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| My pikemen and musketeers in the field have the enemy pike depleted and outnumbered |
One of my friends is running a game based on the Battle of Severn, 1655A.D., at
Origins Game Fair, an upcoming convention in Columbus, OH. He wanted some feedback on his scenario, so I hosted him at my place on my large(r) gaming table to give it a run-through. His scenario called for an 8'x6' table, which we accommodated by having my friend Keith bring two small 2'x4' tables and adding them give us more depth. I also lent Jason two of fleece mats for the game, as well as a some fenced in fields. Otherwise, the figures were all Jason Stelzer's, and they looked nice, I thought. Most were painted by another friend, a Michigan resident named Ted Bender. Contact him if you need figs painted in the U.S. at a good rate (or contact me and I'll refer you to him).
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| Close up of the Marylander pikemen lining the edge of a field during our refight of the Battle of Severn |
I have to admit I knew nothing about this battle beforehand. Apparently, it is the final battle of the English Civil War, BUT fought on continental American soil. Essentially, Puritan Virginians vs. Maryland Catholics, in an extreme simplification. Jason freely admits that accounts are scant on this engagement, so he is extrapolating typical ECW troops to this battle, leaving out the cavalry which would be few and far between in frontier America. Jason first gave us a historic intro prior to the game. Luckily, we had rounded up three players per side for the playtest, which is what his scenario called for.
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| Jason's dad Mike prepares to move his doomed Maryland center up while the commanders watch |
The rules were
Pikemen's Lament from the "Rampant" engine, which most of the players were fairly familiar with. One player was a complete newbie, though, and another had played only one game using the system, I believe. The rest had played
Rebels and Patriots,
Lion Rampant, and
Xenos Rampant. Jason modified a few rules here and there knowing that, when running it at Origins June 18-22, he is likely to have players less experienced with the system. His modifications worked well and I feel would make the game more enjoyable for a new player (and flow faster).
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| The Maryland left wing opposite me prepares to skirt an enclosed field while advancing on my lines |
I took on the role of Leonard Strong on the Puritan left flank. Jason gave each historical commander a special abililty or two that could affect the game. Strong's faith in God gave him an extra +1 to affect morale tests of his troops. I am pretty sure Jason used commander traits or abilities from the rules, as he referred to "1 point," "2 point," and "3 point abilities." In our other games, we have typically not used those. However, they seemed to fit well in with this contest of religion (and egos) in early America. My force had two units of veteran musketeers and one of veteran pikemen. We had the better quality of troops, but the enemy Maryland militia outnumbered us by a handful of units. For example, the commander I faced across the table had five units to my three.
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| Some of Keith's troop at right take aim at the enemy marching across the field towards them |
There were a couple small gentle hills on the flanks, but the most significant terrain was six enclosed fields across the center of the table. Jason said they would act as cover to troops inside when shot at. They would also act as an obstactle and rough terrain to movement. To even the odds a bit, I decided my forces would hole up inside the field immediately to our front. I ordered my two musketeers forward into it. Meanwhile, the pikemen would loiter behind it, shielded from shooting, and able to move left or right to cover whichever side was most threatened.
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| Zooming in close to look at Jason's 28mm ECW musketeers painted by the prolific Ted Bender |
Luckily, we made it into the field and were set up before the enemy came within range. Of course, my closest unit failed to activate to shoot once the enemy came within our 18" range. Luckily, I was acting last that turn, and I convinced our overall commander Keith to give me the card that allowed me to act first and try again next urn. We were successful in activating to shoot that time, and inflicted a nice barrage of hits on the enemy musketeers. I ignored both the pikemen advancing on us and the harassing Native American skirmish infantry. My goal was to deplete my opponent's shooters before he did the same to me. I felt that was the only way to turn the tables on their superior numbers. My other musketeers shot at his other musketeer unit and inflicted hits, as well.
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| My left wing near the beginning of the battle, musketeers entering the field while pikemen stand by |
In fact, my dice rolling was slightly above average, which considering how it is usually my weakness, led my opponents to say that I was "rolling out of my @$$!" Well, yeah, when you're used to me rolling bad, and I suddenly don't, it may seem rather alarming! This was compounded by the Marylander side missing a couple crucial morale rolls. Our commander Keith, in the center, was able to hit a musketeer unit in their center pretty hard, and it failed its morale badly and routed off of the table. Then one of the musketeer units opposite me had that "Oops!" die roll, and likewise fled the field. I was starting to feel better about being outnumbered.
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| The pivotal moment of the game as we prepare to send the depleted Maryland pikemen packing |
Pretty soon, another unit in the enemy center dissolved. It was obvious that the Maryland center had been defanged as a threat. That allowed our center to help out on both the right flank and mine. Our right was having a bigger struggle than my troops were, though. Jenny, commanding the enemy left, battered one of Allen's units and sent it scurrying from the table. Still, Allen's wing hung on gamely, dishing out casualties and holding off the enemy attacks.
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| I had only 4 enclosed fields, so Mike S contributed 2 of his with resin stone walls to enclose them |
Things came to a crucial point on my end when the lead pike unit got close enough to charge my musketeers in the enclosed field. My pikes sallied forth first and slammed into them, preempting their charge. However, since we did equal casualties, my infantry were forced to withdraw. The Maryland pike turned and charged my musketeers, driving them back and inflicting the first casualties on them of the game. However, the musketeers reloaded and poured fire into the enemy pikemen. Falling well below half strength, they passed one morale check, then failed upon hearing their wing commander had fallen when a salvo sent their last remaining musketeer unit on that wing routing.
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| The skirmish Indian allies of the Marylanders had very little effect on either flank of the battle |
In short order, the Maryland attack on my troops dissolved. Their native American skirmish contingent had been harrying my pikemen with occasional shots and single casualties. However, seeing three of their five units in their command fleeing the field, both the Indians and their last unit of pikemen pulled back. With the enemy losing on our left and in the center, and a hard-fought stalemate on the right, we decided to call the game. The Puritans had held off the Catholic assault. Our greater training and experience (more expensive troops) had repelled the more numerous Marylanders.
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| Another zoom in on the Maryland battle line and Jason's 28mm ECW troops |
We all felt Jason's scenario worked out great. In Jason's previous playtest, the Maryland side had won. So, it seemed relatively balanced. Had my rolls not been above average, and had the enemy not botched a couple key morale tests, I believe the battle could have gone either way. Tactially, my decision to stay on the defense and use the enclosed field as a fortification to hold off the enemy, rather than marching to attack, was key, as well. Our center did a good job using the fields as cover, too. More often than not, we were firing at an enemy in the open while they were returning fire at us in cover. That one pip on a d6 was what we hung our defense upon and it ended up working. It could just as easily have not, though. So, I will be interested in hearing the "score" in his two runnings of the Battle of Severn at the convention.
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| The rules we used -- quick and simple, as well as easy to teach to a convention crowd |
After post-battle discussion, he decided to reduce the number of enclosed fields to four rather than six. Otherwise, I think he feels good to go for the convention. English Civil War is not an area of my interest. I will not be going out and purchasing figures for it, but it was fun game to play.
Pikemen's Lament is quick, easy-to-learn, and provides a decisive encounter in 2-3 hours. I highly recommend the "Rampant" engine for beer and pretzels, big battles with multiple players on a side.
MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025
- Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
- Miniatures painted in 2025: 107
TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025
- Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
- Terrain painted in 2025: 39
SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025
- Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
- Scatter painted in 2025: 72
