WSS: The Battle of Neues Ritterheim, June 1703

 Busy day today, as I was delighted to welcome my good friend Baron Stryker to take part in my first face-to-face wargame at Chateau Foy for more than two years.

The Baron had to travel by a relay of stagecoaches, so we were under a little pressure to crack on with the action in the available time. Stryker was Prince Eugène, commanding the Imperial troops, and I was Marshal Marsin, in charge of the French. Let's start here with a battlefield map and the OOB:

French Army (Maréchal de France Ferdinand, Comte de Marsin)         
(9 horse; 14 foot; 2 art; 5 leaders)

Vertilly’s Cavalry Brigade [1] (Marquis de Vertilly)

Gendarmérie de France (6 Sqns) (elite)

Régt de Grignan (3 Sqns)

Régt de La Baume (3 Sqns)

Régt de La Vallière (3 Sqns)

De Broglie’s Cavalry Brigade [2] (Marquis de Broglie)

Régt du Mestre de Camp (3 Sqns)

Régt du Roi (3 Sqns)

Régt de Tarnault (3 Sqns)

Dragons de La Vrillière (3 Sqns)

Bligny’s Infantry Brigade [3] (Marquis de Bligny)

Régt de Béarn (2 Bns)

Régt de Champagne (2 Bns)

Régt du Dauphin (2 Bns)

Régt de Languedoc (1 Bn)

1 field battery

De Maulevrier’s Infantry Brigade [4] (Marquis de Maulevrier)

Régt de Navarre (2 Bns)

Régt de Nettancourt (1 Bn)

Régt de Poitou (2 Bns)

Régt de Saintonge (1 Bn)

Régt de Toulouse (1 Bn)

1 field battery

 

Imperial Army (Prince Eugène de Savoie)         
(8 horse; 15 foot; 2 art; 5 leaders)

Niederhammer’s Cavalry Brigade [1] (Generalmajor Graf Niederhammer)

Alt-Hannover Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Cusani Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Gronsfeld Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Aufseß Dragoner (Franconian) (3 Sqns)

Kegel’s Cavalry Brigade [2] (Generalmajor Dieter-Sebastian von Kegel)

Jung-Darmstadt Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Lobkowitz Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Leibregiment zu Pferd (Hessen-Kassel) (3 Sqns)

Spiegel Karabiniere (Hessen-Kassel) (3 Sqns)

Furneburg’s Infantry Brigade [3] (Generalmajor Furst von Furneburg) 

IR Alt-Salm (1 Bn)

IR Gschwind (2 Bns)

IR Palffy (1 Bn)

IR Scharfenstein (2 Bns)

IR Thürheim (2 Bns)

1 field battery

Backer’s Infantry Brigade [4] (Generalmajor Von Backer (Osnabrück)) [3 Bns have battalion guns]

IR Lothringen (3 Bns)

IR Erbprinz (Hessen-Kassel) (1 Bn)

IR Leib zu Fuß (Hessen-Kassel) (1 Bn)

IR Prinz Wilhelm (Hessen-Kassel) (1 Bn)

IR Stückrad (Hessen-Kassel) (1 Bn)

1 field battery

 

We started the game at 11am, and Stryker clinched victory with the required 9 Victory Points at close to 3pm, which is good going, allowing for a 45-minute lunch break. Rules in use were my own CJ Lite set - a streamlined version of Corporal John. This was also the first time CJ Lite rules have been used in a f2f game - no problems, I'm pleased to report.

 

Before the soldiers came (and before the dining chairs were taken away), here's a peaceful view of the field, showing the coach road to Landau passing through the village of Sankt Albertus Magnus. Possession of the village was to be worth 1 bonus VP

 

More Tripadvisor stuff - here is the monument to Charlemagne on the south side of the valley...

 

...and here you see the statue of the Saint, with a very fine dunghill at the end of the church. [Merde]

 

First action was the cavalry on the French right [Allied left] squaring up to each other; a lively start, but the ground was not ideal for mounted action, and this quickly bogged down. The units with the red counters attached are the two sections of the Gendarmérie de France, no less, the only elite troops on the table, who performed very disappointingly throughout...

