This page features a full write up of a game
played using 'Regiment of Foote'
by the RFCM team, available from Peter Pig.  

This write up appeared on the RFCM Yahoo
Group some two years ago.


If you're not familiar with RoF it may come as a bit of a surprise to  find that it is NOT grid
based, as are many of the other RFCM rules of late. I know, after conversations with Martin,
that lots of people were quite disappointed with this fact having come to really see the pros of
the grid system. Nevertheless, RoF requires measuring with a tape or ruler, but is not as
distance and measure orientated as perhaps DBx sets of rules.

RoF is typical of RFCM rules in that it carries a Campaign system as a component part of the
game set up. The campaign system is designed to ensure that players may not really be able
to use all of their forces in their Army as some may be depleted or removed due to factors
largely outside their control. The system serves to set each game in its historical context,
though on a localised basis.  The `local' feel really contributes to the ambiance of the game as
a  whole. The ECW was really a conflict fought at a local level with minor skirmishes and
battles fought up and down the country, often featuring only a few hundred troops on either
side. Granted there were some quite large actions such as at Cropredy Bridge, The battles
of Newbury and Marston Moor, but there are many more examples of smaller actions, which
had local repercussions, as opposed to national ones.

Initially players have to choose 500 pts of troops. The system still works in excess of 1000 pts,
though you may need an extra General.

For this game the forces are detailed below. All of my Regiments have flags from the Revo
collection, and titles. Whilst not historically accurate in that these Regiments often did not
serve together on campaign they serve to identify the forces in the text that follows (so hard
luck purists, please don't E-mail me with Army lists)

EARLY PARLIAMENTARIANS (501 pts)
Foote;
Red Regiment, London Trained Bands, 2 bases of Pike, 4 shot. Veterans. 90 pts.
Sir John Meldrum's Regiment, 2 bases of Pike, 4 shot. Trained. 58 pts.
Yellow Regiment, London Trained Bands, 2 bases of Pike, 4 shot. Conscripts. 26 pts
Blue Auxiliaries, London trained Bands, 2 bases of Pike, 4 shot, Conscripts. 26 pts.
Southwark Auxiliaries, London Trained Bands, 2 bases of Pike, 4 shot. Conscripts. 26 pts
Dismounted Dragoons, 2 bases, Trained. 20 pts
Dismounted Dragoons, 1 base, Trained. 10 pts

Horse;
Sir Henry Ireton's Regiment of Horse, 4 Chargers, Trained. 52 pts
Essex's Lifeguard of Horse, 3 Armoured Pistolers, Trained. 39 pts
Sir John Meldrum's RoH, 4 Chargers, Trained. 52 pts
Lambert's RoH, 5 Pistolers, Conscript. 20 pts
Twistleton's RoH, 4 Pistolers, Conscript. 16 pts
Barton's RoH, 4 Pistolers, Conscript. 16 pts

Ordinance;
2 Medium Guns, Trained. 25 pts each

EARLY ROYALISTS (500 pts)
Foote;
Kings Lifeguard Regiment of Foote, 2 bases of Pike, 2 shot. Veterans. 60 pts
Lord Hopton's RoF, 2 bases of Pike, 2 shot. Veterans. 60 pts
Col Anthony Thelwall's RoF, 2 bases of Pike, 3 shot. 22 pts
Sir Charles Gerard's RoF, 2 bases of Pike, 3 shot. Conscripts. 18 pts
Sir William Pennyman's RoF, 2 bases of Pike, 3 shot, Conscripts. 22 pts
Sir Lewis Dyves' RoF, 2 bases of Pike, 2 shot. Conscripts 18 pts
Dismounted Dragoons, 2 bases, Trained. 20 pts
Dismounted Dragoons, 2 bases, Trained. 20 pts

Horse;
Kings Lifeguard Regiment of Horse, 3 Chargers, Veteran. 54 pts
Vaughan's Regiment of Horse, 3 Chargers, Veteran. 54 pts
Crisp's Regiment of Horse, 3 Chargers, Trained. 39 pts
Cary's Regiment of Horse, 3 Chargers, Trained. 39 pts
Aston's Regiment of Horse, 3 Chargers, Conscripts. 12 pts
Gerard's Regiment of Horse, 3 Chargers, Conscripts. 12 pts

Ordinance;
2 Medium Guns, Trained.

