Manteuffel's Attack at Zorndorf - Game Report

Russian Shuvulov "Secret Howitzer" greets the Prussians near the Stein Busche.
CLICK ON ALL PICTURES TO ENLARGE

I wanted to test drive one of my Zorndorf 1758 game scenarios ahead of the Seven Years War Association Convention on April 5th and 6th this year, so I played a solo version of the scenario yesterday. The benefits of play testing a game are obvious: it uncovers problems with the terrain set up, the balance of forces and any other gremlins that might pop up in a game. Better to deal with them now and fix them rather than be confronted with the problems in situ.

One of the issues in any scenario design is creating "brigades" or player commands to use in the game. I try to give every player at least four troop elements and to position their commands in places where they can get into the action within the first couple of game turns.

I will be hosting two games at the SYWA convention this year, both based on the Battle of Zorndorf fought in August 1758. The first game will take a slice of the battle and just focus on the opening phase of the battle when Manteuffel's advance guard attacked the Russian left wing, which was isolated from the rest of its army by the impassible Galgen Grund terrain feature.

A good map is key to understanding both a battle and a wargame scenario of that battle. One of the best maps is that found on the Obscure Battles blog   Zorndorf Map - Obscure Battles Blog . The maps and the blog are created by Jeff Berry and both wargamers and historians are fortunate that Jeff has done such brillian work on these battles. A copy of Jeff's Zorndorf map is shown below.

The attack scenario takes place in the area between the Zabern Grund steam on the left and the Stein Busche woods on the right. Click and double click on the map to enlarge the view.

An excellent map of the Battle of Zorndorf, created by Jeff Berry on his Obscure Battles blog.

The second game will be the grand enchilada, the whole game, in totus porcus if you will. This version will be played on a 6ft by 15ft table with a couple of 2.5ft by 6ft side tables that can be moved around to provide needed depth on the table top battle field. This game will cover the area from the Zabern Grund to the open plain to the right of the Stein Busche, per the map above.

Attack of the Prussian Advance Garde at Zornforf

What follows are some pictures of the smaller scenario involving the Prussian advance garde assault on the Russian right wing at Zorndorf. The table view and directions during this game will be made from the Prussian perspective of the table. Thus any mention of the "left" represents the Prussian left wing that is anchored on the Zabern Grund (obviously, this is also the Russian "right") and the "right" is the command of Kanitz, which has its right flank anchored on the Stein Busche wooded area.

Prussian Order of Battle

 1. Manteuffel's Brigade (3btns of grenadiers, 1 btn of musketeers, 2 x 10pd howitzers)

2. Kanitz's Brigade (2 btns of musketeers, 2 btns of fusiliers)

3. Dohna's Reserve (2 btns of musketeers , 2 x 12pd cannon

4. Seydlitz's Cavalry Brigade ( 2 regts of hussars, 2 regts of cuirassiers, 1 regt. of dragoons)

Total Prussians: 10 btns of infantry and 5 regts of cavalry and 4 heavy cannon

The Prussian cavalry brigade of Lt. General von Seydlitz is deployed on the west bank (left) of the Zabern Grund, and is thus separated from the Prussian infantry that is deployed on the east (right) bank of the same terrain feature.

The Russian brigade of von Browne is isolated from the Russian right wing by the Galgen Grund. Historically, the majority of the Russian army was deployed east of the Galgen Grund where von Browne's command is located on our table. So he is not alone....

Russian Order of Battle

1. Saltykov's Brigade (3 x musketeers, 1 x grenadier and 1 x 12pd cannon)

2. Galitzin's Brigade (4 x musketeers and 1 x 12pd cannon)

3. Gaugreben's Cavalry Brigade (1 horse grenadier, 1 dragoon and 1 Cossack regt.)

All of the above brigades are deployed to the west of the Galgen Grund feature that is in the center of the battlefield. One infantry brigade of von Browne is deployed to the east of the Galgen Grund.

4. von Browne's Brigade (1 grenadier, 2 musketeer and 1 Observation Corps musketeer regt., plus one heavy Shuvulov Secret Howitzer.

Total Russians: 12 btns of infantry, 3 heavy cannon, and 3 cavalry regiments

Rules: I used my own Der Alte Fritz rules for the game and will do so for my two convention games. You can download a copy of the rules for free by visiting the Fife & Drum Miniatures web store site Free Rules

If the rules link is not working for you, then go to the Fife & Drum web store and click on the "More" pull down menu and select Rules and Articles and scroll down to the PDF marked sywrulesmay2014.pdf for your free copy.

The rules are printed on one side of a standard 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of paper and are very very easy to learn and understand. This is a necessity for any game hosted at a wargame convention because the players need to understand the rules quickly and they don't want to be bogged down in military minutia in the rules. I find that my game players have the rules basics down by the second turn of the game.

