A Small ECW Battle

I played out a small battle set in the English Civil War this morning, using Neil Thomas' Wargaming: An Introduction ruleset and some of my 6mm Baccus ECW troops.  The buildings used were the lovely Timecast models.

The scenario was very simple: a small Royalist Army tries to force a crossing over a small river defended by an equivalent-sized Parliamentary force. 

The Royalist Army consisted of 4 Regiments of Horse (2 x Veteran, 2 x Trained) and 4 Battalia of Foot (2 x Veteran, 2 x Trained).  The Parliamentary Force consisted of 2 Regiments of Horse (Raw), 5 Regiments of Foot (1 x Veteran, 4 x Trained) and an artillery unit (representing a couple of guns).

The initial deployment: Royalists to the South (bottom), Parliamentarians to the North (top) in the slightly eerie dawn light(!)

The sun comes out and the Royalists attack: On the left the Royalist cavalry have already overthrown their opponents, but the intervention of the Parliamentary Foot is restoring the situation.  The infantry is coming to grips in the centre, whilst the Parliamentary troopers are just about holding on against the Cavaliers on the right.

Same position, different angle.

The struggle in the centre: Royalist infantry take heavy casualties crossing the stream into the town, but can their local superiority in numbers pay?

It can!  The Royalists push on in the face of heavy casualties and the Parliamentary centre is on the verge of collapse...

Same position, closer-in.

Victory to the Royalists! The river crossed, the town taken and the Parliamentary army reduced to two functioning units.  Long live the King!

Game Notes: An exciting game, with Royalist marginal advantages telling in the end.  The rules were good, considered as a game.  Where I am not so sure is about the dynamic of infantry combat.  It tended to be quite a protracted slog.  Strong morale rolls on both sides helped this, but I'm not totally convinced that infantry in the ECW could engage in a protracted close-range combat.  I'd be interested if anyone reading this who has more period knowledge could comment.