The Battle of Sourpuss Plain: ECW battle with Baroque

My Royalist left Brigade deploys under the command of Sir Percival Utterly-Barkinge

Over the weekend gaming club buddy Aled walked me through my first game using the Baroque tules set, released last year by the authors of Impetus.  It was a great opportunity to thrown down for some long overdue 6mm ECW action.

Royalist Horse deploys on the right flank near the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Guilt

Overall, I found the mechanics easy to pick up (I had a good tutor!) but it took me awhile to get my head around the damage system.  Once I did, I realised how elegant they are - adding and subtracting combat dice is easy to do, but damage impact is non linear.  That is, it's how badly a unit fails a coherence test that matters - not the number of hits it takes.  But naturally, it's easier to fail badly when hit a number of times.  So like real life, some units kept taking punishment volley after volley, while others evaporated much more quickly.

Foote Brigades engaged on Sourpuss Plain

Royalist Foot anchor the line behind the stone walls of the cultivated fields and engage the Roundheads

I also found that the Cavalry engagements on the wings was fast, strong and decisive (possibly because I had all those lovely Cavalier gallopers).  The melee combat system is the same as firing, but charging home adds dice as an impetus bonus and catching an enemy on the flank is brutally effective.  On the other hand, the infantry brigades in the centre were slow and difficult to adjust once committed (as you would expect).

A palpable hit indeed! Take that Roundheads!

I also quite liked the Army morale system: once reduced to half strength a unit is exhausted and its VPs are removed from the Force Morale.  However, if it is eliminated then double its VPs are taken.  Thus, withdrawing spent units before they die (and having reserves available to take their place) is not only sensible but essential in keeping your Army together.  But being able to withdraw the unit is not a given either...

Cavalier gallopers sweep away the Parliament horse on the right flank and penetrate into the enemy rear 

I felt like I was a General commanding the battle, though not everything was going to go the way I had planned it and there were certainly points of friction occurring around me.  Overall, a really fun experience and I'm looking forward to my next game.

And here is the WI review of the rules:

https://www.wargamesillustrated.net/baroque-europe-at-war-1500-1700/