English Civil War - with new model forests using Victory Without Quarter

 The new model forest got put into action for the first time in a solo-play action battle using some ECW troops (on their new teddy bear fur bases) and Victory Without Quarter rules set.

new layout with forest and 'tufts' to break up the
otherwise flat green spaces

new forest

new forest with an older "weeble tree"
in front to the left

new trees and a village with gravel road

new trees now with a old foam tree in the photo center

the new trees look great

as a massed forest they look excellent

the village comes off looking better with the
rough trees and hedges

a lone copse with a large tree upon a low rise ...

The 'battle' was to see a 4 horse 2 foot force of Royalists coming out from the village against a Parliamentary force of 3 horse and 3 foot with 2 light guns.

overview of table

Royalist lines

Royalist left flank horse

center of the village

Parliament command

 It took a few more minutes to sort out the 'cards' needed to run a game of Victory Without Quarter using the troops given.

opening positions, seeing the Parliament rushing to get
into position to control the river crossing

as with most battles, the early game is
one of maneuver

each 'turn' has a variable number of cards
which determine which units or commanders
move or take action, one at a time

these early moves were simply photographed from
a stationary camera to see the moves

essentially the early 'decks' had more
Parliament moves happen than Royalist ...

though a Royalist horse troop did push
hard into the line ... getting shot away by a pike and shotte unit

this did not work out well for the Royalist plans

now the Parliament lines could move together

Parliament artillery also actually managed to get a hit!

though the tough blew regiment did not flinch

while the horse (seen in the left of the image)
were busy 'rallying' rearward

another deck, limited moves

still another deck, now at least the Royalist left wing
horse were on the move (top right of image)

overall command of the Royalists had made
efforts to stop the routing horse

only just barely stopping them from fleeing
the tabletop

they had halted at the very edge of the village

the lines were facing off now with musketry starting

shotte and pistols in the fore and exchanging volleys to the rear

the Royalist left wing horse took some hits from artillery

this caused a pause in the Royalist plan

Royalist high command re-positioned to be ready to
help both wings

the horse were half destroyed, a decision was needed

meanwhile the Parliament forces were pouring on
the fire ...

the next deck

a horse unit that was only inches from fleeing ...
had turned around

unfortunately the other shaken horse had routed

and routed

so the final remaining horse was going to have to do
the job alone ... with the wing commander attached

Parliament now needed to get victory
before the Royalist horse could reach to the flank

so the fire fights were going to be vicious

now the battle of maneuver had begun

the deck obliged and managed to permit the
Royalist horse to ride deep in the flank

Artillery had been readied ...

while the Parliament commander scrambled
to get foot to support that gun

while at the same time routing the Royalist
blew foot

now the remaining reds were going to have
to hold off twice their number

the Royalist banner can be seen beyond the woods

peek a boo in the trees

next to last deck
(I had decided that 20 was the limit for this battle)

the Royalist flank attack had been hit by artillery

the view was just enough

though the morale check was passed
since the commander was attached

meanwhile the rest of the army was rushing to cover

in the shadow of the hill more Parliament troops
were rushing to the right flank

even as a horse troop of Parliament had failed

scene of three horse clashes, now the reds were
being forced back ...

while the blews were finally routed off the table

other horse troops were managing to hold on

army command were called upon to keep
the reds in the battle

final deck positions

the last Royalist horse attack

held in check by a pike & shotte unit

more foot were coming

the last acts

with Parliament army commander attached
the pike & shotte drove off the Royalist horse

holding at the side of the river ford, the Parliament had
seized the river crossing

a Parliament horse unit could not muster up
enough courage to charge the last Royalist foote

while more Royalist horse fled the field

it took the brigade command's life and a continuing
effort from the Royalist commander to stop the
rout of the reds

the battle's end

my home-made quick game deck

losses

I'll finish off with a few more photos of the table at game's end.