Cabinette Wars

Old Toys - New Rules

A quick post on my latest game, mainly because I haven't yet posted anything on my ECW collection and they are, IMO, my prettiest army.  The troops are mostly old figures (mainly Hinchliffe) but the rules have been around for a few years, and they are, Liber Militum Tercios:

I have played these rules quite a bit, but always with a Martin's 15mm Thirty Years War collection.  This time, I used my 25mm ECW armies as a vehicle to allow Simon, who had never played them, to try them out.  As a learning game the armies were set up facing each other across a fairly open table, Parliament on the left and Royalists on the right.

Parliament was commanded by Earl of Essex (Simon).

The Royalists were commanded by His Majesty King Charles (me).

Tercios requires the players to place an order card face down next to each unit at the start of every game turn.  Then after dicing for initiative (who goes first), take it in turns to activate a unit to carry out its order; this is automatic when the unit is fresh (has taken no hits or 'wear' in Tercios terminology) but otherwise has to be diced for against the unit's discipline rating.  The orders restrict what a unit may do, provide bonuses or penalties for some actions, and how it may respond if attacked - these are indicated one the cards.

Turn 1: the larger cavalry wings (Royalist right and Parliament left) in the more open terrain, both advanced rapidly ('Run' orders).  They stopped 3" apart (the closest that enemy can be approached without 'Assault' orders) ...

... with Rupert's Horse leading the advance for the Royalist right wing.

The rest of the troops on both sides advanced more cautiously, presumably awaiting the outcome of the cavalry engagement before committing themselves.

 

Turn 2: the cavalry clash went dramatically wrong for Parliament, with Simon rolling some abysmal dice to see the first line of units swept away in rout and fleeing off the table.

Leaving the Royalist cavalry ready to repeat the performance, in the next turn, against the second line of Parliament horse that were now in poor shape (red markers indicate hits, and green disorder). 

Elsewhere, Parliament's infantry edged towards the stationary Royalist foot and the fight between the smaller cavalry wings also played out in favour of the King.

And beyond all this amongst the hedged enclosures, the two opposing dragoon units advanced towards each other.

Turn 3: the fickle dice turned on the Royalists (or depending on your perspective made amends to Parliament) and much of the triumphant Royalist horse was sent packing.

The infantry on both sides advanced cautiously exchanging shots at long range as did the artillery which had been steadily firing away to take the edge of a unit or two.

While the dragoons just eyeing each other with intent, the smaller cavalry wings continued to battle it out.  Some of the Royalist horse finding itself now caught between the two lines of advancing infantry decided to charge the Parliament foot rather than be shot down in place.

This bold (foolhardy?) move almost paid off, as with their seven combat dice I rolled five 6's, a 5 and a 3 (needing 5+ to hit)!  But the Simon rolled very well on his saving throws and the foot were only forced to disengage.

Turn 4: the Royalist cavalry's luck didn't carry through to this turn and a crashing volley from the Parliamentarian foot convinced them to flee the field not to return.

Meanwhile the larger Royalist cavalry wing had managed to sort itself out and drive off the last the opposing horse; in response to which Essex's Foot regiment was deployed to protect the now open flank.

The Royalist cavalry had more success when Gentlemen Pensioners managed to catch the London Trained Bands Blue Regiment by surprise but failed to break it, only forcing a retreat.  Elsewhere the infantry continued exchange volleys to little effect as did the dragoons.

Turn 5: saw the last of both sides weaker cavalry depart the field while in the distance the Royalist dragoons charged their opponents only to be rebuffed.

The Gentlemen Pensioners now paid the price for their foray into the centre of the Parliament army as fired on from several sides the survivors fled the field.

But at the end of the turn, Essex, with his beleaguered infantry bereft of any cavalry support, concluded the day was lost and withdrew his army to fight another day.  

In Tercios, games only last 8 turns at most and victory is only assessed after the 5th and subsequent turns.  The advantage (in lost units and commanders) required to win reduces each turn after the 5th, and in this game the Royalists just managed to get far enough ahead to call a decisive victory in the 5th turn (a decisive victory is the only victory allowed in turn 5).

Simon seemed to enjoy the game despite not knowing what he was doing in the first turn or two.  And, as he was talking about buying the rules, I guess the game met its objectives.

If you are interested in these rules the 'lite' version, that pretty much covers everything except some terrain and commanders, is available as a free pdf at:

268954336-brevis-editio-tercios-english.pdf

Good Luck!