Last week witnessed the fifth replaying of the 1644 Battle of Cheriton. Game #5 saw an encore performance by most of Game #1's participants. The first game saw Mark, Chris, and the Two Daves take to the field. In the last game, Mark, Chris, and Dave B were joined by Tony to complete the foursome. The three players in the first game all swapped allegiances for the game giving each a view of the battle from both sides of the table. Army dispositions and player commands are shown on the following game map. |
Initial army and player dispositions. |
So far in this series, Waller has seen three victories, one draw, and no losses. The single draw was awarded as time ran out. By general consensus a draw seemed reasonable. Could Hopton break this chain of Parliamentarian victories? |
Haselrigge's Cavalry Wing forms up. |
To review the action from prior games, please see the links below,
With four games already chronicled in the Battle Log, a reasonable body of work is available as a baseline for assessing game flow. All of these previous actions saw the battle develop in a predictable manner. Well, developing in a predictable manner after we witnessed how Game #1 played out. By the way, it was Game #1 that saw the single draw. Still, that first battle developed similarly to all of the following battles.
Whereas Waller begins holding the high ground on the South Spur, in all five games, Waller orders Potley's infantry down from the heights to take the fight to Hopton. All recognized the importance of making a push toward the hedge-lined lane bisecting the battlefield while commanded shot units begin to contest Cheriton Woods.
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Battle lines as the action begins. |
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Both armies advance. |
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Parliamentarian Center enters the "arena". |
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Royalist foot push toward the hedge as well. |
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View from behind Royalist Left. |
While both infantry centers make a beeline to reach the protective barrier in the center of the battlefield, Waller orders Balfour's Right Cavalry Wing to sweep around behind Roundhead lines in order to support Haselrigge's cavalry on the Left. Confined by Cheriton Woods on the right, infantry to the left, and an open yet rough heath to the front, all of the Roundhead players chose to bring Balfour over to the Left in support of Haselrigge. Now, this redeployment takes time but all make the same choice. |
Balfour redeploys... |