Some Thoughts on Cavalry

I have been very busy the last three weeks, with refinishing a kitchen, and trying to rest a cracked ankle (not easily done at the same time). I have, however, been giving a great deal of thought to ways to model the differences between "trotter" and "galloper" cavalry in a Portable Wargame.  The following SUGGESTION is only lightly play-tested, and any feedback will be most appreciated.

Before the game, both sides should indicate whether their cavalry Units are "trotters" or "gallopers".
"Trotters" are those historical units that depended more on pistol and carbine fire, while "gallopers" are units that went for shock of impact, much in the style of the Finnish Troopers of Gustavus Adolphus.

"Trotters" will defend against a charge by 'firing', as the enemy comes in contact. If a "6" is rolled, the charging unit checks the Resolving hits Table. If forced to fall back, the charge does not make contact, and the defender takes no losses. If a "6" is NOT rolled, or the Attacker loses a SP, without losing the Unit, the defender rolls to see if his Unit takes hits in Close Combat.If the attacker is a "galloper", the defender subtracts "1" from his Close Combat dice roll. The "galloper" attacker DOES NOT check for Close Combat hits on the first round of close Combat

Example: Parliament Unit of cavalry is charged by Rupert's "galloper" Cavalry. The Parliament Unit is rated "trotter". They roll a d6 to shoot at the Royalist, rolling a '6'. The Royalist Unit's Strength Points drop from 3 to 2. The charge makes contact.  Parliament "trotters" must roll for Close Combat at a minus 1. They roll a "3', reduced to '2', and take a hit, which is checked on the Resolving hits table. The "galloping" Royalist will not check for additional hits UNLESS the Close combat enters a second round.

Example2: "Galloping" royalist charge a 'trotting' Unit of Parliament. The Parliament lads roll a d6, get a '6', and the Resolving hits Table shows a "must retreat one square' results. The charge does not make contact, and the Royalists are stopped before becoming adjacent to the "trotters".

If "trotters" or "gallopers" charge their own kind, the Close combat is played using the regular rules.


Again, any comments and suggestions are most welcome.  I will try to run a Portable Marston Moor this week with these rules in place and post some results.

-Steve

Portable Wargaming the Storming of Brentford

Tonight I gave my draft of Portable Wargame:English Civil War another test run, The scenario was the Storming of Brentford. Prince Rupert(Commander) , for the Royalists, had six units of Cavalry(elite), and a regiment of infantry (one pike unit and two musket units), as well as one Unit of falconets.

The defending forces of Parliament, led by John Lilburne(commander) had two regiments of infantry(average), structured like Rupert's, and a Unit of falconets. They were supported by another regiment of infantry that would begin moving at the sound of the first cannon shot.

Royalist cavalry attempted , without success to take the enemy falconet by storm. Other Royalist troops began to assault the troops holding the left flank of the village.

The stubborn gunners hold.

Finally, the gun position falls. Combat continues up and down the line.

Rupert and his troop break the line and flank Lilburne and his pikes.

Lilburne falls under the hooves of Rupert's troopers.

The royalists have won a costly victory.

Game notes:The game played in less than thirty minutes. Commanders kept their troops in the fight. I noticed that I did not place commanders in the Strength Point Chart. That will be corrected tomorrow.

Cavalry degraded too quickly.  My inclination is to give both regular cavalry and lobsters an addition point in close combat, AND add a strength point to each Unit (3, rather than 2). I will replay this scenario under these conditions and see what results.

All figures are Jack Scruby 9mm's., still available from Historifigs. The paper building are from the Fiddler's Green English Village collection.

Next Thursday: Some Thoughts on Cavalry....

Draft Version of Portable Wargame:English Civil War

Here is a draft version of my English Civil War adaptation of Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame . I am playing on a grid of 11x11 squares.  I welcome any comments and questions. I hope to post a battle report using the rules this week.

Here is the link to the rules:
 
 Portable Wargames ECW rules pdf at Google Drive

I'm Back...

After a long layoff, due in equal parts to dealing with the aftermath of my parent's passing, and acute painter's burnout, I am ready again to tackle the English Civil War. I am still working on Warlord Games beautiful 28mm figures, but at  a rate a sane human can handle.  These will feature mostly in smaller battles set up on a 6x4 foot table, using Bill Protz's "Wargamer's Guide to the English Civil War" rules book.

As a sideline, for those with limited time and space, I will present my ECW variation of Joe Morschauser's "musket" chapter from his book "How to Play War Games in Miniature".  My version draws heavily from Bob Cordery's "Portable Wargame", as features on his "Wargaming Miscelleny" blog. The miniatures used in these games are original Jack Scruby 9mm figures, which are now available from Historifigs.  The building used are N-scale models, purchased and downloaded from Fiddler's Green. They are from the English Village line.

Here is a picture of two armies set for battle. The grid squares are two by two inches. The overall board is 23x23 inches.