Armies are allotted a total of six command points. Generals are rated form 1 to 4 dependent
upon ability to motivate and lead. 1 being the highest and 4 the worst. These must be shared
over three commands. The Early Parliamentarians must have one command of a level 2. My
opponent decided to rate all of his commands as a level 2 to spread out the command factor. I
as the Royalist chose to have one General rated as 1, the others as a level 2 and level 3.

We were now ready to fight the campaign stage of our little encounter. Armies are given an
initial total of 35 pts to use for the campaign system. Various actions cost campaign points
and the campaign ends when both reach (or go beyond) zero. If a force contains six or more
RoH then an extra 3 pts are added. I chose to add these making my total 38 pts, although my
opponent could've, he chose not to.

The attacker for the coming game is decided by the campaign. The more marches, force
marches or `hostile' marches will be the attacker. Players can choose initially to either march
or camp.  Both actions cost points, though marching more. A roll is then made for events.
These can cost further points to be added or subtracted from the campaign total. Units can be
lost, weakened or status improved dependent upon the nature of the event. Examples are bad
weather, extra supplies, disease hitting a camp or marching through an area known to be
infectious, harrying by/of the enemy by horse or encounter with characters such as Sir
Horace Frumpton or The Earl of Grey. The campaign system is a bit like the political flow charts

for AK47, but obviously encapsulates the feel of the seventeenth century. The whole idea
though is really quite new and is somewhat a revelation to staid rule systems. The system can
lend itself easily to other historical periods with a little tampering. The campaign system may
seem weird to begin with but when you grasp how its done it really is simple.

In our game the Early Parliamentarians must start the campaign move first, as stipulated in the
rules. This means that if you are going second you get to see what sort of tack the enemy is
making i.e aggressive or not, though dice rolls can change the initiative quickly.

Parliamentarians start with 35, decide to march, roll and deduct 9 campaign points. After an
encounter with Lord Ryedale, costing 3 pts, a staunch Parliamentary supporter, extra recruits
and equipment raise Ireton's Horse to Veteran status and the Blue Auxiliaries LTB to Trained.
A forced march deducts a further 8 pts and results in a request from help from a beleaguered
town, costing 2 pts. This is ignored and the force camps.

Once a side camps the other side has its turn. Royalist turn start with 38 pts. March, costs 9
pts, receive request for help, costs 3 pts, ignored. Force march, cost 9 pts, bad weather
causes bad roads and delays a medium gun which will arrive late for the battle. Luckily no
bases are lost from Foote Regiments! Camp.

Parliamentarians camp costs 3 pts. March move, costs 3 pts, pleasant sunshine, good spirits
(no doubt psalms are sung!) adds +1 pt. Force march costs 11pts. Character event, but as no
pts left campaign ends. Result –3 pts left and four marches undertaken.

Royalist camp costs 0 pts, no events. Their subsequent march costs 6 pts, and results in
another call for help costing 6 pts. This time Dyves' Regt is sent to provide support and is
detached from the force, and will not take part in the battle. Forced March, costing 8 pts results
in a character event which is not considered as points have run out. Result –3 pts and four
forced marches. Usually the attacker is the side with most marches. If this is the same then the
nearest score to 0 is the attacker. As this was equal as well we rolled a dice an I won electing
to attack.

As you can see, from the campaign my force suffered some loss whilst the enemy improved
two units considerably, but I was still committed to the attack.

In RoF, the defender now had to roll for his entire force for delayed and lost units. This is
dependent upon the number of marches  different between armies and as this was the same I
was not expecting my opponent to lose very many. In the event, the Southwark Auxiliaries
LTB, and a single base unit of dismounted dragoons were lost dragging their heels, whilst
Meldrum's and Lambert's RoH would turn up late for the battle, and arrive at some point.
Doubtless they were foraging or scouting.

