Summing Up My Marston Moor Playthrough

I KNOW the refights are supposed to get tougher as one progresses through Mike Lambo's Battles Of The English Civil War.

But I cannot help thinking the difficulty level gets too high too quickly.

True, I was unlucky with my dice-throwing in this battle, and quite possibly my plan of a flank attack was too slow.

Even so, I have reached the stage where I have probably had enough of these particular refights, especially as the victory conditions in the battles are not exactly realistic.

So I plan to leave things as they are, with the AI leading our series 8-3.

Marston Moor Playthrough: Turn Seven

Situation after turn six

My five dice give me 3, 2 and three 1s. I reroll the 1s, getting 4, 2 and 1.

I allocate the useless attack-die to the demoralised horse, who cannot be saved, and the move-dice to the other units.

After the fleeing horse leave the battlefield, I move the pikes and the right-flank horse one hex forward, so both are within attacking range of the nearest enemy.

Then I move my muskets obliquely forward to their left, and charge the nearest Parliamentarian muskets with my other horse, needing 6+, reduced to 3+ thanks to support from the rest of the army. I roll 8, forcing the enemy muskets from the battlefield.

At least the artillery cannot fire at my units this turn

The forward artillery move to their right, which means the other artillery have to stand still.

The forward Parliamentarian muskets fire at my left-flank horse, needing 9+, reduced to 7+ thanks to support from more muskets and from artillery, and roll exactly 7, demoralising my men.

The other Parliamentarian muskets fire at the same target, but only need 6+ as the cavalry are demoralised. The roll is exactly 6, eliminating my men as demoralised units are always destroyed if suffering a second hit.

Both Parliamentarian pike units advance.

With all hope gone, I concede

Marston Moor Playthrough: Turn Six

Situation after turn five

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

I use the 6 to rally the demoralised horse, and allocate the 5 to the muskets, with the other units getting move-dice.

I first advance my backward left-flank horse so they are within attacking range of the forward Parliamentarian pikes. Then I fire at the pikes with my muskets, needing 8+, reduced to 4+ thanks to support from the rest of the Royalist army, and I roll 9, sending the enemy off the battlefield.

I advance my pikes into the trees, and the move my central horse one square obliquely forward to their right.

My successes have been too few and too late

Parliamentarian artillery fire at my left-flank horse, needing 9+, reduced to 7+ thanks to support from two units of muskets, and roll 8, demoralising my unit and causing it to flee to the edge of the battlefield. The other artillery move another hex to their left.

The forward Parliamentarian muskets fire at my pikes, needing 8+, increased to 9+ thanks to my men being among trees, rolling 7.

The other musketeers stand still, as do the Parliamentarian pikes.

The AI has successfully countered my right-flank attacking plan

Marston Moor Playthrough: Turn Five

Situation after turn four

My six dice give me 5, 4, two 3s and two 1s. I allocate attack-dice to the horse and further-forward muskets, and move-dice to the other units.

I start by advancing the pikes and backward muskets, and move both left-flank cavalry units one hex obliquely forward to their right.

My right-flank horse attack the Parliamentarian horse, needing 8+, reduced to 4+ thanks to support from two units of muskets, one of pikes and one of horse (remember, there are no restrictions in this game on firing through friendly-occupied hexes). I roll 7, demoralising the enemy and forcing them to flee to the edge of the battlefield.

The Parliamentarian right-flank artillery again move a hex to their left. The other cannon unit fires at my muskets in its line-of-sight, needing 8+, reduced to 7+ thanks to being on higher ground, and rolls 9, sending my unit off the battlefield.

The Parliamentarian horse fail to rally and so also leave the battlefield.

Two Parliamentarian musket units advance, and the left-flank pikes charge my cavalry in the trees, needing 7+, reduced by one thanks to support from muskets, but increased by one thanks to the target being in trees. They roll 8, demoralising my horse and making them flee to the edge of the battlefield.

The right-flank Parliamentarian pikes advance, but the central pikes hold steady.

The Royalist cause is surely hopeless, but I will give it another turn

Marston Moor Playthrough: Turn Four

Situation after turn three

My six dice (I have lost a unit) give me 5, 3, two 2s and two 1s. I reroll the 1s in the hope of getting an attack-die, and a move-die if possible, and get exactly that in the shape of 5 and 1.

I give the attack-dice to the right-flank horse and right-flank muskets.

The other units get move-dice, and I use them to get all my troops out of firing range of the enemy.

I then use my right-flank horse to attack the remaining Parliamentarian horse, needing 8+, reduced by one thanks to support from muskets, but I roll 6.

The forward muskets shoot at the same target, needing 9+, reduced by one thanks to cavalry support, but again I roll 6.

