The Fight for Dutch Independence (1568-1633) at Campaign 2014
Later Eighty Years War Dutch vs Later Imperial Spanish
Game 1 Later Eighty Years War Dutch vs Hugenot
Game 2 Later Eighty Years War Dutch vs Dutch
Game 3 Later Eighty Years War Dutch vs Later Imperial Spanish
Game 4 Later Eighty Years War Dutch vs Hugenot
Game 4 Later Eighty Years War Dutch vs Later Imperial Spanish
The end game was nigh. The Dutch army was near-victorious, and with the World cup almost upon us all, the rematch of history was ominous - Holland vs Spain, a better for freedom, a battle between beef and pork, between soft and hard cheese, between Heineken and Rioja. The ultimate test, and with it - potentially - the ultimate prize, for the Central London team had all done quite well in their respective periods and we were in with a sniff of the main prize, possibly even improving on our 2nd place finish from last year.
The lists for the Later Eighty Years War Dutch and Later Imperial Spanish from this game, as well as all the other lists from the games at Campaign can be seen here in the Field of Glory Renaissance Wiki.
The opponents were Simon's well painted and speed painted Spaniards. A tough army, replete with high quality Tercios (vulnerable to artillery, but high in morale and hard to kill off) and most probably a lot of Cuirassiers as well. This time - yet again - the river landed on table and was then promptly removed …. 175 points across the 5 games for a ship which had been on table just the once in a game where it didn't manage to fire a single shot or influence my opponents deployment to any noticeable degree. Oh well… !
The lack of the waterway had left a psychological scar on the landscape, and there was a gaping hole down one side of the table. Not much else of interest was in sight, just a small wood in which the Dutch dragoons were already planning their excuses once they got flushed out of it after being outnumbered by the enemy forces. The Spanish deployed to one side, with a clearly telegraphed flank march due to appear where the waterway had originally been. An unusual tactic for me, never mind my opponent!
With the imminent arrival of probably shed loads of cavalry on the right, the Dutch deployment was totally bolloxed from the off, although this time, unusually, by enemy action rather than Dutch poor planning and incompetence. The Dutch Cuirassiers moved sharply away from the possible flank march, seeking clear space on the other flank in which to operate.
What's Going on Here Then?: The narrow Spanish deployment has cut a number of Dutch units out of the game, and they are struggling to react and bring their forces to defend against a huge mounted attack. But the Spanish concentration of force has also left a large area of the field where the Dutch can operate with impunity, and this will give the Spaniards problems as they too try to advance. Amazingly, both sides have effectively left a whole flank wide open.
The Spanish had already massed a considerable cavalry force on this wing, and when the flank march arrived things would certainly get even worse, and the Dutch commander was marshalling his troops urgently, hoping to put up a wall of Pike and Shotte to try and hold back the Iberian tide, rather than risk his 3 Cuirassiers against what looked like at least 5 or 6 Spaniards
It was very much a dogs breakfast, with interspersed horse and shotte formations forming a coherent defensive line as the Spanish advanced.
And not only advancing - arriving too! Not so much a distant rumble, more a very close smell of sweaty horseflesh was in battering the Dutch senses as the flank march turned up on able almost immediately!
With so much to deal with the Spanish had to throw Cuirassiers back into the line - 2 Pike and Shotte would be no match here for the massed cavalry of the enemy.
The Spanish were obviously hoping to get away early and beat the Sunday evening rural Northamptonshire traffic (eh?) as they charged home in a cloud of black.
The initial combats were less than ideal for the Dutch mounted, but their foote stood firm against the tide of dice. The key bulwarks in the Dutch dykes were - as one might expect - clearly well built.
What's Going on Here Then?: The Spanish mounted wing has arrived in some force - but the Dutch have just about assembled a credible defensive line in response - but with such a broad frontage, only one moment of bad luck could unhinge the Dutch plan. Elsewhere on the park the Dutch artillery is starting to ablate the advancing Spanish Tercios but with too many targets in play, the Dutch artillery is - by it's own indecision - proving to be under-effective. The Dutch have also started to reform their left flank and wheel in on the Spanish flank's advance.
The Dutch Cuirassiers wobbled and lost bases. How long they might survive was anyone's guess… but when they went, the flank of the Dutch army would be thinly held indeed.
More dice, more bad news for Dutch Cuirassiers - but now the Dutch infantry had gotten into thei stride and were dishing out bad things in clogfuls to the Spanish horse who had had the impropriety to dare to attack formed Pike & Shotte!
