Another day, another Norchester playtest!

The Royalist raiders, headed by Sir Arthur d’Artois area heading for the rear of the Parliamentarian lines, determined to take some of the pressure of their colleagues under siege in Norchester.

The Roundheads, however, have been tipped off and are expecting them: they have a force drawn up in front of the rear of their camp and are prepared to do battle!

Overview of the Field

Three Parliamentarian camps ripe for the plucking.

The Parliamentarian Line

A brigade of cavalry on either wing, two brigades of infantry in the centre, some guns.

The Game Begins

My Royalists also have cavalry on either wing and infantry in the centre…but a goodly proportion of my infantry is Rabble: volunteers who have plenty of spirit but no guns!

My plan is to hold the right flank, then smash his cavalry aside on the left and send some infantry through to take the camps.

On my Right

Not sure that I shouldn’t have stayed behind the hedge.

General Parliamentarian Advance

Imminent Cavalry Clash!

My three units of veteran Swedish horse should be able to see off his two units of Dutch horse and those Scottish pistoliers lurking behind.

Disaster on my left!

The initial cavalry clash does not go my way.

After the dust clears, although I have killed one enemy squadron, I only have one Swedish horse unit left,…and that ends up flanked!

Meanwhile on the Right

Things aren’t going too well here, either.

My shot-heavy battalia have each fired three times at enemy infantry and done no damage at all. The Roundheads, on the other hand, have almost killed the unit of Rabble in cover in the woods.

Centre Left Action

With my cavalry in trouble, I have to cover the gap in my centre.

Far Left

My Swedish horse are made of strong stuff!

They survive the Parliamentarian flank attack and are then rescued by a standard pike & shot battalia.

The Infantry Clash Centre Left

And Also on the Right

With the Cavalry on the Far Right also Coming Together

Break Through on the Far Left

Pistoliers dealt with; Dutch horse turned back. Perhaps I can still make good things happen on this flank

In the Centre

The battle is still raging!

I will break the enemy unit on the hill, but lose the unit bottom right.

This is honours even in this clash, but I’ve already lost a lot of troops and my army’s morale is weakening!

It Could Go Either Way!

I’m still waiting for my cavalry to capture the enemy camp, which is almost enough to win me the game.

The trouble is that I’ve lost more units over on the right, and have more in serious trouble.

The game could go either way at this point: the advantage is slightly with me, but it’s a slim margin at best!

And That's It!

My right flank finally gives way and, at almost the moment of triumph, victory is stripped from me!

My troops on the right should have held out for long enough for my cavalry to take one of the enemy camps on the left and win me the game, but my opponent threw everything into a final desperate charge on the right and, with a little luck, just did me enough damage to finally break my army’s morale.

Yes, in “real life”, one enemy camp was probably destroyed, but that wouldn’t be enough to seriously disrupt the siege.

D’Artois leads the battered remainder of his men off the field, the bitter taste of defeat in his mouth!

Another cracking game, with the scenario passed as playtested.

The battle swung this way and that, but always with me having the edge, right up to the last moment. To indicate how close it was, my opponent had only one Victory Medal left himself i.e. if I’d broken one more unit or taken that camp, then victory would have been mine.

The final turn began with me on four Victory Medals: all of which I lost on the right as my troops finally gave way: about as close to victory as you can get without actually winning!

On to the next scenario now: Ramshackle Road…

Action from Marlowe to Maidenhythe

Most of you should know that Norchester will be my second scenario pack for For King & Parliament, with the first being Marlowe to Maidenhythe.

Always great to see my scenarios being used: here’s a link to the Blunders on the Danube blog where there’s a great report of the first scenario from M2M: the Attack on Marlowe

Blunders on the Danube/M2M AAR