Author: John Stallard On receipt of these rules I was familiar with the general mechanics due to having other rule sets from the same stable. This made getting into this period easier in one way and slightly confusing in another, but more about that later. I have a considerable number of ECW units in order to fight battles of the period, which I have been doing for well over 20 years [bit scary that!] Living very close to Marston Moor, which I consider was one of, if not the most crucial battles of the war and having visited most of the battlefields in England and Scotland over the years, it can be seen I have a very keen interest in the period. There is a ‘period flavouring’ to these rules that experienced Warhammer users should watch out for. I believe one of the main ones being the number of rounds available to a unit during a game and for the purpose of this review I will concentrate on my favourite Scottish army, being that commanded for the King by Montrose. The Royalist Scots are only allowed two [2] rounds of ammunition unless they pay for more! This reflects the logistical problems that Montrose had throughout his successful military career north of the border. Initially I was shocked to say the least that I could not blast away to my heart’s content, but then came around to John Stallard’s way of thinking and thoroughly agreed with the rule. Having my ‘Scottish’ head on there is no way I am going to pay for additional powder and I will make do with what I have got. [You can see I am starting to get into the role-play mode here. Perhaps some could even say I am losing it!] The limited ability to engage in a firefight subsequently alter the tactics I would probably have used without the ‘2 Shot’ rule. So basically Montrose was under the’ Fire and Get Stuck In!’ tactic, which on reflection seems very historical and actually works! Next was the ‘Highland Charge’ rule, where the Highlanders blast off one [1] shot and then get stuck in with whatever melee weapon they are armed with. I remember an ECW re-enactment battle in Yorkshire I once saw where a bunch of hairy Highlanders charged a formed English Regiment of Foote. Just as the command to “Give Fire!” was given, the Scots went to ground, the musket ‘balls’ flew harmlessly over their heads and they leapt to their feet and charged the unloaded musketeers. The result was inevitable. This rule works more or less in the same way and is a very effective tactic on the tabletop. The third and final ‘special’ rule I wish to mention briefly is that concerning Montrose himself who “was a master of taking advantage of the terrain available”. This allows the player to move or remove any one piece of terrain and also to hide a unit on the enemy’s side of the board during deployment. This really is a cracker and needs a bit of additional brainpower to sort out in a solo manner, which will be revealed later. There are many other little 17th century warfare quirks within these rules but I have only had the opportunity to play about six games so they will undoubtedly crop up as time goes by. I decided to set up a game with Montrose against the Scots Government Army or The Covenanters to see how the rules worked. Needless to say before doing so, I had a frenzy of finishing off units, basing them [and that is a story unto itself] and getting them onto the table. Throughout this time I had been concentrating on Montrose’s men and once I had them ready I took a look at the Covenanters list to discover to my horror that they looked unbeatable! Not only could they have twice as many shots as Montrose [yes, an amazing 4 rounds per battle], could have one piece of artillery for every 500 points [ranging from petards up to heavy guns such as culverins with the Royalists being only allowed one gun of the smallest calibre for the entire army]. They could also obtain allies from the Parliamentary army list, but to my mind the icing on the cake, for the Covenanters, was that they could have Highlanders as well! I have read the rule to mean that they can have Highland Gentlemen, the clan chiefs and immediate retainers along with Highland Rabble [all Scottish members please note the phraseology is direct from the rulebook and not mine], who were the common clansmen and not trained soldiers as such. It was at this point I seriously considered turning my coat and then decided to give it a go although I was outgunned, had half the firepower of my opponents and they had the choice, which they took, of having some of best units on their side. However, all was not lost because I had the Irish Brigade commanded by Alasdair MacDonald (MacColla. The ‘Devastator’). In the first game the Royalists were blasted off the table and I nearly had my coat off. Realising some of my basic mistakes, namely that I had paraded the Royalists in a regulation fashion and not really used the special ‘Montrose Rule’ to its best advantage I decided to have another go with the same but not exactly identical forces. I set the terrain up using the system in the rules and then placed the Covenanters Army on the table in logical positions for their type of troops. They were placed out first because I believed that Montrose in the majority of his battles fought on ground of his own choosing and would have been therefore better served concerning the topography and strength of the enemy. I should point out that the Government troops are allowed a Scout Master [see main rules for details] and needless to say Montrose is not, but I would argue that that is the wrong way around and being a solo gamer I did not spend any points on one for the Covenanters. [Biased or what!] The main government artillery battery, had been set up on a hill giving an excellent field of fire. My masterstroke here was to ‘Montrose’ that hill, move it a short distance towards the Royalist army and then hid MacColla with his bodyguard on the reverse side of the terrain feature. Obviously I knew where MacColla was