a PDF version of this article here

THE ALTERNATIVE
BATTLE OF WORCESTER, 1651
A LOOK AROUND THE TABLETOP
with Andy Fox and Neil Tew
One of the stand-out games at this year’s Salute show in London was
The Alternative Battle of Worcester 1651, presented by The Crewe and
Nantwich Wargames Club (C&NWC). This great looking game was
justly awarded the coveted ‘Best Painted Army’ trophy on the day. But, it
wasn’t just the armies that looked superb, the whole table was a sight to
behold and one we thought deserved closer inspection. Our opportunity
arose when Warlord Games invited Neil Tew and Andy Fox (from the
C&NWC) over to their HQ for a play test game of Warlord’s forthcoming
Black Powder: Pike and Shot rules. WI tagged along….
A full battle report of the day’s game
will be featured in the new rule book,
so we won’t go into details on that here,
the focus of this article is all about ‘the
project’. Suffice to say the scenario,
‘The Alternative Battle of Worcester’,
was played out in a day to a decisive
conclusion, with several swings of
fortune along the way!
Whilst the players rolled dice and
manoeuvred Cavaliers and Roundheads
around the battlefield we took lots of
photos and threw a few questions at andy
and Neil.
Wargames Illustrated: What started
the project?
Andy: Specifically a purchase of
some hand made wooden city walls by
Ian Weekley from an internet-based
auction site. These veteran pieces were
subsequently reworked and repainted by
TM Terrain to great effect.
WI: How long did this project take?
Andy: From first buying the walls to
putting on the demo at Salute 2011 took
just over two years. This wasn’t the only
project we were working on at this time,
but it did take the lion’s share of blood,
sweat and tears.
WI: Why choose the English Civil War?
Andy: Within the ECW there is such a
wide range of potential battles, sieges
and raids, the combination of scenarios
and armies is vast; and many are easily
translated to the wargames board. Also
the majority of our group live in south
Cheshire, so the battlefield of Nantwich is
on our doorstep. Seeing the Sealed Knot
re-enactment of the battle of Nantwich
for many years really helped bring the
period to life and gave us inspiration.
Many sections of our board have
features and a flavour from the Nantwich
battlefield; the smallish fields with
densely packed hedges, the church
(Acton Church), the narrow lanes, the
bridge over the river (Weaver) and the
gently rolling terrain.
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English civil war
1641 - 1651
Right: The quiet before the storm;
the table before the game in all its glory.
Opposite Page: The full table; the
Royalists manoeuvre to their start lines,
whilst the Covenanters in Worcester
nervously await.
WI: Would you embark on such an
ambitious project again?
Andy: Yes, in fact we have another
project using some, but not all, of the
same boards; a different era and feel.
Look out for us in two years or so. Salute
2013 is our target date and venue.
WI: What figures do you use?
Andy: Our armies are a mix of figures
from Redoubt Enterprises, Bicorne
Miniatures, Warlord Games, TAG,
Renegade Miniatures and the odd Front
Rank figure. We believe the slightly
different sizes of figure more accurately
represent the natural variations in height
of the combatants found in every army.
After all not everyone in the pay of the
King or the Kirk was exactly 5' 10'' tall.
The buildings we use are also a mix of
companies, more for a wide range of
styles, shapes, sizes etc. giving a varied
village-scape. Again, we believe no 17th
Century village would have exactly the
same buildings. The companies we used
are Grand Manner, Ian Weekley, PMC,
TM Terrain and TSS terrain.
WI: What is your favourite
regiment/piece?
Andy: For the Royalists it has to be the
King’s Lifeguard, due to the regiment’s
colours - fabulous designs! And they are
one of out local regiments in Cheshire.
For the Scots it’s the Duke of Hamilton’s
Regiment of Foote, because it was the
first Scots unit and it’s got a fair few
conversions in it.
Covenanters. The
boards themselves were
built by TM Terrain, who
also
supplied plenty of inspiration,
invaluable guidance and cunning
ideas along the way.
WI: But it’s all just “doll’s house
wargaming” … isn’t it?
Andy: No, we really do play on this
table. Admittedly we don’t often have the
space to get the whole lot out. Wives do
tend to get upset with 14ft of wargame
board in the way. So more often than
not, it’s a third of the board in the spare
bedroom. This still makes a fantastic
game and gives plenty of different
scenarios to play out. The next is going
to be the scratch defence of a Royalist
stronghold, based around the church and
manor house, against a Scots battalia. Set
in 1644, Northumbria.
WI: Why not
choose a real battle?
Andy: We believe one battle,
or section of a battle would be
restrictive and would ultimately
become stale. How many times can
you refight Powick Bridge before you
start with the ‘what if’ ? Having scenery
inspired by several battlefields allows you
to have a pick and mix – the ‘best’ bits.
Plus, it reduces the restrictions you may
have to the actual units, numbers of men
present etc. on a certain day (if ‘reliable’
data even exists). You get to choose,
albeit keeping the feel of a realistic army
of the time.
WI: What about the feedback?
Neil: We’ve had mostly very positive
feedback from Salute and Partizan.
Including winning the best painted army
prize at Salute and play testing a game
for the forthcoming Warlord Games rules
in Nottingham. We hope we’ve inspired
fellow wargamers to have a go at the
ECW. It’s great fun!
Left: Tom Jones? You can keep your hat on.
A quick bath for a
Royalist officer
WI: Who painted and built what?
Neil: Artmaster Studios painted the
Royalist army and designed most of
the “eye candy” figure groups, like the
bear fight and the bath tub scene. Andy
painted the hodden grey mass of Scots
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Above: Rick Priestley & Andy Fox contemplate
Lord Hopton’s Regiment of Foote’s first attack on
the city walls.
Right: Live entertainment for the troops.
Below: The interior of the city, ongoing
entertainment plus ‘Order Group’ for
the Covenanters.
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Above: The Royalist reserve; The King’s Lifeguard of
Foote advance.
Left: Rest and Relaxation for some Royalists, courtesy
of the oldest profession.
Below: Stewart’s Regiment of Covenanter foote fire on the
Royalist cavalry wing of Prince Rupert.
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Above: Lord Hopton’s Regiment of Foote and the Prince of Wales’s Regiment of Horse
form up for the assault on Worcester.
Right: King Charles and his immediate bodyguard.
Below: The main Royalist assault. Prince Rupert’s Blew Regiment moves up to support
Blackwell’s (black standards) and The Earl of Northampton’s Regiment (green standards)
in attacking the main gate.
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Above: The Covenanter reserve, Hamilton’s Regiment of
Foote, await the call for duty.
Right: The end of a troublesome rebel!
Below: One wing of Covenanter horse advance,
subsequently retreating even quicker in the face of Prince
Rupert’s mailed fist.
.net
As a bonus for English Civil War wargamers, we have even more
photos from this shoot online, along with the “alternative history”
story the guys created as a backdrop to this wonderful project.
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