Next we had to decide the terrain. My opponent chose a table side and we then decided what
terrain to choose. You are permitted one to four items each. I chose 12" of hedge, a gentle hill,
and the edge of a town to be placed on the table edge. My opponent elected for four pieces.
12" of river, a BUA, a wood and a thicket.

The defender is permitted to choose the placement of terrain, after the table is split into a
central sector, (in our case 24") and two flanks of 18" each. Roads are aesthetic, having no
effect upon the game but lets face it look nice. We had a road running NS up the centre of the
table and one running from the central road to the E edge.  This road is bounded by the hedge
on its N side. On the extreme N end of the NS road, on the E side of the road was placed the
thicket, and a further 4" to the E the wood was placed. The NW corner of the table was
crossed by 12" of river. In the centre of the battlefield, astride the road was a town and a
further 6" to the S of it was the edge of a larger town, mostly off table. To the W of this feature
was found a small hill.


The attacker can them attempt to remove any terrain feature placed in the centre section. I
attempted to remove the town in the centre but failed to obtain the necessary score.

Units are now grouped into three commands and their exact composition of component units
is written down.

Players take it in turns to place one command at a time on table, up to 10" from the edge.

Parliamentarians deployed first, as defender, and chose to deploy centre command. This
consisted of N of the town, astride the road, the Yellow LTB, to their left the Red LTB, and their
right Meldrum's RoF, their General, rated a 2, was behind centre. In RoF there are several ways
to deploy pike and shot formations, depending upon circumstance and battlefield situation.
The Parliamentarian player chose to deploy his shot in a solid line with his pikes as a second
rank. This minimises the frontage of the unit and means that the unit cannot count 1st round
fighting factors for pikes.

I chose to also to deploy centre command first to deny my opponent the chance to discover
my other commands exact positions. Pennyman's RoF was deployed on road in column of
march. To the left of the road, Thelwall's RoF deployed and to the right of the road, Gerard's
RoF.  I deployed my RoF with pikes in the centre flanked by shot ensuring that all muskets can
fire and that pikes fight at full effect. I chose to deploy 3 RoH in the centre command also.
Aston's, Carey's and Gerard's RoH were deployed to the left rear of Thelwall's RoF in column
of march, to enable them to `snake' in any direction, if required. My General in this sector was
a command level 2.

Parliament then deployed its right flank, as I viewed it. This consisted of the Blue Auxiliaries,
LTB, and two bases of dismounted dragoons, flanking them.

I chose again to deploy my command that was facing them. This consisted of the Kings
Lifeguard RoF, and Hopton's RoF, my best infantry, flanked on the left by a medium gun. As
both my RoF were Veteran I decided to place my General with a command level of 3 in this
sector. A second medium gun, delayed by bad roads was to enter in this sector, at some point.

On the left flank four RoH were deployed by Parliament, along with a medium gun. Ireton's
RoH deployed centrally in the sector with Essex's Lifeguard RoH to their right and
Twistleton's RoH to the left. Behind Twistelton, Barton's RoH deployed to stiffen their resolve.
The ordinance was sited to the right of Essex's Lifeguard.  Meldrum's and Lambert's RoH
were to arrive later in this sector.

I deployed my final command of Crisp's RoH, flanked on the right by the King's Lifeguard
RoH, and on the left by Vaughan's RoH. Here, I deployed my best General of level 1 as I
intended to carry out aggressive moves with this command of my best Horse.

The defender now has the opportunity to advance D6-2 units forward of his deployment area,
into cover. A 3 was rolled resulting in the Blue Auxiliaries, LTB advancing in base contact with
the hedge.

I chose to redeploy Aston's RoH to the rear of the King's Lifeguard, which I was permitted by
the rules.

