Pikemans lament preparation

[vodkafan]

The countryside looks so peaceful before the battle....

[has.been]

I can't wait to see it all in the 'flesh' tomorrow, and show off the Tower Hamlets.

[Sunjester]

Looking really good. Your brush work is excellent, way beyond my own humble standard.

[Antonio J Carrasco]

PL is a great game. Tell your friend that he should give it a try. I agree that it is not what we imagine as the typical Musket & Pike battle, but truth be told, open battles were actually not that common. Even in ECW, that had its good share of battles, most soldiers experience would have been skirmishes and sieges rather than battles. Said that I don't think that it was a good idea to include pikemen in the army lists -rules' title notwithstanding!-. I have not a PL army painted (yet) but I have gamed it with my friends and we all agree that the game looks more "accurate" when troops types are Dragoons, Musketeers, Forlorn Hopes, or Horse, rather than Pikemen.

In the end it is just a game -and fun at that!- not a fastidious simulation of Musket & Pike combat. 

[has.been]

Despite his misgivings our friend did take part in our first game of PL.
Flatpack has taken pictures to prove it & as soon as he can they will grace this thread.
Spoiler alert.....
my Tower Hamlets  (London Trained Bands) were not on the winning side.

[vodkafan]

It was an interesting game with lots of surprises. The Tower Hamlets didn't go down easy...can't wait for the pics and the battle report. And many thanks to Mrs. Flatpack for the sausage butties.

[flatpack]

Here we go. First game with Pikemans lament. Took 3hrs to play a simple engagement but really good fun.
Prepare yourself for the "Battle of Much Piddling in the Marsh".
An early ECW battle pitching Parlimentarian veteran Tower Hamlett infantry "stuck" to a hill, supported by the worlds worst cannon, and some rabble from down the road on their left flank.
Up against them were the "keen as mustard" raw kings units of 2 units of pike, 2 units of musket, and 2 units of cavalry ( note here, We preferred to show the musket either side of the pike blocks, as we think they would have been seen during ECW, but when they come to firing, we fire them as one unit).
So on with the battle.

Initial deployment. Parliamentarian forces on the hill, with cannon and rabble on their left.
Kings forces on the level ground in front of the hill.


Tower Hamlets glued to the hill.


Kings forces advance to the hill.


Kings cavalry advance on Parliamentarian rabble.


Overall view of the battle with Kings pike blocks advancing and musketeers taking some incoming fire.


Royalist musketeers waivering or going chicken - see we used the chickens, did you see what we did there 


Royalist cavalry actually get charged by the Parliamentarian rabble WHAT ?? it was the only good thing the rabble could do.


The rabble won't be doing that again, as the glorious Royal cavalry cut them to pieces.


Bottom left hand corner, here come the Royalist cavalry to outflank the Tower Hamlett Hillbillies. Notice the Parliamentarian's still have their cannon at this stage, but due to poor dice rolls, it was just taking up space, as it only fired once during the whole game.


Now here come the red Royalist pikeblock, to outflank the Parliamentary forces. Don't think it works, hiding 12 pikemen behind just 2 trees, but we will try anything just to get some cover .LOL


Almost closing time on Tower Hamlett Hill. Cavalry in the rear....oh err misses, and fresh blue boy pike charging up the hill too.


Tower Hamletts twist and turn, but who should they defend themselves against first ?


Tower Hamletts -GAME OVER.
Superior Royal Raw units take the day for the king, and the battle is over.
Great game, played in the right spirit.
One of our few, still wasn't happy with the rules, so we agreed, but only after rolling poor dice 
Really the rules are good, nice and simple, and we got a conclusion in the 3 hrs.

Great thanks to Has.been and vodkafan.

[Antonio J Carrasco]

Great report! Thanks for posting it.

[Sunjester]

Great report! Looks fantastic. Played a couple of games on Friday, I really like these rules. I now want to play a mini campaign using the officer progression rules at some point in the not too distant future.

[has.been]

Thanks for posting this so quickly. I prefer to say that my Tower Hamlets' side were in the top two (spin is not a new thing)
Some points:
I had great fun;
My Officer DID win a duel ! ;
This has got me painting, & getting troops on the table, for ECW (first time in over 30 years)
For those interested both sides each came to 19pts;
I paid 6 points for that big doorstop (can't really call it a cannon) the same as two of your pike blocks ! and
I second the thanks to your lovely wife, for the sausage & bacon butties.

Note to self.... paint some cavalry & more muskets.

[flatpack]

Mrs Flatpack is very grateful for your thanks. Lets hope she runs the NAFI every game.

[vodkafan]

Good report and excellent photos!
I like these rules so far. One thing I have learnt the hard way is I will think twice next time about accepting a duel...the consequences of losing a duel can be catastrophic, the resulting blow to troop morale made all my muskets run away.

[Wirelizard]

That all looks great, including the collection of funny hats to inflict on everyone!

The table looks just about perfect, just enough terrain to be interesting and force some tactical choices without getting in the way, and it looks right for what (little...) I know of the landscape of the era.

Are all the trees homemade or did you get them from somewhere? I have nowhere near enough trees in my scenery collection and those look good.

[DintheDin]

Hi!
I enjoyed very much your report - and the good use of the chicken!   
You had much fun, I'm sure!
Very nice terrain and pictures!
Your narration radiates such energy an good mood, I wish I were there!
The more I play, the more I feel addicted and eager to play through all the scenarios proposed in the book.

Although my experience with TPL is limited to only six games, I dare to share with you the following points:
- Clubmen are just a points filler. It is better to keep them sitting in some strategically placed bad going from where they could throw things to passers by 
- You will have tons of more fun, as soon as you will have painted all sorts of units, so as to create two opposing armies with balanced forces (both to have cavalry, skirmishers etc).
-Including an upgraded gun in your forces, doesn't help much, especially when you have few other units for close support. Besides this, it has a limited arc of fire and if dice don't help...    In one of our games, I recklessly advanced a regimental gun to the middle of the table and it was caught in crossfire by two units of detached shot and dispatched soon...
-Royalist quantity overwhelmed Parliamentarian quality.
-The Parliamentarian force was defensively designed, but not having some skirmish groups to delay the Royalist advance, was not able to take advantage of its position on higher ground, as it became surrounded.
-As it will take you some more time to augment your forces with new units, I dare propose the following:
Play a variation of the same game, going up to 24 points, for example:
Parliamentarians: Break the 12 Shot figures to two units of Forlorn Hope, @6 points each. One unit of Pikes and one Regimental Gun @4 points each. Baptize your clubmen to clansmen and add a hero, 3+1=4 points. 24 points total. No need to add more figures! The Royalists have a wider choice of upgrades. I bet it will be a more balanced game!
And last:
-In such an age of chivalry, if you do not accept a duel  challenge, do paint more chicken markers 

Excuse me if I talked too much (saying silly things worsens the signal to noise ratio), I just wanted to share with you my enthusiasm for this sort of games and wish you much more fun for your next PL battle!   



 
   

[Leigh Metford]

TPL isn't designed for playing field battles. Like its progenitor, Lion Rampant, it's supposed to be used for scenario-based skirmishes at the outpost warfare level. I see too many groups misapplying rule sets in the LR stable, then often complaining when they don't do well a job they weren't designed for. While you might have perceived your first attempt as a success (shear novelty was probably a factor in that perception), if you continue to attempt to stretch it by using it for that style of game its weakness as a formal mass battles system will soon become only too apparent.