Edgehill 1642 The Action

I will break the battlefield down into 3 for ease of following the flow of the game:
From the Royalist perspective; Left Flank, Centre, Right Flank.

LEFT FLANK

The initial exchange between the deployed dragoons on both sides saw the Roundheads get the upper hand with both Royalist regiments suffering the heavier casualties and subsequently falling back.

Wilmot's cavalry took the lead but something close to a disaster struck the Royalists. The first casualty on this flank was Wilmot himself. Leading his own regiment he was struck by a musket ball suffering a severe wound. He will be out of action for the next 3 turns. This unnerved his raw troopers who failed to launch their charge.

Continued - 

Edgehill 1642

This is a battle I have intended to play ever since my days with ECW re-enactment societies in the 1970's. In those days it was 25mm Hinchliffe and Minifigs but I never seemed to be able to collect anywhere near enough to do it justice. Not to mention the pathetically small number of painted figures!

6mm has finally provided that opportunity without breaking the bank and in a small enough space that will fit in the garage. 

A very brief background to the battle:

King Charles I marched his army on London held by Parliament. The Earl of Essex commanding the main Parliamentary field army of similar size marched to intercept the Royalists with both armies meeting at Edgehill becoming the first major battle of the war. The outcome was indecisive but nevertheless prevented the triumphant entry into London that the Royalists were hoping for.

If King Charles succeeds in defeating Essex in my replay then the course of history will be changed!

The Battle of Edgehill

23rd October 1642

Table Size 6' x 3'9"

Rules - Forlorn Hope

Figure Ratio 1:10

Artillery Ratio 1:2

Continued -

ECW - The Battle of Stoke Lane, 1st July 1643

This is the next scenario in the "English Civil War Campaign Scenarios - The 1643 Campaign for the South-West" book.

It is more of a large skirmish than a fully-fledged battle with around 450 involved in total. 

Sir William Waller planned a raid (known as Beating up Quarters) on the Royalists occupying the village of Stoke Lane. The Royalist commander, Sgt-Maj General Sir James Hamilton quartered his cavalry in this village with his dragoons farther to the east.

The Parliamentarian force was commanded by Major Francis Dowet of Waller's regiment of horse. Originally intended to attack just before dawn they were delayed arriving as daylight broke. Luckily for them there was an early morning mist allowing them to approach the village undetected. This is where the game starts.

Rules: Forlorn Hope by Pete Berry

Scale: 6mm Baccus

Table size: 3'9" x 3'0"

Figure Ratio: 1:2

Orbats:

Parliament

CinC Maj Francis Dowet  LV:2
Dowet's Troop                    27 in 2 sections
Capt Pickering's Troop      24 in 2 sections
Capt Richard's Troop        24 in 2 sections
Troop of Dragoons - Maj Edward Carr LV:1
5 sections                          51 in total

Royalist

CinC Sgt-Maj General Sir James Hamilton  LV:2
Hamilton's Troop             24 in 2 sections
Lt Col Carre's Troop        24 in 2 sections
Maj Blunt's Troop            18 in 2 sections
Capt Colt's Troop             18 in 2 sections
Capt Walsh's Troop          18 in 2 sections
Troop of Dragoons - Reynolds LV:1
3 sections                          30 in total

Walsh's troop are dismounted and acting as sentinels with each section covering the opposite ends of the village. The other 4 troops occupy 4 buildings, 3 at random with one in the inn. Historically, the royalist dragoons did not come to their comrades' aid when they learnt of the raid. I have decided to use the optional reinforcements rule and they will dice for arrival along Stoke Lane from turn 6.

The Parliamentarians will be strung out along the road running to the north east corner of the map and initially confined to the roads. 

Continued -

On The Workbench: ECW Cuirassiers

The recent heatwave brought my wargaming to a crawl! Painting figures was reduced to 30 minutes at most per day and the gaming of Sanlucar in my Napoleonic campaign no different. That has thrown out my plans somewhat, it being my intention to get the large Napoleonic campaign battle of Holbrook on the tabletop before starting my 2 week holiday in early September. It would not be finished in time and I would not be happy leaving everything out for the duration. 

Therefore, I have decided to play out one or possibly two smaller actions and returning to Holbrook after the holiday. The first of these is 'Stoke Lane', an ECW cavalry raid. 

Returning to the workbench, although the paint rate slowed considerably, I managed to make headway into my Edgehill project. These are the latest nearing completion:

These are 3 troops of Roundheads and one of Royalist Cuirassiers. The Roundheads are the troops of Bedford, Balfour and Stapleton. The royalists are the Gentlemen Pensioners.

All the artillery has been completed and I am now well over 75% of the way there.

On the Workbench: ECW Foot Regiments and WW2 Ships

This will almost certainly be the last blog post before my house move. If all goes according to plan, in a little over 4 weeks I will have a new wargames room enabling the resumption of tabletop action.

