I mentioned in a previous post that I'd got the Lulu version of 'Dominion of Frederick the Great'. I'd had a hankering to do the '45 using a variant of DoFtG since hearing the excellent BBC Radio 2 dramatisation of the uprising, but when my printed copy of DoFtG arrived, it included within it 'Dominion of the Claymore, Tomahawk and Talwar' which had done the job for me. It even included a couple of battles I'd never heard of before (or at, least aren't in my Cassells 'British Battlefields').
The Lulu version of DoFtG really is excellent value and I'd recommend it to anyone. The variant rules cover the '45 and the various FiW wars in North America as well as the West Indies and India in the latter part of the eighteenth century whereas the main rules cover The 7 Years War and War of Austrian Succession.
Anyway, the first two battles were Prestonpans and Inverurie, which both took place in 1745.
First up the 'infamous rout' of Prestonpans. This was the first major battle of the Jacobite Rebellion. Bonnie Prince Charlie arrived in Scotland in July 1745 and raised an army which captured Edinburgh. Most of the British Army was still fighting in Flanders, and the Jacobites faced John Copes hastily raised army of militia and conscripts east of Edinburgh near Prestonpans.
The battlefield was bounded by the sea on the north (left) and a marshy river on the right (south). There were some woods and and the village of Preston with enclosures in the Hanoverian rear. I diidn;t bother modelling Prestonpans and the other coast towns and villages. The Hanoverians are nearest the camera and the Jacobites further away.
The Jacobites are modelled as four Elite 'Claymore' units. These are essentially melee infantry with a +1 in combat. Now, irl almost all the Highland units fought in line, with muskets, with a smattering of swordsmen, but they did indeed favour a volley and a charge, so this is probably fair enough. They have three Claymores in the front line and one in reserve. I'm using the wagons to record rallies.
The Hanoverians are more of a mish mash, they have a couple of cavalry (dragoons) some artillery and three line infantry units. All of these might have been best modelled as 'unreliable' but then the Hanoverians would have 12 units! They have a front line (L-R) of cavalry, muskets and artillery with two more muskets and the other cavalry in reserve.
As in other DotS rules, units fight in sequence, first artillery then muskets then melee units. Artillery hits on a 6 and muskets on a 5+ but both get a +1 vs melee units, while melee units hit on a basic 4+ with a +1 for Elite. That means that the Hanoverians muskets are hitting on 4+, while the Highlanders hit on 3+, if they can weather the firestorm....
The first iteration was a bit of a wipeout. The Highlanders managed to mutually rout the British cavalry, but then couldn't make any headway against the massed muskets and artillery. Here they are down to just two Claymore units left, the others having been shot down.
An interesting wrinkle in this version of DotS is that each side can activate the same sector, which works rather well if suitable reserves have been committed. I may use that in the other periods too, but it probably isn't appropriate for very large battles where reserves are somewhat ponderous.
In a parting shot they did manage to rout the British guns (irl both the cavalry and artillery ran away), then the flanking attacks reduced them to one unit. The Highlanders failed to rally (need a 5+ for an elite unit) and then it was all over. Time for Charlie to head away to Skye.
Mmm, not sure about that. I'd have expected the governement forces to just collapse. Lets give it another go to see if it was a fluke.
And here we go again. The Jacobites rout the artillery (historical) but then their centre is blown away by the Glasgow Militia (less so).
The Jacobites take out the Government cavalry, but lose another unit in the process, leaving their centre wide open.
The Jacobites mount one last charge which is shot down, fail to rally any units and once more it is game over for Charlie.
I think the problem here is that the matchups are every much against the Jacobites. The government musketeers get an automatic bonus firing on the massed clansmen, but in return they only get a bonus by being 'elite', which gives them fewer units.
I have a cunning plan however. The main feature of the Highland charge was that they weren't phased by being shot at (well not as much as other troops), so an alternate setup is to keep the four Calymores with a bonus, but to make it 'Disciplined' not 'Elite'. That then negates the firing automatic firing bonus the government troops get.
So I gave it another try with the Highlanders as Disciplined instead of Elite.
And you can see how that went. The Highlanders have still lost one unit to a 5+ firing musketeer, but the Government army has been obliterated. Much more like the 'infamous rout of Prestonpans' that I would expect.
That minor change worked really well and I'll keep it in mind for the other scenarios. Well done Charlie, time to march on London, than all fall out with each other, and march back to Scotland again.
Which leads us to Inverurie in December 1745.
This was a small battle for control of Aberdeenshire between the Jacobites under Lord Lewis Gordon and a Government force of loyal Highlanders and the Independant Highland Companies under Norman McLeod.
This was a such small battle that I couldn't even find a map for it, although there is a text description on the wiki page above. The Jacobites advanced on both sides of the River Don and took the Government forces inside and outside Inverurie by surprise.
So for the battlefield I've put a river up the middle, and a small town (Inverurie) with the Government baggage train.
The Jacobites (top) have quite a formidable army, the front line is three Elite Musketeers (!): the Franco-Irish Brigade and two units of Lowlanders with surprise. In reserve are a unit of Claymores and unreliable artillery (historically five naval guns deployed ashore).
The Government have two line musketeers and a Claymore on the right garrisoning Inverurie, with three more Claymores in reserve. So unlike Prestonpans, it is the Government on the wrong end of the musket firepower. The Jacobites basically have extra bonuses against every troop type, the only advantage the Govt has is numbers, but those elite musketeers are hitting the government Claymores on 3+, and they fire first. Ouch.
Both armies are so small (only several hundred men each), that using 2mm figures, this is a 1:1 representation. In fact probably more than 1:1.
Unsurprisingly the Franco Irish attack Inverurie and rout the Claymore garrison in short order. Hit on a 3+ and fire first.... total wipeout. They are replaced by more Claymores. The British respond with musketry on their left and rout one of the Lowland regiments. The Jacobites replace them with their naval artillery! Well, I wanted to try the 'unreliable' rules out.
Once again the Franco-Irish rout the defenders of Inverurie who are replaced by more loyal Highlanders. The naval gunners in turn decide to stand but their cannonade is ineffective and they are routed by the Hanoverian musketeers. The Jacobites are forced to replace them with their reserve Claymores.
Once again the 'British' Highlanders are driven out of Inverurie, but the Jacobite Claymores stand in the face of musketry, although their charge is unsuccessful.
Next turn is a more predictable result. The Franco-Irish rout their opponents, and the Hanoverians finally rout the Jacobite Claymores. No one has any reserves and both sides fail to rally.
It is all over for the Government now though. Flank attacks by the Franco-Irish collapse the Hanoverian centre, and although last Hanoverian unit sees off the Jacobite Claymores, they are reduced to one unit and it is game over.
Historically McLeod was overwhelmed by what were claimed to be 'overwhelming numbers', so that seems like a decent historical result.
Just to show the result isn't pre-ordained, I ran the game again and this time the Hanoverians completely routed the Jacobites without loss. That was a surprise! One of the joys of such a dice dependant system.
I really enjoyed both of those scenarios, and also learned a bit of history along the way. Another couple of battles coming up in due course.
No comments:
Post a Comment