Another Blunder

This last week being Chinese New Year in Hong Kong I didn't expect to get much done in the way of painting or gaming.  However, on Monday a rerun of the 'Blundering into Battle' was fought and the table was left up over the holiday period for another game on the Friday, but as the latter game only progressed a little way before the generals decided they would rather go out and have a curry, the result and a report thereon will have to wait for a later post.

Chris and George returned for the Monday game fired up from the battle the previous week.  As Chris was late, I took the part of the Catholic League and set up with George taking the Protestant forces that had been his opponents in the last battle.  

There were a number of modifications to the terrain and to army lists.  The area covered by the town and village had been reduced and they had each been moved a little further to the sides, allowing some more room in the centre of the table.  More important, they were nolonger deemed bad going, reducing the action tests required and giving units moving through them a larger move allowance although they would still have to deal with hedges and walls obstructing movement. Two small woods were added on either side of the table, about mid-way between the baselines and the centre line, to give infantry an opportunity to anchor one flank on them - and providing a small complication for manoeuvres.

For the orders of battle, the total number of units on each side remained the same but one infantry unit was reallocated from the Advance Guard of each side to a main body and the amount of artillery on each side was halved.  In order to reflect the larger number of men in Swedish Brigades and Catholic Tercios, it was deemed that each such unit when in column on a road had to have a space of 2BW (12cms) behind them before the next unit could be placed, meaning that infantry divisions would not necessarily start with all their units already on the table.

Starting deployments after drawing of cards but before final decisions on exact alignment and order of march.

The draw for deployment saw the entire Catholic League army towards the left of their side of the table. The advance guard were just outside the town with the first infantry division strung out in column on the road behind them.  The other infantry division was also approaching the town along the road that entered on the centre of the Catholic's side of the table.  The first cavalry division was in the fields between the two infantry divisions while the second cavalry division was squeezed between a couple of woods on the hills at the left end of the table.  So, a concentration of force but neither cavalry division in a good position to deploy quickly.

On the opposite side, the Protestant forces were spread across the length of the table.  Their advance guard and first infantry division were also marching towards the town.  The first cavalry division occupied the centre while the second infantry division was marching in from the far left of their side of the table towards the village and the second cavalry division was out to the side of the village.  The last of these formations would have a long way to travel to get into the battle, but cavalry in column can move quickly and there was nothing to obstruct it once round the village area.

The Catholic left.  Cavalry in column up on the hills.  Advance guard of an infantry regiment, Dragoon Regiment and two Light Horse units near the town.  The leading units of the first infantry division marching in column along the road.  There is little room for the cavalry to move around the woods to the left of the town and unless they move quickly to their right, the infantry will block any attempt to get the cavalry to the more open ground in the centre.

Catholic right and centre.  A tercio is on the road towards the town, another following behind out of picture.  The cavalry has not yet been sorted out as their commander wonders how best to align them to face the enemy cavalry opposite and the other Protestant cavalry division out to the flank.

The Protestant flanking division, formed in columns and aiming to pass to the left of the village to threaten the Catholic right flank

Protestant infantry snaking along the road towards the junction just to the right of the village

More Protestant cavalry in column in the centre, aiming to move forward quickly to take ground and restrict the Catholic's room for manoeuvre

Swedish brigades marching along the road towards the town while their advance guard are aiming to take position along the hedges to the left of the town.  The figures at the bottom right are dismounted dragoons & horse holders to replace the mounted dragoons in the advance guard when required.

The Protestant generals won the roll to decide who would go first and did not dally, advancing rapidly with both cavalry divisions and making good progress with the infantry marching up towards the centre near the village.  In the distance, their advance guard reach positions by the hedge line next to the town.  Only the Swedish brigades which had intended to wheel towards the centre have not moved after failing an action test.

Protestant dragoons taking up positions near the town while an infantry regiment advances in column alongside them.

In response, the Catholic commander advanced his right hand infantry division straight ahead along the road, making good progress but narrowing down the room available to the adjacent cavalry.  Four regiments of cavalry advanced in column into the gap ahead of the infantry, one regiment remaining in line, waiting for the larger cavalry division out on the left to come over to link up with it. 