but all the government troops had been given their orders prior to the deployment of the Royalists and only the General could change them. With the new “Up close and at them!” tactic for Montrose the battle began. MacColla’s attack on the artillery was immediate and decisive, in that the gunners fled, bearing in mind that when all was said and done they were only civilians trained in the art of the artillery. His bodyguard was cut by a third from a musketeer company stationed nearby, but being of elite status ignored the casualties. The Royalists eventually won the battle, but it was a close run thing mainly due to the lack of support for the initial breakthrough caused by MacColla. The second battle was much more enjoyable from many aspects and one of the main ones being that I was getting back into the period and my knowledge of the nuances of the rules was improving. A wargaming friend of mine pointed out that perhaps hiding the ‘Forlorn Hope’ on the piece of terrain that Montrose was allowed to move was not what the rules said. Will need clarification on that one, but in my opinion it should be allowed. The terrain was set up, the government forces deployed and orders given. I now faced the soloist’s quandary of Hidden Movement plus which piece of terrain should Montrose move and to where. There were two obvious pieces, a hill with a battery and musketeer company, on it [see I had learnt from the previous game and had given the government guns, a unit of Train Guards for protection] and a wood on the other end of the battlefield. The hill was the most obvious choice and so I moved it towards my lines again but this time it was used to block the line of sight and neutralise the threat from the government firepower. I put the Grant Clan, suitably stiffened with Highland Gentlemen, hidden in the wood on the government side of the table. The result of this was that the battery never got to fire a shot and the avalanche of steel erupting from the woods had a disastrous effect on the government troops initially. Once again the strike force was out on a limb and eventually were forced to retreat but not before they had began the defeat of the enemy. My notes for the battle were as follows: Second Battle The Grants with 15 Highland Gentlemen were hidden in a wood well within charge range of some clan archers supported by artillery and Horse. The appearance of the Grants caused the archers to flee taking the two cannon teams along with them. The Grants moved past of the charge radius of the Border Horse and then attacked a regular pike block supported by musketeers. One company of musketeers was too close to fire and the other company was basically ineffective, before they dropped back behind their pike company. The pikes took out a few Highland Gentlemen but were routed by the claymore swinging Highlanders. This caused the Covenanter Highland Gentlemen to halt their advance and a further gun crew to race for the rear. The rest of the battle was fairly static as the King’s men moved forward through woods and over the hills to get to grips with the enemy. Grant was threatened with a charge in the rear by the Government Border Horse and fled for the safety of the nearest wood hotly pursed by the cavalrymen. However, the number of fleeing Covenanter units led to their downfall and when their large unit of Highland Gentlemen was repulsed by the Irish Tercio, the battle was all over for the rebels. NOTES: The use of a bigger ambush party strengthened with Highland Gentlemen worked but there need to be a faster support unit than the Irish Tercio, like the Douglas Horse who just pinned some dragoons on the other flank. This support would have enabled a quicker result and more exploitation of the situation that had been caused by the Grants. A victory won through the use of the ‘ambush’. Should also point out that I use 15mm figures and do not alter and movement distances or missile ranges which are for 25/28mm figures and it works for me. These are the notes I made at the end of the brief period I have had to review these rules and will undoubtedly grow as I get more games under my belt. GENERAL POINTS Will now move on to a ‘conventional’ set piece battle or two and see what I can learn and how much I feel the rules reflect the period, in my humble opinion. To date I have enjoyed the games played and do feel that there is an ‘atmosphere of the period’ which makes it both playable and at the same time fun. Bibliography: Arqubusier - Journal of the Pike and Shot Society. Gush, George & Windrow, Martin. The English Civil War. Airfix Magazine Guide 28. Haythornwaite, Philip. 1983. The English Civil War 1642 - 1651 - An Illustrated Military History. Blanford Press, Poole, Dorset. [Colour illustrations by Jeffrey Burn]. Newman, Peter. 1985. Atlas of the English Civil War. Croom Helm, London. Potter, R & Embleton G.A. 1973. The English Civil War 1642 - 1651. Almark Publications, London. Seywmour, William. 1979. Battles in Britain 1066 - 1746. Book Club Associates, London. Smurthwaite, David. 1984. The Ordnance Survey Complete Guide to the Battlefields of Britain. Webb & Bower, Exeter. Stallard, John. 2002. Warhammer English Civil War - Wargames in the 17th Century Warfare. Produced by Warhammer Historical Wargames Ltd, Nottingham. Young, Peter. 1981. Civil War England. Longman, London. Young, Peter & Emberton, Wilfrid. 1974. The Cavalier Army - Its organisation and everyday life. George Allen & Unwin Ltd, London. Young, Peter & Emberton, Wilfrid. 1978. Sieges of the Great Civil War. E Baylis & Son Ltd, London. Young, Peter & Holmes, Richard. 1974. The English Civil War - A military History of the Three Civil Wars 1643 - 1651. Purnell Book Services Ltd, London. Young, Peter [with colour plates by Roffe, Michael]. 1977. The English Civil War Armies. Osprey, Men-At-Arms series, London Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #140 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com