ECW - The Great Rebellion in Oxford 2016
Scots Covenanters vs Later Royalist
Game 1 Scots Covenanters vs Later Royalist
Game 2 Scots Covenanters vs Later Royalist
Game 3 Scots Covenanters vs Later Royalist
A one-day FoGR event in the heart of the Royalist stronghold of Oxford. Well, Wolvercote.
I'd taken Scots Covenanters so I could use a lot of Peter Pig figures, in a huge army with a comedy flank march. The basic plan was to flood the table with normal Pike & Shot, stiffened with a Superior unit and some Highlanders whilst a flank march of 3 mounted units arrived on the flank of a hopefully fully-engaged enemy. The army at this dateline even had 3 poor units, which could be used as sacrificial artillery targets (losing 1 unit out of 18 isn't too bad) or as cheap rear support
The lists for the Scots Covenanters and Later Royalist from this game, as well as all the other lists from the games at Oxford can be seen here in the FoG:R Wiki.
First game was on a rather painful pre-set table, with all of the terrain on one side. I won initiative and chose the cluttered side as that at least in this game my flank march woud have a clear, open and obvious place to arrive - but I would also need to struggle out of the terrain to get to grips with Paddy's Royalist army in the centre if I was to make a real game of it
The terrain had fields, hills, a huge town and some vineyards - my brave Scots struggled forwards to try and clear the clutter before the Royalists could close. My army was very much stacked to the left, with some of the poor PIke and Shotte on that side hung out to dry as an artillery target.
The Royalists favoured the right (stereotypically) and the Highlanders really needed to get into the Vineyard pretty quickly, or hope the flank march arrived pronto of the Royalist Cavaliers would run them down
The Superior regiment quickly climbed to a commanding position on the hill, all the better to see just how many Superior Shotte they were facing
Puritans!
The Highlanders were making a decent fist of running for cover, and the Cavaliers were caught in tow minds - run over the Average Unarmoured Lancers, or run over the Highlanders! The advantages of an 18 BG army huh...?
The breechless jocks just about squeeked into the vineyard with moments to spare, scaring the bejeezus out of the Royalist dragoons who had assumed that this terrain would be their home for the rest of the weekend
Proper Pike & Shotte were wading through the central field as the Royalists struggled with the idea that an 18BG army had also refused one flank and that I had deployed the lot on a 4' frontage next to the town - they were converging on the lone Poor Pike & Shotte, but making slow going of it - and blocking their 2 artillery too
The Cavaliers decided that taking down Horse was a more fitting job for them than running down peasants, and charged home against the Light Lancers. The breechless Jocks themselves waded into the spare Commanded Shotte and Superior Royalist Firelock men in the vineyard, taking advantage of their Sword and also Impact capability
Huge numbers of Royalists were crowding close to get a good look at the newly-finished Peter Pig ECW figures - but shooting against the Poor unit was desultory at best as it shrugged off all enemy hits
The Highlanders had done their job against two enemy units, and now there could be only one left!
Highlanders!
Finally the Poor infantry cracked - through failing cohesion tests, not base losses! The Royalists now had an uninterrupted avenue into, erm, a congested corridor of empty space enfiladed by my light guns and more infantry
By now waves of my decent infantry were pounding the Royalist lines, and with the Highlanders having engaged 2 units right from the off the Royalists were finding it surprisingly (to them) hard to engineer advantageous numbers and marchups against the 6 units of Covenanter non-Poor foote
Having despatched the Highland cattle, sorry, Lancers, the Royalist Cavaliers charged towards more backstop-ready Poor Covenanter foote - but now the flank march had arrived, and was bearing down on the rear of the Cavaliers too! Would they be able to run over the unsupported, flank-threatened Poor foote before the Higland Pistoleers arrived?
The Cavaliers were in! But even with being Super-Superior (led by a General) they failed to dent the iron resolve of the God-fearing Scottish anti-papists, who stood firm!
In the centre, the remaining embattled Covenanter unit was being assaulted from all sides...
About to be shot down, and taking advantage of the little-known fact that mounted troops cannot intercept through dispordering terrain, the Covenanters initiated a deadly flank attack on the Royalists, who thought they were about to roll up the Covenanters main line!
The resurgent Covenanters crushed all before then in a fearseom highland charge... routing all of the Royalist foot they piled into the shocked Cavaliers behind, seeking a lucky Fragmentation for the extra points to tip the enemy to defeat!
The Covenanters on the flank looked like they might not make it until the flank march arrived...
But hang on they did, and the Covenanters ploughed righteously into the rear of the engaged Cavaliers leaving them Fragged!
The Cavaliers finally broke the brave, Poor unit, but were then themselves broken moments later in the same combat by the assault of the Scots horsemen from the rear
The Covenanters were in full cry as they swept forwards through the Royalist centre...
But then the game ended, and the Result is a large win but not a TKO for the Covenant!
Click here for the report of the next game in this competition, or read on for the post match summaries from the Covenanter General
Post Match Summary from the Scots Covenanters Commander
Och Aye, that was bloody close!
Ah nearly had the wee Royalist Papist b'stards theeere, but they wriggled ahway like haggis on a greasey mountainside
The true Bible is the only winner here if time had continued.
I hope for better terrain next time oot, so I can get in amongst the enemy's trossocks with me' dirk a bit sooner !
Click here for the report of the next game in this competition
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Game 1 Scots Covenanters vs Later Royalist
Game 2 Scots Covenanters vs Later Royalist
Game 3 Scots Covenanters vs Later Royalist
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