English Civil War Archives - Steven's Balagan

1645 Game 12 – South-East – English Civil War Campaign

3 May 2025 by Steven Thomas

ECW-1211 Royalists close on left and in centre - Banner

Chris and I played the 12th game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War. Actually there were four of us on the night. Adam joined me, of course, on the Royalist side. And in the absence of Jamie, Big Dave turned up from the USA to help Chris with the Parliamentarians.

Summary: Fantastic game. Parliament did some clever moves with well timed interpenetrations. Chris’s careful manoeuvring and Dave’s shear impetuousness was a winning combination. That and the fact Parliamentary shooting killed two Royalist Generals. Parliament victory.

Version 2 of Populous, Rich and Rebellious

29 Mar 2025 by Steven Thomas

Populous, Rich, and Rebellious - ECW Campaign - Banner

I’ve updated Populous, Rich and Rebellious to version 2. Populous, Rich and Rebellious is a Campaign game system for the First English Civil War (1642-46) in England and Wales. The campaign assumes Tilly’s Very Bad Day as the tactical rules.

1645 Game 11 – Wales – English Civil War Campaign

2 Mar 2025 by Steven Thomas

ECW-1105 Royalist view - Centre - Banner

Adam and Chris played the 11th game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War.

Summary: In probably the best game yet, Parliament thoroughly crushed the Royalist defenders in Wales.

1644 Game 10 – South-East – English Civil War Campaign

23 Feb 2025 by Steven Thomas

After a 10 month gap, Adam and Chris played the tenth game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War. Unfortunately we’d forgotten about Game 9 so it was a bit of a replay … with a different result.

Summary: A strong Royalist attack crushed the Parliamentary defence of the South-East.

1644 Game 9 – South-East – English Civil War Campaign

22 Feb 202515 Feb 2025 by Steven Thomas

ECW-936 A Parliamentarian blaze of glory - Banner

Adam and Chris played the ninth game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War. Actually, they played it on 9 Apr 2024 and I forgot to post it.

Summary: Parliament successfully defended the South-East from a large aggressive Royalist army.

Musing on resolve – horse and pike+shot in difficult terrain

16 Mar 2024 by Steven Thomas

Musing on Pike+Shot and Horse in Difficult Terrain in Tillys Very Bad Day - Banner

We really like the resolve mechanism in Tilly’s Very Bad Day. Bundling all morale factors into one number and using that to simulate combat, reaction to the result of combat, and a commander’s ability to rally. We think it one of the things that makes Tilly’s Very Bad Day unique. So I wondered how to take it further. One possibility is to weaken resolve when moving in disrupting terrain.

Musing on distance distortion in Tilly’s Very Bad Day

10 Mar 20249 Mar 2024 by Steven Thomas

30YW-871 - Swedish - Pike and Shot - Yellow Brigade - Banner

A couple of people have commented on the seemingly distorted distances in Tilly’s Very Bad Day with ranges being overly generous compared to unit frontages. I thought I’d respond. The truth is, I deliberately distorted the distances to enhance game play and they’re actually not as wrong as folk seem to think.

This post is part of my musing on Tilly’s Very Bad Day.

1643 Game 8 – Lower Thames Valley – English Civil War Campaign

20 Mar 202410 Feb 2024 by Steven Thomas

ECW-843 Royalist horse eliminate Parliamentarian commander - Banner

We had a full house for the eighth game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War.

Summary: In the “Battle of Romford”, the Royalists successfully defended London against a Parliamentary army approaching from the north-east.

1643 Game 7 – Lower Thames Valley – English Civil War Campaign

21 Oct 2023 by Steven Thomas

ECW-702 Late Round - Strategic Situation - Royallists Attack London - Banner

Adam and Chris played the seventh game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War.

Summary: Although caught by a larger Parliamentarian force, Adam had spectacular victory at the “Real Battle of Turnham Green”. London fell to the Royalists. The campaign cards were critical to the battle with the interventions of John Hurry and Sergeant-Major-General Boy, the ‘Dog-witch’, deciding the outcome.

1643 Game 6 – Wales – English Civil War Campaign

5 Aug 20235 Aug 2023 by Steven Thomas

Jamie and I played the sixth game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War.

Summary: Although the Royalists invaded Wales, the Parliamentarians had a larger army on the day and attacked. The “Battle of Colby Moor” was a Royalist victory.

1643 Game 5 – Upper Thames Valley – English Civil War Campaign

6 May 20236 May 2023 by Steven Thomas

ECW-508 Bombardment - Parliamentary General becomes casualty - Banner

Adam and Chris played the fifth game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War.

Summary: After losing a general in the preliminary bombardment, Parliament fought well but could not break the Royalists within the game limit. Royalist victory at the “Battle of Chalgrove Field”.

1642 Declaring for King or Parliament – English Civil War Campaign

22 Apr 2023 by Steven Thomas

ECW-454 Consolidation Round - Final - Banner

In Populous, Rich and Rebellious, the first year of the Campaign ends with a “Consolidation Round”. This is the English Civil War and the idea is, after a few battles, every region declares for either King or Parliament. In our campaign the two sides started the consolidation round even, with 3 regions each, but finished with Parliament significantly ahead.

1642 Game 4 – East Anglia – English Civil War Campaign

15 Apr 2023 by Steven Thomas

All four of us played the fourth game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War. I was commander-in-chief for the Royalists, with Adam as the dashing cavalry commander. Jamie commanded for Parliament with Chris leading the infantry.

Summary: At the “Battle of Colchester”, in East Anglia, the Royalists smashed Parliament in 3 game turns. For the first time we saw the use of campaign cards on table and they were pivotal, although in a subtle way.

1642 Game 3 – South-West – English Civil War Campaign

8 Apr 2023 by Steven Thomas

ECW-328 Round Head infantry bounce Cavaliers - Banner

Adam and Chris played the third game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War.

Summary: At the “Battle of Stratton”, the Royalists finally won a victory against Parliament.

English Civil War Battles on the map for Populous, Rich and Rebellious

1 Apr 2023 by Steven Thomas

ECW Campaign - Map - With historical battles - Banner

Chris suggested I overlay the historical battles of the English Civil War on the campaign map for Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our English Civil War Campaign. So I did, although only for the the period covered by the campaign, i.e. the first civil war (1642-1646).