Solo Campaign - Weeks 20 & 21

The Earl of Aigburth - a portrait painted by his wife, showing him in

the ancient regalia appropriate to his position as Governor of

Berwick on Tweed

There's been a bit of a delay, with holidays and a computer problem and a few other distractions, but here are the next two weeks of the Peninsular War campaign. Wellington has now been notified of the change of command, and his successor, the Earl of Aigburth (that's Tarleton to you and me) is at Porto, and  will arrive at Almeida to review his army in a week or so.

Following on from the hectic activity of the end of May, these two weeks have been spent resting and re-shuffling the armies. The French have now withdrawn from Portugal, though they now hold the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo, which they are repairing.

There is a possibility that the Spanish Supreme Junta may request that the British Army second Wellington to the Spanish service - but this may just be a mischievous rumour.

Week 20

Random Events and Strategic Notes

Wellington is still not aware that he is to be replaced by the Earl of Aigburth, and so continues to command in the field.

After the fighting at the end of May, both armies require rest and some re-organisation.

Housekeeping

Following General de Divn Nicolas Guye’s wound at Balsa, General Casapalacios commands Guye’s Divn of the Armée du Centre, and Casapalacios’ own brigade of Bonapartist Spanish line troops is temporarily commanded by Col. Hugo of the Regt Royal-Etranger.

Following the death of the Earl of Dalhousie at Almeida, Maj-Gen Von Bernewitz has temporary command of the Anglo-Portuguese Seventh Divn, and Von Bernewitz’s own brigade is temporarily commanded by Lt.Col Eustace of the Chasseurs Britanniques.

The 3D3 activation throws give Allies 4, French 5 – French elect to move first.

Moves

French (5 allowed)

1 – 3 Bns of H (Chassé) leave Ciudad Rodrigo garrison and join up with Jourdan’s Group K...

2 – ...leaving behind the battalion of the Regt de Prusse, to be joined by Col D’Orsay (3 bns of 122e Ligne – Group C), who marches from Salamanca to become new garrison

3 – O (Clausel) and I (Maucune) join at Ciudad Rodrigo to become new Group I, under command of Clauzel...

4 – ...and they rest for a week

5 – N (Marmont, at Orense) rests for a week

 [Intelligence step –

• no scouting orders]

Allies (4 allowed)

1 – A (Wellington, at Almeida) rests

2 – B (Graham, at Braga) rests

3 – C (Von Alten, at Almeida) rests

4 – Sp B (España, at Braga) rests

 [Intelligence step -

• no scouting orders]

Supplies and Demoralisation

All units are in supply. No-one is Demoralised.

Contacts

None

Engineering at Ciudad Rodrigo

Each battalion present with the garrison rolls 1D6 each week, giving 4D6 – every 6 rolled adds 1 to the Fortress Value, which is currently 2 – aiming to be repaired to a full value of 6.  This week, the dice come up 5 4 3 2, so the Fortress Value remains 2. Not good enough...

Week 21

Random Events and Strategic Notes

The Earl of Aigburth has arrived at Porto, and will join the Allied HQ at Almeida next week.

The main priority for both armies is re-organisation – Jourdan’s Armée du Centre, for example, currently has no cavalry at all.

It is extremely unsatisfactory for the Spanish Central Junta to have España’s part of their 3^rd Army serving in Portugal, so it is a priority for the Allies to move him back into Spain as soon as is practicable.

The Central Junta is also debating whether to request that Wellington be seconded to the Spanish service, if he is not required for the British...

Housekeeping

This is the week ending closest to the 15^th of the month, so replacements, reinforcements and returns from hospital are added to the returns for all armies.

Details of additions (in CCN "blocks"):

French – 2/25L (+2 blocks), 3/25L (+3), 2/59, 5/82, 6 Dr, 11 Dr, Regt de Francfort, Neuenstein’s Tirailleur Bn, 1/It 2L, 2/3 It, 2/5 It, 1/69, 2/76 (all +1), 3 Huss (+2), 1/Gd Gren, 1/Gd Fus, 2/Gd Fus, 13 Cuir (all +1) – total additions approx 3400 infantry, 600 cavalry

Allies – 1/21 Ptgse, 68^th (each +1), Chass Brit, 1 Dr KGL (each +2), 1 Ptgse Cav, 11 Ptgse Cav, Bull’s Troop RHA (all +1), 1/Coldstreams (+2), 2/24 (+1), 2/KGL (+2), Gardner’s Bty RA, 1/43^rd, 3/95^th (all +1), 1 Cac, 2/95^th (each +2), Ross’ Troop RHA, 1/36^th, 1^st Sevilla (all +1), 1.Lanc de Castilla (+2), 2.Lanc de Castilla (+1) – total additions approx 3400 infantry, 840 cavalry, 6 guns.

