Return To Alton

I fancied a nice ECW game today and set up the Alton scenario again. I haven't played with this the most recent set of ECW Portable Wargame rules adjustments, so I was interested to see how it turned out.

I used the following OOB

Parliament

William Waller - Commander 
Haselrig's Lobsters - Trained Horse (SP 3)
Waller's Horse - Trained Horse (SP 3)
Other Horse - Raw Horse (SP 2)
2 x London Trained Bands - Trained Pike & Shot Regiments (SP 4)
Kentish Foot - Veteran Pike & Shot Regiment (SP 5)
Commanded Shot - Trained Shot-only Regiment (SP 4)
Artillery (SP 2)

Total Units = 8 (9 Initiative Dice)
Total SP = 28 (Breakpoint 14)

Royalists

Colonel Boles - Commander 
Crawford's Horse - Veteran Horse (SP 4)
Other Horse - Raw Horse (SP 2)
Boles' Foot - Veteran Pike & Shot Regiment (SP 5)
Boles' Conscripts - Raw Pike & Shot Foot (SP 3)
Oxford Conscripts - Raw Pike & Shot Foot (SP 3)
Artillery (SP 2)

Total Units = 6 (7 Initiative Dice)
Total SP = 20 (Breakpoint 10)

Strictly Lord Crawford should be the Royalist commander, but historically his horse fled the field early on. In this scenario it's assumed that they have rallied and take part in the action, but I imagine his reputation on the day is somewhat reduced and the defenders of Alton now look to Colonel Boles for leadership.

Here's the setup. Alton itself is the church and the buildings to the right, and is an objective. In the foreground is Crawford's Horse, and out of shot next to them is some other raw horse. In front of the town is Boles Foot and his conscripts, whilst beyond Alton is the Oxford Foot and a gun.

Waller's Parliamentarians advancing. To the left are the London Trained Bands, in the middle are the shot and the Kentish Foot and to the right are Waller's Horse. The Lobsters are out of shot to the left, whilst the raw Parliamentarian horse had yet to enter the table.

Opening fire from the artillery had no effect on the London Trained bands.

In the centre the Waller led the Kentish Foot in a direct attack on Boles' Conscripts on the outskirts of Alton. The green troops held the attack, inflicting casualties on the veteran Parliamentarian unit. However to their right Boles' Foot came under fire from Waller's shot and quickly took casualties.

You can see Boles' Foot falling back to the right of the picture. Meanwhile the horse were now engaged to the north-west of Alton.

The London Trained Bands advanced on the Oxford Conscripts and the Royalist gun. Haselrig's Lobsters can be seen beyond them. 

The Trained Bands fell back from the gun. And, worse, the Oxford Conscripts got the better of the fight with the London Trained Bands opposing them, and routed them.

The Kentish Foot attacked the village again, led by Waller, but were thrown back. Waller was captured by the Royalists.

However a second attack by the Men Of Kent (or Kentish Men) threw the Oxford Conscripts out of the buildings they were in. The fell back to the main part of Alton.

Meanwhile the remaining London Trained band finally overwhelmed the gun ...

... only to be taken in the flank by the Oxford Conscripts. The fight was fierce, and the Conscripts, although inspired by their commander, soon broke under pressure, but the London Trained Bands were now also a spent force. In the distance can be seen Haselrig's Lobsters, who were working their way around behind Alton to cut off any Royalist retreat.

Colonel Boles led his Conscripts in a defence of Alton, as the Kentish Foot attacked again.

Boles fell at the head of his troops, but they kept fighting. And Waller escaped from his captors to rejoin his troops!

The Royalists were now at breaking point, but still held the objective, so survived the morale tests. Haselrig's Lobsters attacked St Lawrences Church, defended by Boles' Foot, and were driven back.

On the western flank of the village the Royalist horse was wearing down their Parliamentarian opposite numbers. Crawford's Horse redeemed themselves by forcing some Parliamentarian horse to flee the field. Parliament was now close to its break-point as well.

Waller's troops were wavering, but he readied them for one final push.

Crawford's Horse crashed into the flank of the Kentish Foot, but were driven back.

The church was assaulted from three sides. The London Trained Band failed to take it ...

... but Haselrig's Lobsters managed to drive out the last of the Royalist defenders, and went clattering into the streets of Alton, where Boles' Conscripts drove them back!

Waller led the now beleaguered Kentish Foot into a final push on the village, and Boles' Conscripts finally broke. 

With only their horse left, the Royalists fled.

This was a damned close-run thing; had the Royalists survived their morale test, Parliament would have had to have taken one on their next bound, which could have cost them the battle. The heroes of the action were Boles' Conscripts who held off the veteran Kentish Foot for most of the battle, and denied them an easy attack on Alton.