Battle of Langport, 1645 - AAR

After my recent attempt to refight Adwalton, I picked another lop-sided encounter for my next ECW game, this time with Iain, the Battle of Langport, 1645.

I had little about this action in any of my books, but luckily was loaned a copy of David Frampton's booklet[1].  As well as details on the forces engaged on both sides, it included an inspiring diagram of the forces as deployed, which I used as the basis for the game set up (I have not included the image here as I am unsure of the copyright implications of doing so).  And as a picture is supposedly worth a thousand words, here's a picture of the deployment with some words, surely worth even more?

The units not labelled (Royalist labels are blue and Parliament are yellow) are all either regiments of pike and shot, or horse.  In case anyone thinks they're seeing things, I'll point out that I don't have figures for Fairfax and Goring so Essex and Rupert are standing in for them.  The odds are such, that despite the good defensive position, the Royalists will inevitably be beaten, so for this game their 'win' would be to get all their siege trayne off-table, en-route to Bridgewater.  Historically, Fairfax sent a large force on a wide outflanking move around the Royalist left flank and cut off the siege trayne, although the speed with which the Royalist defence collapsed meant it was also caught from behind.

So, with both sides ready for the off, Fairfax (Iain) determined to force his way through ...

 ... and Goring (me) equally determined to hold the line while the siege trayne gets away - will he do better this time?

The Royalist cannon started the ball rolling opening fire at the veteran ironsides lined up to storm across the ford[2] ...

... which was returned with interest by the Parliamentarian batteries.

Surprisingly, with all this powder being expended, neither side inflicted any damage, and nor did they for some time.

Then, out of the blue, a random event generated a group of clubmen sympathetic to the King's cause who appeared alongside the Bridgewater Road.

While not a significant accretion of force for the Royalists, it used up all my clubmen (I must get more!) who were scheduled to turn up in support of Parliament once they had successfully got some units across the Rhyne - so quite a useful event for me.  Even more so as it gave me a unit near the retreating siege trayne that was looking like it might get intercepted by the Iain's dragoons who had moved off at speed towards my open right flank.

Knowing that the clubmen were unlikely to make more than a speed-bump for the dragoons Wilmot turned one of his regiments of horse to counter the outflanking threat posed by the dragoons. 

Meanwhile, around the ford, the artillery continued to thunder away without effect as Parliamentarian commanded shot advanced into the marshy ground and started a firefight with the Welsh foot on the far bank.

Parliament's dragoons continued their outflanking manoeuvre, and more horse followed in their wake to keep my right flank under pressure.

At the same time the persistence of their gunnery finally paid off ...

... and finally eliminated the cannon guarding the ford.

With ford unguarded, veteran Parliamentarian horse moved up ready for a coup de main against the Royalist position.

Then as the dragoons reached the Rhyne ...

The Royalist commanded shot across the Rhyne were surprised by the ironsides executing a sharp right turn to charge them in the flank!   

I really hadn't seen this coming, albeit the random turn sequence hadn't provided me with any opportunity to do anything about if I had.  Luckily, while taking a beating, the commanded shot held firm, and the horse withdrew to reform and try again.

I seem to have a dearth of photos around this point in the battle which saw the dragoons continue their flank march while the Royalist cavalry redeployed to stop them were could olny watch thanks to the fickle card-driven move sequence.  Also, with Parliamentarian horse advancing against my right flank this cavalry unit couldn't now be spared to chase after the dragoons, so Maurice took personal command of one of his cavalry units and set off to try and get to the siege trayne before the dragoons could do too much damage.

The threat to my siege trayne was compounded by their very slow progress.  This sluggishness had become so questionable that a quick review of the play-deck was called for and revealed only one card allowing them to move[3], when there should have been two - another was quickly shuffled in.  OOPS!

Back at the ford, and against the odds, the raw Welsh foot, despite its losses[4], had finally won the firefight, destroying the opposing commanded shot; the remnants of which can be seen fleeing in the photo below.

This good news was offset by Parliament's dragoons routing the clubmen, who were trying to shield the siege trayne, and then destroying them in the ensuing pursuit.

Maurice was getting closer but looked unlikely to prevent the dragoons getting in amongst the waggons.

And so it proved, as the dragoons promptly got stuck in, eliminating one element and then stopping to loot a second.

Things were looking little better to my front as another regiment of horse drove my commanded shot by the ford back across the Rhyne.

It was at this point in the battle that Goring roused himself from a drunken stupor.  In reality it was our realisation that neither of us recalled having seen his card drawn from the play-deck, and another quick check showed that his card had also been omitted by mistake.  His card, actually Rupert's as I lack a card for Goring, was quickly shuffled into the deck.  DOUBLE OOPS!!

As Fairfax's horse pressed forward, they reopened a field of fire for his artillery, or at least those that hadn't run short of powder owing to a random event, to engage the Royalist horse ready counter-attack any break-in.

And this time they seemed to get their eye in from the very beginning.

While one of Maurice's regiments of horse was having to sit and suffer an artillery bombardment, he, with his other regiment finally caught the dragoons as they were looting an element of the siege trayne.