Elsewhere - as if it would actually matter - the Spanish Tercios were using all of their special Tercio rules to try and hold off the envelopment from the rest of the far more numerous and mobile Dutch army. The Dutch artillery were also finding every possible gap through which to shoot, chipping away relentlessly as the Spanish advanced and removing bases with a metronymic turn by turn rhythm.
Battered and bruised, one unit of Dutch horse breaks off, but the rest of the line is holding up surprisingly well. Almost no damage has been done in return though.
But for every piece of damage the Spanish were not suffering on the Dutch right, they were taking on bucketfuls in the middle of the park - beset by artillery, musketry and carbine fire the Tercios started to pick up plenty of markers or all types and colours. Or, this Tercio is either fragged or Disrupted and I'm not sure which but it is clearly enough to tempt a Cuirassier unit into thinking about a charge.
The Dutch Cuirassiers were in need of the encouraging words of their Giant Commander as they hung on despite a number of adverse results - but their infantry had really gotten into their stride now and were battering the Spanish with relentless monotony. The Spanish had not yet cracked, but the punishment they were taking was starting to be inescapable.
A few failed cohesion tests later and the entire Spanish battle line decided that breaking off was far better than staying put an slowly getting beaten - they fell back as one, carrying their various DISR markers with them as they went in a remarkable display of public spirited tidiness.
What's Going on Here Then?: The Spanish mounted wing has been thrown back almost entirely in dissarray, and now the Dutch are considering whether the resulting traffic jam might represent an opportunity rather than a threat. The Spanish middle is starting to fall apart under harassment from artillery and the pressure from the enveloping Dutch troops on the left, but their inherent quality is preventing the crumbling becoming an avalanche of yellow and red.
But that had failed to encourage the already Fragged Dutch unit, which turned and fled as its one-time tormentors lurched forward to try and inflict another beating.
Both Spanish Tercios in the middle of the table were now practically reduced to normal Pike & Shotte units, and the Dutch fire was relentless. Both might fail to get to grips with any of the Dutch troops before attrition alone sent them packing!
And the Dutch certainly had the advantage in the centre - charging home against Fragged infantry the Dutch tried to wrap things up here rather too rashly…
This left however a more mixed picture on the right, where Spanish Cuirassiers were now roaming freely behind the Dutch lines… but these same Dutch lines were doing rather well, having beaten off their opponents and - it would appear - also having unhorsed one of the two Spanish generals in the preceding combats. The tactical situation of the Spanish looked better, but with plenty of DISR units and only one man in the region capable of fixing them things were not as clear cut as the Madrilenos would ideally have wanted. The time was here for the Dutch to be brave, grasp the windmills sails and boldly press the advantage where they had it….
So, obviously, form square and dig in….
And dig in they did, with spades, shovels, ice picks and probably some claymore mines and carefully dug in MG42 nests borrowed from the nearby FoW competition - the Spanish attack on a DISR Square came a massive cropper, losing bases and most of its cohesion with a disastrous dice roll !
The Dutch artillery park did not even need to roll any dice in order to lose however - the enemy horse marching round the rear of the Dutch army had come across some very easy pickings indeed….
Combat was spreading across the table like shooting had suddenly gone out of fashion - in the middle a Tercio, DISR but still good, took on a Dutch Pike & Shotte units in a far too even matchup.
Demonstrating the power of sheer weight or numbers, the Dutch had also punched a hole in the soft underbelly of the Spanish army, as a rare and rather hapless 6-strong unit of unarmoured average carbine pistol Dutch horse found a matchup they liked - 4 unarmoured average carbine pistol Spanish Horse. The odds were in the Dutch favour, and the result was quick and brutal - Dutch cavalry were now in pursuit towards the Spanish baggage!
What's Going on Here Then?: The Spanish mounted have forced a gap in the Dutch defensive line, but only one unit has gotten through it and the rest of the attack is now starting to become a liability. The Dutch are losing units to the Spanish horse who have broken through into their rear, but they can probably afford the losses as the over-stretched Spanish centre is now falling apart as it is assailed from all sides.
Finding themselves as bereft of Generals as a Spanish chesemonger is usually bereft of Edam, and frustrated with their ongoing inbility to break down the resisting Square the Spanish had now focused on the Dutch Cuirassiers, but with all sides shooting furiously at one another the Spanish lack of Generals was starting to tell - and even as they attempted to close the noose on the Dutch, some of the Spanish units dropped to FRAGGED (yellow marker). This surely was the time for the bold charge?
