Pike and Shot DBR / DBA-RRR

A very good question, and I will try and answer it from my perspective, which is from my experience with DBR.

The first thing I would ask is what scale are you considering, that is what number of men does a stand represent, and what sized battle are you hoping to model?

The stand size of DBR, when using normal scale is one stand of foot represents 100 men, while condensed scale is 400. I think this is an important consideration. A regiment in the ECW could be represented by as few as 300 or as 1000, with several regiments sometimes being brigaded. The composition of these regiments can sometimes be all shot or a mixture of shot and pike. Sometimes as you say the pike can be held in reserve.

In our games of DBR some players deploy their foot in one line, two deep, while others have gaps between the regiments. Usually those that deploy in one line complain about the cost of separating elements from groups. This is a reasonably complex rule but one that I think adds considerably to how the rules model the period. Those that have with gaps between regiments can better redeploy and manoeuvre. However, this isn't something that is obvious. Interestingly in the first version of DBR moving groups of more than four elements wide were penalised, a different way to break up a solid wall of troops. Mounted almost always deploy in multiple lines.

My typical game of DBR uses armies of 300 points, which is similar to BBDBA and we play these games on a table 1.2m x 0.9m. Competitions here tend to be 400 points with 1.8mx 1.2m tables, which I think is too few troops on a table which encourages the issues you describe. Occasionally we play 600 point games on a 1.8m x 1.2m table. This larger game, with more troops, comes closer to providing a requirement for reserve formations. This reinforces my view that often in DBR, as in DBA, players opt for a battlefield that is two wide, reducing the ability to deploy reserves.

Here is a photo from one of our ECW games using 300 point armies which illustrates the armies broken up. The Scots are concerned with the Royalist horse so are keeping their pike forward to provide support to the Scots musketeers.



I haven't played RRR, though if it were upgraded to be compliant with DBA 3.0 I would certainly try it for the smaller games.

I would suggest reading the early chapters of David Blackmores 'Destructive and Formidable' for insights into how combat developed during the course of the ECW. It provides an insight into the development of warfare specifically in the British Isles.

The small book "Gunpowder Triumphant : Infantry in the English Civil War" by Stuart Reid is well worth a look as well.