Hopton Heath

Last night we tried two versions of Hopton Heath, an early battle between small units - a mixed force of Parliamentarians under Sir William Brereton and a Royalist force of horse and light guns under the Earl of Northampton.
    First we played with historical forces. Northampton attempted a simultaneous assault up the hill with half his horse and against the Roundhead horse on the south flank with the other half. He concentrated his dragoons on his right flank where the heath ended in a forest.
    Brereton's horse employed Dutch (caracole) tactics and were soundly beaten. However, the foot stood firm on the hilltop, defeating the horse (as was fairly historically accurate). The artillery played an insignifanct role.
    Next we traded out four stands of Northampton's horse for four stands of foot and tried again. This brought a more near-run game. The horse repeated the first game with the more poorly trained caracole troops being eventually overrun by their more aggressive cavalier counterparts. However, shotte combat proved decisive in disordering the attacking foor formation and actually causing one battalion to fall back. For a second time the Parliamentarian foot held the hill, though this time, much worn by their exertions.
     6mm figures using King Charles' Lament rules.