Experience is the best teacher, we have often heard tell, but where do we get first hand experience of period warfare to enhance our table-top conflicts? I have found one opportunity in the ranks of the Roundhead Association. Taking part in their activities developed my understanding of 17th century warfare. While weekend battles cannot, by their very nature, reflect upon effects of firepower or casualties-progress, it does help one to gain perspective in tactical feasibility regarding time, movement, ground and morale. There are many surprising details, such as the deadly "Reverse shoulder and Charge your pike!" which can turn a rear attack into a nightmare, and one does get an idea of collective morale: "We're not going up there on our own are we?" feels the same in any army. But to illustrate just how involvement in the R.A. has benefited my appreciation of the period I will develop one aspect in detail. The primary lesson learnt is an age old one: the crunch comes with the physical clash of arms, the cannons may roar and the muskets may crash but the game is won or lost by the efforts at close quarters. As with all melee-oriented struggles there is a great need for compactness of individuals to deliver or to withstand shock. This state cannot be achieved unless there is disciplined order; disorder equals defeat, and upon the battlefield there are more agents of disorder than we find on the wargames table. Obviously crossing a marsh or a hedge will break order ' but so will bushy or rough ground, small ditches and even a reasonably steep slope. There are, however, basic order problems in advancing over flat ground. Television has shown us that even the Guards cannot keep perfectly dressed ranks and they do it with the help of specialist R.S.Ms on a parade ground without the distractions of noise or an enemy! On the field a regiment desiring to remain ordered must frequently pause to dress ranks, and advances into action are slowed down and hampered. Should the advance keep going, as it does on the table, undress would progress into disorder, and disorder equals .... There are also problems with a charge, when the front ranks tend to get ahead and the back ranks do not keep up. The fully compact body going in at full speed is a rarity. The object is to hit the enemy at the optimum moment, when a unit's speed can be used for maximum impetus effect before that speed works against it. A final, but important, factor to consider is that of higher ground. There is no need for the contour calculated hills we so frequently see, a gentle slope will do to tip the scales. Any pikeman will tell you that the potential of twenty 13 stone men when converted to kinetic energy is a bonus worth manoeuvring for, especially those that have been tumbled down a slope by units half their size! It is the commander's task to make use of all this knowledge and with an eye for terrain he can select positions for his troops which will give them all the advantages of their own ground while the enemy has an order-breaking approach. When the C-in-C has done his part, it is up to the field officers to continue this game to achieve maximum melee potential by knowing whea to dress, where to reform, how to manoeuvre for a slope and when to charge. These things add fascinating nuances to the table-top, changing the old 'direct advance and charge in' to a dual of manoeuvre and nerve. I would not presume to suggest rules but assure you that if you can incorporate this element into your games you will be taking the right road to wargaming in period .... and that's first hand. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 175 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1976 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com