The head of the Infantry division on the road to the town holds back to leave room for the cavalry on the left to move across to the centre, while regiments further back along the road start to wheel towards the centre and the advance guard deploys infantry and dragoons along walls at the edge of the town and moves up the Light Horse to cover the cavalry columns until they can deploy into line.

The view along the table from the town towards the village after the Protestant's second move. Their first cavalry division is turning into a double line to face the Catholic cavalry in the centre, while the second division has managed to turn its columns into a deep mass of lines, also pointed at the Catholic centre.  Behind them, the Protestant second infantry division continues to advance quickly.  Only the inertia of the Swedish brigades near the town is causing some concern.

The second turn is a disaster for the Catholics, their leading cavalry division failing to deploy after the light horse have moved away to give room to the second division to wheel into place, which it does but without being able to turn into line itself.  This picture shows the swift exploitation of this by the Protestants, with dragoons advancing to fire on the Catholic columns while the Protestant cavalry completes its deployment into lines, ready to sweep into the ragged Catholic formations.

The head of the Catholic second cavalry division is forced back by the fire from the dragoons.  The first division is able to deploy into line in the nick of time before the Protestant cavalry charges and the harquebusiers are able to fire on the enemy.

The fire proves effective, driving the leading Swedish regiment to retire behind its support line, but there is nothing the Catholic horse can now do against the threat to their flank.

Dutch style cavalry advance to fire on the front of the harquebusiers while Swedish cavalry charge their flank and more Protestant cavalry and dragoons start to move around their rear

Needing an 11 to pass their morale test, the Harquebusiers think nothing of it!

A vast mass of Protestant horse with infantry support to their right threaten the Catholic centre

Rather than wait for the enemy to fall on him, the Catholic general advances with such cavalry and infantry as he can to try to disrupt the enemy attacks.

Fire from the Tercio throws back the Swedish horse

The Harquebusiers only needed to roll a 10 in their next test!

In a bitter side show, Imperial infantry advanced to try to winkle the Protestants out of the hedge by the town and seemed to be getting the better of the exchanges

The advance of the Tercio had left it with unsecured flanks when the Protestant cavalry managed to charge home, leaving it needing a 10 to pass its morale test, but it had learned well from the example of the harquebusiers!  

But the Catholic forces were always just a dice roll away from disaster and on the next turn the Harquebusiers were driven off...

and the Tercio was routed...

leaving big holes that the Protestants moved quickly to fill

Another Tercio advanced on the other side of the small wood and drove back a regiment of enemy horse

Another Harquebusier regiment hung on, buying time for the Catholic general to try to cobble together another line to withstand the mounting pressure

But the second Tercio also routed, causing the infantry division to take a morale test which it failed.  The two remaining infantry regiments from the division would now be removed.

Even as the infantry collapsed, another miracle staggered the Protestant generals as Catholic cuirassiers attacked on both flanks needed a 12 to pass their morale test and duly delivered the required roll!!!

And they were not alone as a regiment to their rear also passed a test after being attacked in the flank.

At this point, despite the extraordinary run on luck on morale tests, the Catholic commander had to concede that things had not quite gone as he had hoped and with enemy infantry and cavalry swarming his remaining forces from front, flanks and rear, his prospects were less than rosy.  Accordingly, he handed his sword to his foes.

In the battle wash up, it was felt that the failure of Catholic cavalry to pass their deployment tests in the second turn had left the army in a position from which it could not recover but that the unsupported advance of the two tercios had been a waste of troops who might otherwise have held up the Protestant advance.  I accept that it made them vulnerable, but by then the result was clear anyway, so better to try to do some damage than sit back and wait for the inevitable.  My main mistake had been in the placement of the Light Horse.  If it had not been towards the centre, where it prevented my first cavalry division forming into line in the first turn, it could have been on the other side of the town where it could have moved round to put some pressure on the Protestant flank and rear while I concentrated in the centre.  Maybe then the result would have been different?

As it was, it was a battle full of incident and I learned much from Chris and George as to how to handle rapid deployment of cavalry across the battlefield.  They made excellent use of their generals to ensure they could re-roll failed action tests and kept up pressure from the start.  I did not position my generals well and never got the cavalry into a position where it could engage the enemy at an advantage.