 

...here you see this position from behind the Allied lines, with General von Kegel putting pressure on the French elites

 

This is Furneburg's brigade, preparing to advance

 

Predictably, there was some cavalry activity on the French left also; Niederhammer's Austrian brigade managed to gain the initiative, but this, too, ran out of steam. Here you see the French Régiment du Roi suffering the embarrassment of being forced to take shelter in a kale field, to avoid the Imperial cuirassiers 

 

 

French elite cavalry making very heavy weather of a situation which Vertilly expected to dominate

 

In the French centre, Marshal Marsin (grey coat) brings up the Regt de Nettancourt

 

The infantry engagement in the middle of the battlefield developed into a grim struggle, both sides managing to gain some successes. Furneburg made excellent use of some favourable movement bonuses to bring up his line

 

 

At this stage the Austrians have an impressive line across the centre, but they are getting short of reserves

 

The French took possession of the village very early, but were driven out rather easily - the Austrians made effective use of battalion guns in this particular fight

 

A sight to chill the bones of any commander: Baron Stryker seen looming over the field, photographing his troops' glorious progress for posterity

 

Thus the battle settled into a situation where the Imperial troops had a firm hold on the village, and the two cavalry fights were indecisive...

 

...though the French did manage to lose both their cavalry commanders in quick succession

 

The Gendarmes were still failing to impress anyone...

 

...and Eugène/Stryker won 9-6. No complaints from the opposition - a worthy victor

 

 

A couple of incidental shots; this is the Régiment de Lavallière, on the French right, who spent most of the action in reserve, trying not to block possible retreat routes for their more illustrious colleagues

 

 

The French still had some units in good shape at the end, but they had no opportunity to make a comeback

 

The village is in Imperial hands

 

One of Eugène's Hessian auxiliary units - they didn't do very well; looked nice though

 

Random shot of an Austrian gun - this is a real oldie - 1970s miniatures from the original Eric Knowles collection I purchased in 2019

My thanks to Stryker for his company and courageous disposition; excellent fun!

WSS: Game Coming Up on Thursday

 All set up, ready. This will be the first face-to-face game I've hosted for over 2 years, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Somewhere in the Rhineland, not far from Landau, mid-1703. On your left you see Prince Eugène of Savoy with an Allied army (Austrians and Hessians), opposed by a French force commanded by Marshal Marsin.

If you drop by here later in the week, you should read more about it. 1970s-style 20mm toy soldiers; linear warfare - you'd better believe it.

More Hills and Even Further Away

 Travelling again - my life seems to have taken on an unfamiliar level of sophistication, not to mention luxury. I have just returned from the home of the Archduke, in the mountains of Northern England - a wild region which was once known as Scottish Cumberland, I understand. There we were joined by more travellers - Stryker and Goya - for a very fine day of Old School Napoleonic gaming, and of gazing in awe at the resident soldier collection.

Our game scenario was from 1809, the setting being what is now known as the Battle of Aspern-Essling, taken as a single action, and fought on the open ground between the two villages. I shall not attempt a detailed account of the action, but will include a series of my own photos, to give a taste of what the day looked like. I was Hiller, commanding the Austrian right flank, fighting alongside Stryker. [You will find rather better pictures and a more coherent narrative on Stryker's blog here.]  