The 3D3 activation throws give Allies 4, French 8 – French elect to move first.

Moves

French (8 allowed)

1 – K (Jourdan) marches from Ciudad Rodrigo to Salamanca

2 – N (Marmont) marches from Orense over the hills to Zamora. Since this is a difficult road, a test is required:

2D3 = 4 +3 (Marmont’s rating) -1 (brown road) = 6   - march is completed with no problems

3 – Marmont detaches Maupoint, with the cavalry of the Armée du Nord...

4 – ...who march to Salamanca...

5 – ...and join Jourdan (K)

[Intelligence step –

• no scouting orders]

Allies (4 allowed)

1 – A (Aigburth, at Almeida) absorbs C (Von Alten, at Almeida)

2 – Sp B (España) marches from Braga to Orense. Since this is a difficult road, a test is required:

2D3 = 5 +2 (España’s rating) -1 (brown road) = 6   - march is completed with no problems

3 – E (Clinton) marches from Porto to Braga. Since this is a difficult road, a test is required:

2D3 = 4 +2 (Clinton’s rating) -1 (brown road) = 5   - march is completed with no problems

4 – E (Clinton) merges into B (Graham) at Braga

 [Intelligence step -

• no scouting orders]

Supplies and Demoralisation

All units are in supply. No-one is Demoralised.

Contacts

None

Engineering at Ciudad Rodrigo

Each battalion present with the garrison rolls 1D6 each week, giving 4D6 – every 6 rolled adds 1 to the Fortress Value, which is currently 2 – aiming to be repaired to a full value of 6.  This week, the dice come up 6 5 5 3, so the Fortress Value regains a further 1, becoming 3. 

Hooptedoodle #60 - Walking in the Pentlands, and Hadrian's Wall

I'm in training, you see. Yesterday I spent the day walking in the Pentland Hills, south of Edinburgh, with my friend Chester, who is a veteran of the Appalachian Way and various other Very Serious Walks. It was a terrific day out anyway, but it was all in aid of getting my general fitness up in preparation for a walk along the length of Hadrian's Wall next month, of which more later. Yesterday we started our walk at Flotterstone, and then walked along the switchback of hills which forms the eastern end of the Pentlands.

We went up Turnhouse Hill, Carnethy Hill and Scald Law. There is a single track which goes right over the top of each in turn (which must be a modern phenomenon - Ancient Man would have been sensible enough to walk around the hills, you would think, unless he was looking out for someone). The individual hills are not very high, but they are steep, and the cumulative effect of coming down one and then up the next is interesting, shall we say. Originally we had thought of continuing the chain to East Kip and West Kip, but in the event we decided to head back after Scald Law. My recent experience of walking in the Alps has definitely helped in the heart-&-lungs department, and I have to point out that it wasn't me that wanted to miss the last two hills, though I'm probably glad that we did! The hills are all around the same height - I think the top of Carnethy is 573 metres - but the dips between them are around 200 metres, so it gets your attention when it goes up again.

After Scald Law we cut north, down into the valley, and walked past Loganlea and Glencorse Reservoirs back to our starting point. Probably 9 miles all told. The photos are by Dave Henniker, who does some lovely work in this area.

Looking back from Carnethy Hill towards Turnhouse - gives a good idea

of the surrounding landscape.

Scald Law

As Chester said yesterday, it really is very easy to forget the lovely places we have almost on our doorstep. I worked it out - last time I did this particular walk was 13 years ago. Hmmm.