Needless to say, the dragoons were soundly thrashed and ridden down in a ferocious pursuit.  Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, Maurice and his men continued pursuing off into the wide blue yonder (off-table) and despite several attempts (dice throws) during the game never returned to the field of battle.

Although my siege trayne was now safe for a bit, elsewhere things were coming unstuck as more horse charged across the ford and broke a regiment of foot.

While yet more, over on my right flank, crossed the hedge and charged my cavalry waiting for them on the other side.  Although my men managed to counter-charge they were badly routed, with three consecutive retreat moves (circa. 40-45") meaning they left the table in disgrace.

A little light now appeared through the gloom as my siege trayne got moving again, my prized giant mortar managing to exit the table, ...

... my broken foot regiment by the ford managed to rally and hold off another charge by Parliamentarian horse ...

... and my commanded shot, safely ensconced behind a hedge on my right, held off yet another. 

However, what was left of the siege trayne on the table was now threatened from behind by Fairfax's horse that had broken through on my right and in front by another group of clubmen, this time with Parliamentarian sympathies.

So, with dinner beckoning, the Royalist siege trayne doomed, and more Parliamentarian units lining up to break what was left of Goring's forces the game was called.  A win for Fairfax.

In retrospect I think more of the Royalist forces should have been rated as raw to represent their demoralised state as the war was clearly unwinnable at this time.  While this might make Fairfax's task easier, getting the correct cards in the play-deck would have seen the siege trayne move a bit faster and Goring better able to move troops to counter any outflanking move.

Anyway, the key thing was we both thoroughly enjoyed the game, and in the end that's what counts.

Notes:

[1.]  'The Battle of Langport - the 350th Anniversary' by David Frampton, An Academic Artizan Publication.

[2.]  The Wagg Rhyne was ruled to be fordable everywhere so the actual ford had no significance other than it was unobstructed by marsh and/or hedge.

[3.]  When turned up, each element of the siege trayne threw one average die (2dAv), the score indicating the number of inches it would move.  With no overtaking allowed, if the front wagon rolled a '2' then no-one was going to go any faster than that, and gaps would open up as those towards the rear threw less than those in front.

[4.]  Losses are indicated by red makers (tiddlywinks), units being destroyed when they have taken as many losses as they have bases.  These can be rallied off by commanders if they expend their orders to do so, and roll a 'Flag' on the dice, a 1-in-6 chance so rarely worth trying.  Green markers indicate disorder, which affect a unit's combat ability but can be recovered more easily.  Yellow markers indicate a unit has been activated so cannot be activated again in the current turn.

Battle of Adwalton Moor

John came over today for an ECW game using my 25mm Hinchliffe collection and my rules which are a mash-up of: Command and Colours (C&C) for the combat dice which also covers morale; Victory Without Quarter (VWQ) for the card-based activation; and, Brevis Tercios for the movement.  And, as it makes a nice headline photo, here's a rather nice photo of my siege gun that John sent me after the game.

Gog or Magog?

Looking for something a little different I opted for the Battle of Adwalton Moor, 1643.  This pitched a smaller, but better armed (mostly musket) force under Lord Fairfax in a good defensive position against a larger Royalist force under the Earl of Newcastle.  Newcastle had fewer foot (but more pike) but twice as many cavalry.  Accepting the Wikipedia estimates (there are others available), the two sides consisted of:

I had enough figures to fight this at a scale of one figure to 25 men.  For terrain I based my table on the map below taken from the British Battles website (www.britishbattles.com) clipped and with a 10x5 grid superimposed to show how I mapped the battlefield onto my 10'x5' table.

The following photos show the terrain set-up with the armies in their starting positions.  First, Newcastle's view of the Parliamentarian defensive position behind the hedges of the enclosed fields and the disused open coal mining pits...

...and then, Fairfax's view of the oncoming Royalist juggernaut.

The low sun coming through the windows didn't make for very good photos so, here's a few closer ones of the troops all ready for the off.

One troop type I was short of was Clubmen, a single element having to represent the fairly large crowd that accompanied Fairfax.

However, as these had little impact on the real battle, and in my rules are pretty ineffective, we decided that it wasn't going to significantly affect the game.

The first few turns went pretty quick; the Parliamentarians simply moving up to line the hedges...

...while their dragoons quickly abandoned their exposed position to nip behind another convenient hedgerow - soon to become notorious as the 'bloody hedge'.

Their opposing numbers, who had intended to take this key piece of cover, rapidly advanced to contest possession.   

In the ensuing scuffle, the Royalist dragoons came a poor second and fled.  But, before the victorious Parliament dragoons could recover, a regiment of horse came crashing over the hedge, broke them and cut them down in pursuit.

However, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, and the pursuing Royalist horse were hit by a fresh regiment of enemy horse who promptly drove them back the way they had come.  The following photo shows the position at the end of the turn, with the fleeing Royalist horse about to recross the contested hedge and the Royalist dragoons (white guidon) who started it all still in retreat - but they'll be back.     

Also, visible in the above, is the main body of the Parliamentarian foot unleashing a few volleys against the Royalist horse approaching the hedges.  The dice determined this shooting to be ineffective, but it was still a bit scary up close.

