January "Big Battle" in Seventeenth Century ... somewhere inthe 'LowCountries' (Part 6)

The artillery dual continues. Despite the French cavalry being frozen in place my gunners performance is lamentable, I guess we were shooting at where we thought they were going to go. Our counter battery fire was much more effective as we dispatched a large French piece of ordnance to the heavens (see below):

Meanwhile the Allied right flank was in turmoil as "about face and form a second defensive line" was the order of the day. Word had come from the farmhouse on the far right (unhelpfully out of camera shot) that it was more likely to "rain whiskey" than retain hold of the bastion (see below, as movement with these formations is ponderous best start any convolutions early to stand any chance of getting it right):

The French were also on the move. Seeing that they had far to many troops crammed in such a small place they thought it best to "recycle the troops" so those that were getting worn by the Allied defensive fire make way fro the fresher troops at the back. It was also hinted that the french needed to extend the frontage of their attack to avoid being "condensed" and not so manoeuvrable (see below):

A horrendous second round of melee is fought with a third French infantry brigade fed in as support. The Allied (British) have seen far better days, rolling a paltry 5 combat dice (needing 4,5 or 6 to score a hit) compared to the 18 combat dice of the French (again needing 4, 5 or 6 to hit). Three to one odds in favour of the French, lots of  "Brigade Level" command with (3) Colonels shouting encouragement  and a (1) General "with a fine wig" attached to boot, plus probably an elite here and there, it all added up (a "+1 for pike was dismissed as thankfully we were fighting in a built up area"). We were quite pleased at the 3 hits inflicted on the French until we received a staggering 13 in return ... that was impressive dice throwing. All that remained of the British was a reduced strength stand "containing the colours" (see below, the flag stands aloft waiting to be inscribed with its new battle honours):

The morale rsult was a forgone conclusion as the brave British are force to retire. The Allies are now scrambling to form a second defensive line before the French infantry can make their mass of infantry count.

Next: A deadly race