My unit organization: I field infantry battalions of 30 figures and cavalry regiments of 24 figures. The cavalry are sub-divided into two 12-figure "squadrons" for game purposes (they are not really historyical squadrons as there would typically be 5 squadrons in a cavalry regiment). More recently, some of my Russians have 32 figures in their battalions. Artillery sections have one gun model, four crew, 2 helpers, a limber team and one munitions wagon.

Each brigade has a brigade commander and one ADC, both of whom can be used to augment the morale of a shaky unit. There is also one army command figure.

The Game Report

So the forces were set up on the table and I gave the first move and first firing phases to the Prussians, since they were on the attack. Artillery bombardment and casualties caused by the same occured on the first two turns and there was no musket fire until turn 3, when both sides closed within musket range of 8-inches.

A little skirmish of no consequence broke out on the west bank of the Zabern Grund as some Russian Cossacks rashly decided to charge the Prussian Puttkamer Hussars. It did not turn out well for the Cossacks since they were unformed troops fighting formed troops - a very bad situation in my rules. The Cossacks scrambled back to the village of Quartschen, where they were content to sit out the rest of the game and loot the Russian encampment on the back table.

Prussian Puttkamer Hussars (HR4) open the show by driving off some Cossacks
to the west of the Zabern Grund.

The pictures below depict the deployment of Manteuffel's Prussian advance guard brigade on the left, and Kanitz's brigade to the right of Manteuffel. A Prussian battery of 10-pound howitzers were deployed on the Fuchs Berg so as to fire over the heads of the advancing Prussians. The picture does not show the ground elevation very well, but the hill was one inch higher than the flat area. Since the Prussians are shooting howitzers, I have no problem with them firing with there own infantry in front of them. However, once their infantry close to within musket range, then the howitzers can no longer fire at the Russians that are in front of the Prussian infantry.

Manteuffel's Advance Garde Deploys in front of the Russians.
A battery of 10-pound howitzers deploys behind them on the Fuchs-berg.

Kanitz's brigade deploys to the right of Manteuffel, resting its right flank
on the Stein Busche wooded area.

The Russian infantry are deployed in brigades, with Saltykov on the right, Galitzin in the center, and von Browne on the far left. Saltykov and Galitzin are separated from von Browne by the impassable Galgen Grund.

Saltykov's Russian brigade on the Russian right, anchors its flank
to the protection of the Zabern Grund.

Wisps of cotton smoke indicate that the artillery are firing at the advancing infanty, who are not in musket range until the third turn. Prussian infantry generally moves 8-inches in line formation, compared to 6-inches for Russian infantry, who are not as well trained as the Prussians in the art of marching.

Both sides open up with their artillery as the Prussians advance into musket range.

A Prussian 12-pound battery opens up on the Russian left near the Stein Busche.
Two battalions of IR5 Alt Braunschweig get diverted into the woods.

Turn 3 found Saltykov and Manteuffel trading opening volleys at one another. The Russians had the honor of firing first, but two of their front line regiments must have aimed too high as they completely whiffed on their volley. To make matters worse, the second battalion of the Permski Regiment failed its morale when the Prussians returned the musket fire, and routed 12-inches to the rear -- on the first turn of musketry no less!

Manteuffel's Advance Garde trades volleys with Saltykov's Russians. The Perm Regiment (white and green flags) routed.
(Russian right flank/Prussian left flank)

Turns Four, Five and Six saw the Prussians winning the important first fire. We use an IGO-UGO system in the rules. The two commanders have a dice-off with a D10 (ten-sided die), but the Prussians get an extra plus one to the number on the D10 since they have the superior commander in Frederick. The side with the highest initiative roll gets to choose between first move/second fire or second move/first fire. As you might surmise, it is usually better to choose the first fire because units that take casualties are required to test their morale immediately. Thus the receiving unit could run away before it gets an opportunity to fire back. Such is the unfairness of war...

Manteuffel is now fully engaged with the Russian front line.
Kanitz brings up  his brigade in  support (the three battalions in the middle left of the picture)

Turn Five was particularly painful for the Russians as four of their regiments routed (Chernigov, Kazan, Narva and 5th Observation Corps Musketeers). The Prussian Itzenplitz musketeers also routed from the front of the firing line. 

At this point in the game, the Prussians had 41 dead compared to 53 for the Russians. Whenever a stand of infantry is removed from the table I place a fallen casualty figure on the spot where the stand was removed. As the game progresses one can see the ebb and flow of the battle by locating all of the casualty discs on the table.

The Narva Regiment of Galitzin's brigade routs in the center.

Turn Six saw three of the four Russian regiments rallying from their routs. Only the 5th Observation Corps musketeers continued to skeddadle.  One of the Prussian grenadier battalions ("Hessian") also routed on the turn. 