In fact, so much tension was now building that another picture, from another angle, was deemed justifiable. Oooh!
The Dutch charged home! The Spanish routed!
Almost all of the rest of the Spanish routed as well in response! The impressive flanking force had now been reduced to just a handful of mostly DISR and FRAGGED solo Carbine units, all of whom were at the mercy of the Dutch Cuirassiers and - of course - the deadly Square!
What's Going on Here Then?: The Spanish flank atack has collapsed, and surely the army is lurching towards defeat? The Dutch have taken losses but nowhere near enough to put them at risk before the Spanish stumble across the line....
Those Tercios may be battered, but they still packed a nasty sting in their tails, as this Dutch unit had just discovered. Everywhere across the table units on both sides were adding up a an impressive attrition total
The Square was deep into levels of embarrassing success against the increasingly frustrated and continually FRAGMENTED Spaniards. The whole flank had held up incredibly well…
After their success, the Dutch Carbine horse suddenly found themselves blocked from a simple baggage looting exercise by an equally bland Spanish Pike and Shotte unit. Their confidence evaporated and the settled down for the long haul….
Aided by dragoons, and by Artillery, the Carbine horse however wanted to remain stars of what was an overall very starry performance by the disciplined, dull but effective Dutch army - and soon shot the enemy down to FRAGGED, and with that managed to take the game! Another victory for Holland!
The Result is a 21-4 win.
Read on for the post match summaries from the Generals involved, as well as another episode of legendary expert analysis from Hannibal
Post Match Summary from the Later Eighty Years War Dutch Commander
Indeed, behold, I am Brilliant - so wonderful indeed that I am sure that Johann Strauss himself would have composed an opera for me in response to this victory - and I in turn would have taken the bit of it that had been used in a TV advert, stretched it out with some slapstick comedy and used it in my set!
For a bog standard boring average army, my men have proved incredibly effective here - showing that lots of artillery and shooting is in fact quite a good idea especiially when used against deep formation enemies and their horsemen. No surprise really. I'm not sure if my army was underestimated or not, but 4 wins out of 5 can't be sniffed at - although I may well wink at it, and possibly go as far as a little casual en-passant smirking too, all of which I richly deserve.
It was a shame really about the ship, but I suppose without the possibility to take it I would have never selected the army in the first place, and so given the lack of 35 points in every game (another General!) I am sure it sort of paid for itself really.
Winning the team competition, and winning the individual pool. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it Mr Hannibal!
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
Hmmm... first place in your pool? I struggle to believe that such an average army in the hands of such a sub-standard commander could turn out such a good result. If your pool allowed you to rise to the top, it must have been a shallow end from end to end.
Here I did not see any form of swimming - more a case of your being a right floater. To be so hoodwinked by a flank march? Where was your pre-match intelligence? Surely this tactic was not plucked from the air in game 5 by your almost-all-mounted opponent? Even a cursory conversation over a soft-cheese croquette would have allowed you to entice this factlet from any of your prior opponents? Underestimating the enemy is easy to do - almost as simple it seems as over-estimating your ability to learn from prior mistakes!
And even if the opposition had not even done a flank march, what was your plan for that flank? 2 units of foote? Surely not - here your army danced like a chorus line, which is impressve when it is combined with long female legs, frilly knickers and the sound of the can-can... but for Cuirassiers in the emply of the Dutch Crown, it is just a blatant symbol of the lack of planning and foresight exercised by the general at deployment... a symbol that you had best hope that your monarch does not take heed of and remove your head for its lack of contribution to the battle.
But, a trophy is a trophy, and here you have managed to go home with one. I cannot for the life of me see what you have done to deserve it, but whether it is fortune or the lack of quality in your opponents, be careful - as I am sure that whatever army you field next will not have such a benighn environment in which to operate!
That's the end - so why not go back to the Match Reports Index and read some more reports?
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Game 1 Later Eighty Years War Dutch vs Hugenot
Game 2 Later Eighty Years War Dutch vs Dutch
Game 3 Later Eighty Years War Dutch vs Later Imperial Spanish
Game 4 Later Eighty Years War Dutch vs Hugenot
Game 4 Later Eighty Years War Dutch vs Later Imperial Spanish
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