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Author Topic: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp (Concluded!)  (Read 12415 times)

Offline vodkafan

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #45 on: March 29, 2020, 10:32:10 PM »
This is fantastic!  RE: the Hopton's Horse situation, we have also had the same circumstance arise and dealt with it the same way you did- pulling back the unit the required distance.
I am going to build a wargames army, a big beautiful wargames army, and Mexico is going to pay for it.

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Offline Belisarius

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #46 on: March 30, 2020, 01:53:06 AM »
Cometh the hour , cometh the man  :). Well done Captain. Superb terrain and figures, a pleasure to behold. The cards are a good idea , I make mine using postcards . It may seem obvious, but it’s usually a good idea for the players to activate their easier units first , although this can sometimes get lost in the heat of battle. An 8+ is needed for the Artillery to Fire , for instance, so its usually a good idea to attempt this on your last activation. The Dragoons can be surprisingly effective when ordered to fire using the Caracole rule . The table set up definitely favours the Infantry, this time , so I’d expect any rash cavalry moves to receive a severe caning . We enjoy the TPL rules , as the game progresses you’ll see some interesting tactical questions appear for the players to address. Happy Gaming Guys .

Offline Captain Blood

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #47 on: March 30, 2020, 11:10:25 AM »
Thanks chaps :)

It may seem obvious, but it’s usually a good idea for the players to activate their easier units first , although this can sometimes get lost in the heat of battle. An 8+ is needed for the Artillery to Fire , for instance, so its usually a good idea to attempt this on your last activation.

It's obvious once you've played it a couple of times ;)
I played a few solo games against myself first, and it took me a few turns to work out that trying to activate the gun to fire first every time was a recipe for friction and disappoinment!  lol


Parliamentarian turn 4


Sir Melville Gibson’s raw shot rally, and the frame gun pivots…



Nathaniel Crowe’s veteran shot fire a salvo which takes off another of Hopton’s Horse…



Lilburne’s shot stand and do nothing, but Crowe’s commanded shot in the farmhouse garden give fire upon Fondling’s pinkcoat shot advancing across the mown field,  knocking off two figures. Their morale holds however.



Lilburne’s veteran Folorn Hope advances further into the gorse patch, Okey’s dragoons are ordered to hold their position, and Gibson’s commanded shot then give fire upon the same target, rolling high, and taking off three more pinkcoat shot.



This time their morale cracks and with a dismal roll of just 4, minus 5 for casualties, they immediately break and run for it. (There’s no rallying routed troops in these rules, so they’re effectively gone).



That’s turn 4 completed.


Turn 5.

Royalists roll higher and gain the initiative.

Immediate test for wild charges, and despite being down to two figures, Hopton’s Horse charge the nearest enemy unit, Crowe’s veteran shot.



In the ensuing melee, each side loses a further casualty, and thus with honours even (a draw), it is the attacker that has to fall back.
Sir Ralph Hopton fails his morale check and starts to waver. Not surprising under the circumstances.





Fondling’s veteran Folorn Hope continue their long march, and close in on the frame gun…



Hopton’s blew dragoons fire on the enemy Folorn Hope in the gorse, but fail to score enough hits to cause a casualty. And Spoons’ commanded shot move up again!



Crawley’s dragoons also move up alongside them, and Astley’s bluecoat shot advance as well.



From the farmyard, Spoons’ Greencoat veteran shot fire their first salvo at Lilburne’s Folorn Hope in the gorse, but with cover from the hedge, the Folorn Hope's stamina goes up to 4 - meaning that fully seven hits still only takes off one figure (with three hits effectively wasted). Cue much loud questioning of the rules mechanics from the Royalist side  ::) ;)


 
And finally, Crawley’s regiment of horse continue their long and uneventful canter up the lane towards the enemy gun…



That concludes the Royalist turn 5 – over to Parliament.

Lilburne’s Folorn Hope promptly return fire on Spoons’ Greencoat shot, knocking off two casualties. Their morale is good though. They hold.



Gibson’s commanded shot fire on Crawley’s dragoons but fail to score any hits, whilst Okey’s dragoons turn and move off up the lane towards the centre of the line…



On the Parliamentarian left, Gibson's raw shot move up to the hedge to support the frame gun, which pivots again (notice it hasn’t even attempted to fire in five moves  lol).



And the two units of Parliamentarian shot march up the lane to the crossroads.



