Tilly's Very Bad Day - Battle Reports Archives

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

26 May 20253 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.

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.

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 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.

1642 Game 1 – East Midlands – English Civil War Campaign

4 Mar 20234 Mar 2023 by Steven Thomas

ECW-121 Royalists take a hammering - Banner

Adam, Chris and Jamie agreed to play Populous, Rich and Rebellious. As I hope you recall this is a Campaign set in the English Civil War. Chris, representing Parliament, invaded the East Midlands from London. The Royalists rose to the challenge and Adam tried to take it for the King.

Summary: At the “Battle of Ely”, the heavily outnumbered Parliamentarians defeated the Royalists in seven game turns.

S12 Fighting Across the River – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Battle Report 1

8 May 20235 Nov 2022 by Steven Thomas

S12-101 Top view of table after deployment - Banner

I persuaded Adam and Chris to play my S12 Fighting Across the River Scenario for Tilly’s Very Bad Day. Although this is a generic scenario, the armies were from the Thirty Years War. Chris was the Blue player, the attacking Swedes. Adam was the defending Red player, with the Imperialists.

S01 Attack on Prepared Position – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Battle Report 1

15 Jan 2022 by Steven Thomas

I invited Chris and Adam over to play test my version of S01 Attack on a Prepared Position Scenario for Tilly’s Very Bad Day. This is an adaptation of a scenario from “Scenarios for all Ages” by Charles Grant and Stuart Asquith. My scenario is Thirty Years War with Spanish attacking entrenched Swedes in high ground.

Summary: Short and intense. A much better game than any of us anticipated. It was a close run thing with Swedish (Adam) breaking the Spanish army (Chris) just as the Spanish horse broke past the Swedish line and were going for the baseline. We all agreed it would be good to play again with some minor tweaks.

Alternative Chacabuco – A Bolivar’s Very Bad Day Battle Report 1

30 May 202412 Dec 2021 by Steven Thomas

Chacabuco-739 Talavera Regiment waiting in the fields - Banner

Jamie came over to play test my rather raw variant of Tilly’s Very Bad Day for the South American Wars of Liberation. We played John Fletcher’s Alternative Chacabuco scenario, my go to for testing out rules.

Small Kircholm – A Tillys Very Bad Day Battle Report 2

6 Jul 202228 Aug 2021 by Steven Thomas

Kircholm-2662 Polish Left and Centre - Banner

Following our first play test I thought I’d make some tweaks to my Small Kircholm scenario and try it again. In this play test the Hussars are just Superior Horse and there are five Hussar units, not six. Chris bravely took the Swedes for a second time, hoping to benefit from his experience in the first game. Adam took the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In Tilly’s Very Bad Day terms this is a small game on a small table with small armies.

Summary: A really good game. A better game balance than the first version. Both players played well with particular credit to Chris for quickly compensating for the crippling Swedish deployment. But the Poles took the day, again.