5 Dec 2008 Scenario 3 Disciplined vs Irregulars

This game was played solo using my 40mm 16thC English and Scots armies and Rough Wooing.

I decided to pit the firepower of veteran English longbows against Scottish levies using 2 stands per unit.
The English consisted of: a General with his bodyguard of Pensioners, a Captain of lancers with 2 lancers and a border horse, a Captain of bills with 3 armoured bills, 4 bows and a light gun, a Captain of light infantry with 2 bows and a company of arquebusiers and a spare card to level out the deck and allow them to pass once per turn if though advantageous.

The Scots had a General and 5 companies of pike with 2 shot, a Captain of lancers with 1 lancer, 2 border horse and 2 mounted arquebusiers (well the scenario said the irregulars had 1 mounted unit with missile weapons and that's what I had), a Captain and 5 companies of Border horse and a captain with 9 companies of highland swordsmen.

Things went badly wrong for the English in turn one and went down hill from there, dice, cards, everything seemed against them while the Scots could do no wrong. Even the parties of light horse sent on a wide flanking movement passed every control check. The Scots cavalry overran the English horse then the general, the Highlanders took on and broke the billmen, while the flanking horse rode over several archers and into the limbered gun. It took barely an hour to reduce the English army to a few scattered remnants.

In case it was a rules problem (or, perish the thought, prejudice) I replayed the game using the same broad plans. This time the Scots stalled when out of command control and the English archers plied their bows with effect. A clash of cavalry destroyed both parties leaving the way open for the Scots pike to charge head on into the Bills. In a flurry of dice, the General and 1/2 the pikemen went down. The English archers stepped up and supported by the artillery cut down the Highlanders in swathes then turned their bows on the border horse driving them off. The way was clear to march on with serious but acceptable losses.