Saturday 10 February 2018

Ambush at Rotkirch

A quick game played out in the 1758 campaign. This sees a supply train for the Hungarian forces north of Colslau being ambushed by a light Prussian force.
I began to play this game with the Honours of War rules, but in the first combat I found both the Austrian and Prussian Hussars wiped each other out. The speed with which units can be destroyed is something about the rules that I haven't really liked, and so after a bit of tweaking I have gone back to my old Horse and Musket rules. With a few updates to take out removal of bases as part of the mechanisms, I've arrived at a set of rules I really enjoy. The page has been updated today.
I actually didn't play this one solo. John came around and it took about half an hour to play through, with quite a satisfactory conclusion.

The Austrian supply column winds its way along the road.

A view showing Rotkirch in the background.
 The scenario called for the Prussians to roll for when they would appear. Each turn they rolled a d6. In the first turn they needed a 6, in the second a 5 or 6 and so on. They arrived in Turn 3.

The Prussians arrive.
 The forces were:
Austria - 1 Hussar regiment, 1 Grenadier regiment and 1 Grenz battalion.
Prussia - 2 Hussar regiments and 2 Freikorps battalions.
The Austrians had four carts that they needed to get off the southern table edge. If a Prussian unit contacted a cart it would be captured.

Because I was playing a real person, I didn't end up taking photos of the whole action, but it ended with the Austrian Hadik Hussars being routed and the Austrians losing two carts to the Prussian raiders. The other two carts were safely delivered. This will affect the siege of Colslau in that a detachment of Hungarians will be sent north to garrison the road via Rotkirch, and the garrison will not have to endure heavy bombardment on Colslau itself.

The end of the battle as the Malachowsky Hussars catch the Austrian wagon just before it leaves the table.
 The Malachowsky Hussars restored their reputation after their precipitous flight at Brudenitz, earning a commendation for their role in routing their Austrian opposites and then managing to secure the second Austrian wagon.
Hunkering down in Rotkirche the Warasdiner Grenz and the Grenadier regiment keep the Prussian Freikorps at bay.
On the Austrian side the Warasdiner Grenz earned a commendation for their delaying action against the Freikorps, which saved two of the wagons.

Nate

12 comments:

  1. Looks great, armies and buildings!

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  2. Great sounding game.
    Thanks for posting.
    Cheers
    Stu

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    1. It was really enjoyable. It was good to see John focus on the objective rather than just try to get kills.

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  3. Looks good, Nathan.

    As for the endurance of cavalry in HoW, they can be brittle. Two rounds of melee is about all a unit can withstand. If no retreat or rout is triggered in Round 1, Round 2 typically sees one or both destroyed. For now, I am ok with that outcome.

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    1. Thanks Jonathan. I prefer my units to last a bit longer than they do in HoW, mostly because I play a lot of smaller games like this. But I'm also really enjoying my updated Horse and Musket rules - they are working really smoothly now.

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    2. Do you have your H&M rules to share?

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    3. Yeah Jon, the link to their page is at the top of the blog. But if you want I can e-mail you a copy.

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