 

General view at commencement; Austrians on the left. Both sides are expecting reinforcements, but the French reserves may only arrive if they can still get across the Danube. The Danube, you understand, is just off the table-edge on your right, and there is a wooden bridge on the edge of the table to represent this crossing 

 

This is my command, the Austrian right flank. You can see me (Hiller) bravely leading the infantry forward

 

 A look over towards the Austrian left. The cavalry unit nearest the camera is the best the army has to offer - because of problems with Austrian command, all the rest of the cavalry were rated as "militia". The unit pictured here looks very impressive, and it took me 5 or 6 turns to remember that these were mere chevauxlegers (O'Reilly), however smartly turned out

 

Here I am, with me boys, steadfastly remembering not to fight uphill

 

Our plan was to get cracking, just detaching small forces to watch the edges of the villages and sweeping everyone else forward and toward the bridge in the centre. The idea was that this would restrict the space in which the French could deploy their reserves, and in any case capture of the bridge was a potential game-winner. Here you see my advance getting a little bogged down, as my own regiment of infantry takes a battering from the French artillery

 

View from the French side. The battery in the lower left corner caused me a lot of discomfort throughout the day. I should mention that for years it has puzzled me that one's own army in a wargame always looks more intimidating from the front...

 

After a while, the Austrians are definitely cramping the space available for the French reinforcements. You may notice a number of guns facing the wrong way - this is obviously because they are now limbered up, trying to advance with the army. We were reminded that if you rush forward over flat terrain there is a tendency to mask your own artillery

 

The French are bringing more troops over - things getting more crowded all the time

 

At the very end of the day, I made a token attack on the brickyard of the village at my end of the table, and was reminded that stone walls are tough going. At this stage we ran out of time, and had to end our game to address the requirements of transport and dinner 

At the point at which we broke off, there was still some fighting to be done, and the Archduke continued later, solo, for about 4 hours; once again history required the Battle of Aspern-Essling to extend into a second day. He subsequently sent a photo of the Austrians in command of the crossing of the Danube, so Stryker and I had won, if only in absentia. It could be argued that we are usually at our best in absentia, anyway, but that's a discussion for another time.

My thanks go to my colleagues for their company and enthusiasm, and most especially to our hosts (Mr and Mrs Archduke) for their kind hospitality and a great deal of work - a splendid trip in every way, and very much appreciated.  

Over the Hills and Far Away

 Excellent day out yesterday; I drove up north to Stryker's estates, for one of his fabulous Napoleonic extravaganzas. Waterloo re-revisited, and very good too. I know Ian will make a wonderful job of putting together an appropriate report, so this is the most humble of glimpses of what went on - no thunder will be stolen. Here are a few of my own photos of the battle, just to give a taster.

It's been 12 weeks since my last involvement in any wargaming at all, and yesterday was really most enjoyable; Stryker's magnificent collection of Hinton Hunt figures, proper Old School rules and organisation and game management, faultless hospitality and a sunny day spent in the company of friends. Good chat, no issues with attitudes or alternative agendas. Restorative.

My thanks to Baron and Baroness Stryker for all their hard work and kindness, and to everyone involved. 

Setting Up a Battle for Next Week

 I was supposed to get started on this a couple of nights ago, but I got hit with a letter from HMRC (the UK tax office) - the sort of letter which says "whatever you were going to do for the next few days, you'd better forget it and start panicking - we think you may owe us money from 5 years ago...".

In fact it is my mother who may owe them money, but the implication is the same. I have managed to write back, scrambling the ball back into their court, offering a polite Fact Check on their calculations. Thus things are peaceful enough again to get on with setting up a battlefield for the end of next week. Ruin can arrive in its own time.

This will be the little-known battle of Münzkirchen, from the early days of 1703, when the Austrians and Bavarians were suddenly on opposite sides of the WSS, and were worried about their common border, in the area around Passau.

All I have on offer this evening is a few photos showing general views of the table - there should be some actual fighting on Thursday.

 

General view from behind Bavarian left flank

 

This is Arco's Bavarian cavalry brigade, on their left - two units of cuirassiers and two of dragoons

 

A look along the Imperial army, from its right

 

Austrian horse - Niederhammer's brigade, on their right flank

 

Now a general view from behind the Bavarian right

 

The Austrian left and centre

 

Austrian cuirassiers - this lot are the regiment of Jung-Darmstadt

 

More of the same - these are Lobkowicz's boys

 

One of the Bavarian cavalry commanders, Weichel, leads his men onto the field