"Through the land of my fathers the Campbells have come ,
The flames of their foray enveloped my home"
From The Day of Inverlochy, by Iain Lom, as published in The Heather and the Gale by Ronald Williams.
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| The prime men of the Campbell clan await the Royalist attack. |
Order Of Battle
Commander-in-Chief command base: Lieutenant Colonel Sir Duncan Campbell of AuchinbreckRight Wing
Command base: Lieutenant Colonel Lachlan RougheLieutenant Colonel Lachlan Roughe's provisional battalion : 18 figure pike unit, 2 x 12 figure shot units
Other Campbell Highlanders: 24 figure Highlander unit
Centre
Command base: Gillespie, son of Gillespie Og, Lord of the Bingingeadhs
Argyle's (Highland) Regiment: 12 figure Lochaber Axe unit, 12 figure Shot unit, and 12 figure Bow unit.
Campbell Highlanders: 4 x 24 figure Highlander units
Campbell Highlanders: 4 x 24 figure Highlander units
Artillery: 2 x light (frame) guns
Left Wing
Command base: Lieutenant Colonel John Cockburn
Lieutenant Colonel John Cockburn's provisional battalion: 18 figure pike unit, 2 x 12 figure shot units
Other Campbell Highlanders: 24 figure Highlander unit
Reserve
Castle defenders: 1 x 8 figure unit of Commanded Shot
This comes out as a roughly 1:10 figure to actual men ratio for the battle.
Roster
How are the units classified for the battle? Well, I have developed a handy A4 description of the army, or roster.
Here is a link to a PDF Pike and Shotte roster for the Inverlochy Covenant army.
N.B. The single unit of bowmen have been given a special rule to allow them to fire overhead. This doesn't make a huge difference to the battle, but just seemed a fun touch. All of the other special rules are as per the Warlord Games Pike and Shotte main rules.
The Royalists have to have a lot going for them. They have excellent command, and they must make sure they take advantage of Montrose and Macolla's superior command factors. The Irish brigade units have everything going for them and they need the advantages to stand any chance of recreating their historical performance, in my experience anyway. The Royalist highlander are also extra hard hitting.
The Covenanters have ok command, but the Militia special rule for the Campbell highlanders should prevent them being too manoeuvrable. The liberal sprinting of Freshly Raised units should also help make the Covenant army quite brittle as it was historically at Inverlochy.
As both armies are quite small I also adjust the Victory and Defeat conditions for both sides so that the whole army breaks when more than half of its units are broken or shaken, and ignore 'Battalia' break points. This is an idea from the To Kill A King supplement for Pike and Shotte which I think works nicely.
Until next time!
Balancing The Two Armies
As I mentioned in the previous article on the Royalist Order of Battle () one of the main reason I like the Pike and Shotte rules from Warlord is that it is very easy to tweak the performance of units using the special rules. This also adds a huge amount of flavour, or narrative, to games. I have re-played Inverlochy many time now and I think the balance in the two forces as I've set them is about right. It is a close game, which either side could win, but the Royalists are the favourites. The right balance was tricky to achieve as the Royalists are outnumbered almost two to one.The Royalists have to have a lot going for them. They have excellent command, and they must make sure they take advantage of Montrose and Macolla's superior command factors. The Irish brigade units have everything going for them and they need the advantages to stand any chance of recreating their historical performance, in my experience anyway. The Royalist highlander are also extra hard hitting.
The Covenanters have ok command, but the Militia special rule for the Campbell highlanders should prevent them being too manoeuvrable. The liberal sprinting of Freshly Raised units should also help make the Covenant army quite brittle as it was historically at Inverlochy.
As both armies are quite small I also adjust the Victory and Defeat conditions for both sides so that the whole army breaks when more than half of its units are broken or shaken, and ignore 'Battalia' break points. This is an idea from the To Kill A King supplement for Pike and Shotte which I think works nicely.
Until next time!