I'm sure I'll say more about Hadrian's Wall on another occasion. I shall be doing that walk with a couple of other friends. We are attacking it West-to-East, which is not the "normal" direction, but we chose to do it that way because it puts the prevailing wind (and rain) at our backs, and it is far easier to get transport home from Newcastle than it would be from Bowness-on-Solway at the other end. No, they probably aren't very good reasons, but that's how we are doing it. We are also doing it the softies' way, arranging for a courier to handle our main bags from base to base, and carrying only a light day pack, and we are pacing it pretty gently - about 12-15 miles a day. It will not be anything like as strenuous as what I did yesterday, but walking 12 miles in an exposed situation and then getting up the next morning to do it again brings challenges of its own. We will have 6 days of walking, and we're planning to have time to see a few sites on the way.

Another faint disadvantage of doing the wall the "wrong" way is that we can't find any guidebooks which do it in this direction. You would think that it would be easy to reverse-engineer a walk from a guidebook, but I've tried, and it isn't. The maps work OK, but looking out for landmarks doesn't work very well in reverse at all. If I disappear without trace, you will be able to guess what happened.

Hadrian's Wall is not very far from where I live, but I don't often go there, and find some bits of it quite affecting. If you stand at the north edge of Housesteads Fort, actually on the wall, and you face north, then that was the end of the civilised world. Behind you, the Roman Empire stretched to the Black Sea - in front of you were the barbarians. For some reason I find that very moving, and remember that the poor sods who were stationed there included the SAGITARII HAMIORUM, who were Syrians and must have found it a bit chilly.

ECW - Something Tangible at Last

It feels as though it's taken a long time, though in fact it is only 4 months since I bought my first ECW figures. Here are the first signs of something real happening - the first two units of foot.

My intention has been to make my units as generic as possible, for the most part, and to build up OOBs suitable for the fighting in Lancashire, Cheshire and North Wales around 1644. Just to be difficult, one of the first two units is identifiable from its flag as Prince Rupert's Blewcotes, which is hardly generic, but the other - though nominally Alexander Rigby's Regt, will work nicely as a general-purpose Northern whitecoat unit. Rigby's were Parliamentarians, by the way. The blue regiment consists of Les Higgins figures, apart from the standard bearer, who is a modified Hinton Hunt chap. The whites are Hintons apart from the Higgins drummer. The close-up of the Les Higgins pikemen is intended to give an idea why I wanted to work in this scale, and why I am so fond of this maker.

Thus far, to show for my new period, I have one-and-a-half sets of rules (the figures are based for Victory without Quarter), a whole new lead mountain (with the familiar nagging ache which that brings), a resin mountain of Hovels' period buildings to be painted (15mm, naturally), and a pile of notebooks and rough jottings. I also have had a great amount of advice and help from a number of very generous people, and it is largely down to them that I now have two actual units.

As a rough aim, I hope to add about 2 units a month - I'm sure I won't keep to that, but that's the idea. I certainly have a pile of figures to be working on.

I'm very pleased to have these finished, but they can't do much fighting yet, and to a small extent I am wondering what the fuss was about. I have grown used to looking at pictures of 28mm ECW figures painted by Clarence Harrison and others, and my own little 20mm fellows are rather plain in comparison, but I am still happy to have decided to go with the 20s. It has taken a long time to decide on unit organisation, collect together appropriate mixtures of castings, research the thorny subject of size comparisons between makers and - especially - to try to build (from scratch) some idea of the history and the uniforms. More to follow.

A quick note on the subject of pikes. Of course, I have no experience of 20mm scale pikes, and I have had a lot of excellent help from John C and Pjotr and others on the subject. For a while I was searching all over South-East Scotland for a yard brush with brown PVC bristles, and I am still looking, but it appears that for some reason the public only buy brushes with red bristles. The idea of PVC pikes is appealing, but painting them is not. In the end I have used 20-gauge florist's wire, which is cheap [cue bagpipes], stiff enough to stay straight, unlikely to wound anyone, and just about thin enough to look OK. The stuff I am using is coated green, and thus required painting and varnishing, but I have some brown wire on order. I am learning. My pikes are 65mm long, which is about 15'6" in scale, which is on the short side, but they look OK, and - most importantly - anything longer will not fit in the designated box files!

