Seven Year's War Battle

A friend and I were able to get together and have a go at a battle. I have done some solo actions, but haven't had the chance to face a life opponent. I brought my Prussians to face my friend's Russians. We used the point system and each had about 1650 points. For the Russians, that included 11 battalions, five cavarly regiments and three batteries. On my side, I opted for some good quality troops, so I had four grenadier battalions rated at veterans, six line battalions rated as line, two batteries, two line dragoon regiments and an elite cuirassier regiment. My force was divided up into three brigades, my friend's into five. We used the random terrain system and rolled a lot of fives and sixes! On our six by four table we ended up with four villages, two farms, two light woods, a heavy wood and some hills. Three of the four villages became the objectives we were fighting over. The initial deployment of forces favored the Russians as they were closer to two of the three towns as well as having some high ground to place their batteries on. My strategy was to try to use my grenadiers to secure the town closest to my starting point and then move on to take the second town on the left flank. My cavalry was placed on the right flank which was more open. My line battalions and a heavy battery were in the middle, poised to try to take the third, and what I thought would be the decisive town. The Russians were able to start with all three batteries deployed. 1 line brigade held the town on his right, the cavarly was off to the left, facing my horsemen, and then a grenadier brigade and a line brigade were posted in the center to take the pivotal middle village. Right from the start I took casualties from his artillery which was posted on the hills on his left flank. Our cavalry locked horns first, and I had a couple of good rolls that allowed me to drive back his two brigades of cavalry. This secured my right flank so that the line infantry could advance unmolested on the village. The Russians arrived at this critical point first and occupied both sections of the town with two line battalions. On my left, my grenadiers used the woods to try to shield themselves from the Russian battery positioned to protect this side of the table. This slowed my advance, and allowed him to solidify his defense. In the middle, my initial attack on the center village was partially successful. One section was taken outright, but the second proved more difficult and dragged out for three full turns. On the third turn, my adversary threw in a battalion of grenadiers. This tipped the scale in his favor. He also counter-attacked the section I had captured, and on the last turn drove out my fusiliers.

On my left, my three grenadier battalions launched a desperate attack on the village there, but before they could come to grips with the green-clad infantry, were decimated by canister and close-ranged volleys. This valient brigade lost over 50% casualties in a losing effort. As the sun set on this hard fought battle, the Russians held two of the three objectives, and were therefore declared the winners. On my side, a large part of my failure was in the way I misused my artillery. My medium battery never fired a shot! My heavy battery wasn't able to unlimber until the end of the game. In the three turns it fired, it did some significant damage to the Russian cavarly, but had absolutely no effect on the more important theater of the village. I was surprised at how little of an advantage I was able to gain with my "veteran" grenadiers. I would have been better off by having three elite regiments than four veteran ones. It took us awhile to get it all set up, but once that was done, I think we got through close to eight turns in less than four hours. We both agreed that the rules gave us a good sense of a Seven Year's War battle and we are looking forward to our next game.On my left, my three grenadier battalions launched a desperate attack on the village there, but before they could come to grips with the green-clad infantry, were decimated by canister and close-ranged volleys. This valient brigade lost over 50% casualties in a losing effort. As the sun set on this hard fought battle, the Russians held two of the three objectives, and were therefore declared the winners. On my side, a large part of my failure was in the way I misused my artillery. My medium battery never fired a shot! My heavy battery wasn't able to unlimber until the end of the game. In the three turns it fired, it did some significant damage to the Russian cavarly, but had absolutely no effect on the more important theater of the village. I was surprised at how little of an advantage I was able to gain with my "veteran" grenadiers. I would have been better off by having three elite regiments than four veteran ones. It took us awhile to get it all set up, but once that was done, I think we got through close to eight turns in less than four hours. We both agreed that the rules gave us a good sense of a Seven Year's War battle and we are looking forward to our next game.

Hessian militia

Here are a couple of shots of the three Hessian militia battalions I just completed. I like the white gaiters; a nice change from the black of the Prussian units. These are 20 man battalions. I am just about finished with two regular battalions and then will start working on some cavalry squadrons.

Here are the same battalions from straight on.

