Battle of Newbury - part 3

For the previous Part 2 head here

In this post I am going to address Commanders , Deployment and the Rules Changes imposed on the game. This will be the penultimate report before the big one that will follow post game on Sunday.


Commanders

As mentioned previously every unit is going to have a designated regiment card illustrating that force's size, its abilities and other key stats. The regiments are grouped into battalia according to the order of battle as shown in part 2.

The commanders will be positioned in the vicinity of these units. Each commander has his own command card. As illustrated in the picture below. Most of the pictures actually denote the right person from historic portraits. 

These cards provide the command ratings (top left hand corner) but also the strength value if said commander joins the battle. Furthermore they have a command status.

Generals can command any unit, unless it states that they are for example a Cavalry General. Infantry commanders can only command infantry etc. Guns that are atached to infantry battalia can be commanded by infantry commanders.

Assigning roles, commanders and brigades will be made on the Sunday morning. This should be relatively straightforward in sorting out forces across the field.

	Number of Infantry Commands	Number of Cavalry Commands
Royalist	7	2
Parliamentarian	4	5

In addition to the 'named' commanders each side will be given three 'Commanders'. As named after the players. For example

These additional commanders can be used to create new on table battalias and add a further 'personal dimension' to the game 

The average Commander will be responsible for 4 regiments.

IAny Commander/General lost in combat is replaced with a new commander with a 7+ rating   

Deployment

At present the intention is for forces to be deployed according to historic records. 

The map shown below illustrates force disposition just before battle commences - our game will start shortly before this point and as such placed 12" further back.

In the actual battle Parliament were able to secure Round hill early in the morning.  I am therefore proposing that the Parliamentarian forces will gain a free command turn before battle commences. This could give them the opportunity to secure Roundhill in the early part of the game - 

Deployment may alter between now and the game.

Rule Amendments

In previous posts I mentioned the changes imposed on movement and shooting ranges. There is one further rule I am going to address.

At present the rules in pike & shotte allow any unit to march up to three moves and then fire away. This feels somewhat counter intuitive for ECW infantry. Cavalry will still be able to do this.

In this game any infantry that moves more than one command will not be able to fire its muskets.

Ammunition

Historic records suggest that powder supplies started to run out in the latter course of the battle on both sides. To reflect this we will post lunch adopt the following rule. 

Any firing unit that rolls 2 ones when shooting will be assumed to have run out of powder. The unit will be marked with a yellow token and will now fire with two fewer dice. This could mean the unit may no longer shoot.

Chance Cards

Finally both sides will receive a deck of cards. Both decks are exactly the same (only differentiated by the border colour). The decks are about 45 cards strong and will be shuffled.

Each side will receive five cards at the beginning of the game and will draw a new card every turn. These cards may be played or held. There is no limit to the number of cards each side may hold in his hand.

These cards can be played as and when the circumstances dictate. More often than not they offer a further chance element to the game but also a bit of colour and humour. 

So as Sunday rapidly approaches I need to go off and finish that terrain...

Part 4 the battle can be found HERE