Further thoughts on Beneath the Lilly Banners

Having played these rules a number of times there are a few things that seem slightly peculiar. the first is infantry not being able to charge home against other infantry (unless they are defending an obstacle) without the target being shaken, but I guess this is down to the officers in the line seeing the enemy breaking off from the rear and ordering a close to combat. We are just getting used to this aspect of the game.

Another thing is cavalry, not closing to charge due to failing morale and turning tail and running away. maybe a stand would work better but that is the rule so that is what we play. It is possible for raw cavalry to rout drilled cavalry as the jacobites have done this on a number of occasions.

The rules for cavalry, however, work as it is not possible to turn on a sixpence (this is similar for infantry) and requires them to position themselves prior to charging a target. Squares are another problem, to form or not to form is the question. This period allows for infantry to meet cavalry in line due to the defensive nature of the integral pikes so why even attempt to form square in the face of cavalry.

The size of game is also important. The mechanisms are simple and seem to be designed for larger games than we have been playing at present and I would think that you would require somewhere around five or six squadrons per side and perhaps two large brigades of infantry or even better, three brigades.

More on this in the future when I have increased my army sizes but so far the rules work well and apert from a few things that don't seem right would, I think, work better with more troops on the table.