Tuesday 3 December 2013

English Civil War Game: The Battle of Turners Farm 1643....

......or the Rejects being uncivil again!

The Rejects gathered ( eight of us plus Postie) for an ECW game that only myself and Surjit had played before but little did this matter as Postie had changed quite a bit after the last game, the rules are his own "By God or Might we will Prevail", as per usual we chose randomly for who got what and I ended up with Prince Rupert (Royalist) but due to shady shenanigans by others I ended up with the Earl of Essex (Parliamentarian)?

"The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of armed conflicts and political problems between Parliamentarians (Roundheads) and Royalists (Cavaliers). The first (1642–46) and second (1648–49) civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war (1649–51) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The Civil War ended with the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651.
The English Civil War led to the trial and execution of Charles I, the exile of his son, Charles II, and replacement of the English monarchy with, first, the Commonwealth of England (1649–53), and then with a Protectorate (1653–59), under Oliver Cromwell's personal rule. The monopoly of the Church of England on Christian worship in England ended with the victors consolidating the established Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. Constitutionally, the wars established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without Parliament's consent, although this concept was legally established only with the Glorious Revolution later in the century."

Prince Rupert's Army has been trying to bring the Earl of Essex to battle, thus forcing Essex to retire from the Midlands and giving the Royalist forces in the area some breathing space to fortify and re-supply various garrisons cut off by the Parliamentarian forces. A win over the Parliamentarians would give Rupert more fame and glory if he were to beat Essex. Essex as you can imagine will want to hang onto his stranglehold of the Midlands and its Royalist Garrisons, which are near to collapse. Both sides have come to the conclusion that it is now inevitable that a pitched battle is going to take place and both sides have built up their forces, confident of victory. They have now arrived at Turners Farm near the village of Stow ready to do battle. 

Order of Battle
Royalists c/o Prince Rupert (Ray)
  Prince Ruperts Lifeguard (Elite)
Foot c/o Sir Jacob Astley (Smithy)
    1st Brigade c/o Sir Gilbert Gerrard
      Sir Edward Strastling - Foot (Trained)
      Sir Charles Vavosour - Foot (Trained)
      Sir Lewis Dyke - Foot (Raw)
    2nd Brigade c/o John Belasyse (Richard)
      Sir Allan Apsley - Foot (Trained)
      Sir Charles Gerrard - Foot (Veteran)
Horse c/o Lord Henry Wilmot (Ray)
   1st Brigade c/o Sir JohnByron
     Prince Rupert - Horse (Veteran)
     Prince of Wales - Horse (Veteran)
     Queens - Horse (Veteran)
   2nd Brigade c/o Lord Digby (Lee)
     Sir Arthur Aston - Horse (Veteran)
     Nicolas Crisp - Horse (Trained)
     Sir Thomas Tyldesley - Horse (Trained)
   3rd Brigade c/o Robert Dormer, Earl of Carnarvern (Ray)
     Colonel Thomas Howard - Horse (Trained)
     Lord Brougham - Horse (Raw)

Parliamentarian c/o Earl of Essex (Me)
  Earl of Essex Lifeguard (Elite)
Foot c/o Sir John Merrick (Surjit)
  1st Brigade c/o James Holborne
     Lord Roboules - Foot (Trained)
     Lord Sayeand Sele - Foot (Trained)
     Sir William Sprongale - Foot (Raw)
  2nd Brigade c/o Harry Birclay LTB  (Dave)
    Southward Auxilliary London Trained Band - Foot (Trained)
    Blue Auxilliary London Trained Band - Foot (Trained)
    Red Auxilliary London Trained Band - Foot (Trained)
Horse c/o Sir Philip Stapleton
  1st Brigade c/o Sir James Ramsey  (Me)
    Earl of Essex - Horse (Veteran)
    James Mavlerners - Horse (Trained)
    Sir William Constable - Horse (Trained)
  2nd Brigade c/o Sir Arthur Haselrigg  (John)
    Sir Arthur Haselrigge (Lobsters) - Horse (Veterans)
    Colonel Richard Norton - Horse (Raw)
    Sir John Maldrum - Horse (Trained)
  John Lilburne - Dragoons (Raw)

The beginning of the game, Lee (The Rich Reject) supposedly bribes Postie for some game winning decisions........possibly?

The table at the beginning......£10.00 note still in view......

My 3 horse units of veteran and trained horse.......

My raw dragoons enter the action, raw units are horrible, -2 to morale rolls and attempting to move them rolls and I believe shooting rolls.......

