The Battle of Alton

I've played out the Battle of Alton a couple of times using my own Portable Wargame ECW rules, but thought it might be a fun game to try with 'For King & Parliament'. Imagine my surprise when I realised that the scenario I'd adapted to create mine was originally for that very game. HERE IT IS.

Needless to say that I couldn't leave it alone, and fiddled with it a little bit. I made the artillery pieces on both sides Field Guns, as I hadn't tried artillery yet and wanted something basic. In addition I kept the single edge of fortifications from my own adaptation, as a couple of the accounts I've read of the action talk about Royalist earthworks. The only other change I made was to increase the Royalist breakpoint to 50% of their medals to simulate their desperate defence. This helps (a little) to offset Parliament's superiority of both quality and numbers.

My forces are:

Royalists

Lord Crawford - Commanding General - Brigade 1
Crawford’s Horse 1 - Raw Swedish - Dash 3 - Ammo 1 - Hits 2 - Save 8+
Crawford’s Horse 2 - Veteran Swedish - Dash 3 - Ammo 1 - Hits 2 - Save 6+

Colonel Boles - Colonel - Brigade 2 - Dashing
Bole’s Foot - Seasoned Standard - Ammo 3 - Hits 3 - Save 7+
Bole’s Conscripts - Raw Standard - Ammo 2 - Hits 3 - Save 8+
Oxford Conscripts - Raw Standard - Ammo 2 - Hits 3 - Save 8+
Artillery - Seasoned - Ammo 6 - Hits 1 - Save 7+

Medals - 18 x 0.5 = 9

Parliament

William Waller - Commanding General - Brigade 1
London Trained Bands 1 - Seasoned Standard - Ammo 3 - Hits 3 - Save 7+
London Trained Bands 2 - Seasoned Standard - Ammo 3 - Hits 3 - Save 7+
Kentish Foot - Veteran Standard - Ammo 4 - Hits 3 - Save 6+
Commanded Shot - Seasoned Shot - Ammo 3 - Hits 2 - Save 7+
Artillery - Seasoned - Ammo 6 - Hits 1 - Save 7+_

Sir Arthur Haselrig - Colonel - Brigade 2
Haselrig’s Lobsters - Veteran Dutch Curassiers - Dash 6 - Ammo 2 - Hits 3 - Save 6+*
Waller’s Horse - Seasoned Dutch Curassiers (Small) - Dash 3 - Ammo 1 - Hits 1 - Save 7+*Other Horse - Seasoned Dutch - Dash 3 - Ammo 2 - Hits 3 - Save 7+

Medals - 23 x 0.4 = 9

Here's the setup with the Royalist defenders at the bottom and Waller's forces at the top. I used the setup from the original scenario.

The position after a couple of turns. Parliament are advancing but haven't sorted out their horse on the right. Haselrig's Lobsters are out of command on the right and, thanks to some terrible activations, haven't moved.

Another turn and Some units are within firing range. The Royalists open up as soon as they can, hoping to inflict hots on the advancing parliamentarian troops and blunt their attack a little. Every shot failed to hit. (Most of the Royalist foot is Raw, so can only use their limited ammo to fire at long range).

The first actual action was on the Royalist left with Crawford's veterans charging Waller's small unit of horse. They quickly routed them.

Crawford led his unit of raw horse into an attack on another unit of enemy horse, but they were held.

On the other flank the Royalist artillery was firing at the advancing enemy foot with little effect. The Oxford Conscripts were now locked in a desperate fight with one of the London Trained Bands.

Firing and fighting all along the line.

Crawford's unit of raw horse broke, and Haselrig's horse pursued.

Parliament's commanded shot had managed very little and were quickly disordered by a crashing volley from Bole's Foot.

Waller led the other London Trained band in an attack on the Royalist artillery position and quickly overwhelmed the guns.

They took up positions around Alton Church in the Royalist rear. This left the Royalists in a very difficult position.

Unsupported, the Oxford Conscripts broke and fled. The Royalists were now a unit away from breaking, saved only by the 50% break limit I'd given them.

The position at the crisis of the battle. The Royalists would need to do something clever to win this one.

Lord Crawford had gone off in search of his veteran horse. They had rallied from their pursuit and, thanks to some direct leadership rolled a blinding series of activations, coming straight back down onto the flank of the veteran Kentish Foot ...

... and charging them! Sadly they failed to score any hits, but it now put Parliament back under pressure.

With the London Trained Bands in his rear Colonel Boles led his foot in a wild charge against the commanded shot in front of him, scattering them. 

Haselrig brought his horse back into the battle.

The fight continued with little effect until Boles led his men in a second charge against the veteran Kentish Foot, and broke them as well.

Parliament was now one unit from breaking. The Royalists formed a new line at 90 degrees to their first, whilst Parliament tried to reorganise as well. Haselrig's Lobsters now finally entered the fight, threatening Bole's Foot.

Meanwhile Crawford and Haselrig clashed in a duel.

The Lobsters charged Bole's Foot, inflicting some disorder but failing to break them.

The end came from the village of Alton, with the London Trained Band finally getting its act together and attacking Bole's Conscripts. A frontal assault had failed to dislodge the Royalist troops, but the Trained Bands fell back and managed to work around the flank. Their charge was enough to break the Royalist foot and, with them, the entire force.

The final position. The Royalists had put up a good fight but were very much on borrowed time for the last couple of turns. However they had opportunities to break one last Parliamentarian unit and clinch a win, so the issue was in doubt until the very end.

This was a tight and dramatic fight. To be honest I think if a Parliamentarian player knows what they are doing they should win every time, but the Royalists might be able to pull off a victory if they can inflict some early disorders on the attackers. The artillery seems to be the weak link in their defence; a bold Parliamentarian attack should sweep it away and open up a hole in the enemy line. That's what happened here, certainly.