Applethorpe - fictious ECW battle

[Ochoin]

Our latest ECW game was a real winner thanks to the 'Victory Without Quarter' rules we used. It was a very exciting game with constantly changing fortunes that was not decided literally until the last turn of the game.

The scenario established 3 physical objectives - a village, a crossroads & a forest path:




Additional victory points could be gained by routing enemy units.

The forces of Montrose were marshalled & ready to advance:






Opposed by King Charles' English Royalists:






The card-driven game allowed the Royalists to advance swiftly, capturing 2 objectives whilst the Scots waited for orders:








The cavalry battle on the left favoured the English:




But in the last moves of the game, Montrose's Highlanders smashed through the English, seizing an objective & routing enemy units for extra points:



Montrose was victorious:


Donald

[MABO]

Clash of brilliant figures on a cool table. Thanks for sharing!

[C M Dodson]

Nice figures, great terrain and I love your ‘grass’ matting.

Far better than teddy bear fur for which teddy will be no doubt grateful..

Good stuff.

I am reading Act of Oblivion and this fits in nicely.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Peter]

Nice pictures and battle report! Thanks for sharing!

[Minuteman]

Great armies and fine scenery, and very good-looking wargame. I like the look of your armies very much donald.

I am intrigued by the scenario here...Montrose (who I always assumed to be a dedicated Scottish Royalist) facing an English Royalist army? But hey, I recognise that this is fictitious, and anyway the overall spectacle looks very good. Well done!

PS: Am I mistaken or is there a halberdier sub-unit in there? Are these representative of a unit armed with the fearsome Lochaber axe, or some sort of elite close-quarters unit ready to hack into the opposition in the best traditions of C15th/C16th Swiss, or C16th German Landsknechts??

[Ochoin]

MM, you ask the hard questions!

Yes, Montrose was a rusted-on supporter of the King. But Scots fighting Englishmen just seems so familiar we decided to bend history.

And the halbardiers are the result of a certain ahistorical enthusiasm. I'd read pikemen on guard duty were sometimes armed with pole weapons & I thought, what if......Sadly, in the dozen games they've been on-table, they've never once come to grips with an opponent.

I also have a unit of Covenanter cuirassiers based on the slimmest of evidence. Fortunately, I was dissuaded to include my roundhead elephant & howdah....


donald

[PaulRPetri]

Absolutly fantastic Donald. One tremendous layout and expertly painted troops.

[Chariobaude]

Fantastic Donald, i just enjoyed so much "traveling" with this battle !

[Rich W]

Great work Donald!

[Peter]

For some stupid reason I keep reading "Apfeltorte" in the topic title.

I think FIGZ is coming near!

[Minuteman]

I also have a unit of Covenanter cuirassiers based on the slimmest of evidence. Fortunately, I was dissuaded to include my roundhead elephant & howdah....


donald

Ah, those Covenanter cuirassiers must be a formidable force on the table-top, donald? And why not, after all the further back in history you go the more possible it is to 'flex' historical accuracy for the sake of enabling a unit or two that really has to make an appearance in the order of battle of your favourite wargaming armies. It is one of the reasons why I tend to dislike over-rigid definitions of troop types which are 'allowed' in certain sets of wargames rules and supplements.

As for the roundhead elephant and howdah...well, your Royalists can match them with a couple of camel-mounted ultra-light falconet one-pounder guns...