Edgehill - For God, King and Country - playtest one part III

By the 6th Turn, Prince Rupert had been killed in close combat!

view from behind the Royalist left

The firing continued between the lines of Pike and Shotte

the Parliament forces labels

With Turn Seven, yet again the Prince Rupert (now replacement commander) had attached to a cavalry force to bolster its morale, I think my eldest son wanted to stop the horse from running off the field, and yet again the Prince Rupert was killed in close combat!

field at the end of turn seven

earlier in the turn, when Prince Rupert had only been killed once

closer view ... my son said that in the end the dog was in command

the shotte battle continues

Royalist casualties started to mount up

Parliament casualties in the center were lighter than the Royalists ...

the number of minis remained the same ... yet the firepower was dropping

a set of clear plastic chips that Jeff had for marker use have a metal ring around them, making them magnetic and therefore they could be 'stuck' onto my magnetic system bases

closeup of the wonderful painting of Jeff's Royalist forces

flash on (top), flash off (bottom) of the Parliament Dragoons on the left

Royalist Dragoons facing the Parliament ones (at top of photo are the score dice and turn marker - big d20)

Royalist second line are re-deploying

piles of muskets and a cannon wheel are marking the hits to pikes on this Royalist unit ... only 60% (from 120% to start) remains of the morale for this unit with the white flag ...

Essex's center was taking less hits

wider view of the Parliament left of center, now with the second line forming up ...

Prince Rupert, now killed a second time ...

disorder starts to spread in the Royalists ranks (marker on the left of photo)

Parliament Dragoons in the hedges on the left

Royalist Dragoons facing them

view down the battlefield from the Dragoons viewpoint

loads of smoke mark the active shotte fire

view down the line from the other flank

closer view of the Royalist forces painting

Parliamentary commander with a view of our erstwhile host

later in the turn Parliament Pike & Shotte were taking more hits

closer view of a Parliament unit painting

a custom flag (the green one) that I made for this Parliamentary unit, I call them "The Shepherds"

We ran out of time on the first day, as my eldest son and I had other requirements to meet.

Jeff and I have agreed to continue the battle this coming Wednesday evening; I shall continue the After Action Report later this week.

Edgehill - For God, King and Country - playtest one part II

The stage was set and now forces went into motion.

Being less than an efficient general, King Charles first action card was a "1", at least the Prince managed to make his command roll and so was also able to move, unlike the Royalist Left Wing, which failed the roll and was left standing for the turn.

early moves in the battle were all dominated by Prince Rupert

Ruperts Dragoons, still mounted make ready to dismount and hold Parliament Dragoons in stalemate

Parliament guns make a great sound, achieving little

rolling forward the Royalist horse prepared to make a mess of the Parliament Left Wing

Though some pictures were taken, sadly they were mostly of the field at a distance (not much different) or with a shaky freehand and no flash (thus blurry)

By Turn 4 the situation on the Royalist Right Wing under Rupert had crystallized.

Most of the Royalist horse had smashed straight thorough the Parliament units opposite them and then run off the field in a mad rush after the baggage train of Parliament.  Though this gained a victory point for the King's Army, it did leave most of the horse gone from the Right Wing.

the field at the start of turn 4 - Royalists are on the top right side of the image

Royalist horse charging on past the Parliamentary Culverins

Culverins make a mess of some Royalist horse

by turn 4 the Parliament and Royalist armies had commenced firelock duel

of on the Royalist Left, most of the horse was still holding back

while the Parliament horse on the Right had ridden forward to "Carracole" fire into some Pike & Shotte

the carracole fire was effective

Royalist line pours out the fire from the shotte

the long lines as seen from the Royalist Right flank

Royalist cannon was mostly out of range and largely inneffective

While the troopers of Lord Byron were held back in reserve by the King behind the wild charge of Prince Rupert ...

Stay tuned for the exciting clash of arms from the remains of Rupert's charge in the next installment of the AAR from our first playtest of "For God, King and Country" by Canadian Wargames Group.

Edgehill - For God, King and Country - playtest one

Bluebear Jeff had his full tabletop setup on arrival for Edgehill.

The Royalist Army had been deployed and  all I needed to do was to get out the Parliament army and deploy appropriately.

King Charles I upon the hill, flanked by commanded shot with the "Gentlemen Pensioners" to his front

Jeff and the tabletop I was greeted with, always a pleasure to game in Jeff's space

Great detail with Prince Rupert and Boye!

 Taking some time to set out my rulebook, notes and then deploy the Parliament army.

the two lines survey each other

Essex gets a sense that there are far more Royalist cavalry than he had feared

Parliament's left, with Culverins to the fore ...

Parliament's center, seen from the far right

Royalist left wing horse, with dragoons in the hedges ...

This post will have to serve as a teaser to start of the positions of the two armies and the beginning of the battle.  The battle proper shall be chronicled over the next few posts.

Orders

It is not known when the final decision was taken, but on May 13 the Emperor wrote to Marshal Davout, minister of war, demanding road reports, canal and river breadths, pontoon and wagon availabilities, and the earliest date by which the bridging trains could be concentrated between Avesnes and Laon.  Under conditions of the greatest secrecy, the preliminary orders were issued during the early days of June, and teh first carefully concealed troop movements toward the Belgian frontier began soon afterward.

~ The Campaigns of Napoleon, D. Chandler, p. 1017

Edgehill Forces "For God, King and Country": Parliament

Bluebear Jeff and I are  planning an Edgehill game, using the "For God, King and Country" rules by Canadian Wargamers Group.

In anticipation of the game Jeff has posted some photos of his forces.

