20 days to release... Thirty Year War AAR, The Pikeman´s Lament

Todys bloggpost will bring you an AAR from a Thirty Year War game I and my Son David played out using my multibased Spanish TYW army and The Pikeman´s Lament rules, Most of the minis are 28mm Renegade miniatures.

We fielded a Catholic Infantry Company that David commanded and a Protestant Cavalry Company that I commande, we didnt use the Officers rules as we just run this as an oneoff game, instead we rolled once on the New Trait table to get our Officers trait for the game, unfortunate neither of them would have any inpact on this oneoff game.

OOB - Catholic

Capitán Juarez (David)
Trait: Patient

2 unit of Shot @ 4 points each
1 unit of Pike @ 4 points
1 unit of Veteran Shot @ 6 points
1 unit of Field Artillery @ 6 points

OOB - Protestant

Kapitän von Piper (Michael)
Trait: Favoured

4 units of Trotters @ 4 points each
2 units of Dragoons @ 4 points each

We didn´t play any specific scenario, just an all out fight with the Protestant atacking a defending Catholic forrce. Both companies woud continue the fight untill they had lost 50% or more of their Company points (both companies was 24 points so 12 or more). We  kept a running tital and decucted the full points for units that was totaly eliminated  and half the points for units that had lost half or more of their troops, but was still in the game.

Company deployment, Catholics to the bottom and Protestant to the top.

Protestant Cavalry column...

4 units of Protestant Trotters, in the rules Trotters rely on short range shooting and if they manage to get the enemy Wavering they may charge in and finish them off.

2 units of Protestant Dragoons. Swift moving and perfect to rush forward to secure terrain objectives... I suppouse I didn´t think cleare as I deployed them at the end of my cavalry column...

Catholic Feld artillery, long range but stationary all the game, we used 2 guns to represent full and half strenght of the unit. To the right a unit of Veteran Shot.

The Catholic battle line, shot, pike, shot, field artillery, veteran shot...

Swift moving indeed, the Dragoons was sent for a flanking mission...

...as the Protestant trotters moved over the bridge to engage the enemy...

The Catholic made a general advance to get hold of the fecne....

...and the field artillery started to shell the advancing trotters...

...apparently the Catholic high command favoured the battle plan of Capitán Juarez (David) as they very early on decided to send a group of trotters as reinforcement... not good for the Protestants...

The Catholics moved up to the fence line and halted their advance, and the shot units just waited for the Protestants to get within range...

The command unit of  Capitán Juarez might have been a bit to eager as they continued their advance across the fence...or might this be a cunning plan...

The Catholic priests blessed the men before the fighting started, even the ones that had fainted due to the swift advance...

The Catholic Pikeunit´s advance was indeed a cunning plan by their commander as by advancing a bit forward the Shot units it made it harder for the enemy Trotters to engage the Shot unit stright on... no enemy unit may move within 3" of each other...

To the left the Protestand Dragoons start to shoot at the Catholic pikemen, but they dosen´t manage to do much damage. The Catholic artillery continue their bombardment of the Protestant Trotters, that seems to have been hold up by the stream...

To support their pikmen the right flank shot unit decided to advance to get the Protestant Dragoons within range...

In the center the Protestant Trotters that was halted by the threat of the pikemen started to take severe casualtys...

Wasn´t a greate ideea to advance with the shot as soon as they was within range of the Dragoons they took heavy losses and Wavered...

The Catholic pike unit formed up in Close Order to easier be able to attack the Dragoons and chase them away...

In the center the one of the Protestants trotter units was routed and a second one wavers due to the intense shooting...

The Veteran Shot open fire at the advancing trotters...

The Pike unit are slowely moving closer to the Dragoons...

The Catholic artillery open once again fire against the Protestant trotters in the center and they are no more...

The protestant company are in danger, their center are no more and the Commpany Commanders unit are down to half strenght... 

...in a desperate act the protestants send a unit of dragoons on a flanking move, but the Catholics send their trotter reinforcements to deal with them...

The Catholoc field artillery seems to be in a flow as they manage to hit the Protestant Command unit that starts to flee from the battle...

The Catholic troops cheer as they see the Protestans start to run...

Due to the embarrassing rout of the Protestant Commander Kapitän von Piper the last unit of Trotters lose heart and start to flee, leaving the Protestans with only the two unit of Dragoons...

The day was indeed a Catholic victory !!! and once again son beats dad...