The Battle of Hopton Heath, England 19th March 1643.

 This is my personal interpretation of this battle. Any mistakes are my own.

After the battle of Edgehill, King Charles 1st moved his army toward London, intending to take the City. However, Parliament called out the Trained Bands. These regiments consisted of recruits from the City Guilds like Stonemasons, Shoemakers, Silversmiths etc. In all, 24,000 Parliamentarian troops gathered at Turnham Green ready to contest the advance of the King’s Army, 15,000 strong.

At a Council of War. It was decided that, as London was now under the firm control of Parliament, the Royalists had to find a new base. The decision was made to march to Oxford where the King was welcomed by the population.This City was to become the central base of operations for the rest of the War.

For the rest of 1642 and early 1643 both sides started to raid in an attempt to control the area around their main bases. Lichfield in the Midlands of England was one of those places. The town sat on a supply route which the Royalists used to ship ammunition from the north of England to Oxford. Parliamentary forces held the town.

Therefore Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Nephew of King Charles 1st,  was dispatched to retake the Town. While besieging the place, Prince Rupert learned of a Parliamentry force heading south to break the siege. Sir William Brereton, having been ordered by Parliament, made his way south from his base at Nantwich in Cheshire. Brereton decided to move to Hopton Heath where he was joined by Sir John Gell who had arrived earlier.

Rupert decided to maintain the siege and send troops to stall the advancing enemy. Keeping the majority of the infantry in place, a Royalist force mainly of Cavalry and Dragoons supported by artillery under the command of Spencer Compton the Earl of Northampton was sent north-west toward Hopton Heath. An additional force under General Henry Hastings was ordered to support the Earl.

The Parliamentarian forces reached Hopton Heath first. They set up their camp and battle line anchoring their left flank in the grounds of Heathyard House on the higher part of the Heath. A day later, the Royalists arrived from the south east.The army deployed facing north toward the Paliamentry Army.

THE ROYALIST ARMY: 1,200 ( not inc Gunners). = 1.2pts x 20 = 24 points..

Spencer Compton Earl of Northampton  @  1 point.

General Henry Hastings  @  1 point.

100 Infantry = 0.100pts x 20 = 2 points = 2 stands of muskets @ 1 point.

Note: most of the Royalist Infantry had been left in place to continue the siege of Lichfield.

300 mounted Dragoons = 0.300 pts x 20 = 6 points = 3 stands of mounted Dragoons @ 2 points.

( dismounted Dragoons are worth 1 point and can be moved in any direction).

800 Horse = 0.800pts  x 20 = 16 points.= 7 stands of Cavalry @ 2 points = 14 points

( 2 points are allocated for the Generals )

ARTILLERY.

6 guns, each with 30 gunners = 180 gunners. = 0.180pts x 20 = 3.6 or 4 points rounded up.

1 stand of Heavy Artillery @ 2 pts ( Roaring Meg)

2 stands of Light Artillery @ 1 point = 2 points.

THE PARLIAMENTARY ARMY: 1,450 ( not inc gunners). = 1.450 pts x 20 = 29 pts.

Sir William Brereton  @ 1 point.

Sir John Gell  @1 point.

750 Infantry = 0.750 pts x 20 = 15 points = 

2 stands of Pike @ 3 points = 6 points.

4 stands of Muskets @ 2 points = 8 points.

( Sir William Brereton 1pt)

300 Dragoons = 0.300 pts x 20 = 6 points =

3 stands of mounted Dragoons at 2 points.

( dismounted Dragoons are worth 1 point and can move in any direction).

400 Horse = 0.400 pts x 20 = 8 points = 4 stands of Cavalry @ 2 points.

ARTILLERY;

11 guns each with 30 Gunners = 330 men = 0.330 pts x 20 = 6.6 pts or 7pts rounded up.

4 stands of Light Artillery @ 1pt = 4 points.

1 stand of Heavy Artillery @ 2 points.

( 1 General Sir John Gell @ 1 point).

Gaming Notes.

* The Royalist Army moves first on the 1st Game-Turn.

* From Game-Turn 2 until Game-Turn 8, both sides throw dice for priority of movement and firing.

* The Royalists keep the Initiative Point for the entire battle

* The Royalists win any ties.

* The Cavalry do not get the +3 for attacking infantry in the open as Hopton Heath itself is hilly and uneven terrain.

* Dismounted Dragoons can move in any direction.

* Cavalry and  Mounted Dragoons cannot move over or through the Rabbit Warren.

* The Parliamentry Artillery Pieces were captured by the Royalists after changing hands twice. Therefore, if involved in combat, the Parliamentry guns are taken by the Royalist player on ANY low score.

* Roaring Meg; 

This was a rather large piece of ordnance that the Royalists bought onto the field. Apparently when it did hit something it did some damage. Therefore these special rules apply;

1) The Gun cannot move. If the gun requires a “move-back” , deduct 2 points from the die roll when the Gun fires 2nd within the same Game-Turn

2)  The gun has a range of 5 squares and can only fire every 2nd Game-Turn.

HISTORY:

This wasn’t an overly important battle. But was hailed as a victory by the Royalists keen to trumpet a success after Turnham Green.

The Earl of Northampton lost his life in this battle. He was thrown from his horse leading one of the Royalist Cavalry charges. He was offered quarter by the Parliamentarians but refused and was killed.

At this time neither side had a set uniform and it was left to weathy individuals to raise troops. Therefore some regiments might be provided with a coat of a certain colour but many just had their civilian clothes.

Both sides made use of “ field signs” such as a piece of ribbon tied around the hat or the arm. The Royalist Earl of Newcastle had his WhiteCoats, so named because each man was given a coat of  undyed  wool.

To make identification easier in my games, I use Red  for Paliament( which later became the adopted colour for the Army), and Blue for the Royalists.

In regard to armour, well, as the war progressed, the use of body armour decreased. Pikemen were lucky if they acquired a breastplate. Some pikemen shortened their pikes to make them easy to carry. The musket gradually became lighter, doing away with the rest but still relied on the lighted match for firing. Infantry swords were used for cooking, the men relying on using their muskets as clubs even against Cavalry.

Cavalry were lucky if they had a leather jacket. Helmets were a luxury with most relying on a metal scull cap under their hats. Good horses were kept for the Cavalry where possible and Dragoons used ponies or lesser animals

There were no organised artillery Trains. Each side made use of any field pieces they could get from small galloper guns up to the Saker, which was, generally the largest field gun available. Roaring Meg was an exception.

THE GAME;

The playing area is a piece of felt cloth, 3 feet ( 90cm ) by 2 feet ( 60cm ) marked out in 2” ( 50mm ) squares.

The hill sections are 2” ( 50mm ) x 8” ( 200mm ) long, made of two sections of foamboard glued together and topped with green card. I made them so that they would pack easy in the box.

All the figures were from Peter Dennis’s Paperboys English Civil War book printed onto paper in A5 size.

The buildings and trees were made from the same book.