Now that I had enough figures to field two decent sized English Civil War armies, it was time to get them onto the tabletop.

As I didn’t have enough of the right sort of figures for any of the published scenarios, I settled down to write my own and, just in case long-term inspiration struck, came up with the background for a potential campaign.

The Background

It’s the fictional county of North Wessex sometime in the middle of 1644. Two landowners, previously great friends, have found themselves on opposite sides in the war. Passionate discussions over dinners have turned into bitter arguments have turned into armed dispute!

On the Royalist side is Sir John Boulters, whose series of mills around the town of Maidenhythe provide a ready source of troops. With a commission from the King to restore order in the area, Boulters’ force is balanced and well-equipped.

On the Parliamentarian side, Sir Christopher Grey has a less balanced force more suited to defence than attack: he is short on horse, but does have plenty of foot . Sir Christopher’s troops are…well, old-fashioned is a phrase that suits: what horse he has fights in the Dutch style rather than the more progressive Swedish formations, and his infantry are pike-heavy. He has, however, received reinforcements from London: a brigade of commanded shot.

The Battlefield

Key to control over North Wessex is control of the bridges over the Thames: one at Maidenhythe, and one at Marlowe. Boulters already holds Maidenhythe, and has determined to force his former friend to operate north of the river only by taking Marlowe as well.

Approaching from the east, his scouts report that the Parliamentarians are drawn up just in front of the outskirts of Marlowe, obviously determined to do battle.

The battlefield from the Parliamentarian side

The Royalists

As has already been mentioned, Boulters’ Royalists are a balanced force drawn up in three brigades.

Stafferton’s Right wing Horse Brigade (Boulters and his lifeguard in the background)

Colonel Derek Derrick’s left wing horse brigade

The Parliamentarians

Drawn up with defence initially in mind, the Parliamentarian forces under Sir Christopher Grey await them.

dutch horse and dismounted dragoons on the left wing

the foreigners from london in the centre

More Shots of the Troops, Now With Markers Down

The Battle Begins

As the sun rose over Marlowe, the two sides prepared to do battle:

The Royalists opened proceedings by advancing all three of their brigades. Assuming that the Parliamentarians would stay fairly static in their defence, their plan was to control the centre as each wing swept around the enemy flank.

They were therefore somewhat surprised when a Parliamentarian Forlorn Hope left its blocking position on the road and charged towards where Sir Boulters sat surveying the field behind his cuirassier lifeguard. Boulters had obviously forgotten Nicholas Seymour’s daughter, but it seems that Nicholas Seymour had not!

Faced with such paltry opposition, Sir John ordered his lifeguard to charge. Well, it was either that or face an ignominious withdrawal before the action had even begun!

It was no contest: the cuirassiers literally rode over the Parliamentarian Forlorn Hope, leaving Seymour coughing his lifeblood into the muddy ground.

Unfortunately, a charge like that cannot easily be stopped, and Boulters and his cuirassiers completely lost control: charging forward right up to the battalia of enemy commanded shot sheltering behind a hedgerow.

this looks like a good way to lose your commanding general!

Meanwhile, the Parliamentarian Dutch horse and Dragoons moved forward and a general melee broke out. Much to my surprise, the Dragoons initially repulsed the untried Nicholson’s Horse attack, sending their charge back disordered.

Nicholson’s Horse were, however, made of stern stuff, and with their commander shouting what can only be described as vile imprecations they closed with the Dragoons again, this time sending them flying from the field.

In the other part of the melee, however, the 1st Grey’s Cavalerie swept Stafferton’s horse from the field, then set off in pursuit of the broken survivors.

This, however, led them vulnerable to a flank charge from the Royalist Braywicke horse, a small Swedish-style unit raised and led by Simon Braywicke, a landowner on the western edge of Maidenhythe.

our flank charge must surely win the day!

Unfortunately, the charge had no effect on the Parliamentarian horse: they ignored Braywicke and his men and disappeared off east after the remains of Stafferton’s men.

Ed.’s Note: I think we did that bit wrong. The Cavalerie should have stopped their pursuit and turned to fight the Royalists.

This reverse left Braywicke a bit surprised, but his surprise only lasted long enough for his men to be hit by the 2nd Grey’s Cavalerie squadron: hit and smashed from the field!

Meanwhile…

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, the Parliamentarian foot had formed a line, and were nervously watching Royalist cavalry start to threaten their flank.

This they countered by sending one of the Kavan’s foot battalia forward to meet the nearest enemy cavalry squadron, and turning another to face the threat on their flank.

At the same time, the Londoner commanded shot units in a surprising display of martial fervor, left the shelter of their hedgerows and moved forward to bring the enemy under fire.

Although the Royalist cuirassiers chose to fall back, the 1st Maidenhythe Foot Battalia lowered their pikes and sent the foreigners scurrying back to (presumably) the slums that they had come from.

This coincided with the two last remaining horse units on that flank - Nicholson’s Horse for the Royalists and 2nd Grey’s Cavalerie for the Parliamentarians - coming together with a mighty smash: both squadrons becoming disordered. They clashed again, and although Colonel Stafferton was lightly wounded, the Royalists eventually won the encounter.

Perhaps due to the impetuosity of the Londoners, this flank had been decided firmly in favour of the Royalists. They had lost only two squadrons of cavalry, but had done for five enemy units: two Forlorn Hope, one Dutch Horse and one Commanded Shot.

Back to the Other Flank

Back on the other side of the field, the 1st Battalia of Kavan’s Foot were still holding off the Derrick’s Horse, and had managed to inflict a light wound on Colonel Derrick himself.

In the centre, however, the Royalist foot was pushing forward, and had made the start of the enclosures in front of the town.

This enabled one Battalia to bring the Parliamentarian foot under fire, meaning that the Roundhead’s days were probably numbered.

the Mill Workers Coming to Colonel Derrick’s assistance

Meanwhile, the 3rd Battalia of Kavan’s Foot had been solidly repulsing charge after charge from the Woodhurst Horse. Although at one stage they were double-disordered, they actually managed to rally back to good order, and were obviously going to be very hard to shift.

Endgame

Looking at the battlefield, however, it was obvious that the Royalists had won the day. All that remained of the Parliamentarians were two battalia of Kavan’s foot on the right flank, and one of the Londoner commanded shot units in the centre. There was a squadron of Dutch horse floating somewhere off-table, but there was no sign of it returning just yet.

The game had probably been decided by the impetuosity of the Parliamentarians. Time and time again their troops left the comparative safety of the hedgerows and charged into close range or contact with the Royalists.

As this was only the second time I’d played the rules, I’m not sure I got everything right, but it seemed to give a very good game anyway.

Next we shall swap sides and play this game the other way around, and after that I shall be designing an encounter where both sides get a consignment of artillery.

Excellent fun, and another good lockdown battle!

Robert Avery