Great Northern War AAR (2)

On Saturday I made the trip up to Micks to fight the second battle of our campaign. Mick had picked the field of Fraustadt for the battle and to defend the Southern edge of the table.

Field of battle

Now I was nervous for this battle as I was using my Russian and Polish troops. Though much of the open ground would favour cavalry, the quality of my Swedish opponents would more than match this.

The plan was to advance with my Polish infantry to occupy the ground between the villages of Rohrsdorf and Geyersdorf (the actual Saxon position in the historical battle). I would also send out my Cossacks and Polish irregulars to try and harass any Swedish advance on this position. The centre I stationed my better quality Russian infantry and Dragoons. My Hussars and Pancerni were held off table until the Swedes revealed themselves.

Army deployed

Once I realised the Swedes were just going to come straight at us I called up the Polish horse to help defend the centre and my right wing around the village of Ogrey.

With the Swedish advance in the centre being led by a brigade of Dragoons I brought forward my own Russian and Poles to engage them. Surprisingly we got the better of the early exchanges before eventually being driven back by supporting Swedish infantry. Over on the left the Cossacks continued to threaten the Swedish right wing and thankfully drew off a brigade of Swedish Dragoons to prevent me crossing the stream at Obrachice.

Polish reserves 

Russian infantry

Marauding Cossacks 

Swedish battle line

Eventually my right flank came under enormous pressure. My 2 brigades of Russian infantry were facing 3 brigades of Swedes. 10 battalions against 18. Despite a few early successes the Swedes began to drive the Russians back.

Isolated Russian infantry

Dragoons on both sides shattered from melee

The collapsing right flank

With my right flank collapsing I decided it was time to throw in the Polish horse to try and drive off the Swedish cavalry and allow me to threaten the Swedish infantry. Now unlike their Swedish for, The Polish horse are rather fragile and quickly lose heart if things go wrong. At first they smashed into the veteran Swedes, driving them back before their supporting lines returned the favour. Now my Polish horse were streaming from the field in disarray.

On the left my Cossacks were eventually caught and set fleeing to the rear. It was at this point I broke off the engagement. So far my only uncommitted troops were 11 raw battalions of Polish and Cossack infantry, far too fragile to hold veteran Swedes.

Polish Horse begin their advance

Hussars lead the charge

Cossacks infantry

Despite actual casualties on the field being pretty even. The loss of my Polish horse fleeing the field and ceding the villages handed Mick a resounding victory.

A few lessons from the game. The point system hampers poor quality armies, Despite having a predominantly raw and trained troops against veterans. I was out numbered in infantry and had only a couple more cavalry regiments. The main issue is around the commanders. More troops you have the more commanders you need and these eat up any points you gain from lower quality troops.

Secondly the irregular Polish horse are at a distinct disadvantage fighting regulars. They are very brittle and break when losing a melee. We may need possible adjustments to the rout move as they easily seem to leave the table.

Overall a very enjoyable game and looking forward to the next one.

GNW Poles XIV

Finally the last of my Polish horse are completed. These have taken much longer than normal as I've been working long hours and didn't feel much like painting.

These are my third regiment of dragoons. Again I have mixed figures from Essex and Legio Herico. Adds a bit of variety to the unit.

Polish dragoons

Polish dragoons

For a slight change from the previous 2 regiments I went for buff coats with green turn backs.

Looking forward I need to make a decision. I do have a couple of horse regiment's to add to both the Swedes and Danes as well as a couple of Polish infantry battalions. This will give me more than enough figures to field the following armies; Saxons, Swedes, Danes and Poles. I also have the Russian Auxiliary Corps, some Cossacks and Turkish Janissary's. However I do not have a Russian army, pretty remiss as they are one of the main protagonists. I do not want to commit to re fighting a battle like Poltava as that is a lot of Russians to buy and paint. Ideally I would like enough for club games like 20 - 25 infantry battalions and some supporting dragoons and artillery. Well I've got Christmas to mull this over.

The Battle of Klissow 1702

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be involved in a second re-fight of the Battle of Klissow. This time We would be including the Poles. I was looking forward to this as it is one of my 'bucket list' battles. I've been collecting armies for the Great Northern war since 1990. It was also a great excuse to dig out my Saxon and Polish armies, Mick would be supplying the Swedes and the terrain.

