Mollwitz 2017

As reported in my previous post, Peter from up the road came for one of our very occasional games last night. I had decided to have a go at Mollwitz again as it was a scenario Peter hadn’t played before.

We diced for sides, with the highest being rewarded with the command of the Austrians. That dubious honour fell to me. My plan was simple. Launch both cavalry wings at the Prussian flanks in order to drive off their numerically inferior horse, hopefully leaving enough of each command in good enough order to turn on the flanks of the Prussian infantry in the centre. My poor bloody infantry would just have to hang on in there in the centre long enough for the cavalry to do its work, hopefully reinforced by my heavy artillery which was off table at the start and would only arrive after a successful but heavily adjusted command roll from the Austrian Commander in Chief. My plan would rely on speed and decisive and successful command rolls to work. With all movement at half rate due to the deep snow I wouldn’t be racing across the battlefield especially fast but the snow would also work to my advantage as well of course.

I didn't take many photos as I was a little distracted by the game but here they are.

The battle at the start of turn 1.

The Austrian defenders waiting for the inevitable Prussian attack. The poor unfortunate hussars were feeling very exposed.

On the Austrian left Peter pushed his cavalry forward as far as they could go and collided with my massed ranks of cuirassiers and dragoons. In the first clash honours were pretty even but as the Prussians were outnumbered 2:1 they were soon in trouble as they had no reserves.

The Prussians only advanced into musket range and then let rip a series of deadly volleys, which even at long range  threw the Austrian front line into disarray. The exposed hussars were driven off shaken.

The Prussian front rank closed the gap with the Austrians but their supports were very slow in coming up thanks to some poor command rolls and a blunder which sent them backwards a move at a time when they really could have done with going forward!

Back on the left the Prussians have withdrawn, leaving their grenadier battalion to cover them while they tried to reform. I threw caution to the wind and charged the grenadiers. Miraculously (thanks to being obscured by swirling snow perhaps) they survived the closing fire and charged home. In the ensuing melee the grenadiers fought like demons and threw the cuirassiers back with ease.

So I tried again, with the same result. At least I was occupying the grenadiers' attention and didn't actually loose any cavalry off the table, even though they were mauled severely. Meanwhile my remaining squadrons can be seen clattering into the two squadrons of rallying Prussians who were broken. Hooray!

The detritus of war. Clearly the Austrians' choice of beer was better than the Prussians'.

Back in the centre two battalions of Prussian infantry failed their break tests and fled the field. The Austrians had  stepped their rear rank through the battered front line at just the right moment and caught the Prussians on the hop, leaving a rather large gap in the Prussian centre.

Typically the Austrians were unable to capitalise on the rout of the Prussian centre, and the gap was filled quickly by elements of the supporting line. Both Prussian lines were now hopelessly intermingled, making it tough for Peter to maintain control over them. The Austrian artillery also chose this move to make an appearance, and were to deploy to the left of the two battalions in the centre foreground. 

On the Austrian right, after an early clash the Prussians had withdrawn in front of the Austrian horsemen rather than risk getting overwhelmed. The Austrians finally caught up with the Prussians and broke their brigade, not without loss, and were positioning themselves to roll up the Prussian line. One Prussian battalion was charged by Austrian infantry from the front then hit in the flank by Austrian dragoons with predictable results.

By now, with both cavalry wings and the leading infantry brigade broken the Prussians army was broken (thats three out of four brigades) and withdrew from the field of battle. An unexpected victory for the Austrians mainly due to the slowness or nervousness of the Prussian infantry who with a bit more aggression should have been able to shake off casualties from the Austrians and get into point blank range as quickly as possible to blast the enemy away with a few deadly volleys. 

Nevertheless, it was a tough game as the Prussians did well on the flanks, holding my cavalry at bay, but in the end the game was going to be decided by the Prussian infantry, i.e. could they destroy their Austrian counterparts before their flanks collapsed. This time the answer was no they couldn't.

So there ends the report of my last game of 2017. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and have a very happy, healthy and productive 2018!

Mollwitz tonight and the final game of 2017.

Peter asked to have a game over the weekend so I've chosen Mollwitz. Why? Well, I still had snow cloth and most of my Prussians on the table for post-battle repairs after Leuthen earlier this month as I hadn't had time or the energy to put them all away. Just as well as it turns out.

We will use Black Powder this evening as they're the set Peter is most used to, him being a very infrequent wargamer. It should also guarantee we get a result by the end of the evening. I've played Mollwitz a few times over the years, using both BP and Honours of War and its not always been a smooth ride by the Prussians to an historical outcome. The game is a (hopefully) finely-tuned balance between superior Prussian infantry facing decidedly uninspiring Austrian infantry, and numerically and qualitatively superior Austrian cavalry.

Terrain wise, apart from Mollwitz and a couple of other built up areas the cloth is completely open, on the basis that the roads, streams and marsh are all covered by deep snow and/or frozen solid.

I shall report back tomorrow.

The Battle of Chotusitz, 17 May 1742

This week's game was the first at home for a while, but it was a cracker though I say so myself. Conrad, Dave, Paul S and Paul T came up for a refight of the Battle of Chotusitz, the last major battle of the 1st Silesian War, using the Honours of War rules. Although I'd played this battle before, as indeed had Dave, it was a while ago and none of the others had, so I expected an interesting, exciting even, game. I was not to be disappointed, and neither I trust, were the others. Dave was Frederick, assisted by Paul T as Dessau, while Conrad was Charles of Lorraine, assisted by Paul S as von Daun. I umpired and did the catering which by the end of the day was enough to have me flat on my back, albeit happily so with a gin and (not much) tonic reflecting on the game.

