English Civil War - Parliament Brigade Commanders

I came to the conclusion recently that I have nowhere near enough commanders to get the most of out my games.  My preferred rule systems are Black Powder, Hail Caesar and Pike & Shotte and these feature a lot of command input.  Quite rightly, to my mind.  Rules without a heavy onus on command and control is anathema to me these days.

Sir Philip Stapleton

So having too few commanders to get the game moving along is a problem.  I have had quite a few games now where the 'friction element' of the commander not getting a throw below his leadership value has kept the entire brigade stationary for too many turns. Despite the Brigade Commander located nearby and clearly shouting at his troops until he is blue in the face, they just won't move.  Is this realistic? Well it depends on the situation and the faith of the troops in their commander.  Being unpaid and close to mutiny may not help!

So what if the Commander in Chief can ride over and get a grip of the situation?  Surely this would get things moving? Well yes - but the Commander in Chief has his own Brigade to command because I'm short of Brigade Commanders....arrrrrgh!

So with this new impetus to improve my games I have begun the quest to add more commanders to my many armies.  This of course bring it's own painting challenges as one realises that the commander is the figure that everyone expects to be painted to a higher standard than other troops, and of course, you wish to do justice to that historical character.

The figure above is Sir Philip Stapleton from the excellent Bicorne Miniatures range.  He is based with (if I recall correctly), one of the Life Guard figures who make excellent senior officers in their own right.

My main interest in the English Civil War battles are the campaigns in the West, so out of desperation for more command figures I was going to make Sir Philip into a generic commander of Waller's and probably sporting a yellow sash.  However, I do have a fascination with the First Battle of Newbury where Sir Philip was a key commander, so I wanted to be able to use him for that battle representing himself too, should I ever paint about 20 cavalry regiments a side (!).  At Newbury he served under the Earl of Essex so orange sashes it would be.  This caused me a dilemma until I saw the portrait of Nathanial Fiennes, whose sash colour is somewhere between orange and yellow...the perfect solution! Now I can field Sir Philip in either theatre.

Nathaniel Fiennes

I painted two further Brigade Commanders specifically as belonging to Waller's command, along with supporting senior officers to create pleasing small vignettes.

The senior commander with baton is from the Renegade range and fulfils the role of a generic commander very nicely. Again I have used a Bicorne Life Guard as a senior officer.

Sir Arthur Haselrigge

The Bicorne Cuirassiers are again excellent, and who could the commander be other than the Sir Arthur Haselrigge.  Based as a Brigade commander he can control Waller's cavalry, at least up until the times where Waller lead them on charges.

Painting commanders is a time-consuming business. These six figures took me over a month of evenings and weekend sessions, but I like to think they were worth the effort.

Pike and Shotte - Battle of Whalley - April 1643

The Pike and Shotte rules received a very welcome airing this evening.  It's  been about 15 months since last playing a game with them.  Hail Caesar and Black Powder, the other rule-sets in the trilogy, both having been used since.

This evening Ian took on the role of the Royalists against my Parliamentarians to re-fight the Battle of Whalley.  The scenario was lifted straight from one of the Caliver Books produced English Civil War Gaming Scenarios books.  I have four of these and for many years have wished to have enough troops to be able to play a scenario from this excellent series of books.  With Ian's troops added too we fielded both sides very satisfactorily.

The Scenario
The battle is one of the northern battles and features a Royalist armed reconnaissance towards a mutinous and seemingly broken Roundhead force.  What should have been an overwhelming push on beaten troops turned into a rout for the Royalists as the Parliamentarians had got their act together and laid an ambush.

 The battle was fought down the length of the table.  Most of the table is occupied by the Royalists.  In the uppermost corner of the photo above is the only visible Roundhead units (2 units of cavalry) on table at the start of the turn.  It became clear to me on reading the scenario that only half of the scenario should be read out to the Royalist player.  It was better he didn't know of the ambush and was only told that as well as the two regiments of cavalry (which his attention would be on), there might be other units hidden on the board or kept off as reinforcements.  As per the scenario, I had two regiments of musket hidden ready to pop up and give fire in the stone enclosures.  Another special scenario rule was that if any casualties were inflicted in this first volley, then the receivers must take immediate break tests.

It's the Clubmen - just a pity they decided not to move far from the Alehouse in Whalley in this game!

