Summing Up Cropredy Bridge

WITH the benefit of hindsight my decision to concentrate all my forces around one bridge was a fundamental mistake.

Hindsight should not have been necessary - a little sensible foresight ought to have been enough.

I was able to inflict quite high casualties on the Royalists, but the one-bridge bottleneck meant I was always likely to run out of time.

The AI now leads our series 7-3.

Cropredy Bridge Playthrough: Turn Eight

Situation after turn seven

My five dice give me 4, 3, two 2s and 1.

I decide I have to take the opportunity to fire from the bridge while the enemy are lined up in a file to the edge of the battlefield, so I allocate the 4 to the forward muskets and move-dice to the other units.

The forward muskets fire at the nearer Royalist muskets, needing 8+, increased to 9+ thanks to firing through trees, but I roll 6.

I finish by advancing the pikes along the river bank, and moving the artillery onto the same file of hexes as the forward Royalist pikes.

Halfway through turn eight and I still have not established any troops across the river

The forward Royalist muskets fire at my men on the bridge, needing 8+, increased to 9+ by the trees, and roll 10, demoralising my unit and sending it fleeing to the edge of the battlefield.

The other Royalist muskets remain on the high ground, the forward pikes take cover in trees and the other pikes advance to the edge of the high ground.

The Parliamentarian side in this battle is clearly a lost cause, and so I concede 

Cropredy Bridge Playthrough: Turn Seven

Situation after turn six

My five dice give me 6, 4, 3 and two 1s.

I allocate attack-dice to the artillery and left-flank pikes, and move-dice to the remaining units.

First I fire at the pikes in the line-of-sight of my artillery, needing 8+, but roll 5.

Then I send the rearward muskets on to the bridge, and move the horse behind them.

Time is running out for the Parliamentarians

The forward Royalist muskets fire at my men on the bridge, needing 8+, increased by one thanks to firing through trees, but roll 4.

The rearward Royalist muskets should advance towards my pikes, but cannot do so as moving obliquely forward would not bring them closer.

The forward Royalist pikes advance towards my pikes, taking the Royalist unit off the file my artillery is on, but the other Royalist pike unit stands still.

This has been a very quiet turn

Cropredy Bridge Playthrough: Turn Six

Situation after turn five

My five dice give me 6, 5, 4 and two 3s.

I allocate attack-dice to the muskets and the horse, and move-dice to the pikes and artillery.

I start by moving the pikes to their left and the artillery to their right.

Then the backward muskets fire at the foremost pikes, needing 8+, reduced by two thanks to support from muskets and artillery, and I roll 8, demoralising the pikes and forcing them to flee two hexes.

My other muskets fire at the pikes in trees, needing 8+, increased by one thanks to the trees, but decreased by one thanks to support from my other muskets, and I roll 9, demoralising the muskets and forcing them to the edge of the battlefield.

The Royalists are reeling, but time is on their side

Neither Royalist musket unit advances, the backward unit because it could not get closer to the Parliamentarian unit it was required to approach. But both Royalist pike units rally.

Quite a gap has opened between the two armies

Cropredy Bridge Playthrough: Turn Five

Situation after turn four

My six dice give me 6, two 5s, 4 and two 3s.

I allocate the 6 to the horse, the 5s and 4 to the muskets and artillery, and the 3s to the pikes.

First I rally the horse, then use the artillery to fire at the nearest Royalist pikes, needing 8+, reduced by one thanks to support from pikes and two more thanks to support from muskets, and I roll 7, demoralising the pikes and forcing them to flee two hexes.

My forward muskets fire at the muskets in the trees, needing 8+, reduced by two thanks to support from pikes and muskets, but increased by one thanks to the trees. I roll 3.

My other unit of muskets fires at the same target, also needing 7+, and I roll 9, demoralising the Royalist muskets and forcing them back two hexes.

I decide to leave the forward pikes on the bridge, so they cannot be charged by Royalist pikes.

The Royalists face a critical half-turn in which much of their army could flee the battlefield

The foremost Royalist muskets fire at my pikes on the bridge, needing 8+, and they roll 9, which destroys the pikes as there are no retreat squares they can use.

The demoralised muskets fail to rally and so flee the battlefield, but the rearmost muskets advance.

The two furthest-forward pikes advance obliquely one hex, but the demoralised pikes next to them fail to rally and so have to leave the battlefield.

This is followed by the other demoralised pikes also failing to rally, and so leaving the battlefield.

The Royalist army now has fewer units than the Parliamentarians

Cropredy Bridge Playthrough: Turn Four

Situation after turn three

My six dice give me 6, 5, 3, two 2s and 1.

I allocate move-dice to all but the artillery and backward pikes.

First I take quite a risk by using the horse to charge the muskets in the trees. I need 6+, increased by one thanks to the cover, but I roll 6.

My artillery fire at the pikes in their line-of-sight, needing 8+, and roll exactly 8.

I advance the forward pikes onto the bridge, with the muskets close behind them.

Am I about to lose my last unit of horse?