Pikes are a slightly emotive subject. Some of my very early prejudices against Ancient and Medieval wargaming (apart from pontificating experts) had a lot to do with S-Range warriors with silly little legs and enormous helmets, armed with the proverbial telegraph poles. Yes, I know this was unreasonable, and people pay fortunes for these self-same figures now, but little things like this stick in the mind. I was very keen not to use over-thick pikes if it could be avoided.    

Spanish Army - a Note from Mike Oliver

I received a comment to an older post from Mike Oliver, former UK distributor of Falcata, co-author (with Richard Partridge) of a number of excellent Napoleonic historical/wargaming publications, and all-round good egg. I've published Mike's comment in the appropriate place, but thought it was worth putting it in a little post of its own:

Hi:

I used to sell Falcata figures in the UK when they first came on the market but the two guys who originated the range vanished from the scene and I was unable to contact them. I still owe them a few Euros if they want to get in touch. I still have some of the old boxes of 34 Spanish infantry but, sadly, could never obtain any cavalry.

I am a member of FEHME (Fora para el estudio del historia militaria de España) and have access to their database cataloguing the history of Spanish units (including those of new creation). I have made a study of the Spanish Army in the War of Inependence and have a large library of references, including uniform data.

Spanish uniforms after 1809 are not the easiest thing to determine; in fact, "uniform" is probably a misnomer. They were obtained from Britain, plundered French supply trains and local manufacture. Bueno's books are probably the best source material but are out of print and now cost a fortune.

If anyone would like assistance, please let me know at info@warmodelling.co.uk (I currently sell the Fantassin Warmodelling range of metal figures) and I'll try to help.

Cheers,

Mike Oliver

www.warmodelling.co.uk

Hooptedoodle #59 - A Martyr to International Co-operation

St Anton Bahnhof, with a few Japanese (not mine) in evidence

Today was the day of the holiday when I skulked off on my own to Innsbruck, which involved a fairly early train journey. Being of a naturally nervous disposition, I arrived at the station about 30 minutes before my train was due, and - yet again, I regret to say - it was just as well.

St Anton is an unmanned station, which has one - that's ONE - automatic, touch-screen ticket machine which (as I have found on previous occasions) requires post-graduate degrees in logic and European geography to operate successfully. When I arrived, there was a party of approximately 12 Japanese tourists failing to come to terms with the technology - understandably - and becoming very agitated since their train to Bregenz was due in about 10 minutes. When I arrived they were shouting in various languages at poor Hansi and Georgl, who were busy polishing the floor with a sit-on machine, and had no interest in tickets or tourists.

I normally try to hide somewhere in these situations, but my own train was certain to be bang on time, and there was no way anyone was going anywhere until these Japanese visitors were attended to. So - to my astonishment - I found that I had been recruited to get some tickets out of the machine for them. One of their number had a few words of German and a very few words of English, and he had the battered look of someone who had been sadly exploited over recent days - obtaining food, information and other of life's necessities for his very animated friends. Amazingly, considering my ineptitude with machines and the difficulty of assembling coherent thought when a dozen desperate people are all shouting at once in Japanese, I got the ticket info into the machine. Good so far, and now we had to pay for the tickets.

The machine dismissed their credit cards without comment, and - more alarmingly - also ejected their Austrian banknotes. I had panic-stricken visions of having to pay for their tickets until I spotted the bit on the screen that indicated that 50-euro notes were not accepted. We also found out that any smaller notes which were other than fresh from the mint were rejected too, but eventually the spokesman, bless him, organised a pooled supply of 10s and 20s, and also organised for two of the party to flatten them out into acceptable condition, and we made it. All that was needed then was to make sure they all got their bags up the stairs to the platform and they were off. Rather foolishly, I found myself waving them off, and then tried to get my heart-rate back to normal before purchasing my own ticket. In passing, I must say that Japanese tourists always seem to have very big bags - Japanese airline rules about maximum baggage weights must be a lot more liberal than FlyBe's.

My day trip to Innsbruck was good, if a bit hot. As I sat on the wonderful, cool, silent train (Zurich-Vienna express), I promised myself - yet again - that in future I will hide behind the trolleys, or pretend to be dead until the danger has passed.

