Beneath the Lilly Banners - Mini Scenario played as a Solo Game

 Several years ago, I had a couple of games of BLB with my mate Nick (in fact, it was in the aftermath of these that I built up my GNW Swedish collection) At the time, Nick gave me a copy of the rules and also several pdf scenarios he had found, some of which have only three or four units on each side, and can be played on a 2 ft x 2 ft table - I kid you not!

Trawling through all the stuff I have downloaded and stored the other day, I came across one of these scenario guides called "1690 Seize the Crown" which has three or four mini games based on specific actions during the pivotal Battle of the Boyne near Drogheda in Ireland. I decided to give these a try, using the BLB rules and my WSS figures.

Here are the three pages laying out the scenario:

And here are my images, with a brief description of how things played out. I did change a few things eg I reduced the inches for movement and firing to cm, just to allow a bit of movement before the troops started blasting away at each other. I also incorporated some of Peter at "Grid Based Wargaming but not Always" blogs ideas for activating the "non player side" (the Catholics on this occasion)

In truth, I didn't really need the "AI" decision making much as with the limited space and units available, most of the actions were pretty obvious and did not need much decision making!

My version of the battlefield, I added a couple of fences and trees to break it up slightly. The Dutch are at the top of the image above.

I actually have the Dutch Foot Guards in my WSS collection - but all the other units are represented by random Dutch regiments for Count Salms force, and by WSS Danish units for James' Catholic force.

The other Dutch Foot Guards regiment

The First Foot Guards and Earl of Antrims Regiment 

The Second Foot Guards and John Parkers Horse to the rear. Using Peters solo activation decision making protocol, the Catholic forces held their initial positions on the first move, as the one regiment of Dutch Gard te Voet moved forward - the second presumably delayed by their recent emergence from the icy waters of the river Boyne!

On turn three, the light gun and Regiment Brandenburg arrive to support William's Garden te Voet,.

Gard te Voet - Wargames Factory plastic figures, now part of the Warlord range/

Grey uniformed regiment representing the second Dutch guard unit - these are Reiver Miniatures figures.

View from the Dutch side as the ponderous advance continues. BLB involves rolling a D10 for each side at the start of each turn - this defines whether you can activate no units, a quarter of your total, half, three quarters or all of them - with 1 being none and 9 or 10 being all.

The two units to the right, the First Foot Guards and 2nd Gard te Voet move into musket range of each other.

The Gard te Voet fired first - causing four casualties on James II's guards. They did not get to count the first fire modifier as per the scenario, and damp powder from wading across the chest high River Boyne further reduced the effectiveness of their volley. (I rolled a 5 for the test- odd number = one less effectiveness when firing)

The 1st Foot Guards shrug off the effects of the Dutch musketry and return fire. More Wargames Factory/Warlord figures.

As are these, representing the 2nd Foot Guards, with the 1st Gard te Voet moving up to volley range in front of them.

The Regiment Brandenburg formed a second line, partially overlapping both front line Dutch units, These are the lovely Ebor figures, who also supplied most of my GNW Swedes.

After several rounds of murderous volleys, the 2nd Foot Guards failed a morale test and retreated to the rear.

On the other flank, the musketry was equally hot, with Dutch and Irish guards exchanging multiple rounds of close order musketry. The D10 and D6 represent that by this stage, the Foot Guards had accumulated 11 hits out of 18 figures. The Gard te Voet were not much better off, having started the action with a total of 16 figures. The support of the Brandenburgers to their right was helping tip the balance their way, however.

As the 2nd Footguards continue their precipitate withdrawal (they failed another morale test and carried on retreating) John Parkers Drilled "Blade" Horse move forward. At this stage, I was using Peters solo decision making system - a roll of 4 or more on a D6 would have potentially caused the Catholic force to hold, or even retreat - but I rolled really low and King James men continued the struggle. Given the situation, the decision process called for the horse to charge their nearest enemy, which was the blue coated 1st Gard te Voet. I had put them onto "defend against horse" orders in the last move, as I could see the likelihood of a cavalry charge eventuating.

The cavalry are also by Wargames Factory

And in they go!

Meanwhile, Antrims Regiment moves forward to support the severely weakened Foot Guards on the right flank.

The result of the melee Dutch rolling red dice, cavalry white. A defensive volley had already put a casualty on the charging horse, and this win resulted in two casualties on the winners and three on the attackers - a total of 4/6 - Parkers Horse failed the morale test and charged off in the same direction as the retreating Foot Guards! (below)

On the other flank, the 2nd Gard te Voet had been driven back in disorder by the tenacious 1st Guards, but they in turn were finally forced to retreat by a devastating volley from the Brandenburg Regiment.

With a total of three units out of four in the Catholic force now in retreat, Peters decision making matrix indicated the whole army would withdraw, which seemed eminently sensible, and reflected what actually happened on the day.

The victorious commander, Hendrik Trajectinus, Count Salms (in fact, I think he is King Christian of Denmark by Reiver!)

That all seemed to work quite well although I am not sure I did the firing correctly - I wasn't sure if I rolled a number of firing dice, or just one, adding all the factors to the score, and then consulting the firing casualty chart - I am pretty sure that was right - but the melee works a different way, with you working out the number of dice per side, then rolling and getting hits on a 4 5 or 6 - a bit confusing using two very different methodologies for causing casualties in the same rule set - you could just as easily have one D6 for combat and add the factors like you do with firing....I think I might see if there is anything on You Tube specifically about how firing in BLB works!

Next time, I might try another small solo game but using the Devil to Pay style action tiles in a bag, plus Peters decision making processes. See you then, and if you have enjoyed this report, please do leave a comment.