Background to the battle. Kliszów (Klissow) (Klezow) took place on July 8 1702, in Poland-Lithuania, during the Great Northern War. The numerically superior Polish-Saxon army of August II the Strong, operating from an advantageous defensive position, was defeated by a Swedish army half its size under the command of King Charles XII. The Swedish and Saxon-Polish-Lithuanian armies encamped some 5 miles (8.0 km) apart. The camps were separated by a large wood and a swamp, with the Swedes north of the woods, the Saxon camp was naturally secured by a narrow stretch of swamp to the north and the swampy valley of the Nida river to the west. At 9:00 am, Charles XII moved his army through the woods on the morning of 19 July and at 11:00 am arrived north of the swampy stretch. The Swedish army consisted of 8,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and four guns — the bulk of the artillery was stuck in the forest. The Saxon army consisted of 7,500 infantry, 9,000 cavalry, 660 Polish infantry, 6,640 Polish cavalry and 46 guns.

Initial dispositions

Charles XII's strategy was to rout the Saxe-Polish forces in an 'envelope' manoeuvre and re-position his forces to strengthen his flanks. The Swedes took the initiative at two o'clock in the afternoon and launched an assault on Lubomirski's Polish flank, however, the commander of the assault, Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp was killed early on and the advance halted. The Polish army then launched two subsequent counter-attacks but were beaten back by the Swedish infantry, as were a Saxon assault over the marsh under Jacob Heinrich von Flemming. Lubomirski and Flemming then withdrew and thus left the Saxon middle-right flank unprotected, which was caught in a Swedish pincer and were slowly crushed. Lubomirski was pursued by Swedish cavalry all the way to the village of Kije.

During this time, Swedish right flank under Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld was attacked by Saxon general Adam Heinrich von Steinau who tried to cut-off Rehnskiöld's connections with the Swedish bulk. A fierce fighting took place between '21 Swedish squadrons of cavalry with about 2,100 men', against '34 Saxon squadrons with no less than 4,250 men'. The Swedes, in their usual manner, attacked with cold steel and managed to repel the Saxon attack. Charles XII advanced into the Saxon camp by half past four and managed to evict them into the surrounding swamps. He then took control over the Saxon artillery and used it for his own benefit.

The Outcome

The Swedes now attempted to encircle the Saxons by taking the crossing of the Nida. General Schulenburg, whose infantry in the centre had scarcely been attacked, now committed himself to a fierce defence of the crossing, allowing the majority of Saxon units to withdraw, and at five o'clock the battle was over.

So to the game. Dave took command of the Saxons, I had the Polish and Neal took on the role of the Swedes. The Saxons and Poles both set up pretty much as they were on the day. Neal who didn't know anything of the battle was allowed to set up the Swedes as he saw fit.

The Polish

The Saxons in position

The game began with the Swedish right wing horse and infantry pressing forwards towards the village of Rebow. The Swedish left wing pushed further to the left into the woods to prepare for the oncoming Polish horse. The Saxons spent the first couple of turns sitting in position awaiting the Polish horse to arrive onto the field.

Polish horse advance

Gotta love the banners

Swedish horse sweep past the village of Rebow

The Saxon left wing advanced towards the oncoming Swedish horse to contest the crossing of the stream and swamp. This was to be the scene of some brutal fighting and heavy casualties. Over on the Swedish left the horse advance to the edge of the tree line where they were eventually spotted by some Cossack horse who promptly rode off. The Swedish infantry brigade was still trying to get itself into position.

Clash of men and horse

Swedish left wing horse spotted by Cossacks 

Heavy fighting continues on the Swedish right

With the Swedish left now spotted, the Poles finally geared themselves up for the charge. I was not totally hopeful (we had downgraded them before the game to represent their historical performance). Lowering my lances my first brigade of Pancerni hit home and actually drove the Swedish horse back. Could history be about to be reversed? No. The Swedish second line galvanised themselves and routed my Pancerni brigade. There were now two large cavalry melees on each wing wing, all the time the Swedish infantry slowly tried to get themselves into position. The Saxon left wing was slowly being driven back so Dave detached part of his right wing horse to support him. At this time Polish Hussars were hurling themselves into the fray.