In the meantime more units have been completed:

Two Royalist regiments have been added to the inventory. These are Salisbury's redcoats and Molyneux's bluecoats, both of Wentworth's brigade. 

Continued -

On the Workbench: Two Foot Regiments for Edgehill

 More units for Edgehill roll off the production line!

For Parliament, Brooke's Purplecoat regiment. Part of Thomas Ballard's brigade and a pike/musket ratio of 1:1. I have reduced several bases to 4 figures to allow for the formation to look right. I have minimised this as much as possible as in this scale it can be fiddly!

Dutton's whitecoat regiment for the Royalists. This was part of Charles Gerard's Brigade. In time, as the collection expands, more musketeers will be added to this and other pike heavy regiments for future games. 

On the Workbench: Lord General's Regiment.

 A quick update on the Edgehill project. The Lord General's orangecoat regiment of Grand Division 1 and Grand Division 2 have been completed.

These two units were part of the Roundhead Thomas Ballard's brigade. I have given Division 2 a more irregular appearance with Division 1 having armoured pikemen and the former unarmoured. 

As with most of my 6mm, these are all Baccus figures. 

On the Workbench: Prince Rupert's Horse

Since my last blog post I have completed 100 French infantry for Bussaco and now back to figures for Edgehill.

Continued -

ECW The Battle of Chewton Mendip - Part 3 of 3: Turns 7 - 14 (Conclusion)

 Turn 7

The battlefield remains blanketed by mist leading to some startling results. On the left the Forlorn Hope has rallied and as it moves forward a mass of swirling cavalry appears before them. A panic overcomes the dragoons and they promptly flee the field!

Continued -

ECW The Battle of Chewton Mendip - Part 2 of 3: Turns 1 to 6

It was my intention to wrap up this AAR in one post, but a combination of available time to play it through and it being rather more involved than I anticipated, I have decided to get part 2 onto the blog rather than wait any longer. So - onto the battle: 

Turn 1

The presence of Waller's dragoons lining hedgerows did not deter the Royalists from seeking to engage the Parliamentarian horse at the earliest possible moment. They were supremely confident of driving them from the field. 

Prince Maurice with his lifeguard leading paid a heavy price for that optimism losing 25% of their number to Waller's dragoons firing into their flank from the hedgerows. Maurice had his horse shot from beneath him removing him from the proceedings for one turn.

The Veteran/Elite troopers shrugged off their losses and continued towards the Forlorn Hope.

Continued -

ECW The Battle of Chewton Mendip - Part 1 of 3: Introduction

The Battle of Chewton Mendip is the second battle in my project playing historical encounters from the Campaign Scenarios book - 'The 1643 Campaign for the South-West' by Robert Giglio. Principally written for 'Forlorn Hope' rules it can be used for any.

This is part 2 of a 2-part battle, the first being Glastonbury. There is an option in the scenario to treat both as a mini campaign with casualties carried over from Glastonbury. I decided to replay the action as a stand-alone battle using historical orders of battle.

After Glastonbury, the pursuing Royalist cavalry the same day met the Parliamentarians about a mile before the village of Chewton Mendip "the enemy faced about againe with theire horse" in Chewton Mendip Heath.

The Battle of Chewton Mendip

12th June 1643

Table Size 3'9" x 3'

Rules - Forlorn Hope

Continued -

On The Workbench: ECW Bluecoat Regt

I finally received my repaired lens back today for the camera. That damned Covid has a lot to answer for! Tomorrow I will start the ACW campaign battle of Isserlohn but in the meantime a taster of what I have been up to in the absence of gaming. And also to try out my repaired lens!

This is one of a number of ECW units completed and the largest. A Parliamentarian bluecoat regiment. Although a generic unit it will represent Chomley's regiment at Edgehill.

There are 104 figures on the regiment, 40 Pike and 64 Musketeers. I will cover how I arrived at various sizes and quality of units in more detail when posting an AAR of Edgehill in due course. But briefly I used the army list guides contained within the Forlorn Hope rules dicing to determine the size, pike to musket ratio and troop quality of each regiment.

ECW The Battle of Glastonbury - Part 4: Turns 17 - Conclusion

Turns 17 - 19

With Royalist cavalry in the vicinity, the Parliamentarian foot regiments form pike stands. In the foreground, Bennet's Horse ignore the Roundhead foot and gallop headlong towards the baggage train. 

Gould with his own Horse rout pursued by Carnarvon's regiment and Maurice's Lifeguard. They suffer more heavy casualties with Gould receiving a serious wound. Hopton managed to extricate himself from the pursuit (top left) ready to intervene if necessary in what will prove to be the last melee of the game.

Continued -

ECW The Battle of Glastonbury - Part 3: Turns 9 - 16

Turns 9 - 12

It is the start of turn 9 when the Parliamentarian foot regiments must retire from the field. Circumstances though are beyond their control and not yet in a position to retire.

Starting with the Royalist left flank, Hungerford's dragoons continue to hold the hedgerows although Hopton's dragoons gradually get the upper hand against the company of Parliamentarians opposite them. Having moved to close range their superior numbers begin to tell. 

