Cropredy Bridge 29th June 1644.

Last night we attempted to recreate the Battle of Cropredy Bridge 1644,Paul and Graham were the Royalist commanders whilst Brian and I were in charge of the Parliamentarians.The scenario and terrain were quite difficult to stick to on the wargames table,so I suppose the game we played was my "take" on the actual battle.

Top photo is the scenario we played to and the bottom photo is the table before any movement.
Graham was in charge of the rear column and Paul was the Vanguard and "off-table" cavalry.

Despite having a "free shot" on Graham's troops in the first move,he reformed his infantry and cavalry and gave me the proverbial "bloody nose" for my troubles in the second and third moves,forcing me to "retire" up Boulton Hill.Graham then had the audacity to give chase with his cavalry....................

The bounder!!!!-I did manage to establish a firing line on the top of the hill,but my morale was "shot" and it was only a matter of time before my whole force fled the field!!!

Meanwhile,on the other flank,Brian has lost the race to get to Cropredy Bridge and fords,and has contented himself with contesting the crossings.However Paul's cavalry have now made their appearance,and are moving forward to help the out-numbered infantry!!

It's all action in this shot-Paul has actually managed to get one unit of infantry across the ford,and is meleeing without support-he could be in trouble!!

Brian has pushed Paul's Infantry back across the ford,but he has been forced to retire on the far left,leaving that ford  unguarded!!-With my flank in total dis-array,and Graham being in a position to reform and out-flank Brian's troops,we called it a day.Eleven moves and a real historical result can't be bad(unless you're a Parliamentarian of course!!)
Roll on Sunday,an Ancients battle,just to get back into the swing of things again.