Karm Kerwell - 08:03am Jan 4, 2000 PST (#87 of 105) Solitaire Battle of Newbury I replay from Ben Hull's THIS ACCURSED CIVIL WAR. I often omitted reaction fire, advancing fire, preemption (trump) attempts (none were successful), some schiltron attempts, etc. unless they were important to the game and this replay. Opening set up for the Royalists was Rupert (Horse) on the left, Astley (Infantry/Artillery) in the center and Bryon (Horse) on the right. Most units were set up along the Wash Hill Road. Royalist Army Commander was Charles I assisted by Lord Forth. Parliament forces were lead by Essex with Middleton (Horse) on the right vs. Rupert. Skippon (Infantry/Artillery) in the center and Stapleton (Horse) on the left vs. Bryon. Turn 1: Rupert moved first, received two continuations and drove Middleton's wing out and off of the Bell Hill Road. Even Parliament's Essex 5-8 horse was routed. Parliament right folded. The Cavaliers lost one horse to rout and one in pursuing. On the north end of the field Parliament gained the upper hand in the clash of horse. Stapleton (with a continue) advanced toward Bryon but did not charge as the Royalists were sitting on their D1 road (Wash Hill). Bryon then activated and charged Stappleton. A series of interceptions and charges ensued resulting in Bryon himself routing and the Roundheads having a marginal upper hand with more remaining and intact horse on the field. In the center, Parliament activated and moved Robartes (HI), positioned on their extreme right, back into a reserve position in the rear to stand by for Rupert. Artillery exchange between both sides. Royalist center held it's position with a Make Ready. Turn 2: Rupert activated first and completely destroyed Middleton's wing. Middleton taken prisoner (my rule. He was a casualty, surrounded and lost to Cavalier horse). Parliament's right center was now fully exposed! Skippon (Parli left) then activated and continued that wing's attack. Bryon A (horse), containing both Bryon and Charles I, (Charles was in the hex to reform the badly beaten up Bryon A) routed off the field! Bryon and Charles gone, no pursuit. Skippon falls vs. Wilmot B (horse) in the Royalist activation. Both wings are now leaderless. In the center, Parliament did some more reserve shifting and both sides continued with artillery exchange. No other infantry movement yet. Turn 3: Replacement leaders assigned. Lord Forth took over as OC for the Royalists. Rupert gathered his forces around him and begun regrouping (i.e., removing the formation shaken status from all of his units). Parliament left (formally Stapleton, then under a Rpl Ldr) activated, attacked and dissolved to nothing. Royalist right (also under a Rpl Ldr) activated, moved across Skinner's Green, continued and then moved behind Round Hill and Parliamentary lines. At this time this wing was only made up of two horse units. Parli center then activated and ordered the London Trained Bands do a 180 on top of Round Hill to face off with the newly arrived Cavaliers in the rear. Both centers continued with artillery exchange. Parliament's position at this point in the game was looking like a giant "L" made up of infantry and cannon starting at Round Hill and running south along a portion of the Bell Hill Road and then turning west in reaction to Rupert's sudden arrival. Karm Kerwell - 08:04am Jan 4, 2000 PST (#88 of 105) Turn 4: Bryon's old wing (the two horse in the Roundhead's rear, now under a Rpl Ldr) activated and changed from a Charge order to Rally. They took reaction fire hits from the LTB but held their ground. They needed to reform if they had any hope of continuing on in the battle. It is easier to change from Charge to Rally as opposed to Charge to Make Ready. Rupert however, gambled against this and attempted to change from Charge to Make Ready. He failed. All of his units were forced to move at least one hex toward the enemy. This placed most of his units face-to-face or within two hexes of Parli HI. No schiltrons attempted. Salvo reaction fire miraculously did little to no damage vs. the cavaliers who ended up withdrawing under more badly aimed reaction fire. All but one of Rupert's units passed the required moral checks in this craziness. More artillery exchange occurred in the center and Royalist Infantry, still under Make Ready, began slowly rolling forward on the left. Turn 5: Rupert now changed from Charge to Rally. His out of command units moved toward him, away from the Parliament line. Gerrard A (Rupert Horse unit) eliminated by reaction fire in attempting to place