The Parliamentary Army, never one to miss out on some good propaganda, have paraded their forces also:

The Lord General Essex and his "Wing" Commanders, Ramsay, Ballard & Meldrum

The Left Wing: Ramsay with Cavalry, Dragoons and three Culverin

Ballard and his Brigade Commanders, Essex, Ballard, Meldrum, Holles & Fairfax

Three Regiments under Essex

Three Regiments under Ballard

Three Regiments under Meldrum

Two Regiments under Holles

Two Regiments under Fairfax

The Right Wing under Meldrum

Cavalry Reserve held by Lord General Essex

Come this Saturday, May 16, we shall 'have at' the battle of Edgehill.

To support the battle I have re-done the 15mm scale quick reference sheet (from the rulebook) into this 25mm or 1-inch scale version for our larger troops.

Look for an After Action Report here or with Jeff's blog.

The Central Position

One further consideration settled the matter in favor of an immediate offensive.  The political divergences between England and Prussia were common knowledge, and French intelligence sources soon revealed that this had led to important military repercussions.  Instead of sharing a single system of communications, each of the two armies in the Netherlands had set up a separate series, Wellington's stretching away from Brussels through Ninove and Alost to Ostend and La Manche, Blucher's away from Liege into Central Germany.  A sudden blow against the "hinge" linking the concentration areas of the two armies might well force one or both to retire along their diverging lines of communication.  This would cause an increasing interval to develop between the Allied armies and provide Napoleon with the opportunity of catching and defeating each in turn with local superiority of numbers, using the famed mobility of the French army to cover the intervening distances.  Tn the simplest terms this was the essence of the French plan for the campaign in the Netherlands, based on the strategy of "the central position."  While this blow was being mounted, Generals Rapp, Lamarque, Lecourbe, Suchet, Brune, Clausel and Decaen would be entrusted with holding the frontiers and suppressing any pro-Bourbonist internal revolts (one was already taing place in La Vendee).

~ The Campaigns of Napoleon, D. Chandler, p. 1017

Courses of action ... 1815

Strategic Situation

Napoleon had to choose between two courses of action.  On the assumption that the enemy could not approach the defenses of Paris in strength before mid-August, the Emperor might employ the further two-month lull to raise and train more forces, and eventually mass the bulk of his army in the vicinity of the capital between the Rivers Seine and Marne -- but this time with at least 200,000 men at his disposal as compared with only 90,000 the previous year.  If this defensive strategy was adopted, by early August the French army could be disposed as follows to meet the anticipated two-pronged Allied attack:  116,000 troops in the immediate vicinity of Paris and 25,000 more at Lyons, supported by two further field armies -- 240,000 in the north, 60,000 in the south.  As the allies would be compelled to station at least 200,000 men as garrison and line communications troops, this would leave 350,000 to march on Paris and perhaps 80,000 to threated Lyons.

These Calculations might be a shade optimistic, but as a defensive strategy might have produced at least a temporary parity of numbers -- at the cost of the inevitable abandonment of large areas of French territory.

The alternative course of action was an immediate offensive against the Allied forces in the Netherlands.  This plan presented both difficulties and advantages.  The main problem was clearly one of numbers, for by June Napoleon could expect to have only 125,000 soldiers available for an offensive on the northern frontier, as against possibly 209,000 Allies led by the ablest generals of the Coalition.  Nevertheless, the possible effects of a sudden success in this theater appeared dazzling.  A crushing victory might at one blow rally French opinion firmly behind the Emperor and shake the Coalition's will to victory.  The defeat of the Anglo-Dutch army would almost certainly be followed by a pro-French revolution in Belgium -- providing a useful source of recruits -- while the collapse of Wellington's military reputation might well bring down Lord Liverpool's Tory ministry in England; and Whig government would be prone to make peace.  Besides the political advantages, the clearing of the northeast frontier would leave the Emperor free to mass his forces against the oncoming Austrians and Russians in teh vicinity of Vosges.  In the opinion of Napoleon and his staff this audacious plan was far more in keeping with the French national temperament.

~ The Campaigns of Napoleon, D. Chandler, p.1016

Strategic Situation

1815 Scenario IX from Napoleon in Europe by Eagle Games

The strategical situation facing France was indeed threatening.  In due course the Allies would mobilize btween 800,000 and one million men, and Napoleon could at best hope to muster half that figure.  Furthermore the eastern frontiers of France stretched from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, and the enemy had freedom to choose his point of assault.  This advantage was fully appreciated by the Allies, who planned to attack wit five separate armies, hoping to compel the French to disperse their small forces.  Wellington with 110,00 Allied troops was to attack from Brussels, his left covered by Field Marshal Blucher's 117,000 Prussians advancing on Namur from their base area around Liege.  At the same time, Schwartzenberg's Austrians, 210,000 strong, would attack the upper reaches of the Rhine from the Black Forest, and General Friemont with 75,000 more Austrians and Italians would advance onto the Riviera and threaten Lyons.  Last to arrive on the scene of operations, Barclay de Tolly's army of 150,000 Russians were expected to place themselves in the central Rhine area, serving as a strategic reserve or mass de manoeuvre for the other four armies.  When all these forces were assembled, a simultaneous drive on Paris and Lyons would grind down the French forces by sheer weight of numbers between converging armies.

On paper this scheme looked extremely impressive, but in late May the only Allied forces actually in the field were those of Wellington and Blucher, and it would be at least July before the Austrians reached the Rhine, while the Russians would be later still.  Time was clearly the vital factor to both sides.  In a conference with Wellington at Tirlemont on May 3, Blucher pressed for an immediate offensive by the 210,000 men already available in the Netherlands, but he was persuaded to await the arrival of his other allies.

~ D. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napolon, p. 1015