The Forces:

Royalist: An divisional sized army of three brigades.  This consisted of:

• 1 x Bde of 2 Regiments of Horse
• 1 x Bde of  1 Regt of Foote (Musket wings and Pike) and 1 Regt of Dragoons
• 1 x Bde of 2 musket blocks and 1 warband of Clubmen

Parliament:

• 1 x Bde of 2 musket armed regiments
• 1 x Bde of 2 Regts of Horse and 1 Regt of Dragoons

Veteran units were given 'Reliable' special rules.

Clubmen were both 'Militia' and 'Rabble'

Dragoons were 'Marauders' and could use the 'Fire and Evade' special rule

Rather than give a game turn by game turn account I will instead summarise.  I will also avoid using too many pictures as my camera phone had too little battery to use flash and as a result my photos are well below standard.

Ian's finely painted Cornish standing in for Northern Foote.  

A Brief Game Summary

The ambush worked an absolute treat. The Royalist advanced very keenly straight from the start and received a volley at point blank.  Two units of Ian's finely painted troops (Cornishmen in this case, standing in for the Earl of Derby's infantry), broke immediately.

The ambush is sprung and the scouting Royalist dragoons take a full volley at point blank in their faces, breaking them!

The Royalist cavalry moved forward and engaged the Parliamentarian  dragoons.  The dragoons somehow stood the initial charge and a desperate struggle went into the next game turn, when the dragoons broke.

A tough battle broke out amongst the stone enclosures in the centre of the Parliament position.  A unit of Royalist Pike took volley after volley and refused to break despite four break tests.  In the end a charge with musket butt and sword finally broke them!

The desperate battle.  Those pikemen just would not break!

Poor order communication slowed down any prospect of support for the Royalists.  The clubmen refused to move all game.  The Royalist cavalry were happy not to charge against my cavalry.  For my part I was to hold my cavalry back and await developments.  They could either countercharge or rescue my infantry if needed.

With the breaking of the Royalist pike, the whole Royalist brigade broke.  A Parliament victory was awarded.

Conclusion

A superb game which was great fun and allowed the Royalist commander to make exactly the same mistake that happened in the actual battle, by advancing straight into an ambush.  It was great to see the really nice Bicorne produced figures on the board again.  Pike and Shotte gave yet another excellent game.  Though my painting time has taken an enormous hit of late, it was superb to get a game in tonight. I'm very keen to play another scenario again soon.

Pike and Shotte - Second Play-test

With the first play-test four weeks ago, last weekend Ian and I decided upon a second play-test of Pike and Shotte.  For various reasons, Christmas and all the associated evening card writing, shopping and wrapping included, I didn't get to look at the rules properly again until we started playing(!)  This in itself was a test of the rules.  To my amazement we seemed to pick up where we left off four weeks ago. We just flowed straight back into it. (The above pic is from behind the Royalist Right wing on Game Turn 1 - The wall is made from cat litter layers on PVA glue!)

This time I added a bit more in the way of scenery, a few more enclosures, a stone wall and a few more wooded areas.  No open moorland this time but not First Newbury either.  I played Parliamentarian this time.  We settled for a standard layout - a centre of Infantry and a wing of horse flanking them.  Each was a brigade strength each (i'm not comfortable with the term 'Battalia' which the rules keeps using for a Brigade. I always thought a Battalia was a composite unit of Pike sleeved by musket, often by the breaking of a large regiment into two parts forming two Battalia...however I accept I might not be correct in this).  The term 'Brigade' is much more familiar for a grouping of several regiments for me anyway.

Game Turn 1

The dice was with me on the first throw. I got to give my orders and move first.  My first order was to my Infantry; 'The Infantry Brigade will commence a General Advance towards the enemy centre'. This bold order was unfortunately failed as the dice refused me.  Clearly the Trained Bands had some pay discussions to sort out first!  My cavalry and dragoons advanced on both flanks thankfully.  My two pieces of medium artillery started a long range barrage onto Newcastle's regiment of Whitecoats.

Ian's Royalists opted to hold the Infantry for the first move and also to push the cavalry forward. This gave a close stand-off as in the picture above.

The Parliamentarian Infantry Brigade above with gun battery between Infantry Regiments.