I have done a reasonable job of presenting enemy artillery with few targets, but otherwise the Royalists do not look in good shape

The artillery again move to their left.

The Parliamentarian horse attack my horse in the trees, needing 8+, increased to 9+ thanks to the cover, but roll 7.

Two of the Parliamentarian musket units advance, as do all the but the right-flank pikes.

The mass of the Parliamentarian army is slowly advancing

Marston Moor Playthrough: Turn Three

Situation after turn two

Would you believe it? Having rolled four unwanted 6s last turn, and getting another two when I rerolled them, my seven this turn dice give me four 4s, 5, 3 and 1, and not a 6 with which to rally a fleeing unit.

Naturally I reroll the 4s, getting 6, 5 and two more 4s.

I use the 6 to rally the fleeing horse, but have to let the demoralised pikes exit the battlefield.

I give move-orders to my muskets on the same file as enemy artillery, moving my men to the right, and use the other move-die to charge the Parliamentarian right-flank horse, needing 8+, reduced by one thanks to support from another unit of horse, and I roll 10, demoralising the enemy and sending them fleeing three hexes.

At this point I suddenly realise I earlier mistakenly advanced the Parliamentarian right-flank artillery while moving them, something that is not allowed as artillery must stay on the back row of hexes.

The AI is about to have its third turn, with the position of the Parliamentarian right-flank artillery corrected

Neither artillery unit has a target in its line-of-sight, so both move to their left (the right-flank artillery moving first).

The Parliamentarian left-flank horse charge my horse in the trees, needing 8+, increased by one thanks to cover, but roll 6.

The demoralised Parliamentarian horse fail to rally (rallying for the AI requires a throw of 5 or 6) and so leave the battlefield.

The furthest-forward Parliamentarian muskets fire at my further-forward left-flank horse, needing 9+, but roll 7.

The other Parliamentarian muskets stand still, as do all but the rearmost Parliamentarian pikes, who advance one hex obliquely to their right.

I already feel like throwing in the towel

Marston Moor Playthrough: Turn Two

Situation after turn one

My seven dice give me four 6s, 5, 4, and 2; in other words, only one move-die, which is all I can use right now. I reroll the 6s, getting two more 6s, 4 and 2.

I decide to play aggressively, and start by charging the left-flank Parliamentarian horse, needing 8+, but roll 4.

With my other move-die I get the left-flank horse to move two hexes to their right.

The right-flank Parliamentarian artillery move left a hex to get closer to being on the same file of hexes as Royalists.

The rearward Parliamentarian artillery fire at my pikes in their line-of-sight, needing 8+, reduced by one for being on higher ground. The roll is 7, so my pikes are demoralised.

The left-flank Parliamentarian horse attack my horse opposite them, needing 8+, and roll 9, demoralising my men and sending them fleeing a hex into the cover of trees.

The other Parliamentarian horse rush towards my left-flank cavalry.

Having stood still last turn, all three Parliamentarian musket units advance,

Of the Parliamentarian pikes, only the left-flank ones move, placing themselves behind friendly horse.

No units have been lost, but I have two retreating

Marston Moor Playthrough: Introduction & Turn One

THE 11th refight in Mike Lambo's English Civil War book is the Battle of Marston Moor.

This Parliamentarian victory near York in July 1644 obliged the Royalists, who at the battle were led by Prince Rupert and the Marquess of Newcastle, to abandon north England.

The human commands the Royalists, who will attack from the bottom of the map

The outnumbered Royalists have three units of horse and two each of muskets and pikes.

I have gone for a classical setup, favouring my left with an extra unit of horse as high ground is less likely to be reached so soon on that flank

The AI's Parliamentarians consist of three units each of muskets and pikes, and two units each of horse and guns. Their initial dispositions are determined by dice throws.

The AI has gone for an asymmetrical formation, favouring its right flank  

To win I have to destroy or demoralise every Parliamentarian unit before the end of turn 10.

As usual I will write up the refight as it unfolds.

TURN ONE

My seven dice give me 6, 5, 4, two 2s and two 1s. Attack-dice (6,5,4) are useless on this turn, at least for the Royalists, but I cannot reroll them as I do not have a pair of such dice.

I give move-dice (3,2,1) to my units on the same files as enemy artillery, to my left-flank pikes and my right-flank horse.

The Royalists look ragged, but my plan is to attack the Parliamentarians on their weaker left-flank and hopefully roll up the rest of the enemy after I have taken some high ground

Both Parliamentarian units of artillery move to their right to get on files of hexes containing Royalists.

Both Parliamentarian cavalry units advance two hexes, but the musketeers hold their positions, and only the further forward of the left-flank pike units advances.

The left-flank Parliamentarian horse may have advanced rather too boldly