My Metal Meneken

Monday, 14 March 2022

1758 - The Battle at Glücksbach - Seven Years War

It was time again for a Big Sunday Game at the club, when me and John decided to go for a 28mm, Seven Years War game, totally fictional of course, with my collection of (mostly Crusader, Foundry and a few Frontrank guns) using my ruleset of "SevenYears", as most of the other suspects abandoned the ship for other amusements.

As John wanted to play the Austrians and serve her Majesty Maria Theresia, I obliged to take up the roll of the Prussians. I toned the Prussians a bit down and gave them the same command structure as their opponents. Everybody got roughly the same amount of troops, 2 horse brigades, three infantry and a fist full of guns. Huzzah, first fire for everybody, the Prussians had 1" more movement due to their drill, the Austrians had large units and had the better guns, which John did not exploited, but for that later.

To quicken the pace we both started in deployed lines, horses at the flanks the rest in the middle, nothing too avantgarde - BUT John started with 3 horse units at one side, which inspired me to some Frederizian Schabernack. ;)

Now it must be mentioned that John was a novice to the rules, but he took it like a fish to the water. His Grenadiers were massed at my right flank and pressured me the whole time and even proceeded to ruin my flank, totally and fully, it broke down. BUT I had withdrawn my tow horse units there and transported them via lots of staff officers and "forced marches" to my left flank, and it gave me the idea to turn the lines 90 degrees and leave him my right flank.

It took awhile to get my horses there, and inbetween it looked dire for me. My artillery was so abysmal, even John noticed it and left his softened up centre "unrallied" for two turns as he could "count on my bad dice rolls". And my right was losing infantry units now by turn!!

I wondered why, probably because he was a novice to the rules, he left his big (medium) 3 piece gun battery behind on a hill and due to distance could only lightly pepper my line.

Then finally my adhoc strategy had payed off, my complete cavalry arrived and I started the charges! One after the other of his cavalry units had to gave way and was beaten. Then I used my centre as a reserve and advance - only then he used his gun battery more against me, but now there were too many targets.

At last he conceded defeat, I had 8 vs 6 units/casualty advantage, the front line had turned 90 degree, but my right flank had just about halted his grenadiers ... many times Fortuna gave them just the pip they needed.

Had John more aggressively used his guns or worse moved them just a bit nearer, or got his grenadiers earlier into the fight, I would have lost the battle, so I was lucky at Glücksbach (lucky little river).

It was a thriller of a battle and could have gone both ways many times. So maybe we will do it again some Sunday!

The initial set up

the Austrian left flank and the Savoyen dragoons

vs my Seidlitz hussars at the same spot

I move my guns off the hill

the Austrians keep suspiciously quiet

the lines drew closer

skirmish around Klein-Glücksbach

his grenadiers and dragoons advance ... OMG!

The Austrian oblique order

While he ankers his light right at the "Glücksbach".

my cavalry moves to my left I abandon my right flank

and kept a Prussian line just behind the road

Then the Austrian come nearer and the firefight begins

The Prussians blaze away before they can come nearer

in the hope that will stall them

Fine lines of white

and a silent gun battery

The firefight along all the battlefield

my shaken Jäger in Klein-Glücksbach won‘t just not accept defeat

The grenadiers come too near

the centre holds keeps quiet

My cavalry is ready ammassed

while my right flank is under heavy pressure

I withdraw shaken units, others retreat ...

one Prussian Infantry in the angle point of the Austrians ... blazes away

Now the centre of the Austrians advance too

But my cavalry has done the damage

the lines are turning to 90 degrees ... slowly

The grenadiers firing volley

after volley

but their centre gets shaken badly

The grenadier attack is halted

they fire away but don't advance

still my units crumble

one units grenadiers more or a charge ...

the shaken Savoy dragoons go!!!

The absolute rattled right of mine

The last Austrian dragoons to fight my cavalry hordes

Multiple times I send the Austrian Hussars off table

until they stop returning

The shattered Austrian right ... their gun battery unprotected

The casualty table with the final tally

The Prussian right still holds

The Austrian centre is now his right flank

some last turns ...

That just cemented my strategic position

at the end - the Austrians withdrew!

Tuesday, 1 March 2022

1506 - The Battle of Blunders at Peroni - Great Italian Wars

In this fictional big Sunday game, me and Bart had in total three 6x4 tables to spread out our complete collections of Italian War miniatures to fight for the supremacy of a single village we dubbed after his favourite drink. We used 28mm, predominantly Foundry and Perry miniatures, and Pike&Shotte rules (with some useful rules modified). Otherwise we changes our traditional roles and he played the German Empire while I had the joy to step into the shoes of the King of France. The set up was traditional, the horses at the flanks and the blocks in the middle.

I had the 1st turn and managed to advance somewhat oblique, but my Swiss were rather foot lame as they did not matched their reputation. Then my Italian (allied) led French horse blundered off the table. In Barts turn though, his blocks did the same. That was the time when we knew we had to count the blunders to come ... and there were many, it is almost by accident the troops were able to fight each other.

My Swiss blitz advance was rather piecemeal and I became to regret this later. Bart could not bring his artillery into action, most of the time his troops were in front of them. And I had to learn how to fight with the best cavalry of the time on both flanks. I charged most of the time ... AFTER I shot at his cavalry and successfully disordered them!

In the end I managed to destroy his right flank and drive his left one away, but he annihilated my centre, full stop. I started the game with 4 pike blocks against 3, two of them were Swiss, and they weren‘t worth their money! To be fair Bart did a text book assault on his right centre first with Shotte and Doppelsöldner to soften up my Swiss and then went in with his remaining pike. Irresistibly short and sharp and brutal!!

So tactical I won the flanks, but to no use as my centre was being wiped from the board. 10 units I lost vs Barts 8 - so clearly a Imperialistic victory! Congratulations, Bart! We counted 6 regular Blunders (double 6), but at least me and Bart were also blundering in some tactical sense on our own. He send a pike block in front of my heavy gun, while I pushed a pike block needlessly around in the back instead of charging in his miles wide gap which was there for an entire eternity.

Summa summarum, its was a lot of fun to dabble again after some time into the chaotic Renaissance again - and we will do it again! The big table was also a joy, the Gendarmes had now really had a field day and could actually move and charge over three moves - heaven!