Latest ECW Baroque AAR

This was the third game of Baroque that my eight year old son Jack and I have played. The first game we've played where almost all the markers were figures, except of course red flashes for units that have reacted.

We had 500 pts per side with one General each. Jack played Royalists and worked out his own army list  with 3 GA, 1 TR, 3 P&M, 1 T, 1 S = 23 VDT. Jack elected for quality with two GA units as His Royal Highness's, and a unit of A Class Cornish P&M. I commanded the Parliamentarians with 1 TR (Cuirassiers), 2 RE (Massed), 1 TR, 3 P&M, 1 Wb (Church Militia), 1 Dr, 1 S, 1 Art B = 20 VDT, I went for quantity with C class Foot and RE plus Church Militia.



Battlefield

I won 6-4 with the first Exploration dice and Jack tried to change with an extra ED and rolled a four again. With 6pts for terrain, I chose an oversize wood for 3pts, two fields of crops (broken ground 1pt each) and a low hill for a final point. Jack with four points removed one field (1pt) and the wood (3pts). Jack rolled to reverse the roles but couldn't beat my score so he deployed his baggage and entire force first. He chose to deploy foot in the centre with two wings of horse. I decided to refuse my left and use the right offensively.



Lord Jack of Scrotum

The hopes of the King rest with this small boy.  Don't be deceived.  He's a pure killer having won both previous encounters easily.



Royalist Centre

P&M foot supported by T Musketeers



Royalist Left

P&M Foot, GA (His Royal Highness's), supported by TR


Royalist Right

GA (His Royal Highness's) with Feared Marker, (Opponents deduct 1d6 in Melee and re-roll 1s on Cohesion Test) supported by C Class GA.



Parliamentarian Right

C Class P&M Foot supported by TR (Cuirassiers = – Deduct 1D6 if fired at by Firearms incl Point Blank Pistols) massed RE (= Their movement drops to 2S.  MM+2) and TR to the rear.



Parliamentarian Centre

Skippon's boys, with a Preacher marker



Royalist Centre Advances

Ensigns wave the colours.  Drummers beat the cadence as the King's men slog forward



“Forlorn Hope Forwards Boys”

Red marker indicates they have reacted to the Royalist advance. Single figure is a marker to indicate the unit is 'Well Trained Shooters' and re-roll 1s and 2s when firing


First Clash

Royalist Gallopers of the left charge, and are countercharged in return by Lobsters (who reacted and passed their discipline test).  Massed RE are in reserve.



Lobsters Pushed Back

The Cuirassiers hang on grimly, but are pushed back into contact with their supporting RE. Royalist gallopers pursue. Subsequent rounds saw the Parliamentarians prevail routing the King's men, but exhausting themselves in the process. Score 6VDT each



Shot of the Action at the Climax of the Battle

His Highness's Gallopers engage the Church Militia on the hill. Parliamentarian Forlorn Hope manages some deft shooting to slow the Royalist centre's advance. Despite having a Master Gunner (Re-roll 1s and 2s when firing) Parliamentary artillery fails to hit a barn door all evening. Godly horse advance in the centre to exploit any weakness whilst the Parliamentarian right advances to punish the enemy left.



“CHARGE!”

His Highness's Gallopers charge after a double move and pounce on the Church Militia on the hill. The Militia failed their attempt to react. Lacking pikes, and faced by 11 attack dice plus Feared status the Militia are routed in one round of combat, disordering the supporting Yellowcoat regiment to their rear. Score to the Royalists 10-6



Royalist Gallopers Pursue

In their compulsory pursuit phase the gallopers hit the flank of the Parliamentarian Yellowcoats. OUCH!



Parliamentarian Left in Trouble

If the yellowcoats lose this combat they will be routed immediately as they are hit in the flank.



Yellowcoats Hang On

Somehow, the yellowcoats survive for this round and the two sides are locked in combat.


Parliamentarian Right in Trouble

Jack's whitecoats exhaust first the Parliamentarian greycoats, and then the enemy dragoons too. Score to the Royalists 18-6.



Second Line Royalist Horse Charge.

With C-in-C attached, the Parliamentarian RE pass a discipline test to perform defensive fire on the charging enemy Trotters, who fire their point blank pistols before the melee. The Godly have the best of it though and rout the cavaliers. Score 18-12.




Desperation

The greycoats have routed after a round of firing from the Royalist whitecoats. It's getting desperate. Staring at defeat the Parliamentarian's victorious RE flank the whitecoats whilst the reserve Trotters engage the enemy foot. The whitecoats are 1 VD from being exhausted. So close, but so far. In the next round the Trotters manage to inflict one more casualty on the enemy foot successfully exhausting them. Score 18-18.



The End is Nigh

His Highness's Gallopers resume the fight against the yellowcoats. Jack scores three hits, whilst suffering one. The yellowcoats fail their cohesion test badly and rout. Royalists win 23-18. A surprisingly close run thing.



Only our third game so we may have made some errors in play but a fantastic scrap.  Loving the rules.

Cheers,

Kev

Lovely report Kev, well played Jack.

Only 1 general? We're playing with 3 at 600 points, different style I think.

I note the Church Militia were about as effective as I imagined they would be

I also note that once again artillery is a waste of points

Haven't used Massed RE yet - how do you find them, is the Slow an impediment?

Cheers Zipp.

We went with only one General because he's only eight years old and its a bit much for him to work out commands at the moment.

I wanted him to focus and get used to the mechanics before we go daft.

Massed RE are really useful IMHO. Unfortunately Massed C Class RE is a really bad idea. Discovered that last night and had to attach a General to even begin to keep things going.

That seems reasonable. We've found that at the points given, multiple commands can lead to very small commands!

He did well, and taller than some of your regular opponents to boot

Yes 5 points is a drop in the ocean to move up to B class which is most essential for slow troops.

Not a fan of preachers - they always give the wrong sermon IMO. Prostitutes are, erm 'good value'.

We tend to see parliament field a pair of ironsides, feared and motivated - pretty scary! So far only backed up by ordinary RE not massed and usually forego the cuirassiers, people veer away from the Slow basically. We also find the Royalists pump GA with motivated rather than take HRH units.