Back from holiday and another Big SP playtest battle

OK, so the holidays are over now and it is back to reality. 

This game was planned before I went on holiday at the beginning of July. It is another playtest of my modifications for Sharp Practice so I can play big battles using my Lurkio 15mm late 17th century armies. This time, I was playing against another club member, Dick, who has an interest in finding some good Pike & Shot rules. We played out a simple encounter battle with Dick commanding the French and me in charge of the Anglo-Dutch and Danish army.

The battle was, as often seem the case a relatively inconclusive one, but the French definitely came out with the upper hand, with Anglo-Dutch morale plummeting due to losing a pretty monumental cavalry encounter near the centre of the table. I  am not going to give a blow by blow account, but there were some interesting points that emerged.

Anyway, the French arrived first, but the Anglo-Dutch managed to get most of their army on the table before any more French arrived.

The Anglo-Dutch centre-right seemed perfect for Horse.

Elsewhere the two Danish regiments of Foot slowly advanced. These troops do not have pikes, so need to rely on their plug bayonets to defend in melee.

The Anglo-Dutch cavalry began to advance strongly.

An English Dragoon regiment used their moveable deployment point to ambush a French Horse regiment. Rules for moveable deployment points are one of the things I want to change in the next iteration of these rule mods. I am thinking that only the unit that has the characteristic should be able to use them.

This Dutch Horse regiment braced itself for a volley that never came.

Elsewhere, the inevitable bottlenecks caused by moving past buildings hit the Anglo-Dutch.

The scene was set for the big cavalry battle that would decide the outcome of the game. Fisticuffs is the main area where I have issues with my modifications, particularly involving cavalry (including the use of pistols when charging or receiving a charge and the inability of Horse to counter charge).

The cavalry action initially favoured the Anglo-Dutch.

However, before long, the elite Régiment du Roi imposed itself upon proceedings.

The Anglo-Dutch left became a stalemate.

This was the crunch! The elite French Horse charged at the gallop, giving them a big advantage and defeated Woods' Horse (green facings) in a flank charge, causing them to withdraw with heavy losses and then took on Lumley's Horse (yellow facings) who were forced to withdraw, which put them within close range of concentrated French musketry. 

So, what did Dick think? Overall, he had positive words but also raised some valid questions about cavalry close combat. I have much thinking to do in this area, mainly to reflect on how mounted units can respond to being the subject of of a charge which doesn't totally disadvantage them but which still gives the attacker the bonus one would expect from the impetus of the charge.

No game last Sunday, so here is something from a previous gaming day

I was due to play a game of Alien Squad Leader on Sunday but my opponent didn't turn up. Anyway, this at least gives me an opportunity to post about a game I played on a previous Sunday.

I've posted about my modifications to Sharp Practice before, and this game was another outing for those rules, with one or two small tweaks. 

The action took place in the fictional town of Dassendorp, somewhere in Flanders. The Anglo-Dutch army was marching south, aware of the threat of French forces marching north to capture the town. 

The Anglo-Dutch army arrived on the field of battle with a strong force of Horse and Dragoons, led by General Sir Edmund Melchett deployed on the left, the aim being to sweep round and prevent the French from outflanking the main body of the army, led by General Sir Rodney Watney-Mann.

However, the wily French commander, the Marquis de Saint-Sylvestre had stolen a march on Watney-Mann and his leading regiments were already inside Dassendorp.

Undeterred, the Anglo-Dutch Horse began to advance, as the woods opposite appeared to be free from French troops.

As the Horse walked across the open fields, their enemies emerged in strength. Foiled! This looked like a stalemate. Melchett halted his squadrons.

Sir Rodney led his main strength into the town, led by the Dutch Garde Te Voet. 

Realising that his left flank required reinforcing. he sent the Earl of Oxford's Horse and the Danish Fynske Regiment to support Melchett's now outnumbered brigade of Horse.

Saint-Sylvestre began to organise his regiments into a defensive posture on the southern edge of Dassendorp, holding the Gardes Françaises back as a reserve.

The Anglo-Dutch centre emerged from the streets of Dassendorp and deployed into line, supported by Fusiliers and artillery.

On the right, the 1st Foot Guards and the Queen Dowager's Regiment opened fire at long range against the French Horse and Dragoons arrayed against them, to little effect.

In the centre, both sides opened fire with artillery.

Things were hotting up on the right, the French Horse, led by the dashing Vicomte du Buisson-de-Cadouin seemed intent on pushing back the English Foot, regardless of the casualties they were receiving from musket fire.

Buisson-de-Cadouin charged in with the elite Régiment du Roi and, in the ensuing melée pushed the Queen Dowager's regiment back, causing many casualties and shock. 

It was beginning to look as though the battle would be decided on the Anglo-Dutch right, where the inexperienced General Willem de Rijsttafel was struggling to deal with the fearsome French Horse.

The 1st Foot Guards were the next to feel the effects of cold French steel, being forced to withdraw when charged while unloaded. 

De Rijsttafel was forced to gallop to safety with his staff as his infantry melted away.

The final act was a gallant but pointless charge by Melchett's brigade against the French right flank. They were repulsed by the Régiments de Lyonnais and Champagne, supported by the Régiment de Rohan Horse.

Interestingly, this was the first time one of these battles has given a decisive result, with the French army repulsing the Anglo-Dutch while suffering few losses themselves.

I think that the significant thing was the power of elite Horse against Foot, when the Foot unloaded in Fisticuffs. The way I have adapted the SP rules clearly gives the Horse an advantage in melée, possibly too much of an advantage, so perhaps there needs to be some further thought involved. As things stand, the Aggressive characteristic given to Foot regiments with pikes is negated if the regiment is charged while unloaded.

Anyway, it was a pretty enjoyable game, even though the layout of the table made things difficult for both sides.