Fight for the Fosse Way

In preparation for a big Very British Civil War game at the UK's Partizan convention on May 31, Pete Barfield (Panzerkaput) asked that VBCW gamers run a game using the terrain that he will use.  We were to inform him of the results so he could make a compilation and use them as the starting point for the big game.



Since I was planning on running a VBCW game this spring, using Pete's scenario made it somewhat easier for me.  So with the basics out of the way, then all I had to do was figure out which rule set to use - "Went the Day Well?" or "The Sword to Adventure."  Of course I chose one that we've never played - "Rugged Adventures" from Pulp Miniatures:  http://pulpfigures.com/rugged_adventures/ and http://pulpfigures.com/downloads/.  I made up ten different commands, five for each side, assigned a playing card to each, and had the 7 players who showed up draw for their commands.  It turned out that we had four on the Royalists side (2 Royalists [Jay and Larry] and 2 BUF [Ed and Sean]) and 3 on the Anglican Coalition side (Anglican LDF [Travis], Socialist Brewery workers [Mike], and red sailors [Phil]).  What I didn't tell anyone was that there was a command of Ghurkhas inside one of the farmsteads escorting part of the crown jewels [game master contolled].  Surprise! Surprise!



Ed and I took a lot of pictures but I only decided to use a small number.  The fighting broke down into three smaller battles over the three farmsteads.  Pete provided a table layout which I tried to follow as best as I could.

The Anglican Coalition entered from the top (red force) while the  Royalists entered from the bottom (blue force).



 

Here's my version with Brookfield Farm in the foreground.  If you look closely by the center farmstead (Grange Farm) you might spot a special visitor and his particular conveyance.



 

The two commands of regular Royalist infantry [Jay and Larry] quickly captured the Brookfield Farm.  When the East Bergholt Local Defense Force (the East Bergholt Hunt Club) [Travis] closed, the Royalists began to advance on them with bayonets fixed.

 

From the Hunt Club's perspective, those glistening bayonets didn't look too inviting.

Meanwhile on the other flank, the red sailors from the Harwich Maritime Defence Force [Phil] seized the Bridge Farm before a section of BUF Bolton Rifles [Sean] could get there.

In the center, the Brown Brewery Workers [Mike] closed on the Grange Farm only to hear a distinctly British voice [game master] asking who they were and what did they think they were doing.  Not being able to answer to the satisfaction of the Ghurkha officer, they begin to exchange fire.



 

Another section of BUF Bolton Rifles [Ed] then appeared on the other side of the Grange Farm, satisfied the Ghurkha commander as to their bona fides, and helped drive the brewery workers away.

The Hunt Club couldn't stand against the charge of the Royalist regulars and scampered for home leaving the Brookfield Farm securely in Royalist hands.

With the Brookfield Farm securely in their control, the Royalist regulars began to sweep across the battlefield only to run into a column of Anglican Coalition reinforcements [Travis' second command].

 

The red sailors were attacked at the Bridge Farm by a section of BUF Bolton Rifles [Sean] but the sturdy walls of the building kept them safe from BUF rifle fire.

With their leader killed, possibly by one of his own men (he wasn't very popular with them), the BUF Bolton Rifles scurried away from the Bridge Farm leaving the red sailors in possession of that farmstead.





The battle ended then since I had to leave for a movie and supper date with my wife.  The Royalists held two of the three farmsteads - Brookfield and Grange - while the Anglican coalition only held one - Bridge Farm.  These results were reported to Pete.  We'll find out in two months how the big battle at Partizan turns out, having done our part in setting it up.

As far as the "Rugged Adventure" rules, they worked fairly well even though we didn't do much of the "role playing" that the rule set supports.  Unfortunately Travis was assaulted by twice his number and lost his command about two-thirds of the way through the game.  But having plenty of other commands left, he brought on a section of Anglican Coalition regulars who stopped the Royalists from sweeping across the battlefield.