Innsbruck, today

A Nation Divided – into Hexes? (4) – Command Cards

Here is a very first-cut attempt at producing a Command Card pack for my proposed application of Commands & Colors: Napoleonics to the English Civil War. This gives the text for each card, and the number of each card type. The whole listing is very obviously an edited version of the corresponding section in the official CCN rule book – I hope this is neither illegal nor impertinent – regard it as a respectful tribute, if you please!

The proportions of the cards, the wording and (for example) making the cards reflect the less mobile nature of the Foot, compared with their Napoleonic equivalents, owe a lot to the original CCN cards, the Ancients version of C&C, and also White Mountain, from Anubis. The mix, however, is all my own, as is much of the content, so please don’t go blaming anyone else.

This is an Aunt Sally – please feel free to tell me what you like or dislike about it. If it becomes stable enough, and if playtesting looks promising, I hope to produce a set of card images (don't hold your breath).

Section Cards (48)

Section cards are used to order units in a specific section of the battlefield to move and/or battle. These cards indicate which section of the battlefield you may order units or leaders, and how many units or leaders you may order. An attached leader ordered by a Section Command card may be ordered to detach and move separately. Command cards that state ‘order units equal to command’ mean the number of units you may order is equal to the number of Command cards you hold including this card. Cards that are on a player’s Foot in ‘Stand of Pikes’ tracks are not counted as Command cards you are holding.

SCOUT LEFT FLANK - Issue an order to 1 unit or Leader on the Left Flank. When drawing a new Command card, draw two, choose one and discard the other. (2 cards)

SCOUT CENTER - Issue an order to 1 unit or Leader in the Center. When drawing a new Command card, draw two, choose one and discard the other. (2 cards)

SCOUT RIGHT FLANK- Issue an order to 1 unit or Leader on the Right Flank. When drawing a new Command card, draw two, choose one and discard the other. (2 cards) 

PROBE LEFT FLANK - Issue an order to 2 units or Leaders on the Left Flank. (4 cards)

PROBE CENTER - Issue an order to 2 units or Leaders in the Center. (6 cards)

PROBE RIGHT FLANK - Issue an order to 2 units or Leaders on the Right Flank. (4 cards)

ATTACK LEFT FLANK - Issue an order to 3 units or Leaders on the Left Flank. (4 cards)

ATTACK CENTER - Issue an order to 3 units or Leaders in the Center. (6 cards)

ATTACK RIGHT FLANK - Issue an order to 3 units or Leaders on the Right Flank. (4 cards)

ASSAULT LEFT FLANK - Order a number of units or leaders on the Left Flank equal to command (the number of cards held in your hand including this card). (2 cards)

ASSAULT CENTER - Order a number of units or leaders in the Center equal to command (the number of cards held in your hand including this card). (2 cards)

ASSAULT RIGHT FLANK - Order a number of units or leaders on the Right Flank equal to command (the number of cards held in your hand including this card). (2 cards) 

COORDINATED ADVANCE - Issue an order to 4 units or Leaders. Order 1 on Left Flank, 2 in the Center and 1 on the Right Flank. (2 cards)

FLANK ATTACK - Issue an order to 2 units or Leaders on each Flank. (2 cards)

REFUSE LEFT - Order a number of units or leaders on your Right Flank or in the Centre equal to command (the number of cards held in your hand including this card). (2 cards)

REFUSE RIGHT - Order a number of units or leaders on your Left Flank or in the Centre equal to command (the number of cards held in your hand including this card). (2 cards)

Tactic Cards (20) Tactic cards allow ordered units to move and/or battle in ways not normally allowed in the basic rules. Terrain movement and battle restrictions still apply when a Tactic card’s Actions take precedence over basic rules.

BOLD DRAGOONS—One unit of Dragoons may make a further complete move after firing (but may not fire a second time) – thus they may advance, dismount, fire, mount and retire, for example. If you have no dragoons, use this card to order any 1 unit of your choice. (2 cards)  

BOMBARD—Issue an order to 4 or fewer Artillery units. Ordered units may move up to 2 hexes and not battle, or may not move and battle with 1 additional dice. If you do not have any artillery units, issue an order to 1 unit of your choice. (2 cards)

CAVALRY CHARGE—Issue an order to 4 or fewer units of Horse (not Dragoons). Ordered units battle with 1 additional die the entire turn. Ordered Cuirassier and “Trotter” units may move 3 hexes and still battle. If you do not have any cavalry units, issue an order to 1 unit of your choice. (3 cards) 

