Slitherine

I've been playing P&S for a number of weeks now and have been concentrating on the ECW (skirmishes for the most part). I've played Parliamentarians fairly consistently, and have lost all but one game to date. The fault seems to lie with the Parliamentarian cavalry who in every encounter seem seriously outmatched by their Royalist counterparts. I understand the historical precedent for this in relation to the early years of the conflict, but having just completed a game using the New Model Army list my cavalry still performed poorly. My Parliamentarian cavalry have a tendency to sustain more casualties when charging cavalry units (even if my unit are veterans, and the opposing unit aren't), to 'fall back' from melee situations, and to 'break' with annoying frequency. And don't talk to me about Haselrig's Lobsters (all three units of which turned tail and fled at the first whiff of close combat)! The outcome of the game often hinges on these preliminary cavalry encounters, and once my cavalry have fled en masse (which happens more often than not) then it's a simple matter of rolling up my flanks and putting my foot under unsustainable pressure. Is there something I'm missing here? When given the option, am I better off selecting additional foot at the expense of cavalry, or have I just not grasped the essence of how best to use the Parliamentarian cavalry yet? Surely the Parliamentarian cavalry weren't always so seriously outclassed by the Royalists (they ultimately managed to win the war, after all)? This is bugging me so much that it's starting to impact on my enjoyment of the game. Any hints/tips/advice/counter-examples that indicate the fault lies with me rather than my mounted units would be much appreciated.

1) The later Parliamentarian veteran horse are not significantly outclassed by Royalists, but the average ones still have a significant impact disadvantage in open terrain. This can be cancelled by fighting in non-open terrain such as enclosed fields.

2) There is no real need for the cavalry fight to be "preliminary". You certainly don't have to charge them forward ahead of the infantry line. Keep your cavalry wings back with or slightly behind the line of the infantry.

In my experience they do much better when using the terrain to their advantage - I almost never charge Royalists unless they are in some way disordered - which can happen as a result of the terrain they are standing on. Also remember that that very early Parliamentary cavalry has a ranged capability that can be used to soften up the opposition. And they are absolute *gods* compared with the Scots cavalry!

However you are correct to focus on infantry. Doyley50 and I have played a long sequence of games of early Royalists versus early Scots and it always seems to go to the side with the most boom sticks. Take the infantry. Shoot the shit out of them .

To add to RBS' very good points.

1) In addition to enclosures there are other pieces of terrain that you can use to your advantage. Any non-Open terrain will do to cancel the Cavalry impact POA. Try to encourage the Cavaliers to fight your Horse from rough going, or from a lower elevation. You need to squeeze every POA you can for your side to defend against the initial charge. After that in the melee you are on more equal terms.

2) If you use Default Force Selection then you can play around with allocating your Force Points. Try lots of Foot and few Horse and play them like a Scots Covenanter army. You can try buying enough Parliamentary Horse to outnumber the Cavaliers.

3) Your Horse can shoot. Concentrate fire on one enemy Cavalier squadron in order to disrupt it so that you have the advantage in close combat. Consider adding artillery fire for that extra cohesion test modifier. Commanded Shot and Dragoons can help here too.

4) Keep a reserve, so that any Cavalier that becomes disrupted fighting the first line is charged when it is weak. Watch for multiple Cavaliers routing one of your Horse squadrons. They will chase the fleeing squadron for a while, which might leave you with a temporary numerical advantage.

I used the Parliamentarion Cavalry exactly as described above in the Battle of Adwlaton Moor scenario. I camped out on a road with hedges on either side so that the Royalist Cavaliers had to charge at 90 degrees to the road. Then I just hung on as I moved some additional units in for flank attacks once the melee began (strength in numbers). Without the flank attacks I still would have likely lost the 1v1 battles even with the terrain advantage. And, of course, softening them up with shot prior to the charge helped as well.

Thanks to all for taking the time to reply. It's reassuring to know there is a way to win, albeit one that requires quite a bit of careful management. I'll try and put your various hints and tips into use ...