The Parliamentarians ready for action.........

BigLee's horse, 2 regular, 1 veteran and an elite on it's way.......

A colourful piece of scenery or just giving his opinion on the Royalists........

They look pretty the foot regiments but they are a fecker to do anything with except moving forward,,,,,,,

Ray's units move through the village of Stow......

An alleged briber gets his just desserts............

A view from the Royalist lines........

Two of the rarely spotted blog whores...........BigLee twittered and facebooked the whole game.....

The £10.00 at work possibly, I had to roll to see if bridge would collapse with my Dragoons on it.......

John and Ray clash with their cavalry.......

Initially this went well for John as Ray had some shocking dice.........

Myself and BigLee square up......

Wallop, this initially went well for me......... 

My Dragoons head up the road eyeing up either roast lamb or roast horse.......

I handed Ray the camera to get some shots of the Royalist side but this came back.........

Casualties were shown using numbered card and they are beginning to mount......

BigLees character dies in the saddle, cue maniacal laughter.......

The Earl of Essex on the rickety but still standing bridge......

The Dragoons dismounted and heading for the action.......

Another of BigLee's generals dies and is in my grasp, cue more maniacal laughter.........

BigLee giving the artillery dice the kiss of death, this worked really well as nobody wanted to use them......

The end is near for all the cavalry.........

The Earl of Essex views the action from the field with the Dragoons and with his help to the raw Dragoons they blew 50% of the elite cavalry out of their saddles......

The infantry on both sides start to move forward after a gentleman's agreement on both sides which later descended in to bitching and accusations over sideward moving forward moves.......

The game was called as some of the lads day release permits had come to time and after Postie had declared a Royalist victory and then 10 minutes of recounts (arguing and shouting) a draw was declared...... that £10.00 of BigLee's nearly stuffed us....possibly!

Good game, good rules that need a few little changes that will make these rules really good..........possibly?

Don't forget that the close up picture of Ray can be used to keep kids away from the fireplace or proof the existence of the bogeyman?

110 comments:

  1. A good batrep although you may want to chack your facts. Thats £10 came from Surj - your companion in arms - not from me. So which side bribed the Umpire for a recount now? Lol.

    I was happy with a draw though. We all fought hard and it was very hard to call one way or the other so a draw on points seems fair in the end...even if mine and ray's little victory dance was wasted.

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    1. For a completely unbiased (and unbribed) alternative view of the battle check out my BatRep here LINK

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    2. Where's your proof sir...I demand satisfaction, My second will call upon yours!

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  2. No! Not the inside of Ray's nose.
    This one looks epic. So much to keep track of.
    Not sure if the one army is purple or blue, but they look sharp.

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  3. I enjoyed the game, lots a banter, arguing and fun. Bit of a shame about the infantry just sitting looking pretty all game, especially your sides!!!! I now realise my mistake, that pic of me will spread like wildfire and will no doubt be abused many a time!!

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    1. At least there weren't any visible bogies :)

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    2. I'm already on it Rousell!

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    3. Well, you gotta admit: it's a sight to frighten the horses... Mind you, I should talk...

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  4. This is an excellent batrep Fran, the best one yet. Excepting that horror of a picture of Rousell. I can feel my supper coming back up :)

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  5. Only $10? That'll teach him. If you want to curry favour with people you need at least $20.

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  6. Does the first person who guesses the correct number of nose hairs win a prize?

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  7. Good report that, kept me reading to the end despite the scary pictures.

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  8. Great looking game and a good bit of banter was exchanged too, by the sounds of it!

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  9. Nice looking table and figures, readable report well supported by the pics, but such a pity the action, in artistic terms, was a torso. Where was the 'push of pike and dint of butt'? You gotta have pike pushing at least, with perhaps even just a small side order of butt dinting. It ain't a battle unless there's pikes being pushed and butts being dinted - I mean butts doing some dinting... Some of the lads might have to request from their handlers extensions to their release permits, possibly?

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    1. Butts will be dinted in future, they were a cowardly lot with the infantry, we've played these twice and the infantry have yet to get into melee!

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  10. really entertaining cavalry action there. Some superb minis and terrain aswell!

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  11. Good report and photos Fran! Looks like a great game. You can keep the photo of Ray though!!!

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  12. Nice Report. As for the close up of Ray can you please put a warning in the title of the blog post for those of us on a nervous disposition!

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  13. Colourful and animated post as usual Fran. Good skills!

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  14. Great stuff Fran, that game sounded like a lot of fun. Is Postie planning to release these rules for sale or just content himself with making money from bribes I wonder?