A unit gets two chances to rally before it is removed from the table for good. Morale is tested by rolling two D10 dice and trying to score a certain number or lower, depending on the number of casualties that it has already received. So the more casualties that a unit has, the lower the number it needs to pass morale. For example, a unit needs a "9" or less on two of its dice to pass morale when it has 1 to 4 casualties, but the number falls to "7" then "5" then to "3" and to "1" as the casualties pile up. Extra dice are given to the unit for officers attached or secure flanks. Thus a regiment with two officers attached and secure flanks could gain three extra dice in addition to the two dice that it always uses for morale tests. The player rolls the D10 and keeps the two best dice and discards the other dice.

Turn Seven started with the Russians firing first, but the Prussians all passed their morale tests. The Hessian Grenadier battalion rallied from its rout on Turn Six, On the return fire, however, the Russian Perm and Moscow regiments in Galitzin's brigade routed and the Shuvulov howitzer crew were all shot down. A big gap was opening up in the Russian center around the Galgen Grund.

Turn Eight, Prussian cavalry commander von Seydlitz deemed that now was the time to throw his cavalry into the fray, so he started to send his squadrons, in column, across a ford in the Zabern Grund. Two squadrons of Prussian Hussars and one squadron of the Krakow Cuirassiers charged into the Russian Azov musketeer regiment on the Russian right wing. The Azovs fired off a round of musketry but inflicted only three hits on the Prussian cavalry - not enough to slow them down as they passed their morale tests.

The Azovs went shaken on their morale test, meaning that they could not stand their ground to melee with the cavalry, but they were not routing, only falling back 12-inches. However, the Prussian cavalry got in some free unopposed hacks at the Russians and killed off four of them.

By the end of Turn Eight, it appeared that the Russian center and right brigades were close to crumbling. They had only 4 viable battalions remaining on the field and 4 battalions that were trying to rally from routing. The Russian cavalry was fresh and unused, but it's path was blocked by its own infantry and thus they could not charge into the Prussian cavalry.

Prussian cavalry Lt. General von Seydlitz deems the time right for launching the cavalry
across the Zabern Grund to attack the Russian right wing.

Zieten's Prussian Hussar brigade bears down on the Russian Azov regiment.

Turn Nine saw the Prussian Hussars barrel on into the next Russian regiment, the Perm regiment, while the Krakow Cuirassiers matched swords with the Russian Kargopol Horse Grenadiers. In both instances, the Russians prevailed and repulsed the Prussian cavalry. What heroes are those men from Perm!

Prussian cuirassiers and dragoons provide support to the charge of the hussars.

Elsewhere on the field, Manteuffel's brigade of Prussian grenadiers was nearly played out as all four battalions fell back out of musket range, allowing the cavalry to take over from there. Kanitz continued to press the Russian center, but the Russians had the first fire on this turn and inflicted 10 hits on the second battalion of the Prinz Moritz (IR22/2) Regiment! The ensuing rout was inevitable.

So at the end of Turn Nine, things were still looking grim for the Russian army, but they had stopped the charge of the Prussian cavalry on their right flank, albeit if only temporarily, and the rout of the Prussian Prinz Moritz battalion bought some time for Galitzin's musketeer regiments to recover from earlier routs.

The Prussian hussars ride over the Azov regiment and carren headlong into the the  Perm regiment in the second line of Russian infantry in Saltykov's brigade. Russian dragoons await their opportunity.

Aeriel view of the action later in the battle, after Kanitz's Prussian brigade attacks the Russian center next to the Galgen Grund and their baggage train. At the top of the picture, the Prussians have launched a cavalry attack
on  Saltykov's brigade (see top of the picture)

Turn Ten was deemed to be the end of the game. While the Russians had staved off disaster on the prior turn, it was clear that the Prussian had the upper hand in the battle. 

There were four squadrons of Russian cavalry still in play but they were faced off against ten squadrons of Prussian cavalry on the Russian right wing (Prussian left flank). In the center and right, there were only two viable battalions of Russian infantry and two more battalions in von Browne's command on the far side of the Galgen Grund, which as you may recall, was impassable to infantry and could not offer any help to the Russians on the west side of the Galgen Grund.

The Prussians had two fresh unused fusilier battalions in Kanitz's brigade and at least one, maybe two viable grenadier battalions still in Manteuffel's brigade. The Prussians had also assembled a grand battery of four cannon in the center of the battlefield where they could easily blast any remaining Russian infantry into oblivion. 

As a result, the Russians decided that they would have likely retired from the field with what infantry and artillery remained and cover the retreat with the Russian cavalry. This was not too unlike the result of the actual battle, save for the fact that the historical Prussian infantry was shattered and it was their cavalry, commanded by von Seydlitz, that was winning the battle for them in this sector.

Recall that nearly half of the Russian army was still intact and untouched on the east side of the Galgen Grund.

