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Battle! (Pistolado)


       

A Brief report from a Playtest of Battle!

This battle was generated by the Spanish Fury, Campaign! system, soon to be released. A large force of Huguenots have intercepted part of the Royal Army trying to sneak into Paris by way of Pontoise, the only bridgehead they possess in the area. The starving Huguenots had to force a battle before their troops besieging Paris melted away.

Coligny and Conde have their entire army available. Three regiments of "Millers", three of Reiters, two of Landsknechts, and two of French foot. All told about 4000 horse and 7000 foot.

The Catholic army was smaller. Only two regiments of Royal Gensdarmes, one of Spanish Gensdarmes, two of Reiters, one of Petronels, along with a regiment of Swiss (thank heavens), two regiments of Catholic French foot and one French Legion. Roughly 2400 horse and 6500 foot.

       

Pre Battle Sequence

Both sides draw up a rough map of the board (chosen through the campaign, but you can make a board up for a one off). Next, they lay out their army status sheet, placing a counter for each regiment in a brigade, then choosing the Commanders of each brigade. The Generalissimo (C-in-C) of the army is placed in the Generalissimo box. Now players check their army's confidence level. Both start at Equipoised. Modifiers are checked and it is discovered that the Catholics are in a better state than usual and begin the game at the Resolute confidence level.

The players now draw out the positions of their brigades on the maps they sketched. Both players Strategy ratings are checked. The Catholics have the advantage based on the leaders present, but the Huguenots outdo them by rolling high. The Catholic player must place his brigades on the table as drawn. The Huguenot play must then do the same, except the position of one brigade may be changed after viewing the catholic dispositions. A telling advantage.

Orders

Now the orders are given to the brigades. The Huguenot plan is to use their cavalry advantage in numbers and quality to smash their opposite numbers before the infantry battle begins, in which they are outdone in quality, especially by the Swiss. Their right wing brigade is composed of Millers and Reiters on a hill with the sole Artillery battery. Lead by Conde, it is hoped that his leadership advantage will make up for the fact that the Catholics have a local superiority in numbers. They have Assault orders.

The center under Genlis and Coligny has the lion's share of Horse. They are confident they can crush their opponents, but will wait and see how Conde does before they enter the fray. They have Hold orders  On the left is a mixed brigade of Horse and foot, but mostly of foot. The Landsknecht regiments intend to storm the farm where the Catholics have placed a mass of Arquebus armed infantry. They are in Shot Forward formation and have Harass orders, as they will not Assault unless all goes well with the horse. Finally, a reserve of horse and foot is placed behind the center with Reserve orders.

The Catholic plan seems dependent on his left flank where he has local superiority in numbers. If he can sweep the Huguenot horse away, he hopes to keep the rest off with his Swiss. Their orders are Assault. However, almost all of his infantry is in Reserve. The center is composed of Reiters, but they are few. They hope to shoot up the Huguenots opposite them and disorder them before the decisive charge. They are in Caracole formation, with Demonstrate orders.

Their right flank is a maze of hedges and farmland, and they people it with a mass of shot to hold off any flanking attempt. They have a hidden a regiment of Legionnaire foot behind some buildings, hoping it will allow them to break up a determined attack at the right moment. The are on Hold orders.

   

The Battle

No new orders are issued in the initial orders phase by either player. All of the Catholic horse move forward at a quick pace, causing some disorder to them. Their foot remain in place. The Huguenots move forward their left flank horse under Conde, but are also slightly disordered by the rise they are coming down from. The center horse remain in position due to their hold orders. On the far right, the Landsknechts march hastily toward the farms and their meagre defenders. The Huguenot guns are masked by their own horsemen.

The Catholic right and Protestant left crash into eachother. In one engagement, the Protestant Reiters meet some Spanish Lancers. The Lancers are screened by some attached Petronels skirmishing in front of them [the attached Petronels act like a buffer- they protect the Lancers from fire while firing on the enemy themselves. When charged or charging, they are immediately placed behind the Lancers, and only participate in the melee on the second round (if their is one) as a modifer].

