Wednesday, May 23, 2018

English Civil War: Seige of Worcester

This was a slightly modified version of the non-historical Worcester scenario in the Pike & Shotte book.  It was fought using Hail Cromwell, our modification of Hail Caesar for the era.
The Covenantors hold the town with 2 infantry divisions (2 pike, 4 musket & 1 highlander) & have a mixed division (3 cav, 1 musket & 1 dragoon) outside the town on each flank.  Chris commanded their left, JohnS their right.
The English had a mixed division on each flank (2 cavalry, 1 pike, 2 musket & a storming party), 3 pike & 6 muskets left centre, 2 pike & 4 musket right centre, 2 heavy cavalry right centre, plus 3 heavy guns.  Mitch commanded their left, Mark their centre & Jim their right.
The town wall has one breach from a previous seige (near the far corner).  The attackers can make more breaches with their artillery & their 2 storming parties who carry petards.  Some of the infantry carry ladders so they can storm the walls.
To win, the Engliah have to have 3 units inside the town at the end of a Covenanter turn before 10pm.
On the near flank the Covenanters repelled the initial English attacks, but the English have worked their way around their flank. 
On the far flank the Covenanters are doing well against the flanking force, but are being flanked by the English pike & shot.
Outflanked on their left, the Covenanter's left flank is about to break but it has inflicted significant casualties
Weight of numbers eventually also told on the far flank where the Covenanters outside the town are also close to breaking.
The English attack the old breach & the walls either side (yellow counters indicate the units with ladders)
The English cannon are pounding away at the wall near the 2nd tower from the corner & the storming party is setting up their petard this side of the corner.
The English forced their way though the old breach, but a counterattack threw them back out.  The attacks on the walls with ladders have been repulsed.  The storming party is preparing their petard.
Both the artillery & the petard have made breaches on the near flank.  The storming party is attacking their breach.
The storming party has broken through, but is shaken.  Pikes are attacking the other breach.
On the far flank the large English pike & shot division had been broken in its unsuccessful attacks while the storming party has made a breach, but have not yet forced their way past it.
The English have poured cavalry through the breach on the near flank.

One of the cavalry units in the town has been broken by musket fire to keep the Covenanters in the game, but another musketeer unit has pushed through the artillery breach & on the far flank the storming party has also entered the town.  This time the Covenanters fail to break any of the English units in the town giving the English the win.

It was a desperately close run thing.  All 4 remaining English divisions are on half strength, lucky to have passed break tests that would broken them in the last desperate turns, and they fulfilled their victory conditions just 4 minutes before the 10pm deadline.

2 comments:

BigLee said...

Lovely looking game

Gonsalvo said...

A very near run thing, as it were!