Sunday, March 2, 2025

Battle for the Camp Conclusion

Turn 8 begins with Stapleton renewing his attack on the camp. The Rooth Regiment drives back the Hessian grenadiers and the Royal Ecossais pull back to reorganize for a final push.
Murray takes advantage of the passivity of the Dutch to continue to rally and organize his brigade. Lovat's men brace themselves to receive yet another charge from Legonier's dragoons.
With the outcome of the battle at stake, Macdonald orders the Lifeguards to move to the stone wall and dismount. They fire into the flank of the 44th Foot and inflict two casualties.
Legonier sends a fresh regiment of horse into Lovat's depleted batallion. The highlanders are driven back with loss.
Roy Stewart desperately tries to rally his tattered regiments in anticipation of a charge by Lascelles' men.
Lascelles tries to seize the initiative by ordering the 44th and 8th Foot over the wall. The 44th fires its first volley and astonishingly achieves no hits. The 8th Foot is only able advance without firing. The most important action of Lascelles' turn is to order the 3rd Foot to fire a volley and then charge the Berwick Regiment at the wall. Success here will turn the tide of the entire battle towards the Government's favor. Alas, it is not to be. The 3rd Foot is driven back having lost 25% of its men.
Turn 9- As this turn begins the outcome is still very much in doubt. The Hessians still have two largely unscathed regiments defending the perimeter and Lascelles is threatening to cut the Jacobite army in two. The tide turns quickly, however. Stapleton's card is drawn first. Regiment Rooth continues to drive back the Hessian grenadiers. The telling blow, though, is delviered by the Royal Ecossais regiment. They charge the portion of the wall defended by Regiment Mussbach. The fighting is hand to hand across the stone barrier. The Hessians inflict one casualty on the Ecossais, but the Ecossais remarkably inflict five on the Hessians. This routs the Germans who flee. The Ecossais are able to cross the wall and turn to face the flank of the last regiment defending the camp, Regiment Toll.
Macdonald attempts to support Stewart by sending his two troops of Scotish horse to his aid. The Dutch are still content to simply hold their position and await developments.
Sensing the battle slipping away, Lascelles orders the veteran 8th Foot to charge the tattered ranks of Roy Stewart. The men of the 8th lower their bayonets and move forward in disciplined ranks. The outcome is inevitable and two of Stewarts regiments flee the field. Lascelles then orders the 3rd Foot to attempt to relieve the camp by charging the wall. Again, the 3rd Foot is repulsed. The camp is close to falling with no relief in sight.
In hopes of retrieving the situation, Roy Stewart attaches himself to the Camerons of Locheil. Though in a worn condition, they are still a formidable force. With great determination the clan surges forth with Roy Stewart at their front. The 44th is unable to withstand these heroics and retreat to the safety of the stone wall they started from. It is a costly victory, however, as Roy Stewart is killed in the course of the mele. This is more than his men can bear. The Camerons join their comrades in flight.
Sealing the Jacobite victory, Knyphausen is forced to take a brigade morale test as more than half of his units have left the battle. The modified roll is a "1." What little of his force remains joins the others in full fledged retreat. The camp is completely in Jacobite hands. The objective has been achieved, but at an extremely high cost. It was a very enjoyable game. The "fog of war" was quite evident as brigades became inactive at very inoportune times and units were less active than the circumstances required. The dice, also, played a factor. The final charge of the Royal Ecossais saw them needing to roll 5s and 6s to achieve hits. All five dice inflicted casualties on the Mussbach Regiment while they, needing the same 5s and 6s, only got one hit with four dice. Truly a stunning result.

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