The Battle of London 1603

The War of the Stuart Succession continues. Arbella Stuart has moved into Bedfordshire, but the trained bands have rallied against her. Meanwhile, the victorious Spanish have moved into Middlesex from Kent, where the trained bands have rallied in the defence of London. So, this game week, there are two wargames to be had. I decided to start with the Spanish.

The photograph shows the setup. The Spanish are to the left, with their mounted arm fully restored. You cannot see the hills in the picture. On the extreme left of the rearmost Spanish foot, there is a ridge running to behind the Spanish cavalry. Out of shot to the right, in the near corner, is another hill, which will become important.

The Spanish plan was to hold their centre and left with the infantry, and outflank the English on the right with their much larger heavy cavalry force, supported, as necessary, by the skirmishers (deployed in the march initially). The English plan was to use their infantry superiority to crush the Spanish before the flank attack materialised.

The wargame had no sooner started than it was interrupted by an intruder. She did not, admittedly, leap onto the table (she is getting a bit old and stiff for that) or proffer any tactical advice, but she came to sit in the sun she knew would be in the room and, I would like to think, for some company. She snoozed under the general’s chair for a few minutes before retiring to her igloo (also in the sun) next door. The cat does not much like being photographed, so I took the opportunity for a snapshot.

So, back to the wargame. The plans developed, as you would expect. The English have been forced to divert some infantry and their demi-lancers (under the general) to block the flanking activities of the Spanish heavy cavalry. Those gentlemen have arrived on the hill on the left front corner of the table and deployed. Meanwhile, on the other flank, the light horse are exchanging pleasantries, and the English have started to advance their infantry.

The Spanish general carefully husbanded his infantry resources, attempting to maximise the musketry period. Both sides played a careful game on the English left as well, with the Spanish cavalry attempting to find flanks to work, while the English were trying to block them and get the infantry close enough to give their opponents some hot lead. It turned into a game of cat and mouse, mostly to the English advantage, because they had the general there to control things.

Above, you can see the shooting breaking out to the left of the picture. The light horse have both been withdrawn damaged, but the Spanish skirmishers are now shooting at English foot from the rear flank, from the town. To the right of the shot, the Spanish gendarmes have set off again, trying to outflank the English demi-lancers. It is a matter of tempo points at the moment on this flank. The English general can always respond, while the Spanish have to rely on a supply of points from their general, who is with the foot.

There was furious fighting on the Spanish left and centre, and, as you can see, in what should have been a fairly even chances action, the English have come off far worse. Three of their bases are fleeing, and another one, of pike, has simply been surrounded and destroyed. The English rolls were not bad; they just got worn down. The final, humiliating coup de grace on some musketeers (the blue coats with the ochre counter to the left) was delivered by the Spanish skirmishers.

On the right of the shot the English foot are pressing the Spanish demi-lancers very hard. Unfortunately for them, the latest English morale throw was ‘fall back’, which means that their flank cover – the English demi-lancers – have uncovered their flank.

The English flank open to the Spanish gendarmes was predictably disastrous, as shown. The gendarmes hit the flank of the shot, who did not even stick around to fight but fled immediately, and swept the pike and general away with them. This did not do English morale any good at all, as you might suspect. In the centre, the Spanish foot is reorganising after defeating the initial English onrush and will, doubtless, shortly be assaulting the remaining English foot.

The English morale roll was actually quite a good one, so they did not rout, but they did get to a withdraw status, and so they did. However, with Spanish cavalry across their line of retreat, I suspect that the trained bands would probably simply decide that going home is probably a good idea. London, it would seem, is now under Spanish control.

That was an interesting battle, I felt. Both sides made extensive use of their generals to get troops where they were needed, as they operated on different parts of the battlefield, both interventions were significant. The English flank guard infantry played a major role in delaying the Spanish flank attack, but paid the price for going onto the offensive while their flank was being uncovered by their supports. In the centre, the Spanish general’s extra tempo enabled him to organise the surrounding of a successful English pike stand, and also to keep the Spanish foot moving back and forward to engage the advancing English.

The role of the Spanish skirmishers was interesting and quite amusing. Eventually, they hit a base of arquebusiers, which was already on -2 on the combat dice, and managed to rout them. I think this might be a first in my wargaming – foot skirmishers are quite weak in these rules. They have their uses, however and can flank the enemy or keep them under fire and unable to rally.

So, now Isabella of Austria has London and, if she manages to roll favourably, her forces will be augmented by the English navy in the Thames and the army in Dublin. On the other hand, Arbella Stuart is in Bedfordshire, and if she overcomes the trained bands, London will be open to her. On a third hand, Isabella and Arbella are on very friendly terms with each other, so perhaps they will come to a ladies' agreement over the throne….