An Example of Melee

Both brigade Commanders roll to see who has the higher strategy this turn. Conde's strategy number is 3, while Damville (Catholic brigade commander) is 4. A die roll is made which modifies the results such that Damville wins. He chooses to charge with all three horse regiments (Spanish Lancers and two Gensdarmes units- only the Spaniards are being detailed in this example). The Spaniards take a waver test. They check on the charging row of the chart on the Spanish Lancers regimental card. They check the modifiers. They are in Trim cohesion state, so there is no modifier for that. They have no significant casualties, so nothing for that. They check the ferocity number for the Reiters, which is 1, and this is added to the modifiers. The Commander (Damiville) is not with the unit- no modifier for that. The Spaniards are not isolated. Lastly, since they have a Resolute confidence level, one is subtract from the roll for a net zero modifier.

[note: these modifiers are represented by pictograms on the waver chart, and are quite easy to get the hang of]. They roll a X, which is higher than the first number shown, but lower than the second. The result is a drop of 1 level of cohesion, but they may now charge. The Reiters now check. They easily pass. On their regimental card in the charged by cav line, the result is CC*, which means they can countercharge or stand to receive the charge. Since they are in Caracole formation, their melee number is only 3. They receive no benefit for charging, so they elect to stand, and thus are allowed to fire at the charging enemy. They could quickly change to Column formation, but will likely disorder themselves doing so and negate the effect of receiving a 5 melee number.

The Spaniards are moved to contact the Reiters. They receive the Reiters fire. They have a 3 fire number, and have 16 figures in the unit. They cross reference this on the Fire table forthe result. After the modifiers it is discovered that cause two levels of disorder, bringing the Lancers down to Ragged cohesion status. Now the type of melee is checked. The Lancers have a melee number of 3, plus 2 for the charging bonus, for a total of 5. However, 3 is subtracted because of the Ragged cohesion state, for a total of 2. One is added for the Resolute confidence level of the army, for a total of 3. The Reiters begin with a 3 melee number. They add 2 because they outnumber the Spaniards so heavily. [note- Petronels are not counted towards the size of their parent Lancer unit]

The melee totals are 3 for the Spaniards and and 5 for the Reiters. Cross referencing these numbers on the Melee type table, the Reiters have an Advantaged melee on their hands. They roll 1d6 on the Resolution table and get a 1 (M), which means they are locked in melee for another turn. Both sides check for casualties. Each rolls a d6, and on a six lose one figure, depending on the size of the regiment inflicting the casualty. The Lancers suffer one casualty.

Skip to the next turn's melee. It looks bad for the Spaniards. Their melee number is 3. No charge bonus this time. 3 is subtracted for a total of zero, shifted to one, but adding one to the Reiters number. They have 3, plus 2 for the size bonus, plus one because their opponents are at zero, for a total of 6 to 1. This is an Overwhelmed type of melee. The roll for resolution getting a 1 again, meaning they Burst Through their opponents. The Reiters are moved to the far side of the Spaniards and are reduced to a Mob cohesion state. The Spaniards remain in place, but take 3 figures worth of casualties, and a waver test on the Disaster row, which amazingly (lucky) they pass, and are not routed.

Peril for the Protestants

The other regiment in Conde's brigade, a Miller regiment, is charged by two Gensdarmes regiments of equal size. Both Damville and Conde are present. In the ensuing struggle one Gensdarmes regiment is roughly handled and routed, while the other manages to rout the Millers (due to the Millers being disordered by terrain before the melee). Conde is wounded and carried from the field. This brings on two Causes for Alarm for the Protestants, and one Cause for Rejoicing to the Catholics. Both sides check their Fortuna ratings and modifiers, and roll. The Catholics do not rise in confidence, while the Protestants drop to Desperate, which will adversely modify every roll they make while in this status.

Worse, in the next turn, the badly shaken Spaniards advance up the hill vacated by the Protestant horse, capturing the hill and the battery vacated by its crew, giving the Protestants two more Causes for Alarm! This could drop them to Hopeless confidence, and then below that, at which point they will lose the battle. However, the Huguenots stoic Calvinism works for them in adversity, so their Fortuna rating while Desperate is not as low as it is for other armies, and they end up remaining in their current confidence state.

