Aughrim 1691 - with Field of Battle 3

 Field of Battle, as with Volley & Bayonet, delivers a very efficient, enjoyable and exciting game. Both are very different however; where V&B offers elegance, FoB offers just the right degree of chaos; where V&B makes book-keeping seem like part of the command experience, FoB rewards taking chances. ...Depending on what I want from a game, both sets are very relevant to the periods I indulge in.

 I have not played enough Field of Battle 3, nor enough 1670-1720 recently, so dusted off, and out it came. We have tried Aughrim twice before, and for some reason, we keep playing the Jacobites historically, which is not the way to win the battle... 

A view of the Jacobite position on Kilcommadan Hill, from Urraghry hill today, across the bog, which in 1691, was even more wet than it is now...and not in a good way.

 

"This flank seems totally secure...what can possibly go wrong??? What's that? ...an ammunition wagon paid for though nefarious means and we let it get through...certainly, certainly, go on ahead there..."

 

 More advisable is moving the centre forward to the enclosure line with reinforced shot elements, and blasting the allies as they come out of the bog, before the flanks are overwhelmed...I am sure we will try that next time...

The view from the 'virtual' Urraghry Hill

Red vs Blue ...or something

Jacobite skirmishers in their historic positions in the enclosures...in game, reinforcing these positions just as the allied/ Willliamite troops come out of the bog, would change the game...

One the move

Historically, Burke took delivery of the wrong calibre of ammunition at a critical juncture in the battle, and found that he could not shoot...critically, in our game, this happened very early. I'm sure there were no shenanigans (historically I mean...)

The cavalry action on the Jacobite right, all seemed very one-sided at first, the Jacobites getting the better of the match. This would not last...

Slow moving through the Irish bog...and no wellies

Despite the ammunition problem at the ruined castle, matters would not go easy for the Williamites.

...and the opposite flank becomes a battle in itself

The Jacobite ridgeline..."move down there lads, give them a volley or two..no?"

The attack proceeds at half speed (I place troops in the bog 'out of command' in terms of the rules - it really works).

Danish mercs attack the Bloody Hollow

Englsih and Northern Irish put sever pressure on the centre as they start, slowly, to clear the bog...

The guns fall quickly at the bloody hollow, very un-historically

...so much so that Jacobite infantry has to engage to hold the flank

...yet in the centre, they stay, very, very , still

A view of the village, and the Jacobite left and centre - the pressure of allied cavalry is starting to tell...

The centre could have been so very different, but the flanks become bloodbaths - two separate battles as the centre gains momentum

Assaults of the Jacobite guns on both flanks

Clearing the bog, at last

Allied troops start to clear the enclosures of skirmishers - will they dare to assault the hill...or simply await the flank collapse...

Taking the guns

The Williamite right

The attack on the Jacobite right and centre - Danes and English

Firefight on the Jacobite right - the Danes are not likely to lose this...

Inniskilling cavalry takes the causeway and the flank starts to fall on the Jacobite left

Firefights in the centre, as the allies take the enclosures

In the end, a cavalry breakthrough on the Jacobite right...and horse starts to flow behind the Jacobite lines on the hill..

On the left, a similar story- once the Jacobite cavalry is defeated at the causeway, the horse pour across, and the flank will not hold.

 Great rules once more - and always very evocative of the period. A very large game with around 35 units per side, and an entire historical battle. There aren't many rules that can handle that...