COUNTER-ATTACK—Issue the same order card that your opponent just played. When you play this card it becomes a copy of the card your opponent played on the last turn. Following the instructions on that card as though you were actually playing it, except when countering a Section card. Then the right flank becomes left flank and the left flank becomes the right flank. (2 cards)  

EVADE—Play this card after opponent declares a melee attack, but before the dice roll. The attacked unit evades. The attacker does not roll dice. The defender may opt to retire 1 hex, but the attacker may not take the ground or carry out Cavalry Breakthrough. At the end of the turn, you draw a replacement Command card first. (2 cards)  

FIRE AND HOLD—Issue an order to 4 or fewer Foot or Artillery units. Ordered units will perform ranged combat with 1 additional die. Ordered units may not be adjacent to enemy troops. Units may not move before or after combat, but foot may come out of ‘stand of pikes’. If you do not have any foot or artillery units, issue an order to 1 unit of your choice. (2 cards)  

LEADERSHIP—Issue an order to all Leaders. When a Leader is attached to a unit, the unit is also ordered as long as the Leader remains with the unit. Any ordered unit shall roll 1 additional die if it battles. A Leader may detach from a unit. If a Leader moves and joins a unit, the unit is not ordered. If you do not have any Leaders, issue an order to 1 unit of your choice. (2 cards)

PUSH!—Issue an order to all units adjacent to the enemy. Ordered units may melee with 1 additional die. Ordered units may not engage in ranged combat. Units may not move before melee combat. After a successful melee, foot may Take Ground and horse may breakthrough and may make a Bonus Melee Attack with its standard number of battle dice. (1 card)  

RALLY—Roll battle dice equal to command (the number of cards held in your hand including this card). For each Foot, Horse or Artillery symbol rolled, 1 block of this type is returned to any under strength unit anywhere on the battlefield, as men return to the ranks. A unit may not gain more blocks than it started the action with. Rallied units that gain at least one block are ordered, and may move and battle as normal. (2 cards)  

THE DEVIL’S MATCH—One enemy artillery unit (dice for which – first to roll an Artillery symbol with 1 dice) suffers a powder explosion. The unit selected will roll 2 dice – an Artillery symbol or a Crossed Sabres symbol will eliminate 1 block. If either of these dice produces Crossed Sabres, the explosion is very severe – roll 1 dice for each adjacent unit (of whatever side) which is not in a town, a wood or earthworks. A Foot, Horse or Artillery symbol will remove 1 block if it matches the unit type – a Flag symbol will remove a Leader. If the enemy has no artillery, use this card to order any 1 unit or Leader of your choice. (1 card)

THE LORD IS WITH US—Roll battle dice equal to command (the number of cards held in your hand including this card). For each symbol rolled, 1 unit of this type is ordered. One unit or leader of your choice may be ordered for each Flag symbol rolled. Sabres order no units or leaders. Ordered units battle with 1 additional die the entire turn. Reshuffle the Command card deck and discard pile. (1 card)  

   

A Nation Divided – into Hexes? (3) – The Cuddies

Horse

Mounted troops I have worked on thus far are types CU, TR, GA – being respectively cuirassiers, “trotters” and “gallopers”, and there should probably be lancers and some other kind of light horse still to be thought about.

I have to come clean here and admit that, having spent some time reading about Parliamentarian cavalry early in the war advancing cautiously and using their pistols, I got completely carried away and produced some monstrous cavalry melee rules which were about as straightforward and easy to use as the inside of my grandfather’s pocket watch. Having been shocked out of my excited state by the realisation of what I was doing, I am pleased to say that I have finished up with some CCN-based rules which are much simpler – very much simpler. In case it comes in useful in 30YW contexts, I have preserved a little of my frenzied “pistol melee” efforts as a rather crude “caracole” rule, which I shall append here as something which I do not intend to use at present – and possibly as a kind of warning to other kindergarten rule-writers.

Anyway – these are the first-cut rules:

No cavalry may carry out ranged combat – all pistol and carbine capability is assumed to be covered by the melee rules.

