Field of Glory Renaissance in Wales 2011

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After a bit of a doorstep sandwich and some of the worlds grimmest chips (and my standards are low on this) it was time for a ECW Royalist army in Game 2

In the absence of a FoG Renaissance Wiki (just yet anyway) the lists can be seen here

The terrain was again interesting, with a big enclosed field dominating the middle of the table. We again opted to detach our shot, and planned to drive them into the field whilst pushing pike blocks up both sides.

The Royalists were a jolly bunch, with some exuberant Cavaliers hoorahing as they swept down towards our right flank.

In the center, the Royalists had a deep checkerboard formation composed largely of shot-only units, and an incredible horde of horse on their right.

Some of the Royalists were freshly laundered

Facing a vall of Cavaliers, the Hugenots stormed to the top of a grassy knoll, ready to shoot anything even vaguely presidential aproaching them.

The two armies advanced towards each other somewhat tentatively, with the Royalists tending to hang back as the itimidating Swiss Kiels moved up

At least this time the Hugenot Dragoons had worked out what they were supposed to do, and had rapidly found a wood in which to hide.

The flamboyant and moustachioed Royalist Commander pens a letter to his King informing him of his progress so far in the battle.

There was a mighty rustling in the woods on our right, as Royalist dragoons stumbled across the Enfants perdu's and a sharp exchange of fire took place a short range

The Hugenots suddenly had a flash of insignt - they had spotted the Royalists cunning plan!

 

Tentative was no longer appropriate to describe the Royalist tactics - they were positively nailed to the tabletop as they tried to put off a clash with the Swiss as long as possible!

  

Lost Children 1, Dragoons 0, as the Royalists pick up a disrupted marker

   

The 'ugenot 'orse adopted a sarf London accent and formed a huge line with which to approach the Royalists

Back on the right, the Hugenot skirmishers definately had had the better of the Royalist dragoons, who now had a Red marker to replace their Yellow one.

On the extreme right however, the Royalists had become decidedly more cavalier than their colleagues in the centre, and had swept forwards, forcing the Hugenots to allocate a unit of Pike and Shotte to counter them. The Hugenot carbine armed horse also were drawn into the argument.

The Royalist center fell back, but space was running out and there surely would be a serious coming togther of the two armies in the near future

The Swiss and their wingmen, the French Pike would have to make a desparate rush through overlapping fields of fire to reach their target...

The Royalists were rather pretty - soon we would find out if they could also fight!

The two amies lined up, ready for the coming battle. A massive cavalry clash loomed on our left, and the Hugenots would have to wade through a sea of lead to get to contact on the left. Fascinating....

Sporting a rather anachronistic timepiece, the Royalist general prepared his cavaliers for combat

The Cavaliers swept forward, and with the Hugenot infantry unable to intercept, charged home against the hapless Hugenot Harquebusiers in a tongue-twisting attack.

After careful consideration, the Swiss simply charged forward, into acres of empty space where the Royalists were retreating before them already

The Royalists had reformed their entire line, and now sat waiting as the Hugenots moved into range. Would the shorter ranged primitive arquebusiers suffer in the approach, or would the deeper pike formations charge home relatively unscathed into the pike-free royalist foote?

The depleted Cavaliers were feeling decidedly uncavalier as the Harquebusiers gave them a bloody nose. Royalist dragoons were pressed into service to prevent the Hugenot pike and shotte hitting the flank of their Gentlemen Horse.

Ready to go...!

The Hugenots had plenty of time to close up the gaps in their formation as they approached the static Royalist Line.

As the Hugenots approached, the Royalist Commander had enough time to brew up a cup of tea as his army prepared for the onslaught.

Meanwhile on the Hugenot right the Royalists still seemed some way away from the advancing Swiss - coordinatig the two flanks of the battle would be tough for both sides.

The skirmish action on the Hugenot right was a lot easier to call, as telling arquebus fire shredded the Royalist Dragoons.

Suddeny the Cavaliers uttered a mighty Hoorah! and fought back against the unarmoured Harquebusiers! Now the battle was in the balance!

The Hugenot right flank suddenly realised that it was mightily outnumbered - the 2 pike units were facing almost a hundred Royalist formations, and would have to defeat them in turn to record a complete victory. Oh well, another day at the office for the Swiss.....

Almost literally, everything else charged home...

The Hugenot Harquebusiers suddenly lost heart and broke, to be pursued forever by the rapacous Cavaliers.

A massive melee developed, more akin to a rugby scrum than a battle of skill and quality

As the Hugenot pike and shotte block moved in on the hapless dragoons, the Royalist Cavaliers refused to cease pursuit!!

The cavaliers chased the harquebusiers from the field and turned their greedy eye towards the ugenot baggage

Gazillions of dice were rolled, and the French had Les Pips in their hands this time!

Still the dice rolled...

The Royalists were losing the odd base, but their cohesion was relatively intact - and in the middle a vicious exchange of shooting was damaging both Shotte units.