Now for the opening bombardment.  As battles in the Seventeenth century often started with a
bombardment, so is the case with ROF. Both players roll a D6 to see how much cannonade, if
any, that they are permitted. 1,2 = 1 turn, 3+ = 2 turns. We both rolled over three making four
turns of cannonade…ouch. Guns require APs first to enable them to fire.  Firing a gun cost 3
APs. For the opening cannonade a +1 is added to the AP score. The Parliamentary left flank
commander who chose to remain in base-to-base contact with his ordinance adding a further
+1.

Artillery in RoF needs a six to hit, unless enfilading, where the score required increases to 5 or
6. In four rounds of cannonade only one casualty was caused. The King's Lifeguard RoH took
a test and passed no problems. Now for the attack…

To be able to function in RoF a unit must be motivated by its General. The General must be
moved first so 2D6 are rolled, the General of that command being able to up to the total in
inches.

To motivate a unit, the General's command level is added to the status of the unit and then the
distance is considered. If motivation fails then the WHOLE of a command has no more
motivations possible. Harsh but it seems to reflect the nature of ECW commanders who were
more often than not amateurs. It is therefore a case of assessing each unit's possibility of
motivation and constantly prioritising and evaluating the situation. Level 3 commanders have a

real problem with Conscripts needless to say. Once motivated a unit rolls D6 for Action Points
(APs) taking into effect variables such as Status and if the General has joined the unit.

In Move 1, I moved Hopton's RoF forward three moves (9" i.e 3 x 3"). The dismounted
dragoons flanking it also moved forward in support.  Skirmishers are self-motivating and just
roll for APs. Long-range fire resulted in two hits on the Blue Auxiliaries, but as these were
sheltering behind the hedge caused no casualties as their saving rolls were good enough. As
with BAIT and PBI2 there is a chance of the enemy using opportunity fire if you advance to
within close range, 4" for muskets and 2" for pistols. Luckily I was out of close range.
Unmotivated troops are always allowed to use opportunity fire. A good tactic that most people
seem to use is advancing Conscript infantry up the table and leaving them there, as any
approach by the enemy will result in opportunity fire. Motivating them, however, can be a
problem and they are often relegated to the least important position in a commands motivation
prioritisation.  After moving Hopton's RoF and the skirmishers I failed my motivation test of the
King's Lifeguard RoF and then moved on to the central command. Here I managed to motivate
all units but my APs were so poor all that they could do really was move forward one move,
sluggish or what!

On the left I managed to successfully motivate and move forward my entire command two
moves. Now it was Parliament's turn.

The centre moved forwards two moves and fired at Gerard's RoF causing no casualties.
However, the Blue Auxiliaries LTB caused two kills upon the King's Lifeguard RoH. On the left
the Parliamentarian Horse failed to motivate. Parliamentarians being defender's rolled a 3 for
countdown. The game countdown in RoF starts at 23.

Move 2. On the left Hopton's RoF assault the hedge and dismounted dragoons however, after
saving rolls only one kill per side is registered and the resulting morale test upon Hopton's
RoF forces it to retreat 7". The King's Lifeguard RoF advances and fires a volley into the Blue
Auxiliaries LTB, causing one kill. On the left flank Vaughan's horse smash into Twistelton's,
after suffering no casualties on the way in, from their pistolry. The combat sees Twistelton
lose half of his unit and routs from the battlefield, closely followed by the victors, no doubt to
loot the baggage.  Barton's horse are forced to take a test for being so close to routers and
panic somewhat retreating D6 +1". The centre command fails to motivate any units this move
but as most of the infantry are in the BUA they are not rally threatened. No Royalist
reinforcements are forthcoming.

In Parliament's second turn Ireton's Horse careered into Crisp's, whilst Essex's Lifeguard fired
two volleys into the King's Lifeguard RoH, causing two kills. Ireton goes through Crisp like a
hot knife through butter, his Veteran troopers causing 4 casualties AFTER saves for no loss!
Crisp routs off-table followed by a victorious Ireton.  In the centre Meldrum's RoF fires a volley
into the Royalist skirmishers also causing two kills. On the right the Blue Auxiliaries cross the
hedge and fire two volleys into the King's Lifeguard RoF.  They throw well low; lots of ones,
but are permitted, being trained to re-roll ones and twos. They re-roll and after saving rolls two
kills are registered upon the Royalists. Reinforcements are rolled for and both Lambert's RoH
and a medium gun appear in the rear of the left sector. Countdown dice roll is 4, down to 16.