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  15. Wow what a stunning looking game. Those figures are superb!

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  16. Very cool Fran. Looked like a fun game, especially when you can tear up a good unit with raw troops!

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  17. Very nice report and great looking game! Sadly you were assigned the task of running the parliaments forces and took it on the chin like a good fellow. I fully understand you not allowing anything better then a draw. Perhaps next time Postie will favour you with the Kings good men and on to victory.

    Christopher

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  18. The English Civil War had a battle on Easter Island!? Oh, never mind..it's just Ray! ;)
    Great looking game!

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  19. A nice AAR and especially excellent figures.

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  20. That is one huge arse battle, sounds grand in your land. Except for having to see Ray`s nose

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  21. Both Charleses were such unlucky rulers!
    Ray is a royalist? I just knew it :))

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  22. A little pain is good for you Andrew!

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  23. What a bloody great looking table and miniatures. Great game report! Draw bah you was robbed!

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  24. You guys always look so happy when you game. Glad you had a blast.

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    1. I really love the horses…who did them?

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    2. Those are Posties work with the painting but as for the makers I'm not sure?

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  25. A great report, this batlefield is looking great, love the village of Stow...one regret, one closeup picture could scare children! Fantastic work Fran...

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  26. Lovely looking game. Nice (well apart from one of then) pictures and they're in focus, something I can never quite manage.

    Regards,
    Matt

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  27. Francis, I'm so sorry, I nearly missed this! Great report and some really scary pictures too!

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  28. Nice looking miniatures and terrain! Thanks for sharing.

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  29. Fran...I was really hoping for a picture of Ray with Ding Dongs hanging out of his mouth...

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  30. Nice roll up with great photos.

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  31. It looks like a bunch of fun. Short game, or less pictures than usual?

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    1. Taken from one part of the game as there were two other bloggers there.

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  32. Damn fine... Part from the bribery and corruption... Oh and the badger...

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  33. Lovely figures and scenery as always Fran

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  34. Looks like a damn fun time, even with Ray mugging for the camera. A grin only a mother could love, that one!

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  35. Greetings, General. A fine looking battle. And I see that Ray has no nose hair! Who is his barber?

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  36. Good write-up, very enjoyable and as the winners always write-up the history, then I'm guessing you can claim a victory.
    (Postie must be a cheap date - only £10 ? and was Ray type-cast as "Hooray Henry Wilmot ?)

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  37. Great pics and play-by-play, as always!

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  38. What a lovely table! Looks like a great time all around. As for the close up, it could have been worse if Ray put the camera in his pants.

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  39. A damned fined donneybrook you had there though I have a hard time seeing you as a Roundhead. Good to have so many lads out for the show, eh? Great stuff.

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  40. Good job taking down those enemy generals, Fran. Two in one game -- very nice!

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  41. Very nice game, and a great and interesting AAR, Fran. Interesting the use of that note...

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  42. Another great game. It's good to be part of a gaming group that can have such games.
    I do like the roll to see if the bridge would collapse

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  43. I just though to meself 'I wonder what me old mate Angry has been up to? Gee, that looks like an interesting post...' scrolled down then saw the picture of the inside of Ray's nose. Nearly lost me lunch I did. Great looking game tho... even if it did cost you 10 quid!

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    1. Serves you right my friend, I don't need to bribe.....I'm gifted.....and modest!

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  44. nice looking figures great report Fran

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  45. Wow, wow, wow, wow. Now that's just funny about Rayolla's face.

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    1. Nothing funny about his ugly face!

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    2. I saw your scary look face on Rayolla's blog. Thought there would have been a close up of you there.

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    3. Not for the sake of the children.

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  46. Always intrigued by the extent to which you guys use home-brew rules. Do you start with a published set, and tweak, or do you start from scratch?

    FMB

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    1. A few published and a lot of tweaking!

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    2. Will us mere hoi polloi ever get to see these near mythical rules...? I'd be interested...!

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  47. Excellent pictures (all except on!) and battle report Fran! Thanks for sharing!

    Greetings
    Peter

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  48. Okay, I'm going to put this here at the end so no one can see it because what I'm about to say could destroy my reputation as a woman.

    I was wrong about Daniel Craig not being a good Bond. I just watched Sky Fall and it was brilliant. The way he played the character was perfect. Older, gritty and damaged. So much depth. I'm going to watch all of his Bond movies now.

    So I've admitted I was wrong, but if you tell anyone, I will have to kill you :0)

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    1. Good grief....I think the devil just skated to work!

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