Field of Glory Renaissance in Farnboro 2012
Later Imperial Spanish vs Scots Royalist
Game 3 vs 30 Years War French – 1636
Game 4 vs French Italian Wars 1500
The second game was against a largely pedestrian army of wild and crazy Scotsmen! A rather confusing and random mix of Warriors, Pike and Shotte, some of whom also had sword capabilities this was an army I had passed by in reading the army lists, and therefore had assumed it was in some way flawed. But at 500 points in 28mm it proved a rather more intimidating wee beastie - as will unfold now...
The terrain was decidedly Scottish, with bogs, glens, mountains and forests abounding as well as some lowland plans over on the right. My deployment and plans were very clear, pile the decent mounted down the right flank, the good foote in the open, and delay on the left with Croati and Dragoons. The lists for the Later Imperial Spanish and Scots Royalist armies from this game, as well as all the other lists from the games at Farnboro 2012 can be seen here in the FoGR Wiki.
The Spanish army launched itself forward, seeing no reason to delay combat anywhere other than the places where it was seeking to delay combat (on the left)
Initial and traditional Dragoon on Dragoon action saw advantage go to the Spaniards, who found themselves in the rather unusual position of their own "cheapskate" one horse/two troopers basing materially outnumber the Scots even more shabby "one bloke on a horse" technique.
The Scots were obviously keen to avoid being blatantly outflanked by the Warlord Games
This slow motion cleverness had little impact on the Spanish plan, as everyone continued to pile forwards remorselessly.
The Spanish soon had the Scots Pike and Shotte
The Croati were delaying as best they could, but Scottish bowfire (yep, how retro is that?) had caused them a cohesion loss and with no spare Generals to fix them the Croats were now in fully evasive maneuver mode, somewhat reducing their effectiveness as a delaying screen
Rules hint - It's easy to dismiss bowfire as it still has the FoGAM hangover in shooting of deducting 2 from enemy death rolls (so you need to inflict 3 hots before theire is any chance of abase loss). However bowmen get loads of shooting bases in their first 2 ranks, and also shoot at full effect at 4MU so its actually not that hard to generate 6-8 shooting dice with a decent sized unit. And even if the death roll is missed, 8 dice at evens is a guaranteed cohesion est every turn on most targets. It's doen's make bowmen great, but it does mean they can be easily underestimated
The two lines of foote in the open drew closer - musket smoke filled the air, but its effect was desultory with hardly a base lost in the initial exchanges.
As the volume of fire increased, so did it's effects - two Scots units lost cohesion and picked up bright green markers. Surely there would be no better opportunity for the Spanish to charge than now?
And that charge had best be decisive as well, as the Spanish Dragoons were forced to retire as a wave of Scotish warriors flooded over the hill towards them. This now exposed the Spanish right flank...
Everything charged home with blood curdling Spanish and Scottish battle cries ringing in the air!
The central Scottish Pike and Shotte
More Spanish reverses saw cohesion levels drop with the normal units as well, and the tide was now with Scotland as the Spanish struggled to identify enough Generals to shore up their lines.
The clear area of advantage soon turned to victory for the Tercio, as they broke through the middle. But with the Scots reserve line way behind, and a low "1" for the initial pursuit move the victorious Tercio now found itself somwhat marooned - surrounded on all sides by enemies that were a few moves away from being able to be succesfully engaged.
Elswehere, the lack of a delaying screen meant the Mercenary infantry of Spain found themselves fighting a wild rabble of Highland warband - and fighting them quite unsuccesfully as the initial charge of the Scots Pike and Shotte
Rules hint - Sword-armed troops get a + in melee against non-steady Pike and Shotte. So, winning at impact and causing DISR is crucial, or the extra points are wasted!
