Naseby 1645.played 10.2.13.

We decided a few weeks ago to refight Naseby,not as a total reconstruction of the battle,but as a wargame,the result was a terrific game,which actually turned out exactly as the real battle,-power to our rules!

When you think of the great commanders ,you also think about how they would react to defeat,for example,how did Napoleon react after Waterloo,or Hannibal after Zama,or Lee after Gettysburg,well I'm willing to bet that they didn't react like this...............

Pull yourself together,man,it's only a game !!!

Before the game started we drew lots to see who would command what,Paul and I were in command of the Parliamentarian forces and Brian and Richard (deputising for Graham,who was stuck on "taxi" service for the night) were in charge of the Royalist forces.

This is a shot of the whole table,with Sulby Hedges in the foreground,and the "heavy going" ground in the distance on the far left of the table.

This osprey book was the inspiration for the battle ,layout,troops etc.

The royalist cavalry charge into the roundhead cavalry in this shot,the royalist were given a better morale and fighting value than the roundheads,so had a good advantage in melee.In the background you can just see Paul's dragoons firing on the passing cavalry from behind the hedges.this actually resulted in a royalist unit having to test morale,which it failed,and was stopped for a move.

The infantry getting to grips,after a couple of shots,I elected to charge Brian's centre units,this was a bit of a mistake,mainly due to the fact that my troops were "raw" and Brian's were "veterans", however the melee lasted longer than I thouht it would,allowing Paul,to very generously, come to my support.The fire-fights and charges in the centre were touch and go,and all very exciting,but nothing compared to the cavalry battles on each flank.

This is Brian's left flank cavalry advancing over the "heavy ground". I let him clear the terrain before I launched Cromwell's best at him,however I had to commit my reserve unit to support the first melee,as he won against all the odds (sounds familiar,see Spartan game!!)

The centre is ablaze with musket fire,two of our Parliamentarian infantry have been "persuaded" to retire,things not looking too good,however, our right flank cavalry are making good,if slow,progress,and will begin to threaten the Royalist left flank soon.

Success! My right flank cavalry are driving the Royalist cavalry back up the hill and through the "heavy ground",and will be poised to attack their infantry at any time.

This is a shot of the table around move number nine ( of ten!),apart from Paul looking cold,you can see that his cavalry have been fairly successful in "luring" Richard's cavalry to chase him from the board,except,and this was the important exception,the unit of horse that is forcing Richard back,and back,until Paul was in a position to attack the rear of the Royalist infantry lines.

Reserve infantry on both side are being thrown in to try and stop the "enemy" from gaining the upper hand,but the Parliamentarian cavalry is now in a position to take the Royalist flank out,so game over,and the Parliamentarians declared the winners of this great game.Paul's unselfish attitude added greatly to the win,helping out both on the flanks and in the centre,co-operation at it's best!!

GLOAT,GLOAT,GLOAT !!!!!!!

Roll on Thursday,two games,one in the morning vs Brian (that's him the photo above by the way) and one at night vs Brian and Paul, it's great being retired you know!!