CU move up to 2 hexes and battle, GA move up to 3 and battle, TR move up to 3, but cannot move more than 2 if they are making a melee attack. Typical units of horse in my armies will have 2-4 blocks/bases of 3 figures (on 60mm square bases – these are 20mm figures).

Melee combat: 1 dice per block/base, +1 dice for CU (heavier), +1 dice for GA in first round of a melee (more dashing), +1 dice for certain identified Royalist GA units (not more than 25% of all cavalry present) who are nominated as “rash” (crazier).

The standard CCN rule allowing cavalry attacked by infantry to carry out a manoeuvre called Retire & Reform is lifted straight into this ECW variant. Combined Arms attacks with artillery support are not allowed, since artillery of this period could not co-ordinate in this way.

In CCN, a victorious cavalry unit which eliminates its melee opponent, or forces it to vacate its hex, may take advantage of a Breakthrough rule, by which it may opt to claim the vacated hex, plus (optionally) move another hex, and may carry out an immediate Bonus Melee attack if it is now in a position to do so. My ECW variant will also allow this, but the breakthrough and bonus melee may be repeated as many times in a single turn as the general wishes. 


Rash Cavaliers: to reflect the extra difficulty of controlling successful Royalist horse, a special variation applies to Royalist GA units which are designated as “rash”. Such units must carry out a breakthrough, unless they are brought under control, and must carry it out in such a way as to create a bonus melee if it is possible to do so – the Royalist commander may choose which unit to attack if there is a choice, and he does not have to attack villages, woods or earthworks - terrain situations which put horse at a major disadvantage. If he wishes to stop the breakthrough and continued attack by such a rash unit, after any melee victory, the Royalist commander must get them under control. This is achieved by rolling a Cavalry symbol or a Flag on a single Combat Dice; if a Leader is attached to the unit, control is also gained by a roll of Crossed Sabres.

The Caracole

I fear you are not going to like this – it needs more work, and I don’t intend to use it for the time being anyway.

CU and TR units may make a special melee attack with pistols – the Caracole - and this is the subject of a special rule, as follows:

CU & TR may ride up to melee contact, and declare a Caracole attack. The attacker rolls a single Combat Dice for the whole unit. There may be terrain or other tactical situations which require a deduction from the number of dice, such that the attacker is left with no dice to roll! If they score a hit on the defenders (and crossed sabres doesn't count for this particular type of melee) or frighten them (dice turns up a flag - which can't be ignored - but defenders don't retreat yet), remove any casualties, but there is no immediate "battle back" from the defenders - what happens is the attacking CU/TR cavalry now carry out a CCN-style "bonus melee" - on the spot. So a second round of melee takes place immediately (it counts as a continuing melee, so any defending GA do not get their 1^st-round bonus dice). This melee is a normal 1-dice-per-block-plus-valid-bonuses combat.

If the single dice caracole attack does not produce a fright flag or a valid type of casualty, the defenders get to fight back with a single dice. If this causes the attacking CU/TR to retreat (or eliminates them) then that's the melee over. If it doesn't, the pistol-armed attackers may choose to retire a single hex. If they opt not to, the melee continues in future turns as a normal continuing melee combat.

Dragoons

Dragoons (DR) are neither horse nor foot, and so they require their own rules. The first complication is that I am duplicating my dragoon units so that they may appear on the table in either mounted or dismounted form. Since in their mounted form they will be on cavalry-style bases of 3 figures, it makes sense to put the dismounted dragoons onto special open-order bases of 3 figures too. When they mount or dismount, simply switch the models – it’s a hassle, but it’s less of a mess than most of the options.

Dragoons may not fire when mounted, and they are very poor in melee. Their musket range (when dismounted) is 2 hexes, same as the musketeers. Theoretically, they have a 3-hex move, which they may use to do the following things:

* if mounted, move up to 3 hexes on horseback, or up to 2 hexes and dismount

* if dismounted, up to 1 hex on foot, or mount and ride up to 2 hexes

If they are on foot at the end of the move, they can shoot (half a dice per base/block of 3 figures, rounded up) – so 3 bases get 2 dice, for example.

They can melee at the end of the move, whether on horse or on foot - but not very well (half a dice per base/block of 3 figs, mounted or not).

Unlike Foot units, Dragoons can fight as soon as they arrive, whatever the terrain.