Move 3. The King's Lifeguard RoH now fails their morale and refuses to move. Aston's RoH
roll 1 for APs so only move forward 4".  Fearing now that my left flank General may be
captured I am forced to move the General and cavalry from the centre command over to the left
to threaten the Parliamentarian horse. As a result he is too far away to motivate his infantry
who are still stuck in the BUA. On the right opportunity fire from the Blue Auxiliaries LTB,
cause another kill, after saves, upon the Lifeguard RoF, who are now down to half strength.
Hopton orders his RoF to fire into the dismounted dragoons opposite, to no avail.

The Parliamentarians third move sees the Blue Auxiliaries sensing blood fire two volleys at the
King's Lifeguard causing another kill.  The Red RoF, LTB, wheels and fires a volley into the
flank of Carey's RoH, which is moving to their left flank. They cause two kills.  Essex's
Lifeguard advance and pour pistolry into the King's Lifeguard RoH causing yet another kill.
Countdown 1 to 15. Lambert's Horse advance 4" up the table.

Move 4. The King's Lifeguard RoF, passes its morale but is removed as they only have a
single base of pikes left and are deemed to be of no further significance. This leaves the whole
of the right flank open with only Hopton's weakened RoF in opposition, as the skirmishers
have been removed also. The left flank sees all the Royalist horse expand from column into
line but have insufficient APs to attack, except for the King's Lifeguard which charges
suicidally into Essex's Lifeguard. The fight is spectacular! Essex's RoH lose 5 kills after saves
and rout causing Barton's Conscripts to follow them off-table after failing a test for seeing
routers. However, the King's Lifeguard RoH has only one base remaining and so is removed
also. In the centre the Royalist foot fail to motivate again.

The Parliamentarian left commander is almost alone now so rolls sufficient dice to be able to
join Lambert's horse and temporary relative safety. The red RoF, LTB fires again into Carey's
Horse. The Yellow RoF moves into the town and fires its first volley at close range into
Gerard's RoF causing 2 kills. Meldrum's RoF march south, and fire into the Royalist gun,
causing no casualties, but great concern on my face. The Blue auxiliaries continue their
advance. Hopton's RoF looks like it's getting itchy feet! Countdown 6, 9 left.

I decide to withdraw gracefully after removing my hat and waving its white ostrich feather
wildly to honour my enemies, and try to parley. In RoF you are permitted to sue for peace and
withdraw in order to save further bloodshed. If you successfully manage it then you get D6+2
victory points, which can mean that a really bad loss is avoided. After if adding a few factors,
you have to be able to beat the remaining countdown score then the Parley is successful. This
I manage. Game over, time for recriminations.

We counted up the VPs and the Parliamentarians gained a 6.5 pts victory – a draw more or
less.

What a balls up! I had badly mishandled my infantry (yawn, again!). Sending my centre cavalry
over to the left proved pointless really and meant that my infantry were left to their own
devices. My Horse on the left had done well but were really mauled. My right flank Veteran
infantry had been unable to get over the hedge and had been completely outshot by the Blue
Auxiliaries LTB, which had covered itself in glory.

Well a long article, I know. Well done if you've persisted in reading thus far. I hope it has
served as a taster for RoF. The rules are worth getting if only for the campaign ideas and are
quite refreshing. I find them immensely enjoyable and very playable. Once more they capture
the feeling of the period of the ECW when the amateurness of commanders, and frustration at
having a good victory taken away from you by the enemy parleying, and withdrawing, really
add to the flavour. Give `em a go.
It is included as it previews the rules and systems really well.  If you're
interested in the ECW and fancy something different check these rules out

Pictures will follow.....
"REGIMENT OF FOOTE" - RFCM available from Peter Pig