"One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 20 - "Fighting Retreat" - Set Up and Game

What can I say? First game for the new project..  whoop whoop... 

So it was that on Boxing Day, when all was grey wet and windy outside, the entire crew of the good ship Steve the Wargamer were out, he found himself in the Loft-waffe with an empty wargame table, "Master and Commander" on the video-box, other hobby related items completed ("Wargamers Newsletter" #175 is scanned and on it's way to the repository [clicky]) and all was nice and quiet and he could finally put troops on table for a little shuffle around, as I believe I have at last almost reached a critical mass for games..

With no rules set of choice yet for the project*, I decided to use the rules "as is" from One Hour Wargames, they're quick and bloody but hey, the clue is in the title of the book and I just wanted a fun hour pushing my little metal men around so they could get the 'first engagement luck' out of the way.. 

*(this is not unusual for Steve the Wargamer, the look and feel of the thing is always the most important aspect of the project and rule choice often comes along afterwards..  and in some cases is still undecided after 10 or 15 years, WWII for example!)

I am up to scenario #20 now and this scenario, somewhat serendipitously, has mismatched sides; as you're aware my Royalist force is currently outnumbered by the Parliamentary forces, so it would allow me to play the scenario as is, with the Royalists using the smaller force/side..

Buy the book if you want more detail but in summary a numerically superior force is pursuing a small force who have been raiding locally - the raiders win by occupying the hill at the top of the following picture..

...this is about end turn 2 (above) and the pursuing forces are yet to appear..  I have divided my Royalist force in two, one infantry and cavalry unit per bridge, which are the only crossing points for the river..

The regiment of Sir Dennis the Menace, sorry Ralph Dutton, cross the mere to join their colleagues in the dragoons..  waited down with booty they have their eyes on the prize..

...and some more gratuitous close ups...

Gerard's do the same,  Sir John Byron's regiment of cavalry covering the advance..

Thomas differentiates the cavalry into errr..  'cavalry', or 'reiter'...  in ECW terms the cavaliers of the Swedish style, or the cavalry versed in the Dutch style... for this game I made the dragoons on either side 'reiters', and the others 'cavalry', Thomas doesn't represent a dragoon unit type and reiter seemed closest (dismounted they would be unit type 'infantry')

The pursuers enter the field..

For the Parliamentary force in pursuit I decided to weigh one flank heavily with the hope of pushing through quickly.. horse in advance chased Dutton's over the bridge only to be met by a stinging volley and held in their tracks (fundamental schoolboy error here - never ever ever use cavalry to assault formed infantry, especially over a bridge, and where the other force are defending the river bank)

...there then ensued a ferocious firefight as all three Parliamentary regiments not engaged directly on the bridge, had the ability to fire..

On the other flank the same schoolboy error had been made, where instead of sending in the foot regiment of Sir Charles Essex, the novice commander (me) sent in Lord Fielding's regiment of horse who were badly handled...

...back to the other flank and the Parliamentary horse were destroyed in fairly short order, and it was time for the 'Butchers and Dyers' to take the bridge at push of pike and butt of musket

...ferocious fighting with no quarter given or taken...

...this is without a doubt my favourite picture of the game...

...and not surprisingly given they had already faced the cavalry, Dutton's melted away leaving the bridge open, but not before they had mortally wounded Brooke's...  on the other flank similar events were unfolding, but with the left flank open Fielding's horse detached, and moved quickly to block the advance of the Parliamentary horse (picture following)..

...but after the damage they had taken earlier were no match, and were dispatched in time for the Parliamentary force to gain their objective, and win the game on the last turn!

...that'll be a win for old Old Robin [clicky] then

Post match analysis:

• Thomas doesn't have an artillery unit type in his rules - his thinking is that they were largely static, largely limited to a brief bombardment at the beginning of the battle, which was largely ineffective, and therefore they don't need to be represented...  fair enough, but I can't help thinking that there was a bit more to them than that, or those boys wouldn't have dragged them all over England through mud up to their waists...   within the mechanics of the rules there is a way they could be represented and I like the rules enough to see that they have some merit, so will tinker further..
• ditto a Dragoon type, but that's fairly easy to fix as well...
• His thinking on hand to hand fighting is most interesting and deserves more thought, but did open up a few questions..  in his rules only the 'reiters' and 'infantry' unit types fire, but cannot close to hand to hand to hand until they have run out of ammunition...  which prompts the question, what do they do if they are firing away at an enemy unit who run out of ammunition before they do, and charge them...   do they continue to fire, or do they engage in had to hand?? I played the latter..
• He has a natty little mechanic for 'low on ammunition" which I like and will use going forward...  throw in the dice mechanic for which unit moves first, that DG came up with, and used in the last game [clicky] and we have a good starter for ten I think..