Game Turn 2

I gave my Infantry Brigade another order for a general advance and threw a double six (A blunder!!!)  This was my first blunder throw in any play-test, even solo efforts.  With some trepidation I threw again and checked the table. It was a move to the left side a full turn.  Not so disastrous. A rearwards movement would have been a touch embarrassing though, considering how I had set up so close to the table edge! My cavalry advance on both flanks in the meantime.

Ian's Royalists respond by holding still in the centre again (probably to allow his men to laugh at mine!) and by unleashing his cavalry in a full blooded charge on both flanks. I make a response counter-charge with my outnumbering units on the right.  Battle is now well under way. Both of my cavalry units on my right break and flee...carrying away Lt General Cromwell!!! Disaster!  The only positive being that the successful Royalist Cavalry Regiment has been left with sufficient casualties to make it 'Shaken', which appears to mean no more charges for this regiment.

The Royalist cavalry about to successfully charge Roundheads of twice their number.

The effect of the charge...fleeing Roundheads!

The marker says it all; 'Shaken not stirred!'

Haselrigge's cuirassiers on my left are forced to pull back. Only my dragoons on my left behind the stone walls give the Royalists any doubt as to how to follow up.  Things really are not looking good for the Army of Parliament!

Haselrigge falls back to regroup. So let me get this straight. My right has gone and my left is pulling back...It's a good job I still have a centre!

The Royalist Centre.  Newcastle's Regiment are disordered by the cannonballs hitting their ranks (puff of ubiquitous cotton wool!)

An overview of the centre from behind the Royalist lines.

Game Turn 3

My Infantry brigade in the centre at last makes a solid move forwards.  My artillery barrage continues to hit Newcastle's men. My cavalry on my right continue to flee off the board.  Haselrigge's cuirassiers re-group on my left. Things are looking slightly better now.

The Royalists order an infantry advance.  Things suddenly look dramatic as both brigades advance towards each other. Not all of the brigade can advance however. The artillery barrage on Newcastle's has disordered them so they cannot be ordered forward.  The Royalist artillery fire is ineffective.  Both cavalry wings hold to await developments.

Advance of the infantry

One Parliamentary Regiment swings left of the enclosure to block Rupert's Foote.

Game Turn 4

This turn appears to be crucial and so it proves.  I order a charge with my Infantry.  The Red Trained Bands launch into Pennyman's Royalist Foote.  Essex's Regiment give support on the flank.  Pennyman is supported by the shaken Royalist horse.

Up close and personal. The Trained Bands charge into Pennyman's blewcoats.

A wider view of the combat showing supports on the flanks.

All units in the combat add up their scores for an overall victor to be found.  The Royalist Infantry are overwhelmingly beaten in the combat and break completely.....and there we ran out of time!


Summary

So what can I say...what a superb game it was!  We couldn't quite get to a point where a clear victor was found.  I had lost a cavalry brigade on the right early on but the left was quite well drawn and the centre was being won by the Parliamentarian Infantry. Suddenly things didn't look so good for the Royalists.

I did make two mistakes with the rules.  With the infantry combat, even though all of the units in the fight combine score totals to find the winner, I should have thrown for a break test for each losing unit. In this case each musket wing and the pike block is a unit (thus 3 x units).  I instead used the break test and applied the result to all three.  I should also have thrown a break test for the supporting unit - in this case the cavalry unit you can see in the picture above threatening my flank.

The rules flowed really well, and with the small tweaks made in the previous game, this assisted in making it very playable.  I love the order system and how brigade orders make it important to keep brigades together so they are more cohesive and not receive penalties which could upset their orders being received.  This has the wonderful effect of battle-line being kept together and discourages those 'Firework Displays' of units which can happen in some rules.

A final view of the action at end-of-play.

I also like the 'blunder' aspect of the orders.  This is a fun element, but we know that blunders in orders do occur in warfare throughout the ages. This is a very simple way in which to make blunders a possibility.  The skill lies in how the opponent can exploit it quickly.

Movement rates and fire distances seem sensible. Everything seems to function how it did historically. For instance, Dragoons are very flexible, can give closing fire and evade and are great for taking ground like enclosures.  The hard part for them is maintaining ground when under pressure. They do not like hand to hand combat, but can sometimes surprise you!  I look forward immensely to using 'commanded shotte' with the cavalry as I think this will work really well.

There are a couple of minor things in the rules which I don't agree with and will change:  Firelocks should not out-range matchlock muskets. The fire-lock is a change of musket ignition system - nothing more. They do not add extra powder to the charge behind the ball!

