Monday 23 March 2015

Battle of Rowde 1643.

I took last night's battle straight out of March Wargames Illustrated magazine,but enhanced it a bit,with lots of units and a few twists in the scenario !
Dave was in charge of the Royalists and Paul was in charge of the Parliamentarians,whilst I was referee.


These two photo's show the initial troop dispositions and the scenario.Paul received reinforcements on move 2 at point B and Dave received reinforcements on move 4,from down the road,and move 6 from behind the gun position-as a further "twist",Paul's ammunition waggon(on the road) blew up on move number 1,and scattered his escorting cavalry for two moves!!!-he called me an awfully rude name!!!


Dave's camp(!!!!) with casualties coming in already,and the game hasn't even started yet!!


This shows Paul's magnificent advance from the woods,heading towards the stream-impressive or what?


He might be smiling now,but he wasn't smiling 14 moves later!!(note burning ammo. waggon on road,and scattered cavalry in field!)

Dave's first lot of reinforcements arriving from Rowde-he placed them in a good position behind the hedges,and kept his cavalry in reserve for a couple of moves,until Paul's fierce cavalry attack in the centre,forced him to send them to help.


This shows the first of many cavalry encounters over the stream,both commanders sending troops to help out where and when needed.


As mentioned,the cavalry battle just grew and grew!-with neither side gaining any real advantage,Paul's mass of advancing infantry were stopped in their tracks!!


With nowhere to go,until the cavalry melee sorted itself out,the Parliamentarian infantry were forced into idleness-Dave looks very serious-or is that wind??-however on the far right of the picture,Paul and Dave are about to come into contact with some infantry-hurrah!!

The infantry melee about to take place-Paul lost!! But back in the centre,a couple of Royalist cavalry units have routed and Paul moved some infantry forward over the stream-is this the break-through he needed?


Well,it would have been,if Dave hadn't marched two white-coated regiments onto his flank and proceeded to give him"what for" with musket fire!!
In the background,Paul's cavalry are now suffering,and Dave's better morale and fighting points are beginning to tell.


In the far right background,you can see Dave's reserve cavalry have forced Paul's infantry into "square"-but he cunningly by-passed the squares and is making for Paul's rear(oh dear,what have I said!!!)
This was the game-winning move,with his cavalry beaten and his forward infantry isolated,it was only a matter of time before he was forced to surrender!!

This was another great game,played with fantastic spirit by both commanders-well done lads.


Final photo,showing Paul's isolated brigade,and his cavalry being driven back across the stream.
Roll on Thursday,Paul has requested a Marlburian game,and who am I to turn down his request?
The vast majority of the figures used in this game are from Warrior Miniatures.




























































































































































5 comments:

  1. Nice.. what rules do you use for your ECW games??

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  2. Steve, we use our own house rules for all our periods. Our rules a very simple but subtle and provide a framework which we flesh out with our historical knowledge. In this way we avoid the turgid repitition which comes with commercial rules and there is no need to be told, for example, what a flank attack is and what constitutes it....as i have seen in some commercial rules. Our belief is that you should know the history, you should know what the formations are, and you should know the tactics, before you even pick the rules up. Dave.

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  3. Dave - couldn't agree more - is there anywhere I can see the rules??

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    1. Hi Steve,the daft thing is,we don't actually have them written down,however,I will attempt to write out the "basics",and blog them as soon as I can,but,as Dave says,most of the time we rely on historical knowledge and good old common sense-you've given me a task now!!
      johnc(william)

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  4. Another good game i have missed it seems Dave.You know my take on commercial rules Turgid just about right.Iwould like to thank everyone for your comments during my illness and that includes Robbie Roddiss whose Blog is a great read.However I must warn you I am well on the way to a comeback so I hope to see you all soon Because lets face it over the last few years I have just about Bankrupt the NHS.Hope to see you soon.

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