The Butcher's Bill

The numbers show that it was a very bloody affair for both sides:

Prussians 79 casualties out of 336 figures at the start of the game - 24% lost (4 routs during game)

Russians 116 casualties out of 360 figures at the start of the game - 32% lost (5 routs in game)

Historically, I recall that casualty rates higher than 15-20% were considered unusually destructive to the army, so in this battle, both sides would have gone off somewhere to lick their wounds and recover. Again, the outcome resembled history, but how it got there was a little bit different.

Some Final Thoughts

I thought that the rules worked fairly well, as expected. I have been using these rules in some way, shape or form since about 1994 so most of the bugs have been worked out of them a long time ago. I tested some new ideas designed to shorten the playing time:

1)  battalion guns fire as artillery until the battalion closes into musket range of 8-inches; thereafter the battalion gun simply adds an extra D10 die to the battalion's musket fire. Once two stands of the parent battalion's infantry are lost/removed, so too is the battalion gun removed from the game.

2)  cavalry melees were changed so that the defending infantry could fire off a shot in defense and hope that this might stop the cavalry charge. If the cavalry passes its morale from any casualties received from musket or cannon, then the infantry is deemed to have not stopped the cavalry charge. The infantry will either retire 8 inches facing the enemy or rout 12 inches. The cavalry will get some free and unopposed hacks at the infantry before they leave.

3)  cavalry fight a maximum of two rounds of melee. If neither side wins, then both units retire a full charge move to the rear to reform. I don't worry about them moving through or around their own units as long as they are not routing. I just pick them up and put them 20-24 inches to the rear and place a disordered marker on them. 

4)  Early in the game, I removed a couple of Prussian cavalry regiments from the game as it was clear that I had given them too much cavalry. I think that I will also reduce the Prussian infantry from 10 battalions to 9 battalions while keeping the Russian infantry at 12 battalions.

See you in South Bend, Indiana on April 5th through 7th at the SYWA Convention!

Battle of Reichenberg Report

Austrian brigade of General Beck marches through the woods.

I fought the Battle of Reichenberg from the 1762 campaign around Schweidnitz today. For convience, please click on this link  Here  to my blog thread that describes the historical background and purpose of the battle of Reichenbach. 

I played the battle as a solo game, but it should really be played with three players on each side. The scenario is largely focused on the action between the Austrian flanking column of Beck versus the Prussian army of Bevern. The game reached a definite conclusion in eight turns.

Please click on each picture to enlarge the view. You can even double click each picture for an even larger view.

Map illustrating the 3 attack columns of Beck's corps.

One feature of the scenario is the existence of a mixed force of Austrian dragoons (2 squadrons) and infantry (two battalions) that are positioned at Ober-Peilau in the map above. This force never attacked, but they caught the attention of the Prussians, who couldn't simply move all of their infantry to counter Beck's flanking movement. The Prussians, of course, do not know that these are "dummy troops", but undoubtedly they will figure it out during the course of the game.

I also placed two Austrian batteries of artillery off table and had them firing at long range at the Prussian forces deployed on the Fischer-Berg and Spittel-Berg. The Austrians needed a die roll of "1" on a D10 since the Prussians were in prepared earthworks. The Prussian artillery could hit the Austrian artillery on a die roll of "2" on a D10, since the Austrian artillery was deployed in the open.

Austrian brigades of St. Ignon (cavalry) and Simbschen (infantry) demonstrate in front of the Prussian line. They are a decoy and never engage in the battle.

Prussian redoubt atop the Fischer-Berg.

The Fight for the Girls-Berg

The second (middle) of Beck's three columns was a mixed force of Grenadiers, Croats and a small 3-pound cannon, given the task of capturing the high ground known as the Girls-Berg. This feature had a commanding view of the Prussian deployment on the Fischer-Berg and the Spittle-Berg and a cannon atop the summit would have enfilading fire on the Prussian defenses.

Bevern had posted a single battalion of the von Diericke Fusilier Regiment (IR49/1) on the Girls-Berg, figuring that one battalion would be sufficient to defend this difficult ground. The second battalion of the regiment was posted between the Girls-Berg and the Fischer-Berg and it could easily march to support its sister battalion if any trouble brewed.

 

The Austrian Grenadier battalion was on the left and the Croat Ottocaner battalion was on the right. The 3-pounder was posted on the left flank of the Grenadiers. The assault commenced immediately on Turn One. Meanwhile, Beck would march the remainder of his column through the woods that was behind the Prussians (they had to wait until Turn Four before they could be placed on the table.

Turn Four: A desperate struggle to control the key Girls-Berg position.

The lone Prussian fusilier battalion held its own against twice its number. The two sides commenced firing at one another on Turn Two, when the Grenadiers inflicted four hits on the Fusiliers, who passed their morale test. The Prussian fusiliers fired back and their volley caused the Croats to go Shaken, forcing them to fall back half a move.

