Thirty Years War - Pikeman's Lament test game

I bought the PL rules many years ago but did not play much with them. This is mostly due to the first playtest foundering and misunderstanding the rules somewhat.

Lately I came to appreciate PL as an excellent choice for quick games with a medium-size collection, somewhere between a skirmish and a full-scale battle. Another good option would be Sharp Practice, they are practically at the same level. I'm thinking of using SP for the period as well. I used it for my Nova Hungaria games before so I have fond memories of it (the original, I never touched the second edition).

Anyway, it just struck my mind that I actually have enough figures now to play another initial test game, so I created a Swedish and an Imperialist TYW Company, at the suggested 24 points, put some terrain on the table and went at it. I read the rules thoroughly and made some notes, including quick references to unit stats.

I'm putting this post on the miscellaneous blog because I did not take any photos.

Here are the opposing orders of battle:

Klaes Jötun’s Swedish Brigade

Ensign Klaes Jötun - Ineffectual

1x Regimental Gun 4 - 4

1x Hakkapellitta (Aggressive Gallopers) 4+0 - 8

1x Forlorn / Aggressive Forlorn 6+0 - 14

1x Veteran Pike 4+2 - 20 [Officer]

2x Commanded Shot 2+2 - 24

Johann Fürst von Kleinbrücke’s Catholic Regiment

Ensign Johann Fürst von Kleinbrücke - Blessed

2x Pike 4-8

2x Shot 4-16

1x Cuirassiers - Veteran Gallopers 6-22

1x Commanded Shot 2-24

The Catholics were rather ineffective, I daresay hesitant during the battle. Von Kleinbrücke's cavalry charged and threw back the Finnish cavalry, but it was a seesaw action, both sides countercharging many times. I actually forgot to count for the Veteran trait, so that might have been a factor.

Anyway, in the center the Swedes failed to activate their regimental gun for a while, and the officer with the veteran pike advanced cautiously, for a group of Catholic pike and shot were occupying a walled garden just right ahead. Instead, nimble forlorn and commanded shot units on the left occupied the crops next to the walled compound and pestered the formed Catholic troops ceaselessly. 

In the meantime a group of Catholic pike tried to oust Swedish commanded shot from the woods on their left, but wandered into the firing arc of the regimental gun and paid for it dearly. The Finnish cavalry managed to keep their escorting shot at bay.

The battle was more or less decided when a single Hakkapelitta and the Catholic officer faced off each other, and the Finnish rider managed to wound the officer despite his armor. This caused a mass morale test which the already shaky Catholic line did not take too well. 

The Swedish aggressive forlorn had beaten back the German shot from the walled garden, then the veteran pike charged home against the enemy close order pike formation. This was a rearguard action as by that time the rest of the German line was in retreat. As his units were also battered, Klaes Jötun elected not to pursue them.

General notes:

The game is easy to set up and quick to learn. It gives a nice period feel and is the right size for me at the moment. For larger pitched battles I will switch to smaller (2/3/6mm) scale.

In this time frame it did not become monotonous (I did not end a side's turn after a failed activation though), but simple kill-them-all scenarios might be after a while, good thing the book has scenarios and I can, of course, come up with my own, like asymmetrical battles, ambuscades etc. 

Also I'm thinking of a solo campaign system (which relies on the original rules somewhat, but not completely), but it's only a hazy idea as of yet.