Notes on the Battle

the field... (my table is a 4x8... the map shows 4x6 so a little extra at each end)

harquebus vs harquebus blaze away...

Just a few notes to relate how the battle went as a game. I must say the "Victory Without Quarter" rules are really fun and they work great for solo play as well. (They actually have me interested in "Beneath the Lily Banners" that apparently are a similar set for early Lace Wars era that Clarence Henderson of Quindia also had a hand in illustrating),

The game took about an hour and a half to play and in "scale" turns that worked out to about a two hour battle. I decided to count every new initiative deck shuffle as 10 minutes and I turned up the "Time Passes, reshuffle" card 12 times so hence the 2 hours in scale. actually right about what you might expect a small battle of the era to take.

the image on my "time passes reshuffle card" (strangely the colors have been altered.)

Haselrigg's cuirassiers go toe to toe with Rupert's cavaliers...

The card driven play sequence made for suspenseful solo play and I was able to make decisions for each side without being able to favor one side too much. Solo games for me have the feel of history playing out before your eyes, and the rules really helped to make that happen. Easy to remember and fast for a small battle. (I played during a hour and a half lunch break between classes)

Sir Horatio Cary's Horse takes a full volley of Roundhead musketry before fleeing the field...

In some of the pics you can see my homemade "reload" and "casualty" markers. I mainly have used historical images for my initiative cards and a few pics from re-enactor websites for my artillery and casualty cards. The reload image comes from a period drill manual. I'm slowly collecting period images of the commanders as well and even some of my individual regiments have the commander in a small image in the corner of the card. It really helps to convey some of the flavor of the period.

"the villan Rupert arising as if a spectre out of a mist..."

The battle was really close fought and though the Royalists routed two Roundhead horse units in the initial charge, the issue remained in doubt right to the final turn. I have a general rule that games end when an army loses half its units through destruction or rout off the table and in this fight Parliament came up short right at the end. The issue was decided in a final duel of shot.

All in all a really fun first outing with the new figures and I'm now inspired to finish a few more units