The Prussian fusiliers took three more hits on Turn Three and managed to pass their morale test yet again. Meanwhile, the second battalion of fusiliers was marching as fast as they could to help their commrades defend the Girls-Berg.

Action on the Girls-Berg

Both sides traded musket fire over the next three turns, taking terrible casualties, but neither side faltered. Finally, on Turn Seven, the first battalion of the fusiliers decided that it was time to settle the issue with the bayonet, so they charged the unformed Croats and routed them off the Girls-Berg. While this was going on, the fresh second battalion was cutting up the Austrian Grenadiers, who still managed to hold the summit of the hill.

Beck's Austrian Column Attacks the Prussian Rear.

I measured the distance from the table edge to the point where the Austrian march through the woods would bring them to the point where they could roll out of the woods and attack the Prussian rear. Since infantry moves at half speed through the woods, it would have taken about 10 turns for Beck's contingent to arrive in position. So I arbitrarily decided that they could arrive on the table on Turn Four. However, the Austrian regulars (3 battalions) would be required to emerge from the woods in a column of march, before they could deploy into line formation. The unformed Croats (2 battalions) could do what they pretty darn well pleased whilst in the woods - afterall, they are light troops.

On Turn 4, Beck's corps finally emerges from the woods after a difficult march around the rear of the Prussian deployment.

The overhead view of the battle on Turn Four is shown in the picture below. You can see that one Prussian musketeer battalion, in line formation, is moving towards the threat while a column of grenadiers closes in on the Austrians.

An overhead view of the battlefield at the time that Beck arrives. Two Prussian battalions can be seen marching towards the woods to confront Beck's attack.

Beck's troops sortied out of the woods on Turn Four, and did so before any Prussian infantry could contest the move, thus the Austrian regulars were able to form a battle line without paying the price for being fired at whilst in column formation. The fighting in this area was in a low lying marshy area called the Schober-Grund.

The following overhead view of the battlefield defines the geographical features of the terrain. Please click or double click the picture to enlarge the view.

Overhead view of the battle field from the Girls-Berg fight at the bottom and heading through the Schober-Grund at the top, as Beck's corps emerges from the woods to attack the Prussian rear.

On or around Turn Six, the Prussian commander realized that his infantry had a decided advantage over the Croats if they should happen to cross bayonets in a melee. Formed versus unformed troops in melee gives the formed unit a major advantage (i.e. they need 9's or less on a D10) while the unformed unit is at a major disadvantage (needing a 2 or less on a D10). In other words, the formed unit is virtually an automatic winner of the melee. Indeed, the Croats got too close to some Prussian grenadiers, who promptly charged them and slaughtered them in the melee. The Croats had the good fortune of failing their morale test so that they could run away from the Prussians.

The Croats are about to find themselves on the business end of quite a few Prussian bayonets.

Thus one battalion of the Kremzow Grenadiers (17/22) charged some brown-coated Croats from the front while the Wedell Grenadiers (1/23) hit them in the flank, which vaporized the unfortunate Croats. The Kremzow Grenadiers then engaged one of the Hungarian Nikolas Esterhazy battalions in a firefight.

While that was going on, the Wedell Grenadiers continued to advance through the woods in a two stand wide attack column (I only allow this formation for grenadiers in my rules) and tumbled into a battalion of blue-coated Croats. The outcome repeated itself and the Croats scampered away from the battlefield. The Wedell Grenadiers now found themselves behind the Austrian battle line! So on Turn Eight they turned facing, reformed and charged into the rear of the Nikolas Esterhazy battalion, which they destoyed.

The charge of the Wedell Grenadiers into the rear of the Nikolas Esterhazy battalion.  This effectively decided the game for the Prussians.

At this point, General Beck could see that any further fighting was pointless, as he was down to two battalions of regulars facing off against twice his number in the Schober-Grund. On the Girls-Berg, his grenadier battalion was still fighting it out with the two battalions of the von Diericke fusiliers. Beck tipped his tricorn to the Prussian commander and retired from the field. It was a Prussian victory that played out closely to the historical action.

Battle lines are drawn in the marshy Schober-Grund, prior to the destruction of the Esterhazy battalion, shown in the lower left side of the above picture.

Special mention and battle honours should go out to the Wedell Grenadiers for their three melee victories, the von Diericke fusiliers for holding onto the Girls-Berg, and the Bayreuth Dragoons, who carved their way through the Austrian cavalry (see cavalry melee section below).

Brentano's and Lacy's corps never arrive at the front of the Prussian line, as they were supposed to do, leaving Beck hanging out to dry in the Schober-Grund. For this reason, I did not use any infantry troops to represent the other two Austrian corps.