Hessian Militia

I just finished three battalions of Hessian militia. The SYW page was very helpful in coming up with the uniform details. I used an assortment of odds and ends figures to make up the 20 man units. I'll finish up the bases tonight and post some pictures. Next on the agenda are a couple of regular units, some assorted cavalry squadrons and a battery of artillery.
I picked up some additional AWI figures at the hobby store last week. For my class this summer I am going to re-base my collection and add a few figures to each regiment. That should keep me busy up through the end of the school year and into the summer.

another battle

Well, this is my third attempt at putting together this entry. I am having a hard time getting the pictures to go where I want them. When I try to move them they disappear and I have to start over. This is my last try!

I have finished my re-basing project, and so now it's time to try out the rules. Today's game had a Prussian force of three infantry and two cavalry brigades going against the same order of battle for the Austrians. The Prussians had slightly better infantry and a small numerical in cavalry.

The picture at left is taken from behind the Prussian lines just prior to the start of the battle. The Prussian plan was to attack vigorously with their infantry on the left and wait to see what happened before committing their cavalry on the right. The Austrians surprised the Prussians by sending forth their cuirassiers on an assault order at the very beginning of the game. The first two turns say the adversaries come to grips with one another. The Prussians' first try to activate their hussars to stop the cuirassiers failed, but on the second bound they came through.

Austrian fire took a toll on the advancing Prussians. The 1/40th Fusiliers lost 25% from canister, but still managed to hold their ground.

On turn three a few charges took place. Prussian jagers drove back some Austrian grenzers, while an Austrian battalion stopped a Prussian counterpart cold with a first volley that claimed 25% casualties. But the biggest setback for the Prussians came when their elite hussars were soundly defeated by Austrian cuirassiers. Even worse, the men in armour rolled an 11 for their pursuit test, which means they will remain formed for the next turn and can charge a supporting regiment of dragoons that have been unformed by the retreating hussars!
The picture at left captures the devestating volley of the Austrians into the men in blue.

Slowly but surely I think I am beginning to understand the flow of the game. It is much harder to attack than I thougt it would be. I was hesitant to use my first volley for the Prussians after moving a full turn, but in hindsight, this probably would have softened up the men in white a bit. We'll see how that works next time.

Happy Easter

It's a glorious day here in Southern California and it's Easter Sunday. It's a day to reflect on hope and things eternal. Today will be spent at church and with family. I have so much to be grateful for. I thought it appropriate to use this blog as an avenue to express my gratitude. I hope you have a great day as well!

Finished! But not really

Today I finished my last stand of Prussian cavalry to complete my re-basing project. So I am finally done. But not really. I still have a ton of unpainted figures out in the garage, beckoning to be added to the completed legions. My plan in buying these figures was to paint them and then sell them to help pay off my Napoleonic project. I have hundreds left to fulfill this original goal, but now my mind swims with the possibilities of adding still more battalions to my SYW collection. I am already adding four more battalions of Russian line infantry. I started working on them today.

So, I have a week off for spring break and I'll need something to do to keep me out of trouble. As I write this I really have no idea what that will be, but I'll keep you posted!

More SYW action

I finally received my rules and am in the midst of trying out my first "real" game using the entire set of rules. This encounter featured a very large Prussian army assaulting a Russian force defending an elevated position. The cavalry of both sides was lined up on the right Prussian flank so I could continue to test this part of the rules.

The Prussians had a very rough go of it. In the middle, their infantry took heavy losses from several Russian batteries. But on the third turn things really turned south. In the huge cavalry fight, the Russians not only won every mele, but rolled double sixes on two of them! This doubled the casualties and sent three Prussian regiments scrambling back. The Russian horse grenadiers rolled an 11 on their pursuit test, which meant they wouldn't even be unformed from the combat.
In the shot below you can see the results of the combat.

Here is yet another shot of the Russian's tremendous victory over the Prussian cavalry.

The shot below shows the devestating effect of the Russian artillery on the advancing Prussians.
One unit has already dispersed and a second has taken close to 25% casualties.

On this same turn, on the Prussian left, a battalion advancing in column was hit by a Russian battery which rolled double sixes, the third of the turn. In this case, the Prussian brigadier was killed and the battalion faltered, which stopped the attack cold for the foreseeable future.

I have learned that it is very costly to attack enemy artillery and that cavalry combat can be very unpredictable. It has been a lot of fun thus far!