After the battle for Cookham Moor, the Parliamentarians have retreated in some disarray: falling back to a position where their rear and one flank is protected by the river Thames.

This protection, however, forms two sides of a potential cage, so the Royalists have hurried forward to do battle again, knowing that if the Roundheads break, there is nowhere, at least on two sides, for them to run.

Could this finally be the decisive battle that both sides have been seeking?

The Field of Battle

The action takes place on Cock Marsh: a bleak, wind-swept area of open ground between Winter Hill and the Thames. The lower slope of Winter Hill borders the south side of the battlefield. The north and part of the east side of the battlefield are bordered by the Thames i.e. impassable terrain. Any unit that is forced off-table into the Thames is lost.

The main part of the tabletop consists of moorland separated by hedgerows and the odd patch of trees. All hedgerows count as linear rough terrain. All wooded squares count as rough terrain. There are two Iron Age burial mounds on the Parliamentarian side of the field.

The Game

Postscript

I’d like to say that my (extremely heavy) defeat was all my fault, but that would be to underplay John’s skill at exploiting my errors.

I am now writing out one hundred times "Do not throw away your cavalry on a frontal charge against even or worse odds” whilst Sit Christopher and his surviving men drag themselves out of the water on the far side of the river!

A great game of For King & Parliament despite my defeat: 150 points a side played out in just over 90 minutes.

Robert Avery