Finally the action also seeped over to the Hugenot right....

The Royalist Horse bounced off the advancing Swiss Kiel, creating a hole in the Royalists otherwise tidy linear formation.

But at the other end of the line things were starting to unravel with the Hugenot Millers as their cohesion faltered.

Suddenly things started to fall apart for te French, as their central arquebusier group cracked and ran, triggering a set of failed tests across the front of the line

But all was not yet lost - the Hugenots dug deep and fought back gamely

Even advancing into the valley of musketry, the Swiss on the Hugenot right were still at 4 ranks deep across almost their entire formation.When they hit home it would hurt the Royalist foote.

But the ugenot line so carefully assembled and so delicately shepherded across almost the entire table to reach the cautious Royalists, was now unravelling at a rate of knots, leaving a desparately gaping flank for the Cavaliers to exploit

As the rest of the army started to crumble, the second Swiss Kiel hits home

test here

But it was too little too late....

With the last dice rolls of the game, the Catholic Cuirassiers lost against disrupted enemy - and broke - taking with them the Harquebusiers who suffered a double drop in their reaction to their friends rout! A devastating defeat for the forces of Catholicism, but a battered Swedish army certainly knew it had been in a real scrap. 

Post Match Summary

As one of the innumerable leaders of the Thirty Years War I still am rather unclear as to why it all started, who actually won, who the sides were, which side I was fighting on, and frankly even who I am supposed to be - and this so many years after the conflict itself finished. 

However what I can be confident of is that this game represented a brilliant set of strategic options for my brave if somewhat poorly dressed troops. 

Starting with the advantages of straight pikes and 4 artillery, we worked them fairly hard and were really effective at winnowing down the Swedes as they advanced towards our well prepared positions. 

But we all know the Swedes are fantastic in attack (even if General Ibrahimovich sometimes fails to translate his club form onto the major battlefields of Europe), and once they get to Salvo range things started to go wrong - we really needed just another round or two of cannon fire and the odds would have been a lot more even. 

My horsemen seemed to get a poor rub of the green, and somehow our superior numbers failed to translate into advantages - those Swedish chaps are tough too. 

However, even with all this, to lose right at the death represents a noble and glorious victory of sorts and so I can go back and send an email to the Pope to tell him that his divine inspiration needs to be a only a touch more emphatic next time and we should have a great result and a glorious future in which Latin will again be the lingua franca in all of Europe's churches. 

---

Hannibal's Post Match Analysis

Thou cup runnist over with the bitter bile of defeat, and yet you and ye legions seemest to appropriate such a debacle as evidence of Divine endorsement? I fearest for thou sanity dear comrade in arms ...

Instead of praise, I come to sayest that thou doth takest my breath away with thou incompetence. 

Far into yonder future, a Great Captain by the name of Napoleon du'Bone wilst sayest "Put all your guns in a effing big artillery parks and point hem all at the same thing, then press the button marked "bang"" and thou neededest to learn yonder lesson, and mighty pronto 'ere some other Captain sticketh one upon you big time with the self same idea.

Thy guns wert split, and - Gods Blood! - even worse, yonder battery of the left part be totally fricking unprotected. So, the part of your plan of the most premium import, and it be leftest to dry out on end of yonder washing line, without even a petticoat to protect it's modesty? Hardly Catholic werst it? 

And thy cavalry! Gods Teeth! Where thou hads't the greatest advantage in numbers which only a Catholic approach to birth control could offerest, and behold, thy Regimentes of Horse are stacked, as if curls of hair on a fine ladies head, but do it BEHIND all of thy Regimentes of Foote, hopeless - but with their modesty intact and their swords ne'er bloodied. And then they achevest almost nothing - what a surprise. 

However, even though thou wert in peril of thy life throughout this debacle, 'tis a great joy to beholdest a game of such animation, such uncertainty and such excitement. E'er before the day had risen, the arrangement of thy men in a checkerboard fashion werst a beauty to behold and brought great joy to my old mans heart. 

And as the battle emerged, mewling and spitting as if 'twere a pup just birthed from its ma in some forsaken stable, the interest wast maintained through 'ought  e'en as the devilish Swedes advanced, every single round of shooting brought with it the prospect of plan-changing losses for either side - and every combat was poised, with the opportunity for great gains by the forces arrayed so intrepidly and gloriusly at break o'day. 

I lookest forward with a heart light in optimism for enjoyment of warfare in this era - e'en if I hold but a faint candle for the emergence of something akin to basic competence in that beating cowards heart that is bedecked so well in yonder military finery and lace that passeth for a uniform and which hangest in your wardrobe. 

(next game)

FoG Renaissance will be out in September

It looks to have most of the buggy bits from FoG Ancients ironed out, and with less skirmishers and more people shooting in the Renaissance era, it is a lot more about beating your opponent by removing bases rather than making them fail reaction tests!

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