Battle of Asculum 279BC: The Impetii in Goulburn

The Brothers were dedicated disciples of Armati  for our Ancient games for nearly 15 years and then a heresy reared its ugly head in the last year or so with the arrival of Impetus. Two Brothers became immediate converts but despite their crusading with  missionary zeal they were unable to win over the other Brothers who refused to apostasize. This has led to some interesting times and discussion over the last 12 months and suffice to say that the Brothers, when it comes to ancient rules, are divided into two fervent groups- The Armatans and the Impetii. .........
In an attempt to spread the heresy, Richard and Ralph (aka The Impetii) travelled to  Goulburn a week or so ago and played with a couple of the lads down there: David and Richard.
They fought the battle of Asculum 279 BC using Impetus - Republican Romans under the command of Consul Publius Decius Mus and the combined Tarantine, Oscan, Samnite. Epirote forces, under the command of the Greek king Pyrrhus of Epirus.........

The Battle of Braemar: Our second battle in the Jacobite Rebellion of the '15



The Table before the Deployment

After Deployment: Jacobites on the Left, Haonoverians on the Right

The Brothers assembled on Friday evening to continue the current campaign. The Jacobite Commander, The Earl of Mar, (Paul) had taken to his camp tent with a case of the virulent Flux (or was it the Pox?) and his second in command  The Laird of Borlum- (Ralph) stepped up to take command with  his trusty subordinates  Geoff ( as Rob Roy McGregor) and Richard ( John Cameron, Chief of Clan Cameron).......

Battle of Braemar :The forces prepare in the Jacobite Campaign of the '15.

The forces have assembled and some interesting developments have taken place in our campaign as the second major engagement  is about to take place (next Friday in fact). Clan Campbell has joined the Hanoverians and the forces of the Duke of Argyll have been bolstered by a clan regiment. The Old Pretender has brought two veteran regiments of foot (loaned from Louis XIV) with him to further his cause and has managed to reconstitute a number of his mangled clan regiments from the last battle.The Royal Navy reports that a French naval squadron has evaded their blockade of the coast and is headed to Scotland with troop reinforcements for the Rebellion. They won't be in time for this battle, but will be available for the next one. The Hanoverians are raising more Regiments and have called on their old allies the Dutch to commit a brigade to help quell those pesky Highlanders!  Argyll is under pressure from the Captain General and Master General of Ordinance- The Duke of Marlborough ( yes THAT Marlborough) to smash the rebels before the situation gets out of hand. ...........

The 'Old Pretender' confers with an officer.

A Jacobite Campaign- First Clash: 'The Battle of Dundee'.

We started a campaign that was loosely based on the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. Ross played the Hanoverian commander, The Duke of Argyll. Paul was the Earl of Mar who raised the standard of Rebellion at Braemar in September 1715. The Rebels (Paul, Chris, Ralph and Richard) were initially successful in capturing a number of towns with little or no opposition. Aberdeen, Forfar, Dunblane, Montrose, Dundee and Perth all fell in quick succession.

The Mapboard!

They passed by Fort William, but due to the lack of siege guns, made no impression on the fortifications. They then moved south and unable to take Stirling due to the garrison of redcoats they fell back to Dundee  by mid November (campaign time), all the while gathering clansmen to their cause. By the time they clashed with the Redcoats , they had 11 Highlander clan regiments, 3 small units of Horse, a light gun and one Lowland regiment that was equipped with Pike and Shot.

The Jacobites deploy- the Left. More units would arrive to the right and
 the woods harboured two Highland units in ambush.

The Hanoverians (Ross, Phil, Nick)had assembled a small force (5 Battalions of Foot and 3 Squadrons of Dragoons) at Newcastle and advanced into southern Scotland. The Duke (Ross) withdrew the  small garrisons from Fort Augustus and Fort William to meet up with the garrison of Stirling and the advancing force from the south. When the total Hanoverian forces assembled in Stirling  6 Foot Regiments and 5 squadrons ( 1 dismounted) of Dragoons as well as one battery of guns and a battery of the newfangled Coehorn Mortars were mustered. The Duke then ordered them in pursuit of the Rebels and in the second week of November (campaign time) they met the sizable Jacobite force just  west of Dundee.......