Recent ECW Game

 I had not intended to go to the game at Barrys place on Sunday 30 October, as another exhilarating bush walk was anticipated. However, the weather Gods intervened, and it was a miserable wet day in Auckland, so the plans changed. After a mid-morning visit to a cafe with my dear wife, I informed her I didn't intend to just sit around the house for the rest of the day doing nothing much (okay, I would have been in the garage painting toy soldiers probably, but that's beside the point!) and headed off to West Auckland to catch up with the guys.

I arrived just at the conclusion of the lunch break and stayed till the bitter end - around about 3pm. For those who want more background on the game, check out Marks 1866 blog here 1866 and all that: English Civil War Game (stracmark.blogspot.com). Suffice to say, the Royalists, Mark, John and Barry, were trying to spirit King Charles I away, whilst the Parliamentarians, Chris, Paul and Julian, were attempting to capture him.

The table as it appeared upon my arrival at Barrys. Parliamentarian mainly to the bottom and left of the table, Royalists to the right and top.

The local pub had been the Parliamentarian HQ - sensible lads!

Parliamentarian Infantry shadow the Kings movements

The Kings coach and an escort head for the road to Oxford

Up ahead, Parliamentarian guns await

The manor of Sir Edmund Verney, where the King and his party had passed the previous evening

Opposing cavalry clash at the opposite end of the battlefield

Dismounted Parliamentarian dragoons after successfully facing and seeing off a full-blown Royalist cavalry charge - not something you see every day!

Ooops, Parliamentarian cavalry charged frontally and from the flank simultaneously

Royalist infantry at the mill pond

Lady Margaret Verney worrying about her husband and the King

Sir Edmund Verney, the Kings standard bearer, accompanies the royal coach (its pre-Edgehill, 1642, and hence Sir Edmund is still in one piece!)

Another flank attack by Royalist cavalry

The Kings coach approaches the bridge - note, the Parliamentarians mission is to capture the King, not kill him, so artillery fire on the coach was a no no!

Royalist cavalry in the ascendency 

Just WHO exactly is in that coach, anyway?

Cavalry advance across the bridge to clear the way for His Majesty

But in that formation, they were easily seen off by their Parliamentarian counterparts

Parliamentarians close in on the coach from front and rear as the defending Royalist troops are caught between two superior forces

But who is this mysterious, mounted figure, quietly riding round the flank of the Parliamentarian position, miles from the Royal coach??

None other than King Charles! He has avoided the trap, although most of his escorting troops have been killed or captured...

.... including his personal coach, now completely surrounded by his Parliamentarian foes

Great game, even though I played no part in it, and as Mark suggested to the scenario writer, Rick, perfectly set up for a follow up game, where the Parliamentarians scour the Oxfordshire countryside for the evasive monarch!

The game, and all the figures, buildings etc were provided by Rick, who spent hours on the previous day setting up the table, apparently - bloody good job he did too!