Vaughan infuriatingly again fails to motivate his raw troopers into charging the Parliamentarians. 

Continued -

ECW The Battle of Glastonbury - Part 2: Turns 1 - 8

Turns 1 - 4

The preliminary turns saw the Royalist foot regiments negotiating the crop fields and hedgerows. Another turn was taken up reforming and it was now turn 3 before they could move into musket range. The yellowcoats of Strode's regiment were the first to open fire. At long range they proved to be of minimal effect. Hertford's redcoats declined to reply knowing that at this range it would be lucky indeed if they scored a single hit. 

Continued - 

ECW The Battle of Glastonbury - Part 1: Introduction

This scenario is taken from English Civil War Campaign Scenarios - The 1643 Campaign for the South-West.

This battle was a rearguard action by heavily outnumbered Parliamentary forces falling back on Wells. They were involved in holding off the advancing Royalists giving their baggage train time to retreat to safety.

This action occurred on 12th June 1643 and the map shows the starting positions. The Parliamentary baggage train has already left the table on the road to Wells.

The battle will be fought using 6mm figures by Baccus on a 3'9" x 3' board. Forlorn Hope rules to be used.

ORDERS OF BATTLE

 Continued - 

On the Workbench: ECW Parliamentarian Cavalry & Dragoons

For the final posting this side of Christmas I present the last of the Parliamentarian cavalry for Glastonbury together with a regiment of mounted and dismounted dragoons.

Within the last couple of days I have started on the last of the Roundhead dragoons and when completed the game will be ready to go.

I did annoyingly discover that although I had enough dragoons to cover the last Roundhead unit a great many were command strips. This left me two strips short of the troopers required. So, although I am progressing painting the final unit, I am awaiting the last 6 figures which have now been posted from Baccus to complete this part of the project.

Before the new year I will be reviewing 2019 which will be closely followed by my plans for 2020. 

In the meantime I wish you all a great Christmas. 

On the Workbench: Parliamentarian Cavalry

A quick update on the progress of the ECW project. The first two regiments of Parliamentarian cavalry have been completed. As I mentioned on a previous post, the Roundheads will be outnumbered in the forthcoming battle of Glastonbury. So there will be only 2 more cavalry regiments to paint together with 2 regiments of Dragoons.

The larger regiment is actually made up of three small regiments in the battle. Therefore I have varied the coat colours roughly representing the separate commands. The smaller regiment are equipped with the traditional Roundhead Lobster Pot!

On the Workbench: ECW Parliamentarian Cavalry

Fresh back from my break and it is time to review where I am at with painting the forces involved in the ECW Battle of Glastonbury.

Before I began my holiday, painting had ground to a halt for several days with the real world intruding. Unfortunately I have a few more days of the latter before I can really concentrate on painting and playing Day 2 of 'Seven Pines'.

The above represents all the cavalry I shall need for Parliament. There are 4 regiments in total with the 2 ready for priming being pretty much the maximum number of cavalry I like to paint in one batch. There are 54 here and I normally aim for 30 - 50. Infantry can be anything from 50 to 90. You often see on Facebook professional figure painters in particular, painting in batches of several hundred. I simply do not have the stamina! I can see the logic in that painting in such large numbers on a production line basis speeds output and I envy those capable of such a work rate. Personally I tend to find this becomes more of a chore and I have never been a good speed painter. Additionally, if you have a spare half hour it is more of an incentive to paint, say flesh, knowing that they can be completed in that time. 

On another subject - during my holiday I took the opportunity of reading 'Hunter's Rage', the third book of 6 in the Civil War Chronicles series by Michael Arnold. The first book starts with the battle of Edgehill and the book I have just finished reading concludes with the battle of Stratton. The story revolves around 'Stryker', a hard-bitten veteran of the 30 Years War who fights for the Royalist cause. He writes very much in the Bernard Cornwell and Simon Scarrow styles and fans of those authors I am sure would find these equally as good. I thought the third book was the best of the 3 I have read to date and was utterly absorbing. Arnold interweaves fictional and real-life characters with skirmishes and historical events in the same vein as Cornwell and Scarrow. I heartily recommend these books even if the ECW is not your period. They certainly provide for wargaming inspiration with the potential for numerous scenarios including many smaller actions.

On the Workbench: ECW Parliamentary Foote

The Parliamentary foote regiments are now complete for the Battle of Glastonbury. As can be seen they will be heavily outnumbered by their Royalist equivalents.

The 4 figure pike bases are ok so far. Not as fiddly as I thought they may have been. That said I probably would not want an entire army based in this way but all being well this should only affect a minority of regiments.

I apologise for the photo. With Seven Pines and all the associated clutter (rulebook, dice, QRS etc) taking up much of the available space, I have had to squeeze them into one corner of the ACW battlefield.

The Parliamentarian cavalry are now underway and with that the nice feeling that comes with a project nearing completion.