the core mechanics of the game in this post.  The last post on this game will be after I have concluded the battle and will be a shorter description of events from the perspective of the two commanding generals.