Battle of Winterton 1644.

As Dave was in Manchester,watching the cricket,it fell to Brian and I,commanding the Parliamentarians,to face the Royalists,commanded by Graham and Paul-it was a most excellent game!!

Top photo is scenario,bottom is table before any movement-keeping the scenario in mind,each player had to decide on his own objective,and away we went...........................

The opening moves-my troops are manoeuvering towards the "walled field" held by Paul's troops,whilst in the background Brian is mounting an attack on the Town,held by Graham.

A couple of musket shots,supported by a blast from his artillery,and then in with the pike-glorious stuff-however Brian was repulsive,er, sorry,I meant repulsed!!!

Despite being cannistered,on the way past,my cavalry are about to challenge Paul's cavalry,for dominance of the central position-hurrah!!

Brian and Graham's reluctance to get their cavalry engaged,caused a bit of an "impasse",which didn't last long,resulting in Brian's troops getting a right old beating!!
But on the town front,things were a bit different.............

After clearing the walls,with finely directed musketry,Brian charged in,and took the town by push of pike and dint of musket butt-another hurrah!!-to the left of the town,you can see I have taken the central field,putting the whole of the Royalist position in jeopardy.

Paul and I were having a real "humdinger" of a fight for the flank,and for a while I thought I had "shot my bolt",but I managed to amass a couple of cavalry units plus one untouched infantry regiment,and pushed on through the gap in the Royalist line-could this be the end????

There they go!-with the Royalist army split in two,the game was finished-Brian had possession of the town,and Paul,although far from beaten,was in a bad position,so the Parliamentarians were declared the winners-if only Brexit could be solved that easily!!!!
Well done to us all,a great game,roll on next Sunday.

Battle of Holt's Farm 1645.

It was back to "normal" for our group last night-having fully recovered from our Falkirk trip,and a very entertaining and exciting game we had too.
Talking of Falkirk,we were featured in the Falkirk Herald....................................

Or was that the Police Gazette,among the most wanted section????

This is the scenario,Graham and Paul were the Royalists,Brian and I were the Parliamentarians.

It could be said that the game got off to a "brisk" start,with cavalry battles on both flanks,and a most magnificent attack,by Brian,on Graham's position in and around the Farm-which,at the end of the game resembled a combination of the Alamo and Rorke's Drift!!!!

Not to be out-done,Paul and I contested the central field-the whole table was now ablaze with action!

This photo was taken towards the end of the game-Brian has been into the Farm area twice!! and has been ejected twice!! but is still contesting the position-Graham is down to his last bullet,but still fighting on-great stuff!!
My cavalry in the centre has beaten Paul's,the central field is still being fought over,however my cavalry on the left is well and truly beaten,but Brian's cavalry on the right is winning-this is going to be a draw(????) I think.

One last shot of the game showing my left flank-Infantry are doing ok but cavalry are lost!!
But what of the lads?

Top photo is Paul,middle is Brian and bottom is Graham-but let's save the best 'til last.........

What a handsome fellow!(well in a darkened room with the light behind him!!)
Well done lads.We won't be playing next Sunday,as we've been invited to a HUGE Marlburian game at Charlie Wesencraft's club-only Paul and I are attending,but we'll represent the rest to the best of our ability!!

Battle of "Hoarey Bottom" 1644.

Last night it was my turn to stage a game using the "generic terrain"-I opted for an English Civil war game,using my newly based figures.............................

Top photo is scenario,bottom is the table before any movement-Brian and Paul were Royalists,Dave and I were parliamentarians(Graham was supposed to be helping Dave,but had to cancel due to work!!!)

Paul begins the attack,moving cavalry and infantry against Dave's troops-looking good so far(this was to change!!)

Meanwhile,Brian's "Royalist Ramblers" begin a most complicated and time consuming manoeuver,avoiding the village like the Plague!!!-his face is a study of concentration-is he trying to press a button to make his gun fire??

BOOM!! all of a sudden it's all happening on Paul and Dave's flank! Fortunately for Dave,Paul's dice throwing let him down and this attack failed and his leading brigade took to their heels and ran away-hurrah!!-but what is happening behind the woods?

A cavalry encounter is happening!!-because of the restricted space,Paul couldn't advance with all of his cavalry,but was putting up a good show nevertheless,but what of the "Ramblers" I hear you ask..............................

Well, not wanting to get hurt,they were tramping across the English countryside,admiring the flora and fauna,and avoiding the village like the plague(again!)-I have the most horrible feeling that when they do(eventually) attack,I'm not going to like it!!!!!

The Ramblers are almost in position to attack!!-on the other flank,Paul's second attack on the barricade has failed and his cavalry is also taking a bit of a beating,so it looks as if it's down to Brian to save the day for the Royalists.

Here it comes!!-a two-pronged attack on the village,whilst Brian's cavalry pins me down behind the village-this is looking serious!!

I should know better,but I put my commander into the "fray"(to bolster their fighting ability) and got him killed!!-this totally dis-heartened my defending infantry,who abandoned the village,and headed home!!!-woe is me!-Brian then un-leashed his cavalry against my hapless troops behind the village and wiped them out-double woe is me!!!

This shows Dave's hill,well under control,but with the Royalists in charge of the village,an "impasse" had been reached,and a draw was declared!
Well done lads,another good and exciting game under our belts-what next?
Roll on next week!
Dave has some photo's of his Wellington in Indian troops published on Wargames Illustrated,along with an article mentioning our small group-have a look!