Campaign Scenario #3 Monckton Farleigh

 Our first face-to-face tabletop game since the easing of restrictions.

We were able to make another move in the western campaign of the ECW.

terrain for the battle as Rob starts to lay out the
Royalist attackers

This time Monckton Farleigh, 3 July 1643.

Parliament forces have assembled in a walled orchard, with foot and guns, while a small hillock has the Parliament horse.  Royalists must cross the stream to the rear of the Parliament in order to score a victory.

troops fully deployed
Parliament rookies near the stream

a Royalist double line faced them

reverse view

a 'replacement' officer was needed for Major Dowett
of Waller's Horse as the one in our campaign was killed
at Stoke Lane only two days before (see AAR)

Royalist dismounted Dragoons (their horses now stolen?)
lead the way towards the Parliament line

their formation comes under immediate fire from hidden
Parliament Dragoons in the woods line

the main lines then open fire on the same Dragoons

cutting them to pieces in the process
- new casualty markers by Rob -

The opening step did not go well for the Royalists, though it is most of the Royalist horse that wins the day ... so they would be put to use now.

now the horse of both sides goes into action

immediately engaging

while the foot assembles forward to better reach musket range

though that will take them into better artillery range ...

the horse tangle goes mostly for Royalists
though some are wounded and actually held up by
the Parliamentary pistoleers

the horse battle

turn three starts

more cannonade and musket fire exchanges

Parliament horse hold up more Royalists - keeping
them in ideal artillery position

Royalist re-enforcement arrive

Parliament horse linger ...

the Parliament dragoons make good use of the woods
continuing to fire from cover

making the flank wary of any advance, thus forcing one
regiment to take the brunt of the fire coming
from the orchard

turn 4 was mostly fire and recovery
with turn 5 it became an attrition match

Royalist horse re-engaged and drove off the Parliament horse

the Parliament dragoons were routed

Parliament horse recovered on the hillock, their 'replacement'
Captain, now himself replaced after bravely leading
the delaying action

now a decision moment for the Royalists, do they
press on the horse alone, or can they manage to
bring a gun into action and
drive out the Parliament from the orchard?

firing was chosen for the orchard

a more 'supported' attack was made against the horse flank

guns maneuvered again behind the lines

while a fresh regiment was moved ahead on the flank

turn seven would be pivotal ...

masses of fire coming from Royalists did not
dislodge the Parliament

while the Parliament fire did slacken due to powder running
out on one gun (the black smoke)

Parliament forces were still a solid wall

horse view of no mans land

the orchard filled with men and guns

a wider view
(yes we were using a motor garage)

one last throw of the horse

flash on

flash off

this battered regiment would not last much longer

maximum casualties and in disorder their fire
was degraded to the point on worthless
(the red coated man alone -disorder- 'chicken dancer')

Royalist horse commander blew a roll and the horse stood still

from the rear of the Royalist lines

on the far flank of Parliament in the walled orchard

Parliament Colonel Burghill managed the battle
from the hinge point of the horse and foot

now the decision might be made

Royalist foot take another pounding

at last the artillery is ready, though still masked by
Royalist foot

could the Royalist commander still squeeze out a victory?

in the event, the Royalists did not have enough
stamina to overcome the well set Parliament in
the orchard

more casualties stacked up

Parliament horse had one more flank pistol attack
that manage to drive off the Royalist horse

while at the verge of the wall, Parliament held firm
saving throws (mostly due to the wall) were
able to keep less casualties than the 'in the open'
Royalists

with casualties mounting on two regiments now

the whole battalia was at risk of breaking

Royalist horse

the remaining Royalist forces longer view
(tool rack seen beyond the curtain)

it was great to get in a face to face game again

 

I used the background curtains from our other broadcasts of the past year and this past spring in order to limit the background clutter in images.

I hope everyone is able to get back to the tabletop soon.