Battle of Gravelines -End of Italian Campaign-
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 1:16 am
Gravelines, the final battle in the Italian Campaign.
The French army finds itself on the road, attacked on one side by a large army of pike and arquebusiers, while on the other side lies the sea, and three English warships with heavy cannons. The road is blockaded by Spanish cavalry. Even better, on the other end of the road some of the French army is behind a river and has to cross a bridge to join the battle. Even more 'good' news- turn 1 you don't even get to move and the enemy draws in closer, eager to push you into the sea.
It's going to be a battle of tight quarters and challenges from many directions.
In this battle I had an army that was outnumbered in terms of foot, but not cavalry. The Spanish had their arquebusiers in a line in front of their pike. They had minor cavalry on their right, and a cavalry blockading force on their left.
Knowing that to sit idle was to be shot to pieces from the ships and muskets, I engaged in headlong melee, hoping to wreck the Spanish arquebusiers and cavalry before engaging their pike, which generally outclassed or equaled me in terms of quality and, as mentioned before, outnumbered me.
My pike sought out the Spanish arqubusiers, and if they failed to catch them, my cavalry rushed in to catch them after they evaded. The battlefield is compact, with little room to maneuver. This was initially to my advantage, enabling me to route arquebusiers, then roll into the next unit, or follow up soon after. In short order the Spanish were virtually devoid of shot.
The cavalry on the road was matched, surrounded and routed, though it took me precious time and my over-eager gendarme and light cavalry nearly ran off the field in pursuit.
The battle was going my way, and I came close to a 20% to 40% victory, but it wasn't to be. The Spanish pike rolled into my army and locked up most of my units. They were also able to double-up on some of my pikes. My attempts to get a rear charge with two of my pike who crossed the river failed. By the time I had cleared the other wing of Spanish cavalry, my army was already starting to route before they could get into position.
My lead in the battle whittled down until the Spanish and I were hovering in the 50% range, with most of my pike routing or running away to keep distance from superior and numerous units.
Once the Spanish were close to breaking, I used the only advantage I had left- my arqubusiers. They were largely untouched and I focused fire on the Spanish pike. The Spanish were slow and cumbersome, and without cavalry or their own gunmen, could only march, or try and charge and catch my arqubusiers. Luckily for me, they failed to do this. I was able to have three arquebusiers fire away on single units.
I routed a pair of Spanish pike, and when some of their cavalry rallied late in the battle, my light cavalry was on hand to break them (again). My own units that rallied were shot up by the English navy, which did a fine job of preventing any of my pike from recovering for very long.
Victory was mine, but just barely.
In hindsight, I should have been more aggressive in clearing the Spanish cavalry on their right, so I could get my pike from the river behind the Spanish army. If I was a little faster, I could have had local superiority and perhaps run away with a grand victory instead of a nail-biter.
And so ends my many AAR's, I'll leave it to others to handle the English Civil War and 30 Years War.
The French army finds itself on the road, attacked on one side by a large army of pike and arquebusiers, while on the other side lies the sea, and three English warships with heavy cannons. The road is blockaded by Spanish cavalry. Even better, on the other end of the road some of the French army is behind a river and has to cross a bridge to join the battle. Even more 'good' news- turn 1 you don't even get to move and the enemy draws in closer, eager to push you into the sea.
It's going to be a battle of tight quarters and challenges from many directions.
In this battle I had an army that was outnumbered in terms of foot, but not cavalry. The Spanish had their arquebusiers in a line in front of their pike. They had minor cavalry on their right, and a cavalry blockading force on their left.
Knowing that to sit idle was to be shot to pieces from the ships and muskets, I engaged in headlong melee, hoping to wreck the Spanish arquebusiers and cavalry before engaging their pike, which generally outclassed or equaled me in terms of quality and, as mentioned before, outnumbered me.
My pike sought out the Spanish arqubusiers, and if they failed to catch them, my cavalry rushed in to catch them after they evaded. The battlefield is compact, with little room to maneuver. This was initially to my advantage, enabling me to route arquebusiers, then roll into the next unit, or follow up soon after. In short order the Spanish were virtually devoid of shot.
The cavalry on the road was matched, surrounded and routed, though it took me precious time and my over-eager gendarme and light cavalry nearly ran off the field in pursuit.
The battle was going my way, and I came close to a 20% to 40% victory, but it wasn't to be. The Spanish pike rolled into my army and locked up most of my units. They were also able to double-up on some of my pikes. My attempts to get a rear charge with two of my pike who crossed the river failed. By the time I had cleared the other wing of Spanish cavalry, my army was already starting to route before they could get into position.
My lead in the battle whittled down until the Spanish and I were hovering in the 50% range, with most of my pike routing or running away to keep distance from superior and numerous units.
Once the Spanish were close to breaking, I used the only advantage I had left- my arqubusiers. They were largely untouched and I focused fire on the Spanish pike. The Spanish were slow and cumbersome, and without cavalry or their own gunmen, could only march, or try and charge and catch my arqubusiers. Luckily for me, they failed to do this. I was able to have three arquebusiers fire away on single units.
I routed a pair of Spanish pike, and when some of their cavalry rallied late in the battle, my light cavalry was on hand to break them (again). My own units that rallied were shot up by the English navy, which did a fine job of preventing any of my pike from recovering for very long.
Victory was mine, but just barely.
In hindsight, I should have been more aggressive in clearing the Spanish cavalry on their right, so I could get my pike from the river behind the Spanish army. If I was a little faster, I could have had local superiority and perhaps run away with a grand victory instead of a nail-biter.
And so ends my many AAR's, I'll leave it to others to handle the English Civil War and 30 Years War.
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