Battle for Little Dickington 1642

Jim's Parliamentary Army v. Tony's Royalists

1000 points a side Pike & Shotte.  The objective was to take the village of Little Dickington and it's vital crossroads and bridge (either by being the only side to have troops in the village or by forcing the enemy to retreat due to Army Break test).

Parliament had 2 infantry & two cavalry divisions, the Royalists 1 infantry division & 2 cavalry divisions.  The Army Break test was more than half divisions broken, but Parliament also lost if they lost both infantry divisions.  Parliament deployed first to make things a little easier for the less experienced Royalist.

Parliament are on the left in the pics.  Both sides have infantry in the centre, cavalry on both flanks & their guns on the left of the foot.

Parliament got first move and with their dragoons advancing quickly down the road and grabbed most of the village in the first two turns.

The Royalists advanced their cavalry in wide flanking manouvres on both flanks.  The Royalists got musketeers into one corner of the village and a fire fight raged in and around the village for the rest of the battle.

On the far flank, parliament just managed to get their artillery deployed in time to help their cavalry out.  The guns shook a cavalier unit and the remaining 3 were beaten by the 4 roundhead horse.

On the near flank, infantry formed a hedgehog to support the roundhead horse, but the horse was soon broken by the cavaliers lead by Rupert.  But musket & pistol fire had taken their toll and after some hot shooting from the hedghogs, the cavaliers were on the verge of breaking themselves and prudently withdrew before the musket fire could finish them off.

The roundhead horse moved across the rear of the foot to assist the right flank.  The Parliamentary foot stepped up their attacks in and around the village.

Finally the Royalist musketeers holding their corner of the village had enough of fighting at 2:1 odds & broke.  A failed command test meant the ground was not retaken in the Royalists next turn giving Parliament victory.

The take the village scenario provided an interesting change from our free for all fights.