Wading into England

I'm now reading Three Victories and a Defeat by Brendan Simms, about British foreign policy of the 18th Century. Simms' thesis is that British emphasis in the period was not on the sea and empire, but on European affairs to which the Americas and the Royal Navy were but an adjunct. The King's holdings in Hanover and the alliances necessary to keep them stable were, in this reading, the real cause celebre' of the wars, and moves across the ocean were, from the beginning, part of a European strategy - at first to weaken the Spanish threat by cutting off its American wealth. The Netherlands in particular, the "pistol aimed at the heart of England," had to stay on-side.

Which puts the solo Jacobite campaign back in my sights.

After my second refight of Prestonpans, I have nine Highland regiments to send towards Carlisle and Marshal Wade. He had thirteen to start. Three of Cope's survivors retreat from Scotland, leaving one holding Stirling, which must be penned in by one of mine. Thus, facing each other are now:

Eight Highland regiments under Charlie,
with the sun at their backs!

Sixteen British and foreign regiments
(plus two cav and four guns) under Wade.

That sounds bad, but the Highlanders are all standard or elite, while Wade's units (either garrison or recently defeated) are all still poor. That evens the contest.

With all those units, I'm also running out both of troops and room on my table. To play in the sunlight where I can take good photos, I'm limited to four feet of space. (What I really need is a dedicated game room.) I'd reduce each unit by one base, but that would mean I couldn't indicate column formation with the British... but granted they're unlikely to attack in this battle anyway, so what the hell.

However, to fit them all I do have to arch them. Perhaps this is being fought in a strategic pass:

Wait a minute, why don't I just halve all units, counting each as two for purposes of the campaign? At least I'll have room:

OK, now I'm ready.

The Scots march forth.

They form into column to move faster, 
but the right-hand unit turns to face the approaching horse.

The Scottish right charges and defeats the cavalry.
Columns advance towards center but take casualties.

One British unit is broken by fire from the center
Scottish regiment, but the British right is swinging
towards the flank.

One British gun is eliminated by fire, the other is charged
to no effect (far left). The other Scots, too far back
to charge, continue to suffer casualties.

More charges go in, and the British center and left are 
eventually destroyed. The right, not so much.

Skipping over a few inconclusive turns (read: I forgot to take photos), the British left is gone, but the Scots have suffered dreadfully in the process and are about to be overwhelmed on their own left. So the Scots break contact and retreat.

Not quite Culloden, and half the Government force is gone, but still a severe setback for the rebels.

I didn't reread the campaign section before setting this up - turns out it should have been an encounter battle, which at least would have assisted the setup! When I roll on the recovery table:

• Scots rally, with surviving regiments returning to full strength. So having lost one, I have six left (plus the one at Stirling, which returns to the army).
• British rally, but also amalgamate to get half their lost units back. Having lost four of their eight and both guns (representing twice that many), Wade now has twelve infantry, two guns and no cavalry. And they have "seen the elephant," so I should probably upgrade some of them.

I also roll on a Royal Navy table to see what French reinforcements get through, and the British roll badly - a 2. This nets the Scots reinforcements of one infantry regiment, one horse regiment, and enough supplies to upgrade two more clans to elite. I think I can also claim to have assistance in crewing the three captured guns from Prestonpans. So a bit better off...

But fully half the British army can come north after me, and Cumberland outnumbers Wade, so basically Wade's entire remaining force, plus three cavalry regiments and two guns, is on its way to Falkirk. Next time!