The Tide Shifts

In the center, the Catholic Reiters move within a charge move of Genlis' brigade. He has a passive order (Hold), but his Humour rating is Intrepid (making him aggressive). He now has cause to doubt his orders. He rolls on the Doubt table and ends up changing his order from Hold to Demonstrate, and moves his brigade forward. The Catholics don't know that his order render him incapable of charging, so decide to try to change their orders before they surrender the initiative to him. Being only one move away from their Generalissimo, they can receive it right away, and since the Commander is aggressive, they don't doubt their new Assault order and charge home.

It is a disaster. With Genlis and Coligny leading Miller regiments both the Catholic Reiter regiments are totally overthrown and routed. Now the Catholics have a Cause for Alarm and the Protestants a Cause for Rejoicing. After rolling, the now exuberant Protestants go back to Equipoised, while the Catholics drop to Equipoised from Resolute. Meanwhile the routing Gensdarmes from the Catholic right rout by the Swiss, who impassively watch them go by, totally unmoved by their fate.

The Farm

While the cavalry were battling it out, the Huguenot's Landsknechts were advancing on the farms. Defending was a unit of Enfants Perdues, or skirmishing shot. They were now lining a long hedge over which the Landsknechts would have to cross if they wanted to take the village behind. Supporting the Landsknechts were some French Enfants Perdues who were to guard their flank. It was now that the Catholic moved the hidden Legion regiment up of the
flank of the advancing Protestants, but too far back to be a significant threat. Under fire from the hedge, the Landsknechts were ready to storm the farm. Unfortunately, they only had Harass orders and their Generalissimo, Admiral Gaspard de Coligny-Chatillon was pursuing an enemy regiment from the field and was incapable of giving a new order. The Landsknechts were stuck in a firefight with a foe behind a defended position, who was giving better than they got.

It was a few turns before the Admiral issued Assault orders. The Landsknechts commander was of a Stolid Humour, and did not ultimately doubt his new order. Surging forward, the mass of Landsknechts, although hopelessly tangled and disordered, managed to chase off the defenders before the French Legion had come anywhere near. The commander of the Catholic reserve, Longueville, had dispatched a regiment of foot to bolster the farm several turns before. Unfortunately the cavalry of the Catholic center were rout past them on both sides, and they were forced to change to a Hedgehog formation to protect themselves from the victorious Protestant horse.

The End

This turn brought about two Causes for Alarm for the Catholics, and both of them caused a drop in confidence, Leaving the Catholics at the Hopeless level. They had had enough. The Generalissimo issued a general withdrawl order. Their right and center were already chased off the board by Protestant horsemen, leaving only the reserve brigade and the Legion foot still on the board. However, their enemies possessed few reserves; one rallied regiment of Reiters and another in the distant rear, along with some Huguenot foot. The Landsknechts were entangled in rough ground for a while to come. Most Catholic forces retreated off the board, thanks in part to the Swiss. Retreating slowly, they kept their mounted enemies at bay until the entire army retreated. Some Millers finally returned, but with their Lances gone they could not tackle the Swiss. The battle had come to an end.

Analysis

We were glad to see that the rules had worked well. The troops had behaved historically, and the system had performed very smoothly, allowing us to finish a big battle in an afternoon. That was what we were after. The only problem we had was with the Huguenot Millers, who turned out to be a little on the weak side compared to their historical counterparts. The order & doubt system turned out to be quite painless and highly functional.

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Report and Some Questions Raised on Spanish Fury, Battle or Pistolado!

From that excellent gentleman,

Dave Woollcombe-Gosson

Western France, Spring 1573.  Following the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre several Huguenot towns rose in revolt.  A Catholic Royal army under Anjou is now besieging La Rochelle.  A small Huguenot force under Conde approaches tentatively and Anjou himself rides out with part of his army to meet them.  The eastern side of the battlefield (Huguenot right, Catholic left) is an unfordable river.  The western side is hemmed in by a farm and large ploughed field.  Just behind the Catholic center is a low hill on which Anjou places his artillery.  Just forward of the Huguenot center is a small village in which they entrench their guns and a detachment of veteran Enfant Perdus.

