I've Made A Huge Mistake - The Battle of Edgehill

This month at the Fremont wargaming club, we were joined by the illustrious Jay White, of Jay's Wargaming Madness (https://jayswargamingmadness.blogspot.com/). It was his blog that inspired me to start blogging about my own wargaming experience and it was great to have him join us.

The scenario he ran was The Battle of Edgehill using Epic Pike and Shotte. 

The Battle of Edgehill, fought on October 23, 1642, was the first major engagement of the English Civil War, pitting the Royalist forces loyal to King Charles I against the Parliamentarians. The Royalists, led by the experienced commander Prince Rupert of the Rhine, initially gained the upper hand, pushing back the Parliamentarian forces, which were commanded by the Earl of Essex. The battle was characterized by chaotic and disorganized fighting, culminating in a stalemate where neither side achieved a decisive victory.

I had played this scenario before at Kublacon Fall, where I took on the role of a Parliamentarian, so this time around I decided to represent the Royalists. For King and Country!

 I chose to command the two cavalry battalias on the left wing. The Royalist plan was simple: we had infantry and cavalry superiority in the center and right, so we would engage the enemy there while I tried to refuse the left flank and keep the opposing cavalry in check.

As long as I kept the enemy's cavalry on our left flank from affecting the battle, our numerical superiority in the center and right should have been enough to handle the rest.

 

 The battle started off pretty well for us. On the left, the player I faced was doing exactly what I wanted him to do—standing still and hoping I would make the first move. Our center was advancing down the middle to engage the enemy, and we got very lucky on our right when the enemy failed his command roll miserably, resulting in one of his cavalry units defecting to our side. Things were looking good, but they would not stay that way.

 

 

 

On the right, our opponent was rolling very well on his armor saves and winning most of the combats. Our second commander on the right wing was struggling with his command rolls and was unable to get his battalias into the fight. After several turns of back and forth, our teammates on the right flank eventually broke.

Meanwhile, in the center, our two commanders faced off against their opponents, deploying their pike blocks and artillery against the enemy in an attempt to create a gap for our reserves to rush in. Despite our numerical advantage, the combat was not going in our favor, and the Parliamentarian artillery superiority was taking a toll on our infantry.

And on our left, I made a huge mistake. My objective was simply to refuse the flank and pin my enemy in place, but around turn four, I decided to break the stalemate and charge the enemy. I made this choice based on two factors. First, I was under the mistaken impression that the enemy cavalry consisted of dragoons, who have the Gallop special rule that compels them to counter-charge when being charged. I thought this would allow me to bait the enemy out one at a time, drawing them into the middle, far from their reserves. Unfortunately for me, they did not have the Gallop special rule, and instead of counter-charging, I ended up running my cavalry right into their entire force. Second, since this was my opponent's first wargame, I felt it would be a poor experience for him if he sat there doing nothing while I refused the flank, so I decided to charge just so he could roll some dice.

Even with my mistake, I still had the advantage since I was hitting on threes while my opponent would be hitting on fours. Unfortunately, I rolled very poorly while my opponent rolled exceptionally well, leading to a disastrous end to my charge as he managed to defeat the majority of my cavalry and then continued to chase them down, shooting at them with skirmish fire as they fled.

 

With both left and right flanks broken, and our center beginning to crumble, it was clear that the Parliamentarians would win this day. We chose to concede and King Charles I was promptly beheaded! Ubi spiritus ibi libertas!

 Alright, and that's the Battle of Edgehill. I had a lot of fun and thanks to Jay for joining us for the first time and hosting this beautiful game, hope you return for many more! Until next time, folks!