The muskets in the trees fire at my horse, needing 9+, reduced by one thanks to support from other muskets, but roll 4.

The second unit of muskets fires at the same target, also needing 8+, and roll 11, demoralising my horse and sending them to the edge of the battlefield (fortunately their route did not take them into the river, as they would have been destroyed).

The rearward muskets at last advance, albeit obliquely, as do the three good-morale units of pike, but their demoralised comrades fail to rally and so flee to the edge of the battlefield.

The Royalists are well-placed to attack anyone crossing the Parliamentarian-held bridge

Cropredy Bridge Playthrough: Turn Three

Situation after turn two

My six dice - I have lost a unit - give me 6, two 5s, 4, 2 and 1. I reroll the 5s but get two more 5s.

I allocate one attack-die to the artillery, and ensure the left-flank pikes have one of the move-dice.

My artillery fire at the fleeing Royalist horse, needing 9+, reduced by one thanks to the target being demoralised. I roll exactly 8, destroying the horse as they have been hit while demoralised.

My other units stand still, except for the left-flank pikes which move to their right.

Again I am waiting for the Royalists to approach 'my' bridge

Only the foremost Royalist muskets advance, together with two of their pike units.

The most-advanced Royalist muskets have taken cover in trees

Cropredy Bridge Playthrough: Turn Two

Situation after turn one

My seven dice give me 5, two 4s, two 3s and two 1s.

I allocate the attack-dice to the artillery and muskets, and the move-dice to the remaining units.

I start by firing the artillery at the horse in their line-of-sight, needing 9+, rolling exactly 9, and so demoralising the Royalists.

Then the rearward muskets fire at the other Royalist cavalry unit, needing 9+, reduced by three thanks to support from two units of horse and one of muskets, but I roll 5.

The other musketeer unit fires at the same target, also needing 6+, but also roll 5.

Then my rearward horse charge the Royalists, needing 8+, reduced by two thanks to support from two units of muskets (my other horse cannot support as they cannot cross the bridge while it is occupied), and I roll 10, demoralising the Royalists and sending them fleeing to the edge of the battlefield.

Both my pike units move rightwards, and the unmoved horse stand pat.

I have captured a bridge and sent the Royalist horse fleeing, but my horse on the bridge are looking very vulnerable, especially as they have no retreat squares, a fact I have only just realised

Neither of the Royalist cavalry units rally (both rolled 1), so one exits the battlefield and the other comes within one turn of doing so.

The foremost Royalist muskets fire at my horse on the bridge, needing 9+, reduced by one thanks to support from another unit of muskets, but roll 5.

That other unit of muskets fires at the same target, also needing 8+, and they roll 9, eliminating my horse.

The rearward Royalist muskets again stand still, but two of the pike units advance.

The river still divides the two armies (and I have remembered to move on the turn counter)

Cropredy Bridge Playthrough: Introduction & Turn One

THE 10th refight in Mike Lambo's English Civil War book is the Battle of Cropredy Bridge, an indecisive engagement in Oxfordshire in June 1644.

The human commands the Parliamentarians, attacking from the bottom of the map

The Parliamentarians consist of a unit of artillery and two units each of horse, muskets and pikes.

The river can only be crossed by the two bridges, but nevertheless victory only comes if every Royalist unit is removed or demoralised before the end of turn 10.

Nothing subtle about this setup - I am going all out on the right flank

The AI's Royalists consist of two units of horse and four each of muskets and pikes. Their setup is determined by dice throws.

The Royalist horse are on the same flank as their Parliamentarian counterparts

TURN ONE

As usual I will write up the refight as I go along.

My seven dice give me 6, 5, 3, 2 and three 1s.

I allocate the attack-dice (6-5) to the artillery and the left-flank pikes, and give move-dice (3-2-1) to the other units.

The artillery open fire on the muskets in their line-of-sight, needing 8+, rolling 9, which sends the Royalists fleeing from the battlefield.

I move the horse forward one hex each and shuffle the foot rightwards (apart from the left-flank pikes, who do not have a move-die).

I am waiting for the Royalists to approach so my horse can hopefully charge them while supported by musketeers

The Royalist horse advance, each moving two hexes obliquely to their right.

The foremost Royalist muskets cannot attack anyone, and their die roll is a 5, meaning they should move "towards nearest [enemy] unit, favouring 'horizontal' moves."

Three of my units - the two horse by the bridge and the pikes next to them - are equidistant, but should the fact the pikes are behind impassable terrain, ie the river, rule them out as not being equally near?

I am fairly confident the answer is that the nature of terrain should not make a difference, and that is how I will play it.

Accordingly I roll a die, which determines the Royalist muskets should head for the pikes, and so they move one hex directly down the map as a 'horizontal' move would not take them closer.

The left-flank muskets also advance, but the rearward muskets, although rolling a 4, stand still as they cannot get closer to their intended target, which is also my pikes by the horse.

All four units of Royalist pikes advance.

The righthand bridge is surely set to be the centre of desperate fighting