Both sides divide their remaining forces into two brigades.  Anjou places the bulk of his infantry under Joyeuse on his left, up against the river.  The brigade has one regiment each of Spaniards, Swiss and French “Catholic” foot.  This is to be the Catholic strike force.  It is given Assault orders and placed under an Intrepid commander.  The Catholic right wing brigade consists of a regiment of Royal Gendarmes supported by some attached petronels (shot light horse), a regiment of Reiters and a regiment of French “Legion” foot.  The brigade is under the command of Mayenne, a Flighty commander, and is given Harass orders.  All in all about 1800 foot and 5600 foot.  Anjou thinks his horse will be outnumbered and outmatched.  He has given his gendarmes some supporting light horse to disrupt the Huguenots on their way in and given Mayenne some foot so that 2 of his regiments will need to be broken before the confidence of the whole army can be affected (50% units in a brigade routing is one of the “causes for alarm” that force a confidence test).  His plan is for the right to hold on whilst the Spaniards and Swiss smash the Huguenot center and right.

The Huguenots have the same, but opposite plan! (stay with me).  Conde’s strength is his two regiments of “Millers”, one still with lances and one in the new style with pistols (hence my choice of 1573 for this test game).  These are placed on the open (left) flank, under the Chivalrous Turenne, and given orders to smash (Assault) the Catholic horse and then swing onto the flank of the Swiss and Spanish foot.  On his right Conde places a mixed brigade under the Intrepid Coligny.  This is deployed in two lines with a regiment of Reiters and a regiment of petronels up front to harass, disrupt and generally slow the Catholics down and a regiment of Landsknechts and a regiment of Huguenot foot behind.  All in all about 2500 horse and 3700 foot.
Pre-Battle is straightforward; the Catholics have slightly better factors and a smaller Fortuna bracket (+/-4) and start the battle Resolute.  The Huguenot bracket is +/-5; less likely to start downhearted, but harder to inspire as well.  They begin Equipoised.  The Huguenots have a distinct Strategy advantage in their commanders, but are happy with their line-up so don’t move anybody.

Before the first shot is fired the Catholic right wing commander, Mayenne, is having second thoughts – think. Mayenne is Flighty (passive), but what about his orders?  There appears to be no explicit statement on which orders are aggressive and which passive.  I interpretted the fact that Assault, Harass and Demonstrate are in red on the Quick Reference Sheet to mean that they are aggressive and the others (in black) passive.  Hence Mayenne with Harass (aggressive) orders he has reason to doubt his orders.  Next, On 2-5 on 2D6 he will get a –1 result.

What does this mean?  I interpretted it as meaning he would drop one order, in this case to Demonstrate.
You guessed it right!

As it is he passes and his brigade moves forward at the pace of his Legion foot regiment.  On the other wing the Spaniards set off at a brisk pace to lead the Catholic infantry assault, whilst the Swiss and French foot follow at a more measured gait.  Opposite them the Huguenot Reiters and petronels come forward and the Landsknechts and Huguenot foot follow cautiously.  For now the only firing is a few long range artillery salvoes.  These do no real damage, but disorder the ranks of the Spanish foot and Miller lancers.

I was a little unsure about counter-battery fire.  The main rules state it is ineffective, yet the artillery card includes a –2 mod for fire against artillery.
This has been fixed in the errata.

Disorder that will have to be rallied at some point and hence the advance of these units will be slowed a little.  On the next move the Spaniards do indeed halt to dress ranks and the Swiss take up the Catholic pace.

The rally from disorder rules were a little unclear to me.  If the regiment passes, how many levels of disorder are recovered?  Is that what the “rally” line on the regimental card is for?
Another problem fixed in the errata!

The Millers meanwhile brush off the Catholic gunners’ efforts and press on (a little unevenly).  By move 3 both sides have masked their own guns but the firearm horse are now in range of their respective targets.  On the Catholic right the fire of their petronels and Reiters causes some disruption amongst the Millers, but no real damage.

The post-’73 Millers card appears to have charge bonuses, but no fire mods.  The card does show a range and fire factor for caracole.  I admonish myself for not knowing my army better, but can the Millers “shoot”, or are they close-quarter troops only?
The card will be fixed soon. They will be able to shoot, but not as good as Reiters.

On the Huguenot right the Huguenot petronels sting the Swiss, but are kept at a respectful distance by the surprisingly angry response (they may be 90% pike, but they’re still Swiss it would seem!).  The Huguenot Reiters have said cohesion be d****d and doubled into pistol range, only to remember on arrival that a unit can’t double and fire in the same move.  Not to worry, the Spaniards are still dressing ranks so can’t fire back anyway.