Polish horse prepare to charge

View across the battle lines

Polish and Swedish horse clash

Saxons re-enforcing their left wing

Not going well for the Poles

At this point the Swedish infantry were struggling across the stream and into the awaiting Saxon infantry. Their initial successes were quickly driven back. They were unable to secure a crossing which would allow them to co-ordinate their attack better. The Swedish right wing horse had managed to drive the Saxon horse back from the first stream, this allowed the Swedish infantry to secure the village of Rebow and begin to cross onto more favourable ground.

As the Saxon left wing girded themselves for a last assault to try and drive the Swedish horse back into the swamp, they promptly failed their command roll and held position. This was a pivotal moment as the Swedish horse were able to re-order themselves and prepare for the eventual Saxon assault, which when it came saw 5 of it's 6 regiments heavily beaten and driven from the field.

Saxon horse prepare to counter attack.

The Swedish infantry now began their assault. Where before their attacks were isolated, now they began to drive back the Saxon infantry. Over on our Right wing Lubomirski himself led the last of his fresh horse onto the seemingly tiring Swedish horse only to be promptly driven back. The fight had definitely gone from the Polish horse now. They slowly reformed and held their position. More of the Saxon right wing was being detached to try and save the beleaguered left wing but to no avail.  

Lubomirski flees

Polish horse begins to reform

Here come the Swedish infantry

Swedish infantry assault the Saxon centre

It was at this point we called it a day. The Saxon left wing and left centre had been badly mauled, though there still remained fresh infantry in the right centre they would be need to fend of the Swedish Guards who were yet to enter the fray. The Polish horse had mostly fled the field with only a handful of regiments remaining. The Swedish, though winning were approaching exhaustion. It had been a hard fight particularly against the Saxon horse, where only their superior quality prevailed. the Liv Dragoon regiment had been involved in nine separate melee's throughout the day and still took their position in the front line.

GNW Poles XIII

In between painting Austrians I managed to finally managed to complete my last regiment of Pancerni. Like the last unit the figures are from Legio Herico. Can't recommend these figures enough.

This brings me up to 36 squadrons, just in time for the refight of Klissow in October.

GNW Poles XII

Another  unit finally across the painting table. This time another unit of Pancerni. The figures this time are from Legio Herico in Spain. These are very nice sculpts and were a joy to paint. They are slightly larger thsn Essex figures but could still be mixed in the same units. Something I'm planning with some Dragoons.

The figures come with separate steel spesrs and shields. I chose not yo add the shield as these were becoming obselete by this period. This just leave 3 more regiments to vomplete. I have made a start on these.

GNW Poles XI

With the re fight of the battle of Klissow getting closer. I've made some more progress on the Polish troops I require. I've added another regiment of winged hussars which brings me to 6 regiments. Like the last regiment the figures are from Donnington.

I also put some paint onto another battalion of infantry. This time I went for a green and red combination. The figures like the rest of the infantry are from Essex.

This army is now drawing to a close with 2 regiments of Pancerni and 2 of Dragoons to complete. I can then make a start on a new period and scale.

GNW Poles X

Just managed to get these guys completed. They are my 5th hussar regiment. The figures are all from Donnington miniatures. Of all the figures I've obtained from Donnington for this army the Hussars are much superior to the dragoons and Pancerni which I feel have the riders too large.

I also used up the last of my command figures to put together a sub commanders base. You can see the difference in quality between the hussar and the officer.

Next up I have my last unit of Hussars ready for undercoat in as well as 3 more infantry regiments.

GNW Poles IX

After a little diversion into the realms of sci-fi, it's back to the GNW project. I've added another 3 squadrons on Pancerni. The figures are all from Essex miniatures.

With Mick also being in touch about another re-fight of the Battle of Klissow  in October and the need to include the Polish troops, these represent a timeous boost to their numbers. I've 2 more regiments of Hussars to complete and then just need for my order from Legio Herico to arrive to further flesh out the troops.

GNW Poles VIII

In a slight change from painting cavalry, I decided to paint up a couple of extra infantry detachments. These guys will probably not see much action, but at least I have them for campaign games. The figures are all from Essex miniatures.

These were a nice distraction and bring my infantry up to 6 detachments. I do have another 3 that are awaiting painting. With these and the last units completed I required an extra storage box so took the opportunity for a photo shoot. Quite pleased with how the army is looking.

So far I have 57 squadrons painted. I do have another 6 squadrons of Hussars, 9 squadrons of Pancerni and 6 squadrons of dragoons to complete. There are also a couple of sub commanders and an extra Brigadier in the lead pile. The only thing missing is some artillery.