itself in command. Skippon activated. Parliament cannon knocks Darcy (Royalist HI) to Formation Broken (i.e., it can no longer move) which is a terrible formation to be in when you are trying attack. Royalists in the center (still under Make Ready) advance on their right vs. the Parliament left. In the Parliament rear, the two Royalist horse reformed and changed from Rally to Make Ready. Turn 6: Skippon activated (Parli cntr) and caused more damage with his cannon to the Royalists. Astley (Royalist cntr) activated, kept his Make Ready order and dressed his lines. Vavasour and Belasyse (Royalist HI) riddled Essex (5-7 HI) with fire at two hexes and destroyed the unit. Bryon's old wing (the Rpl Ldr at Parli's rear door) changed from Make Ready to Charge and took on the ½ reformed Springate (5-6 HI, previously routed by Rupert's boys and now stacked with Essex). Springate couldn't go into schiltron as he wasn't formed. The Cavaliers routed both Springate and Essex and rode off in pursuit. Royalist right wing now gone for the game. The only remaining horse belonged to Rupert who spent the turn rallying and reforming. Turn 7: Essex gone. Paliament left (Round Hill) was virtually unopposed. Unfortunately for them, that was where the bulk of their cannon was positioned. Royalist center (still under Make Ready, advanced one more hex and received reaction fire. London Train Bands did their second 180 for the day and returned to the main line. Holborne (Parliament HI) on the far Parli left, came down off of Round Hill and wheeled left to advance on Royalist right vs. Bryon (HI). Rupert rallied up and now has four good horse units ready for turn 8. Karm Kerwell - 08:05am Jan 4, 2000 PST (#89 of 105) Turn 8: Parliament activated and fired cannon on Bryon causing him formation broken status again (He was constantly breaking and reforming formation as he sat downwind of the Roundhead cannon). Royalist line went from Make Ready to CHARGE! They rolled forward. Lord Forth was shot in reaction fire! Skippon was shot by return/advancing fire! Push of Pike across the D1 hexside road resulted in Barclay (Parli right) routing and Gerard (Royal center) routing. Rupert converted from Rally to Make Ready and moved toward Parliament lines. Turn 9: Astley (Royalist center) activated and attempted to change from Charge to Rally. Failed. His troops pressed on! No units move (I think they were either formation broken or perhaps some adjacent to the enemy???) but did engaged in fire combat for little result. Parliament activated and routed Darcy. Turn 10: I wish I used the optional ammo record rule. I think at this point most, if not all, of the HI units in the game have fired 12+ shots. Royalist center had no choice but to change from Charge to Rally. They did. Vavasour (Royalist HI) routed due to reaction fire casualties. Skippon's replacement leader was killed. Parliament activated for more fire exchange and casualties. Rupert changed from Make Ready to Charge and moved on Robartes (Parli HI). Robartes went into schiltron but 3 Royalist horse broke it for a rout. At this point I decided to call off the attack on Parliament. This may have been premature if you look at the VP awards below. However, the Royalist infantry was in no position to stand another attack. Their infantry was simply too shaken up and shot up! Parliament still held the hill and most of it's cannon were sitting comfortably there. The London Trained Bands were unscratched, London Aux and Holborne (all HI) were also in excellent shape. I suppose Rupert's horse might have caused more damage but they didn't have the infantry support to do it with. They also had too many hits per unit. If it was "real life" I imagine both sides would have just quit the field. Essex and Charles where MIA. Bryon also gone, Middleton captured and Skippon and Forth dead. And, as I mentioned, Rupert was without the manpower he needed to take on the Parliament heavies. Royalists gained the following VPs: 46 for Parliament infantry lost, 108 for cavalry, 20 for Essex routing and 50 for other leaders lost. Total: 224 Parliament gained the following VPs: 44 for Royalist infantry lost, 84 for cavalry, 20 for King Charles running away, 20 for Lord Bryon and Lord Forth lost. (I did not give them 20 for Lord Forth and 10 for Bryon. I figure the 20 VP awarding is for the original Army Commander.) Total: 168 So who won? The Royalists started the game with 20 less infantry points than Parliament, so taking 44 hits compared to the 46 was a bit too much. I think it really came down to a draw. Fun game!