In activating to make this move, Crowe’s veteran shot roll another double six on their activation roll - followed by yet another six. Meaning the Parliamentarians now receive 4 points worth of reinforcements on their baseline. That’s twice in one game that’s happened! :o

Once again, NO FRICTION AT ALL OCCURRED IN THAT TURN. I don't know what all the whingeing about this rules system is about ;)

I speak as someone who detested Sharp Practice and the wretched Tiffin card, which could prevent you moving for turn after turn after turn (once for six turns in a row, did I ever mention that? ;))
I suppose a run of very bad luck with the dice could mean the friction here works in the same way, but it doesn't seem to. Almost all activations need a 5, 6 or 7 - and the chances of successfully rolling these numbers (in various combinations) on 2D6 are pretty high, so...

Anyway, here's the general situation from either end of the field at the end of turn 5.





Initiative for turn 6 goes to the Royalists (again!) Orders are awaited.

Offline OSHIROmodels

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #48 on: March 30, 2020, 11:45:29 AM »
A POX ON PARLIAMENT!


 lol
cheers

James

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Offline Silent Invader

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #49 on: March 30, 2020, 12:20:40 PM »
A POX ON PARLIAMENT!


 lol

Wishful thinking
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Offline DintheDin

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #50 on: March 30, 2020, 02:57:35 PM »
Just caught up with it! Read the whole thread in one go!
Ravishing! Breathtaking AAR, garnished with excellent pictures of superbly painted minis on a so realistically looking table!
What's not to like? We have played several TPL games and can follow the course of the battle, turns to be more and more bloody!
Eagerly waiting for the next installment!
Thank you for sharing this original idea and for keeping us entertained! Cheers!
Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates. – Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi

Offline vodkafan

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #51 on: March 30, 2020, 07:17:44 PM »
Great stuff, I don't know which side to root for!

Offline Hu Rhu

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #52 on: March 31, 2020, 08:00:18 AM »
Great stuff, I don't know which side to root for!

Parliament of course.  :D

Offline Silent Invader

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #53 on: March 31, 2020, 08:08:08 AM »
Parliament of course.  :D

Good man Gary!

Offline Captain Blood

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #54 on: March 31, 2020, 08:54:08 AM »
Turn 6

The Royalists to activate first – and I spoke too soon: the Royalist plan for this turn was severely truncated by friction!

First though, Sir Ralph Hopton miraculously passed his rally test to remove wavering – he is now a fully functional unit of one!
Next, having trudged the whole way across the tabletop, Fondling’s veteran Folorn Hope fire on Nathaniel Crowe’s regt.of foot, managing to knock off two figures.

Having already taken a casualty from the scrap with Hopton’s horse, that minus 3 on their morale dice roll of just 4, is enough to make them waver.



Crawley’s troop of horse now swing right again, to fall in behind the Folorn Hope.



Probably just as well, since the Parliamentarian reinforcements, Thomas Sheffield’s regt. of horse, have now appeared…



Down on the Royalist left flank, Spoons’ commanded shot and Astley’s bluecoats advance again (quite an interesting dynamic here, as the two forces appear to pass each other in the gorse!).



Once again, for the second turn in a row, Hopton’s blew dragoons succeed in activating to fire, but don’t score enough hits to do any damage to Lilburne’s Folorn Hope.

Crawley’s dragoons then fail their activation to fire - doh! So both they (and Spoons’ greencoats) are unable to follow their orders to shoot – friction! Royalist turn over.



Offline OSHIROmodels

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #55 on: March 31, 2020, 09:12:50 AM »
GOD SAVE THE KING!

 lol

Offline NurgleHH

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #56 on: March 31, 2020, 09:21:10 AM »
Great to see it going on. Any limitation on turns??? Who is in front in the moment - historical accurate the parliament or fictional the royalists???
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Offline vodkafan

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #57 on: March 31, 2020, 10:36:32 AM »
You said Hopton is a fully functional unit, but of course being less than half strength he has a permanent disorder and can only use half dice, yes? (Or am I mixing up different Osprey rulesets here, I have played a lot of Rebels and Patriots since my last TPL game)

Offline gamer Mac

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #58 on: March 31, 2020, 10:52:54 AM »
You said Hopton is a fully functional unit, but of course being less than half strength he has a permanent disorder and can only use half dice, yes? (Or am I mixing up different Osprey rulesets here, I have played a lot of Rebels and Patriots since my last TPL game)

Who cares that is a fun and memorable wargame unit Lovely stuff Richard

Offline Silent Invader

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Re: The Great Confinement... An ECW battle played via WhatsApp
« Reply #59 on: March 31, 2020, 11:14:59 AM »
The Thomas Sheffield horse are a most handsome unit  8)