The rules on shaken units in brigades not being able to charge need looking at. A small cavalry brigade will quickly become ineffective and may as well leave the table when it takes casualties.  I have read of various ideas of how to improve this situation, mostly in terms of reducing command points or melee dice instead for shaken units (I think I read this on the Edinburgh Wargames website). I'll need to research this further and tinker a bit.

The rules do lend themselves well to minor tinkering and adjusting and indeed encourage players to do so.

Overall I absolutely love the rules and I look forward to playing the scenarios presented in the Caliver Book's ECW scenarios series.  I can't wait for the next game now!

Sir Arthur Haselrigge's Regiment of Horse

Sir Arthur Haselrigge's Regiment of Horse - the famous 'Lobsters' (or should it be 'Liebsters' after the many awards of that name presented to many worthy blogs in the last couple of weeks!).

I painted these in 1991 if I recall correctly, but the basing has all been freshly done using MDF and my current basing methods.  They were originally based on bits of card and flocked but not any more.

The figures were made by Front Rank (as too was my previously posted regiment of Sir Samuel Luke's Regiment).  I still really like the actual figures of the troopers. A nice mix of closed helmets and lobster pots. It's just a shame about the saddle-cloths being cast on to the actual figure, again causing the figures to sit too high, like my previously posted regiment.  I remember being somewhat dismayed to find the standard bearer, commander and trumpeter to be standard Front Rank Cavalry officers and thus not wearing full cuirassier armour.  This was also my first attempt with modelling clay (some bizarre hairy stuff!) to sculpt on figures.  For a first attempt (and if you don't look at the command stand too closely), I might have nearly got away with making it look ok. The command stand is with the main photo of the whole regiment (so they are hidden!), not the pic below which is of troopers! :-)

Sir Arthur Haselrigge formed one of the few cuirassier regiment's used in the civil war.  By all accounts they gave solid service until their destruction at the Battle of Roundway Down, when they were forced to flee down the sheer drops of the hills (I might post photos of the battlefield walk made back in the summer sometime).  The regiment was re-formed afterwards but as a cavalry regiment equipped in the standard way.  I just tried to find an online account of the Royalist Cavalry officer Richard Atkyn's account of the battle and his personal combat with Sir Arthur, but alas, my 3am head has only succeeded in finding this bit of potted history from Wikipedia:

"Haselrig's regiment formed the heavy cavalry in the army of Sir William Waller. The "lobsters" distinguished themselves at Lansdown on July 5, 1643. However, at the Battle of Roundway Down, on July 13, they met a Royalist cavalry charge at the halt and after a brief clash, retreated in disorder, the Parliamentarian army losing the battle. Though they were defeated the armour they wore apparently served them well; Haselrig was shot three times at Roundway Down, with the bullets apparently bouncing off his armour. After firing a pistol at Haselrig's helmeted head at close range without any effect Richard Atkyns described how he attacked him with his sword, but it too caused no visible damage; Haselrig was under attack from a number of people and only succumbed when Atkyns attacked his unarmoured horse. After the death of his horse Haselrig tried to surrender; but as he fumbled with his sword, which was tied to his wrist, he was rescued. He suffered only minor wounds from his ordeal.^[4]

This incident was related to Charles I and elicited one of his rare attempts at humour. The king said that if Haselrig had been as well supplied as he was fortified he could have withstood a siege."

Atkyn's account of the battle is dramatic and is a wonderful first hand account of a civil war cavalry battle. If you can find it then it's worth a read. You'll note that Haselrigge's name is never consistently spelt either (i'm not sure the man himself would have used the same spelling!). I used the Barry Denton spelling from his excellent book on Sir Arthur called 'Only in Heaven' (Sir Arthur's motto on his cavalry standard).

I had no idea until I read Barry Denton's book just how central a figure Sir Arthur was to many of the key political events of the Civil War and end of Commonwealth (where he was trapped between a 'rock and a hard place' sandwiched between the rival generals Monck and Lambert, whilst attempting to maintain Parliament as the key ruling power).  All fascinating and very fast moving stuff.

Anyway, painting cuirassiers can be bad for your pocket...I now really want to add a firing copy of one of those massive wheel-lock or dog-lock pistols to my black-powder gun collection! :-)