The Spanish Dragoons were also feeling the power of retro-style bowfire and were FRAGGED - their only option now was to flee and seek to remain out of range of the pursuing Scots, and hope to lose their army no more attrition points from now on
On the lowlands the normal Spanish infantry had been broken by the sword-armed Scottish Pike and Shotte
With a heady cocktail of hope, desparation and lack of any better alternative the two units of Spanish Horse charged a Scots Pike and Shotte
An intense battle ensued, in which the Cuirassier lost half their men, but the Scottish foote dropped to FRAGGED - one last push would see the Scots line unhinged and open up their entire flank - which looked to be necessary, as the other Tercio was making heavy going of beating its opponents.
Rules hint - No-one is entirely sure whether the plural of Cuirassier is Cuirassier or Cuirassiers
In the middle of the plains, the other Tercio had finally ploughed forward and was now making short work of the Scottish reserve unit.
The rest of the Spanish army however was essentially non-existant and had melted away under the waves of highland warriors. The Spanish gunners looked on nervously as kilt-wearing madmen close in on them from the front. Would they share the fate of many units of my gunners before them and be captured?
The baggage camp was also somewhat concerned, and the Croati were simply hiding in a corner and hoping the game would be timed out before the Scots could close in again and shoot them once more down to Fragged no doubt
Finally, the heroic Spanish Cavalry managed to break into the resisting formation of Scottish Pike and Shotte
The middle of the table was bereft of troops as both sides had neutralized each other, and had seen their units sucked into a series of combats on their respective stronger flanks which had reduced the open plains to an artillery beaten zone with nothing but grass in it to be beaten. The Spanish Dragoons, by now still Fragged, scampered away from the few remnants of Scottish Pike and Shotte
On the Spanish right their Horse were conducting a sweeping up exercise whilst the two Tercios were still locked in combat. Only the business of riding down fleeing pike and shotte was keeping the Spanish Caballeros from helping their comrades in a surely most decisive fashion. But with that, time was called, and the game was over.
The Result is a 13.3 to 6.7 win to the Later Imperial Spanish
Click here for the report of the next game or read the post match summaries first;
Post Match Summary
Hola yet again my loyal subjects - and what a tremendous example of beard-singeing we saw today from the brave and brilliant troopers from Spain. The unwashed and ungodly Scots were almost cheating in their use of more than one type of weapon, and even though there is a points system to balance these things out I feel that an Inquisition of a most unexpected format would be called for were the game to have ended in a total defeat for my brave men
At least I feel that the Caballos Coarzas, despite being spelt differently almost every time they are mentioned, have earned their crust of that burnt bit at the bottom of the paella tin today, for which I am grateful indeed.
The Scots had always been one of those armies I underestimated and skimmed over - after all, who wants to go there anyway when you have the Mediterranean on one coast, a long hot summer and an indegenous wine growing industry that I am sure one day will be the envy of the world? But now I am more respectful of the loutish Scots, having seen how the addition of Sword capability allows a slight advantage in impact to be translated into a continuing advantage in melee, which is always worth more in the long run.
The final highlight is the bravery with which my men delivered a robust rearguard action - preventing the heathen highlanders from taking away all the spoils. Whilst some points were lost, in the end we are still firmly in the hunt for medals here - and that is what counts. I look at my General and I think - ¡Qué persona tan feliz!
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
Gods above, how can you claim Religion as being party to yoru ignominy here today? Priests must become mockers, if they shall encounter such ridiculous subjects as you. This is a loss, plain and simple, and only the short length of time for each game prevented it being total in its totality.
Your good fortune and skill here was to play an enemy with almost no mounted troops, which meant your cowering baggage handlers and stage-set like cash investment in something with no martial role were spared the tender ministries of the skirt-wearing Scotsmen. I ask you, a baggage camp with so many figures on it deserves to be captured and taken from you - really it is just one small step away from Model Railways to invest such time and effort in mere scenery.
Your mistakes here were ones oft repeated - not bothering to work out how good the enemy actually were before contact, not knowing the rules,leaving inadequate forces to skirmish out one flank, leaving a unit hung out to dry instead of getting it out of the way of the ravaging hordes descending on it - really you did well to escape with your trousers intact here, never mind having a frightening time and being stripped of your sporran. I hope the next game brings more cheer than this sad farrago of conflict management...
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