The King's War, episode 3

 The Battle of Bridgewater had ended with Hopton having been defeated but the Parliamentary army having lost more units.  Under 'The King's War' which we are using for the campaign rules, unit losses are the key factor in judging victory or defeat but we did not think it right to overturn the table-top outcome.  Reviewing the position, I found that Hopton's losses represented a higher proportion of his army than Bedford's losses did for his army and we agreed to act accordingly.  The same measure could be used to judge any similar results in future.  Hopton retreated with the remnants of his force into the fastnesses of Dartmoor while Bedford followed up his victory by advancing to Barnstaple to enjoy the beach at Westward Ho! and try to cut off Hopton from retreating into Cornwall. 

Before the August turn ended the Royalist force that had defeated Cromwell's raid in the first battle of the war at Shrewsbury moved to join up with the King's army in Chester.  They did not have time to enjoy telling tales of their triumph for long as ominous news reached the King that Essex had marched south with his army and laid siege to Oxford!  

Essex with the main Parliamentary army invests Oxford.  New recruits at Stow on the Wold will soon be joined by Waller.

With all movement ended the Fairfaxes brought Airedale into the Parliamentary fold after deciding not to attempt to relieve Manchester from the siege that Rupert had commenced there.  Before sieges are resolved there is a 'Desertion & Recruitment' phase in which both sides have to draw tokens showing how many units desert the colours and how many new ones can be raised in areas under control of the faction.  Parliament lost 3 units and recruited 4.  The Royalists also lost 3 but recruited only 2.

In the siege resolution phase, Waller swept away the paltry defence of Portsmouth, taking this important strong point for Parliament.  Rupert rolled a 6 to batter the defences of Manchester and decided to gamble on an assault.  He rolled well enough to take the town, though whether the losses he took in the assault were worth the gamble is dubious.  The siege of Oxford got off to a very bad start for Essex, rolling only a 1 for battering the defences, so leaving him no prospect of an assault.

With that, we had finally finished the first turn of the campaign and could move into September, a month when the Parliamentary forces would have the first movement.  Crucially, they decided to move Waller first, who marched up from Portsmouth, gathering new recruits and establishing himself at Stow on the Wold to cover Essex's army around Oxford.  This meant that Hopton could be moved before Bedford, allowing him to travel down to Penzance where he would be beyond Bedford's reach and would have the hope of recruiting Cornish regiments to the Royal cause.

After this, Cromwell headed north, aiming to link up with the Fairfaxes.  This would tilt things heavily in Parliament's favour in the north but it would have been much better to move south to link up with Waller.  With Cromwell out of the way, the King was able to move south, overrunning an isolated Parliamentary unit at Worcester before falling back to Bridgnorth, putting him out of striking range from Essex.  After the Fairfaxes marched to join Cromwell in the Peak District, Rupert raced south to join the King at Bridgnorth, ending movement for September with no battle having been fought.

In the desertion and recruitment phase for September, Parliament again did well, losing 3 units but gaining 6.  The Royalists lost 2 but managed to pick up 4.  Two of the new recruits were put in Penzance, giving Hopton a force that should be able to match Bedford.  As two Parliamentary units had been recruited in Plymouth, however, Bedford would have a chance to strengthen his army before any battle if he could move before Hopton in the next turn.

Only one siege remained in progress, at Oxford.  Essex did a little better than the previous turn, battering the defences by three points, but this did not make the odds on an attack any better.  He would have to hope that the King remained in a defensive posture to allow him another attempt to take the city in October.

With the third turn, first movement went back to the Royalist side.  The relief of Oxford seemed to be the critical objective.  The King could either move directly on Oxford, or attack Waller first.  He decided on the latter, trusting that victory over the covering force would allow him to follow on against Essex.  Accordingly, with flags flying, the Royal army advanced into the Cotswold hills to confront Waller.

The counters for the opposing armies at Stow on the Wold.  Waller has only five Infantry Regiments and a single cavalry regiment, with no subordinates to support him.  The King has eight infantry and five cavalry, with the Princes Rupert and Maurice to lead the two wings while Apsley leads the infantry centre.

We did not have time to set out and fight the battle this evening.  We will do that when next we meet in a couple of weeks time.  As the defender in hilly country, Waller will get to place a couple of steep hills and will have a choice of other defensive features to help blunt the Royalist advantage in cavalry, but will that be sufficient?