Historically, Brentano and Lacy didn't attack because they feared that their left flanks would be over run by Prussian cavalry. The great cavalry melee between O'Donnell's Austrian cuirassiers and Lentulus' Prussian dragoons was played out as a separate scenario for the overall battle of Reichenbach (see story line below).

The Cavalry Battle

I am not going to go into the details of the large cavalry melee that occured on the Prussian right flank (Austrian left flank), but will let the picture captions tell the story. The Austrian cavalry, commended by O'Donnell, had 6 squadrons of cuirassiers. The Prussian cavalry of Lentulus had 6 squadrons of heavy dragoons and 1 squadron of hussars. So the two sides were relatively even, although the Austrians had better melee cavalry since they all were cuirassiers.

Prussian cavalry doctrine calls for cuirassiers in the first line, dragoons in the second line, and light hussars in the third line.

The Prussian cavalry quickly gained the upper hand as the two sides thundered closer and closer to each other across the flat farm fields. As they both neared charging distance, the Prussians drew the first movement initiative and their charge caught the Austrians at the halt, giving the Prussians an advantage in the first round of the melee.

Since cavalry do nothing but melee, this part of the battle was over at the end of Turn Four. The Austrians lost 38 figures compared to only 18 lost for the Prussians. Despite the first round advantage for the Prussians, it was poor Austrian dice rolling that did them in.

In my rules, melees only last three rounds, at which point both surviving (i.e. not routing or shaken) sides will retire a full move back towards their own lines to reform.

The grand cavalry melee on the right flank of the Prussian battle line.

The Prussian dragoons gave the Austrians a good thrashing, as you can see in the disparity of remaining figures in the picture below. Since this was a solo game, I didn't see the need to keep fighting the cavalry melee as the Austrians would likely have been wiped out in another three rounds of melee.

Historically, the Austrian cavalry was giving the Prussian cavalry a hard time, until King Frederick arrived at the head of a large contingent of cuirassiers, hussars and Bosniak lancers, which tipped the scales in the Prussians' favor.

The Prussians decisively win the cavalry melee and then both sides retire back to their lines as melees only last three turns in my rules.

The end (or is it?).

Fontenoy Battle Report - Part 1

Prussians (left) attack the Austrians deployed on the ridge between the town of Fontenoy (top middle of the picture) and the Bois du Berri woods (you can just see a little bit of it in the lower left corner, where the red Croats are).

I fought the battle of Fontenoy over the weekend using my 30mm Minden Austrians and Prussians standing in for the French and the British, respectively. I used my own one-page Der Alte Fritz rules which you can download for free on the Fife & Drum Miniatures web site Here .

The after action report will be divided into two posts so that I can show more pictures without one excessively large post showing everything. It will be easier to read and follow if I break things down into Part 1 - The Attack in the Center or The Infernal Column; and Part 2 - The action on the flanks in Fontenoy and in the Bois du Barri.

For a description of the table top setup, please refer to my earlier post Here .

The picture map above indicates the key terrain elements of the Battle of Fontenoy. Please click and double click all pictures to see the enlarged full size view.

I played the battle as a solo wargame starting on Friday night (2-3 hours) and finishing the game on Saturday (4 hours). Normally such a game would run for 5-6 hours, but since I had to move all the figures myself, roll dice for both sides, etc., it took an extra hour or two to play Fontenoy as a solo wargame.

How to Play a Solo Wargame

You may ask, "how do you play a solo game without any built in bias for one side?" The answer is simple: each turn I ask myself, "what are the most advantageous moves that I can make for Side A, and then I do the same for Side B. So I'm not going to pass on the opportunity to charge into the flank of one side's infantry. Likewise, I don't let the knowledge of what I may plan to do for one side get in the way of the other side's tactics. Afterall, if I am making a move that offers the greatest advantage to one side, then it shouldn't affect the tactics that I am using "in the moment" for the other side. I have used this methodology for years in playing a number of solo games, with great success.

The Battle of Fontenoy - a potted history 

In the actual battle of Fontenoy, fought during the War of Austrian Succession in 1745, the Duke of Cumberland's Pragmatic Army of British, Hanoverians, Dutch and Austrians attempted to relieve the besieged town of Tournai, which was invested by Marshal de Saxe's French army. De Saxe  intercepted the Allies on favorable round of his own selection and awaited the likely assualt by Cumberland. T

he British contingent of the army had the tough assignment of attacking through the center of the French battle line. Each flank of the British attack was enfiladed by French fire from the town of Fontenoy (on the British left) and the Bois du Berri woods. The British doggedly advanced through the hail of musketry and cannon and encountered the first French battle line, comprised of its vaunted French and Swiss Guards. The French Guards were mowed down by the British fire and the redcoats continued to advance deep into the French center. 

