DBSYW - Chotusitz (ish)

Played another playtest of DBSYW set in the war of Austrian succession loosely based on the battle of Chotusitz.

Prussian infantry and Austrian Cavalry were all rated as elite.

The Austrians have 14 elements set up on the table  and the onus is on them to attack before the Prussian reinforcements arrive.

The Prussians only have 6 elements on the table  with 7 more to arrive as reinforcements. However they have some high ground and the village of Chotusitz to defend. The Prussian cavalry is exposed with their backs to the pond.

The Austrian cavalry launch a ferocious attack on the Prussian cavalry and in the ensuing melees they easily push back and destroy the Prussian cavalry.

The Austrian infantry in the centre push forward and are soon trading musketry with the Prussian Infantry.

The Austrian grenadiers try to take Chotusitz but are beaten back and destroyed. The Prussian reserves have arrived and are now in supporting distance of the Infantry battle. Time is running out for the Austrians.

The Austrian cavalry now launch flank attacks on the Prussian infantry and although they destroy the Prussians guns are thrown back by the Prussian infantry and then destroyed by musketry.

The Prussian infantry are getting the upper hand with Austrian infantry struggling against the effective Prussan volleys. The Austrian cavalry are able to throw back the Prussian cavalry and stabilise their right wing.

With loses mounting the Prussians launch an attack on a shaken Austrian infantry uunit. They have the advantage 6 - 3  (shown by the black and white dice) The Austrian roll a 6 however the Prussians roll a 3 and the melee is drawn.  Both sides take a loss which destroys the Austrian infantry unit and takes them to 50% loses overall. The Prussians have lost 5 elements so a historic Prussian victory. But it was close.

AMG 17

I have just got back from AMG 17 annual gathering. Next year I understand the gathering will be called The Officers Mess. So roll TOM 18.

We have had a great weekend and we all spent a pleasant time playing with, as Ally calls them, wee toy soldiers. The location and excellent company make this yhe highlight of my gaming  year.

In all we had four games to available to play

Firstly Colin Ashton 's Leuthen game using Honours of War rules. Colin was able assisted by the quietly spoken and demure Robbie R.

Graham Cummings put on Falkirk also using Honours of War.

Paul Robinson's WSS game had a  lot if figures on the table, or all painted by Paul, and used  his own rules.

Finally there was Martin Gane's Sands of the Sudan game.

Over the weekend I played in all but Martin Sudan game. Unfortunately had managed to be on the losing side in all three games I played.

Here a few pictures of the action.

Klien Mollwitz

The battle of Mollwitz is one of the classic wargame battles. I have fought the battle on a number of occasions.

The recent publication of 'Refighting History Vol 2' by Charles S Grant, and John Rays planning and preparation for refighting the battle on the AMG forum, has piqued my interest in refighting the battle again.

My challenge is that my only easily accessible surface is my kitchen table. While this is extentable to approx 8ft it is limited to a meagre 32 inches.

I am therefore now looking to play a kitchen table sized version of the battle using my 28mm collection. The rules will be The Wargame played using 1/2 scale measurements.

My plan is underway for Klien Mollwitz.

My Infantry units are 30 figures and Grenadiers 24. Cavalry are in 6 figure units.

So using the orders of battle in Refighting History I have distilled them down to the following. The ratio I have used is 1 infantry representing 100 and 1 cavalryman equally 150

Austrian

3 Infantry units
9 Cavalry units
1 Hussar unit
1 gun

Prussian

4 Infantry units
2 Grenadier units
4 Cavalry units
1 Hussar unit
1 gun

The table will measure 60 by 32

I need to prep a few figures before I play the game

It will be interesting to see if works.  If it does then I will see what other classics I can distill to the small table.

The War of the Austrian Succession - 1

As regular readers of this blog will know early this year I moved house and as a result no longer have my permanent wargame table.  

In the next few weeks I will be able to have a temporary 6 by 4 table available to resume gaming. It's smaller than my old 10 by 6 I used to have in my basement.

So my thoughts are moving to what type of game I can put on this temporary table. 

With my son Max showing more interest I hope to do more gaming with him.

I have decided to set up a solo campaign to generate smaller 18th Century battles to game.  Many years ago I ran a Sport of Kings campaign from the Warfare in the Age of Reason rules. 

Reading the Campaign rules and looking at the map I decided to give it a go.  

The following show the maps which I found here.

http://home.earthlink.net/~mikedemanaphotos/SportKings/SportMaps.html

I have decided that I would leave out Turkey as I don't have any Ottomans.

So the scene is set. It's 1740 and I am ready to go.  I decided the following political stance for each nation as follows.

Sweden: unaligned but with a burning design to avenge the defeat at Poltava and seeks to take on Russia. Will cooperate with Prussian in this objective. I may well use my GNW armies for battles against the Russians. 

Russia: Apprehensive about Swedish intensions Russia will keep a large part of its forces covering this threat. The Russian however will look to seek territorial advances in the Baltic and Poland.

Prussia: Will look to expand whether it can with Austria and Poland it's key areas. Has a non agression pact with Britain over Hanover but is distrustful of British intentions particulary if they intervene to support Austria.

Austria: Austria only friend is Great Britain. Threatened by Prussian in the north and the combined Bourbon Alliance (Gallispan) in Italy and the Low Countries things look tough.

Great Britain: Brittania rules the waves - or does it ? The Gallidpan navies outnumber the British. Holding out in North America will be crucial and the  Med may be a side show. Hanover is also    a concern as is French action in the Low Countries. 

France:  Too many options not enough troops.  An alliance with Spain helps. France will work with the fellow Bourbons  in putting pressure on Britian in North America and the Carribean and in Italy against the Austrians. France main thrust will be in the Low Countries and a secondary option in Rhine.

Spain: The Spanish thrust will be directed towards Italy via France however the North American and Carribean will see both land and naval forces committed. The Spanish will look to control the Mediterranean Sea to support its Italian objectives. 

So the scene is set. Next I will set up the starting forces ready for the first Campaign moves.  

Down Sizing

I am looking to build up some smaller scale armies for quick pick up games to play against my son on the kitchen table.

I already have some Napoleonic in 15mm  however the lure of the 18th Century is too much of a pull. I have a few old SYW Minifig Figures plus some Dixon Marlburian Cavalry, left over from the collections sold many years ago, which can be used at a pinch. 

Well I started painting some Blue Moon  French 15mm figures however I wanted too create big battalions a la Grant (48 figures, 4 officers and a mounted CO).  Digging around I found 8 Austrian Minifig Grenadiers and some Lanchashire games French to bring the numbers up to full strength.

It's been a while since I painted 15mm however I found them easier to paint than I thought.

Anyway here they are with the full unit deployed in line. In all the unit is 24cm, or over 9 inches, in length. A unit this size will be interesting to move and maneovre on the table top. More thoughtful planning and positioning will be required to bring these into action.

A slightly closer look.

In addition I have renovated these old Minifig Austrian Cuiassier. Both these units will form part of my Imperial Army.

These are organised as 6 figure squadrons with an officer type.

Next up will be some renovated Minifigs painted as the Saxon Leib Garde (2 companies in Mitre and 2 in Austrian style bearskins). These will be organized as a converged Grenadier unit with 32 figures, 6 officers and a mounted Officer).