ECW - The Rising of John Lambert, 1660

We had a very interesting 'what if' re-fight of the last 'confrontation' of the English Civil War at the club meeting on Monday night.

The historical background is complicated, but Major General John Lambert lead an ill fated attempt to resist the Restoration of the Monarchy in the years following the death of the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. 

His (rebel) Parliamentarian Army disintegrated in the face of the (government) Pro-Restoration army, commanded by Ingoldsby, in Northamptonshire and the battle, as such, never really joined.

We decided to play the game out and see what might have happened. At the start of the game, two units of horse swopped sides, complicating matters for both commanders. Lambert's forces got the better of the firefight and skirmishes on either side of the brook. Lambert's reinforcements arrived to put further pressure on the enemy, by which time some of Ingoldsby's units had started to flee the field.

Therefore, in our game, history was reversed. Lambert was victorious and was able to continue on his march to London to resist Parliament's dastardly attempts to restore the Monarchy! 

ECW - Covenanters in Action

In this reverse of historical fortunes an army of dour Scots Covenanters defeated a New Model Army force led by the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, himself. The Parliamentarians held the Scots off effectively on the left flank and in the centre of the line, but the Scots horse overwhelmed a smaller company of Ironsides on their far left flank and broke a unit of foot on the left-centre of the line.

Cromwell himself was wounded and had to be escorted from the battlefield!

English Civil War - Pikeman's Lament

Fantastic to see ECW make an appearance again, this time with the popular Pikeman's Lament rules. All played on a great looking table with excellent 28mm miniatures.

ECW - A Cavalier Attitude

Tonight we ran an English Civil War game. ECW is always popular – it looks great on tabletop, there is usually an exciting push of pike or clash of horse to keep the punters entertained and, for us, there are always battlefields and/or siege locations nearby to visit. It’s as if it only happened just yesterday…..

In this game the Royalists saw off the less experienced Roundheads with aggressive use of their more confident and cavalier Cavaliers!

A Very Forlorn Hope at Cheriton, 1644

In this highly entertaining game, we refought the Battle of Cheriton, 1644. One of the members painted up some 15mm ECW (Warrior Miniatures, I think), that had remained on his lead pile, unpainted, for a couple of decades, over the lockdown period. This was their first outing.

In keeping with the 'Old School' feel of the figures and period, we used the rules 'Forlorn Hope', a vintage set that utilises multiple tables and charts. Despite some of us having used them a lot 20 years ago, they really showed their age, and we found it difficult to plod through the tedious melee mechanisms, in particular.

That said, it was a lot of fun and a reminder of how (most) rule sets have improved greatly over the last number of years.

ECW - Pikeman’s Lament

Not so much Pikeman's Lament, more Horseman's Lament. In this exciting encounter, mounted troops chased one another up and down the high street of some undeserving Midlands town, much to the consternation of the local populous. I'm not sure which side one, nor whether that side would have known that they had won. Horsemanship and rabble-rousing ribaldry were the true victors, I imagine. Rules used were the popular Osprey title 'Pikeman's Lament'.