For those not familiar with the battle, the Austrians had managed to catch Frederick on the back foot and had surprised his greatly outnumbered rearguard under Anhalt-Dessau deployed around the village of Chotusitz. In reality, the Prussians were slowly pushed back and much of their cavalry destroyed, before Frederick with the main body arrived and turned the tide, halting the Austrian advance in its tracks. The latter withdrew, leaving the Prussians in possession of the battlefield.

Prussian Army:

CinC Frederick II King of Prussia (Dependable)

1^st Line: GL von Kalckstein (Dependable)

Musketeers x 2 

Grenadiers  x 2 

6pdr bty x 1

2^nd Line: GL von Schmetau (Dependable)

Musketeers x 3 

Guard  x 1

6pdr bty x 1

Gen der Inf Leopold von Anhalt Dessau (Dashing) [Lt.General for brigades below]

Cavalry, left flank:  GL von Waldow   (Dependable)

Cuirassiers x 3

Dragoons x 2

Hussars x 1

Infantry: GL Jeetze (Dependable)

Musketeers x 3 

Cavalry, right flank: GL von Buddenbrock (Dashing)

Cuirassiers x 3

Dragoons x 2

Artillery: Independent unit

Heavy artillery:  2 x 12pdr

       i.         All Prussian infantry were classed as superior in the rules. Their cavalry was classed as standard. I made Frederick 'Dependable' in this game rather than the more usual (for the SYW anyhow) 'dashing'.  

Austrian Army: Prince Charles of Lorraine (Dependable…..just!)

Light troops: [Independent units]

Croats x 4 (Inferior - 2 on right and 2 on left flank)

Infantry, 1^st Line: GL von Daun (Dependable)

Musketeers x 5

12pdr x 2 (superior for firing)

Howitzer x 1 (superior for firing)

Infantry, 2^nd Line: GL von Konigsegg (Dependable)

Musketeers x 5

Right wing Cavalry: GL Leichtenstein (Dashing)

Cuirassiers x 2 

Dragoons x 2 

Left Wing Cavalry: GM Batthyanyi (Dashing)

Cuirassiers x 4 

Dragoons x 3

Hussars x 2 

Austrian cuirassiers and dragoons were classed as 'superior' while the Croats and hussars were 'inferior'.

And so to the battle, one punctuated by some amazingly bad luck dice rolls, mainly from Dave, but not a few from Paul T, while the Austrians were slow to advance and got in a right pickle trying to control their extended infantry lines in the centre. Amazingly, it was turn 7 or 8 before the Prussians won the initiative for moving, and more often than not they also lost the shooting initiative test, despite their inherent advantage!

 The Prussian right, facing superior numbers of superior quality cavalry. 

 The Prussian left, facing around half of the Austrian army!

 Prussians holding Chotusitz are pounded by the Austrian artillery.

 The isolated Prussian artillery battery in the centre. They did valiant work denying much of the centre to the Austrian army.

 The rather disjointed Austrian attack in the centre, struggling to keep going as several battalions were out of command and failed to move.

 The Austrian front line finally started to take shape positioned nicely as they were within cannister range of the Prussian guns.

 The Prussian right under Buddenbrock holds its ground in the face over overwhelming, but stationary, odds.

 For some reason the Austrians decided to hold their cavalry back on their left flank, which may have lost them the chance to overwhelm the Prussians before Frederick arrived.

 Some annoying and pesky Croats are driven off by a regiment of Prussian dragoons. Both Croat battalions were forced to evade and played no further part in the battle.

 Venerable Hinchliffe Austrian hussars valiantly avoiding contact with the enemy!

 The Austrians finally let loose their cuirassiers and drove back the outnumbered Prussians, but not without loss.

 Paul T managed to get his cavalry on the table but a few failed command rolls meant that they were caught in column by the Austrian artillery and took severe damage, one regiment being broken, who quickly overtook the battalion of infantry that had broken the move before.

 Turn 5 and Frederick arrives at last. Only the front line managed to get on the table, in time to see the Austrian cavalry bearing down on them at great speed!

 The Austrian cavalry on their left rallied and reformed a line facing the oncoming Prussian reinforcements.

 Dave moved his infantry close to the Austrians, daring them to charge. 

 Would they? Wouldn't they? Conrad wasn't sure, but then threw a 6, so as a dashing commander they had to charge! All six regiments!

 The first wave survived the closing fire but was repulsed in the 'melee'.

The second wave however hit the sorely wounded and somewhat unsupported Prussian infantry and both battalions were broken. That seemed about right as two battalions were overwhelmed by six regiments of cuirassiers and dragoons. If the Prussians had been supported then the outcome would have been very different, subject to the dice rolls of course.

At that point we called it a day. The Austrians still had significant numbers of cavalry available, as their right wing had remained rooted to the spot for most of the game. However, the Prussians still had a marked superiority in infantry quantity and quality so were more likely to be able to gain and retain possession of the field. I reckoned it had gone more or less as in the real fight in 1742, so declared it a minor Prussian victory.

It was a great game, and it was pretty close in the end. The superiority of the Austrian cavalry over their Prussian foes was a potential battle winner, as was the superiority of the Prussian infantry. The artillery was pretty effective in denying portions of the field to the enemy, but as I said when Conrad queried the effectiveness I said that the two Prussian models represented 20 12pdrs and four 24pdrs so blowing away an infantry battalion with canister wasn't too unrealistic.

Next time we're all together we shall attempt Hohenfriedberg (part 1 v the Saxons as this can be fought as a discrete game).