Move 4 – first blood.  The Huguenot Millers charge the Royal Gendarmes and Catholic Reiters.  The Catholic horse pass their tests and counter-charge.  The Royal Gendarmes have read too much history though and, true to form, prove no match for the Miller lancers and are broken into.  The Catholic Reiters are made of sterner stuff, however (and there are rather more of them).  The two units stay locked in combat, but it’s the Miller pistoliers who take the casualty.  Over on the Huguenot right the petronels and Swiss, and Huguenot Reiters and Spaniards swap fire.  Lots of smoke, s**t and derision, but the Catholic foot grinds inexorably forward.  The Huguenot Reiters however spot that the Spaniards have been reduced to Ragged and declare an opportunity charge (under Harass orders horse may charge disordered (Ragged or Mob) foot).  The Spanish aren’t amongst the most feared infantry in Europe for no reason however, and there are lots of them (odds 2:1). In the charge the reiters end up 3:5, an uneven struggle in favour of the Spaniards.

On the melee outcome table, however, is this a Cav-Inf melee because the reiters attacked the Spanish, or an Inf-Cav melee because the foot won?  Played Inf-Cav because this seemed to give the more reasonable result.
Another excellent guess! We should have been more clear....

Despite their lack of parade ground smartness they easily see the Reiters off and give them 4 casualties to boot.  The Huguenot petronels and Landsknechts retire one move away from the Catholics in sympathy with the broken Reiters.

Move 5 – Time for some personal intervention.  On the Catholic right Mayenne joins his Reiters to try and develop their budding advantage.  Actually this is a silly thing to do because with a valour of zero he can’t really help.  I suppose it will look good on the post-battle report though.  Meanwhile on the left, Joyeuse leads the Swiss into the heart of the Huguenot right wing.  The Protestants, no less personally brave, respond.  Conde himself rides to try and rally the Huguenot Reiters, whilst Coligny joins the Huguenot foot and prepares to face the Swiss (Turenne has been at the head of the Miller lancers throughout).  The Miller lancers burst through and rout the Royal Gendarmes.

A burst-through regiment takes a waver test.  If it fails it routs and is reduced to mob status.  What is it’s cohesion for the purpose of the waver test?  As a general comment, it would appear that melee does not affect cohesion.  Is this correct?
This one's in the errata.

To their immediate left the Miller pistoliers are forced to give ground by the Catholic Reiters.  Casualties are evened up, however, and the Reiters are happy not to follow up.  On the Huguenot right the petronels return to the fray, now against the Catholic French foot, but are reduced to a Mob by the counter-fire.  Meanwhile the Huguenot foot regiment’s fire has no visible impact on the relentless Swiss advance.

Move 6 – Fate in the balance.  On the Catholic right, the Royal Gendarmes rally from rout and prepare to face the next onslaught once the Miller lancers have recovered their order.  The Miller pistoliers are ready for round two with the Catholic Reiters straightaway though and charge right back in.  The Reiters, feeling they have earned their pay for today, are having none of it and break before contact.  In the ensuing wave of waver tests the Royal Gendarmes quit the field as well and the Legion foot are left isolated and ineffective.  On the Catholic left, the Swiss break the Huguenot foot without making contact (Coligny is killed in the rout), but are reduced to a Mob by Landsknecht close range fire.  The Huguenot Reiters, however, though rallied by Conde are too far away to exploit the situation with another charge.

The Spanish foot, meanwhile, are still being slowed down by the Huguenot guns and the Catholic French foot are contributing little now they have seen the Huguenot petronels off.  At the end of the move both sides have half or more of one brigade in flight and the Huguenots have lost a general.  This gives the Catholics one Cause for Rejoicing and one Cause for Alarm and the Huguenots one Cause for Rejoicing and two Causes for Alarm.  The Catholics are alarmed, but also rejoice, so end up where they started – Resolute.  The Huguenots though are not overly impressed by the performance of the Millers (no more than expected?), but very worried by events amongst the foot.  They are reduced to Hopeless.

The Confidence Test for two CFAs left me slightly unsure.  Do I take one test, but at –2, both tests at –2 or one as normal and the second at –2?
Sorry 'bout that. It's one test at -2!

