Reprinted with the permission of Jack Scruby from Volume 1, Number 11, Winter, 1967 of THE MINIATURE PARADE. On August 1, 1628, the invasion of Iberia commenced as the Hibernian army dispatched four Legions across the border and by sea. The 1st Hibernian Legion (commanded by Jack Scruby) landed on the southern coast of Iberia, and marched northwards towards Sevilla. The Rio Iberia was successfully crossed before opposition was found. Generalissimo Gonzalves Rusk (David Rusk) gathered together three brigades from the area around Sevilla, forming them into a Tercio and took up a position at San Rafeal, some 15 miles outside Sevilla. (Each Brigade consisted of 20 Pikemen, 20 Musketeers and 10 Sword and Buckler men. There were also 2 heavy guns, 3 light guns, 30 heavy cuirassiers, 20 Dragoons, and 15 other types of cavalry) (The Hibernian Legion was exactly the same). The Kinsdale Brigade of the Hibernian Legion, finding only a few dragoons to their front at the Monastary, began moving towards the center, where musketeers from the Cork Brigade were fighting the Barcelona Brigade stationed on the plain below Camino Hill guarding the two heavy guns. (Once set up, these heavy guns cannot be moved and must take two game moves to load after firing) The Hibernian commander hoped to pin the Barcelonaians in position and place two brigades against it in a push of pike to settle the issue in the center. Meantime, the Hibernian Cuirassiers were ordered around Ortiz Ridge to get upon the flank of the Firenzo Brigade in order that they might not join the Cordoba Brigade in their assault upon the Eire Brigade, a crack unit stationed to hold the left of the Hibernian line. Seeing this threat, the Firenzo Brigade came to a halt, formed up in close order and awaited help from the Iberian cavalry. These heavy troopers had been held in position near Camino Hill, and now began trotting to their right behind Rondo Hill towards the Firenzo Brigade. However, at this moment ' the Cordobo Brigade moved off Rondo Hill to launch an attack upcn the Eire Brigade. The Eire Brigade commander believed he yet had time to place his troops in closed order to meet this attack, when suddenly, from behind Rondo Hill came the Iberian cuirassiers, massed for the charge! At the same moment that the Hibernian Cuirassiers charged into the Forenzo Brigade (who had placed their swordsmen in front of their pikemen, which allowed cavalry to complete the charge), the Iberian heavy cavalry struck the Eire Brigade, who had not as yet had time to form up in phalanx. (Our rules state that if pikemen are in "open order", they may move 6 inches. When in closed order they may only move 3 inches, cannot change "face" or turn around in the opposite direction. Thus, in normal conditions, it is best to keep the pikes in open order. However, the penalty of being meZeed in open order ia grim - the attackers recieve double kills, the defenders only half their normal kill power. This rule applies also to any troops taken in flank, or in rear. As you will see in the action that follows, this open order rule is quite effective.) The Hibernian cavalry, in the meantime, had in turn hurt the Firenzo Brigade in their attack, but Iberian light horsemen joined the fray, and drove off the armored cuirassiers with little trouble. The Hibernian cavalry had had enough, they would not rally, and were driven off the battleground. (The "Scatter Rule" we use requires that the player dice for each defeated stand after a melee to find the direction in which the stand runs off. As a result, the Hibernian cavalry were so scattered that they never recovered as a unit, and bad dice sent most of them off the table into limbo!) The Iberian cavalry on Espano Hill were.now directly to the rear of the Cork Brigade - who at the moment were facing forward against the Barvelona Brigade. With a cry, the Iberians now launched another charge - into the rear of the Cork Brigade, and within moments, this unit was practically destroyed! Almost without stopping, the victory-maddened Iberian cavalry now wheeled through the scattered remnants of the Cork Brigade, and struck the Kinsdale Brigade in flank. For the Kinsdale men had been hurrying, in column formation, towards the action in the center, and before they could form up to face the enemy cavalry, they too were destroyed! (our melee rules read that once you have won a melee with cavalry, the cavalry are allowed "bonus" moves.. By this, they can . charge again, or can pursue the defeated enemy if no targets are available to them, etc. Of course, the Kinsdale Brigade were just within charge range of the Iberian cavalry, and having whipped the Eire Brigade, Generalissimo Rusk threw the cavalry against the flank of the KinsdaZe unit with a 2 to 1 advantage in "kilt" power for his side. The result was inevitibZe - and horrible for the Hiberian army!) Thus, by brilliant action of his cavalry, the Iberian general had absolutely destroyed the Hibernian First Legion. Most of the survivors surrendered, although many were drowned in trying to swim across the Rio Iberia, where the 2nd Hibernian Legion had watched the massacre, unable to cross to help their comrades. This unit, with the survivors of the lst Legion, now retired southwards towards the coast to await results of the invasion of the eastern border areas by the other Legions. The Battle of San Rafeal was over, and for the time being at least, all western Iberia was relieved of danger from the invaders from Hibernia. (This was the first 30 Years War war game that Dave Rusk and I had ever played, and it opened our eyes as to the possibilities of war games of this period. The rules, which we outlined in the Summer 1967 issue of Miniature Parade worked so well that none of them had to be changed. We were delighted to find that the rules, which had been based on our research into this period, were quite realistic in that once pikemen were in phalanx, their flanks and rear were really vulnerable to cavalry attacks. It could be immediately seen by both players that careless handling of the infantry would lead to swift and sudden disaster! And, since the game was so different from any other war game we had ever fought, we also learned that new tactics were essential if either of us were to be successful generals in this "new type of warfare"!) Back to MWAN #104 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum 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