It's still a long way to Brigadoon

With Mark & Steve otherwise occupied tonight & Chris in Switzerland, Mike & I took the easy path & reprised the scenario I fought against Nick last Thursday.  Miek chose to be the English witht eh task of getting their baggage across the table in the face of the Scots hiding in the scrub.

The Scots have just sprung their ambushes with all their forces jumping out of cover as soon as the English cavalry got close enough to someone to force the Scots to expose themselves.  The English cavalry advance guard began deploying into battle formation on moving to within 12" of the Scots cavalry in the hedged field.

The English get a bit of a break when the Scots cavalry fail command and don't advance.   Their dragoons dive into the central wood and start a galling fire on the pikemen.  Their cavalry turn on the Scots musketeers with mixed success.  Their large infantry division is getting sorted out under pressure.

The Scots on the far flank have driven through the English shot and reached the road.  English pike & shot have in turn broken through near the far wood.  On this flank one warband has been ridden down by cavalry, butt he other is hammering the head of the English infantry column.   The Scots cavalry are still slow to advance.

The Scots regroup on the near flank and put pressure on all along the line.  The Scots on the road hang on, even beating off a rear attack by musketeers.  The wagon train is the next unit in the column and it cannot come on until the road is clear. 

The English hang on along the table edge under intense pressure, still frustrated by the stubborn Scots on the road.

The Scots on the road have finally broken, but musketeers have come up to take over & the Scots cavalry ahs been switched to the right  to isolate the English left.

A Scots cavalry charge on the English musketeers finally broke the English army.

The fortunes of war swung wildly in this battle, at times looking good for one side, then the other.  The heroics of the Scots warband to block the road was critical as it held up the English reinforcements,  The English had another infantry division unable to reach the field because the wagons were in the way.  By the time the way was clear the Scots cavalry was in a position to destroy the wagons & the battle would be lost anyway.  For a long time it looked all over with the English one bad dice roll from an Army Break Test, but they just kept on hanging on taking the Scots to the brink of breaking themselves before their cavalry could finish the battle.

While the Scots have won both times we have fought this scenario, it's far from unbalanced.  Each time it took some good decisions & a bit of luck to win.