However, the galling fire on their flanks caused the British regiments to bunch in together and inadvertantly form a massive column of battalions. The French called this 'The Infernal Column" because it came on and on despite all efforts to stop it. Finally, a desperate French cavalry attack put a halt to the British attack and Cumberland ordered a retreat, which was conducted with great skill and fortitude - no panic for these redcoats.

Let our Battle Begin

The Prussians:  The Prussian attack was organized into three brigades:

Right hand brigade - two battalions of the Itzenplitz Musketeer Regiment (IR13) supporting the center brigade's right flank. Also a battalion of Jagers and a battalion of Diericke Fusiliers (IR49) traipsed through the Bois du Berri looking for the French - they seek them here, they seek them there, they seek them in the woods.

Center brigade - two battalions of guards (IR15) and one battalion of grenadiers.

Left hand brigade - two battalion of the Winterfeld Regiment (IR1) supporting the guards brigade's left flank, and two battalions of the Anhalt Dessau Regiment (IR22) assigned to attack the town of Fontenoy as a diversion.

The Prussian heavy cavalry (5 squadrons of cuirassiers and 2 squadrons of dragoons) brigade commanded by von Seydlitz was held in reserve, ready to exploit any break through by the Prussian infantry.

The Prussian Infernal Column bull dogs its way towards the Austrian battle line.

The Austrians:  Marshal de Saxe's Austrian army held a strong position on the ridge that connected the town of Fontenoy, on their right, and the Bois du Berri woods on their left. The left was also anchored by an earthen redoubt called the Redoubt d'Eu, named after the French regiment that occuppied the Redoubt in the actual battle. Artillery was placed in both town and Redoubt that was positioned to enfilade any attack in the center. 

Front Line of Infantry: two battalions of elite Austrian grenadiers and two battalions of musketeers,

Second Line of Infantry: two battalions of musketeers

Third Line: ten squadrons of heavy cavalry

Fontenoy garrison: four battalions of musketeers

Woods and Redoubt: two Croat light infantry and a battalion of musketeers, plus a 12-pound cannon in the Redoubtg.

The annotated picture below gives one an idea of the types of troops that were deployed in the center.

Troop positions for the initial clash of front lines of battle.

Not surprisingly, the game began with the three Prussian infantry brigades moving forward at a smart pace. The jagers quickly jumped into the woods and prevented the Croats from peppering the Itzenplitz musketeers with musket fire. The Diericke Fusiliers also waded into the trees, but they could only move at half speed in the rough terrain.

My rules require an initiative die roll on a D10 die at the beginning of each turn. The higher die roll wins the initiative and gets to choose between moving first/firing second or moving second/firing first. The Austrians won the initiative on the first four consecutive game turns, so they were able to put some hurt on the advancing Prussians. There was no musketry until Turn 3, when the two sides finally closed within the fire zone.

The Prussian column of battalions moves into musket range with the Austrians.

 On Turn 4, the Austrian first fire proved to be effective as the 3rd Battalion of the Prussian Guards lost 8 figures at one go! The Guards needed to roll a "3" or less on each of two D10 dice, and they actually did it! Now it was the Prussians' turn to return the fire, and both Austrian grenadier battalions  were staggered into "Shaken" status. (it reminds me a bit of the Fish Slap Dance in Monty Python).

The Prussian Guards Brigade, in the center, begin to push back the elite Austrian grenadiers.

Prince Charles of Lorraine observes the Prussian on rush, perhaps a little bit too close for comfort.

Now the advantage shifted over to the Prussians as they would win the initiative, and first fire, for the next four game turns. It is very rare for both sides to have a run of four consecutive initiative wins in my games. First fire is very important when both armies are in close musket range, and this began to whittle down the Austrian infantry over the course of the next 3 or 4 game turns.

Austrian grenadiers versus Prussian guards in the center. Who will break first?

One of the Austrian grenadier battalions in the first line breaks!

Once the Austrian front line was vanquished, the Prussians turned their attention on the second line of Austrian musketeers and gave them the same rough treatment that the Austrian grenadiers received. This would inevitably break the Austrians' second line of infantry, leaving only the cavalry in the center to try to stop the Prussian infantry onslaught.

The Prussians attack the second line of Austrians. Regiments are identified in the picture map above.

Another overhead view of the action as the Prussian engage the second Austrian line of infantry.

On the right hand side of the Prussian column, the two battalions of the Itzenplitz Regiment (IR13) engage a battalion of converged Austrian grenadier companies. The supporting second line of musketeer infantry can be seen on the righthand side of the picture.

Marshal de Saxe watches the battle unfold (and a battalion of grenadiers routing in front of him) from the comfort of his wicker chariot. His personal Uhlans de Saxe provide protection for the marshal.

Itzenplitz takes care of the Austrian grenadiers and now pushes up the ridge to engage the second Austrian line.

