Tercios Wednesday game

My friend and I again worked our way through a smallish (1000 points per side) game of Tercios featuring my Catholic League army versus his Scottish/ECW host.  The primary difference being my troops were in Classic Squadrons - so shooting with mixed arquebus and muskets while his troops were a bit later and as Reformed Battalions and were mostly musket armed.

The terrain had been set up so the choice was to the guest as to which side to enter from.

This is the view from the Scot side, the Catholics to set up opposite.  Pretty much equally bad terrain for both but gentle hills and some fields with hedging and a few spots of woods.

The Scots were deployed with the infantry on their right, all the cavalry on their left which is a mirror image of the Catholic deployment!

 Both sides moved quickly (choosing the 'Run' card for all units) to gain the center of the table.  Once there the Scots seemed unsure how to proceed so went for an immediate assault with all their cavalry while their infantry was still coming up.

 Unfortunately the Catholics stood on the slight slopes with 'Fire' and 'Ready' orders and were able to inflict just enough casualties by both fire and then melee that the Scots were forced to 'disengage' back three inches.  They then took even more fire from the Catholic units supporting their horse.

By the time their infantry moved into support range it was all over for the Scots and they were going to need to make a slow withdrawal with their reformed battalions to their camp.

Well it was a good trial for the rules and the troops weren't happy about being placed back in their boxes I can tell you.

We do find these rules better for smaller sized engagements and reckon that the 'overhead' of placing and then playing the order cards in sequence is offset by the surprising things that seem to fall out of the actions.  No truly dominant troop types and good plans, preparation and fire support go a long way to helping your cause for sure.

Next time the Catholics might actually have to advance to the attack and then they will see how it truly feels.