In the next turn the card-driven randomised move sequence handed the victorious Parliamentarian cavalry a chance to charge before their fleeing opponents could act, and so caught them in the rear and up against the 'bloody hedge' and wiped them out.

Further along the line the Royalist horse attempted to force their way into the hedged enclosures.  With the first few attempts being rebuffed.

But in the next turn, with the defending musketeers caught unloaded after repelling one attack, and courtesy of the fickle card-driven activation sequence, a subsequent charge managed to break in.  Not only did they manage to fight their way in but some spectacular combat dice saw them destroy the musketeers, but left them badly disordered (as shown by the small pile of green markers behind them).

While all this has been taking place all attempts by the Royalist artillery, including the mighty demi-cannon (32-pounders!) Gog and Magog, to soften up the Parliamentarians had been frustrated with their fire being repeatedly blocked by their own troops (as turned out to be the case throughout the game).

In the next turn, the fighting around the 'bloody hedge' continued with Crisp's Royalist troop ignoring the odds and plunging into the Fiennes' regiment of horse.  Things looked promising until their opponents threw four 'Flags' in the combat!

One in a Thousand!  (actually 1:1,296)

This saw them retreat all the way back to Adwalton; the next photo showing them disappearing into the distance along the old Roman road.  It was only because we were playing lengthways on the table that their 61" retreat didn't see them gone for good. 

But, once again, the more numerous Royalist horse had another unit ready to step in, and Loughborough's horse promptly threw back Fiennes' who sought shelter behind a friendly unit of foot.

But this time the Royalist pursuit was unable to remain in contact and, surprisingly for once, didn't pursue any further. 

Whether it was this that spooked the horse of Parliament's Sergeant Major General of Foot's horse is not known.  But (in a random event) he was thrown and consequently unable to exert any influence on the battle for a turn. 

Apart from the return of the rallied Royalist dragoons to the 'bloody hedge'...

...a lull settled over the rest of the battle where the exhausted troops stared each out as they sought to recover their breath (and order) ready for another effort.  The exception being another commanded shot unit, no longer benefiting from standing behind a hedge, being destroyed by the Royalist horse that had previously broken in (the enclosure now belonging solely to the Royalist horse).

Some early end-of-turn cards from the sequence deck saw little happen in the following turn.  But, the very next turn saw the 'bloody hedge' live up to its soubriquet with the Parliament horse charging and destroying the dragoons lining it.  It was all over so quick there was no time for a photo...    :o(

The value of reserves was again proven as Parliament's victorious cavalry were caught while pursuing and thrown back over the 'bloody hedge' by Caernarvon's horse, while yet more cavalry on both sides advanced alongside them.

Over in the enclosures, the Royalist horse started to press on into the next fields.

The following turn was dominated by Meldrum, who, in a random event, decided to launch all his available troops in an all-out counter-attack against the Royalists.

This saw his foot foolishly attempt to charge the Royalist horse, who promptly counter-charged and caught them while moving, throwing the foot into disorder.  Despite this and taking some heavy losses in the fight they threw back Loughborough's horse who can be seen in full retreat at the bottom of the next photo.

The cards then ended the turn before much else could happen, other than another random event saw Meldrum (again!) inspiring his troops to recover their order following his wild counter-attack.

In the next turn, the Earl of Caernarvon, now reduced to a single effective unit, his own regiment of horse, decided it was time to intervene in person.  So, eschewing any attempt to rally his blown regiments he attached himself to his regiment and charged.  This proved an inspired decision[1], as he destroyed the enemy horse to his front and the resulting pursuit saw him almost capture Fairfax, who fled the field to save his skin.  His pursuit also took him on to one of the Parliamentarian cannon whose crew decided, that rather than die for Parliament, they would fight for the King, and promptly changed sides.

What was happening elsewhere you ask?  Well, Newcastle had finally prompted Crisp's troop to start the long trek back from Adwalton to rejoin the fight.

And the fight for the enclosures had bogged down into an inconclusive slugging match, but the Royalist infantry had at last come up in support of their cavalry to break the deadlock.

The next turn was again a short one with little taking place beyond the massed Royalist pikes finally getting close enough to pressure Parliament's left flank.

And so, to the end-game as the sun sank slowly in the West (our time limit being reached with John having to leave).  The battle petered out with the turncoat artillery failing to inflict any harm on their erstwhile comrades - some say they weren't really trying.

And on this sorry note, with no decisive combat elsewhere, the battle drew to a close.  

But who had won?  The Royalist horse had successfully broken into the enclosures and were now being backed up by their foot...

...while at the other end of the field Caernarvon's horse were loose in Parliament's rear and the Royalist massed pike were about to make their presence felt.

This and a score of 9-5 (losses inflicted) in the Royalists favour, while not a clear victory, looks a lot like a winning draw to me, but then I would say that wouldn't I as I was the Royalist commander.  No doubt John will point to that fact that he did better than his historical counterparts and claim that as a win.

Perhaps we'll have to fight it out again?

Notes:

[1]. The inspiration was actually John's, as he suggested that was what Caernarvon ought to do - I decided to follow his advice, no doubt John wishes I hadn't!