Von Seydlitz holds his heavy cavalry in reserve, waiting to exploit any success by the infantry in the front lines.

Marshal de Saxe ordered his infantry to retire from the ridge so as to open up lanes for his cavalry to charge the depleted Prussian infantry. This should have worked to the Austrians' advantage, but it didn't. First the cuirassiers attacked Winterfeld's brigade on the Prussian left. Then the Saxon Guard Cavalry charged into the Prussian guard infantry. Both charges were repulsed by the infantry. Finally, de Saxe even sent in his personal escort of uhlans into a charge, and they too came tumbling back.

Why did the Austrian cavalry fail to break Prussian infantry units that were all shot up? It was clear that something wasn't working the way it should in my rules. I had previously reorganized all of my cavalry from regiments of 24 riders into squadrons of 12 riders, with two squadrons making up a cavalry regiment. So when a single squadron of 12 horse charged into a Prussian battalion of 18-24 figures, the firepower of the muskets stopped the cavalry dead in its tracks.

Now my perception of 18th Century warfare is that this is probably what happened to the cavalry when they charged formed and steady infantry. Think of the British infantry at Dettingen and Minden, for example.

So one solution would be to organize a cavalry charge such that 2 to 3 squadrons were hitting the infantry battalion instead of 1 squadron.  So a change in tactics might produced a more favorable outcome for the cavalry.

Another solution is to even up the odds a bit by eliminating the "fire on the chargers" part of the infantry versus cavalry melee. In other words, just let them pitch into it and start the melee and eliminate the infantry firing at the cavalry/the cavalry checks its morale, it passes and continues the charge and then the infantry tests its morale, and if it passes, then we finally get to the melee, which is the whole point of the exercise.

In my next game, I will try the "eliminate the musketry and get to the fightin' " method of melee and see how that works. I think that it will work better. 

My principal aim in my rules is to have a fast game and quick results. So I like to pare the game down to its basics. It may not be your cup of tea, but I'm focused on rules that can be used at game conventions that are fast play and easy to learn.

Austrian cavalry backstops the second infantry line.

Prussian Infernal Column has broken through the second Austrian line of musketeer regiments.

On the Prussian right, the Winterfeld regiment slaughtered two Austrian musketeer battalions, taking advantage of its run of first fires. Then on came the Austrian cavalry. I thought that the Winterfeld lads were doomed, but somehow they fended off two squadrons of Alt Modena cuirassiers and might have done some more had they not been charged in the flank by the O'Donnell Austrian cuirassiers.  In my rules, if infantry gets smacked in the flank or rear by cavalry, they are toast and so they are immediately removed from the table.

Fortunatley for the Prussians, their cuirassiers were coming up to support the infantry and so a squadron of Prinz von Preussen cuirassiers smacked O'Donnell, in turn, in their flank.

On the lefthand side of the Prussian column, the Prussian Winterfeld Regiment (IR1) presses forward near Fontenoy and devestates the Austrian MacGuire regiment with musketry and cannister. The dead markers indicate where a stand of Austrians or Prussians were removed from the table, as all six figures on the stand were casualties.

The Austrian Alt Modena cuirassiers (blue facings and shabraques) charge into the Prussian Winterfeld musketeers.

Like fierce and noble lions, the Winterfeld regiment repulses the charge of the Alt Modena  cuirassiers. The red discs indicate "Shaken" morale status adversely attained from bad dice rolls for morale, or in this case, automatically given at the conclusion of a melee to indicate a state of disorder.

Thank you sir, may I have another?

The Austrian O'Donnell cuirassiers see an opportunity to charge into the flank of the first battalion of the Winterfeld Regiment.  The Prussian Prinz von Preussen cuirassiers counter-charge into the O'Donnell cuirassiers. Note that Prussian first battalions have both a white and a colored flag, whereas the second battalion has all colored flags.

The Prussian Garde du Corps (left) and the Prinz von Preussen, 1st squadron  (right) move towards the right to counter an expected threat from the Austrian cavalry.

Overhead view showing the Prussian break through in the center ridge. The Austrians only have cavalry left to deal with the problem.

With the Austrian center broken open, the battle rests on the outcome of a cavalry charge by the Guard Saxon  Horse into the second battalion of the Prussian Guards.

Alas, it is bad news for the Saxon Guard Horse as they too are repulsed by the Prussian foot guards.

After three failed cavalry charges versus infantry, the Austrian commander decided that it was pointless to throw away more of his cavalry, so with no more infantry in his center, Marshal Saxe ordered a retreat from Fontenoy -- a Prussian victory. An overwhelming one at that.

Within the next couple of days, I will post a report on the fighting on the flanks in the town of Fontenoy and in the Bois du Berri and Redoubt d'Eu.

Jagers and Croats fight it out in the woods. More on this fighting coming soon to this blog.