Move 7 – All or nothing.  The Protestant situation is now desperate.  In a last toss of the dice Conde orders Krieg (the new commander of the Huguenot right) to Assault the Catholic foot whilst they are still disarrayed.  Krieg will personally lead his Landsknechts forward, whilst Conde will personally lead the Huguenot Reiters in support.  Over on the left Turenne leads his Miller lancers to capture the Catholic guns whilst his Miller pistoliers return from pursuing the Catholic Reiters to pin the Legion foot.  This will give the Huguenots two Causes for Rejoicing at the end of the move – if they ever get that far.  Even with the generals bawling them out for money grabbing good-for-nothings, the Landsknechts and Huguenot Reiters decide discretion is the better part of valour and refuse to charge the Swiss.  The Swiss, however, though more like a riotous mob than a disciplined regiment, are still well up for it and charge into the Landsknechts.  The latter barely manage to change formation and give ground, but hold.  Critically though, Krieg is wounded and carried from the field.  At the end of the move the Huguenots prove beyond rejuvenating and remain Hopeless.  In the merest hint of a flicker of hope though, the Catholics are much less sanguine about the loss of their guns and rampaging Millers in their rear.  Their confidence is reduced to Desperate, but it is too little, too late.

Once a CFA (or CFR for that matter) has been tested for is it considered done and dusted? Next move the Catholics will still have enemy troops in their rear.  Have they now got over that, or do they need to keep testing each move until the situation no longer applies?
Done and dusted!

Also, what indeed is the “regiment value” in the table of modifiers?  There doesn’t appear t be one!
True enough, but it is in the errata.

Move 8 – The end.  The Miller lancers swing round (as planned all those hours ago) and threaten the rear of the Spanish foot.  The Huguenot Reiters again refuse to charge, but do caracole into the Swiss flank.  It is not enough though, and without Krieg and with their confidence shot, the Landsknechts break.  Technically it is still one-all.  Conde’s Millers are undefeated and have the freedom of the field.  The Catholics have no horse, but have four steady foot regiments still and they would take some reducing.  Conde decides to save his horse for another day, gives a general order to withdraw and retires to ponder what a miserable bunch French protestants are.
 
 

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Some more reports

From the ever trusty Daniel Staberg.....

Hello again!

Settled down yesterday on my day of from work to enjoy my first test game of Pistolado with a friend. Duirng the game we discovered a few new errors as well as the need for some more explanaitons.

A regimental card 'key' similar to the one in Ironbow could have been very usefull, as it is you have to figure out a few things on the cards and there is at least one part which does not seem to have any use.

Several cards have errors, the french catholic regiments have joined the Wallons in geting much better at passing a waver test the more disorganised they get (- modifers insted of +). The dreaded swiss seem to have several errors, not only is their cohesion table the same as the catholic levy regiments but their rally 'track' is the same as for the Gendarmes.

The single largest error so far is that there is no explaination what so ever on how to interpret the results of a doubt test. The Chart gives you a + or - result but nowhere is there any information on how to change the order accordingly. Either we are both blind or ingnortant of the english language but we simply can't find it. So we bravely gamed on using the expales in the rules as a rough guideline and a gentlemans agreement to jointly decied on how to intrpret the results of any doubt tests. It work after a faishon but a proper working rule would be nice to have for futher games. also which are the modifiers for the test. None are shown on the chart except for the ones provide by the current fortuna level of the army.

Each regimental card has a track marked 'rally' when is this used??? Can't seem to find anything about it in the rules.

We did complet the game on a wing and prayer, the spanish withdrew after having their cavalry routed and crushed by the horrifying 'Millers' led by Henri of Navarre, Soissons and Turenne, Conde was killed by a shot from a Spanish demi-culverine. I still thing that the Spanish stood a chance since the relentless advance of the Tercios shook my poor huguenot foot and the landsknechts want no part of the fight.

Our second game went well, at least for the Spanish! Tercios and Parma are a steamrolling combination. And of course rolling a 'Landsknecht's response' for my largest regiment at exactly the wrong time reduced my opponent and the onlookers at my gaming club to howls of gleefull laugther. Of course I got some measure of revenge when an out fo controll brigade of Millers and reiters smashed up some poor wallons and the Italian tercio. But at the end of the day the relentless advance of the tercios was to much and the French Royal army crumbled away in of Henri's 'splendid retreats'.