Action on the Ammerbach

A return to Napoleonics this week, with a fictional scenario set along the Danube valley in 1809.  Napoleon is faced by the main Austrian army under Archduke Karl and orders Vandamme to make a flank march with his corps to seize a vital bridge over the Ammerbach at Garbershof and cut the Austrian lines of communication.   Vandamme has 20 battalions organised into 3 divisions, plus a light cavalry brigade of 4 regiments and four batteries of artillery (three field and one horse).
Rosenberg's corps is in the vicinity of Garbershof en route to join the main Austrian army.  He has 10 line battalions, 5 grenz battalions (3 of which are operating as skirmishers) and two battalions of grenadiers.  The corps cavalry consists of three regiments of Uhlans and one of Hussars.  Rosenberg has 4 batteries of field artillery and one of horse.

The Austrians are deployed as follows.  GM Frimont with the Grenz battalions and one regiment of Uhlans is in the woods on the lower slopes of the Ullersberg.  From the Ullersberg, the Ullerwasser runs across the valley to join the Ammerbach at the village of Allmansfeld.  GM Meyer's division (5 line battalions with one field battery are garrisoning Allmansfeld and deployed along the line of the Ullerwasser.  GM Weiss' division (5 line battalions and a field battery) are deployed in and around the village of Garbershof.  The Austrian reserves (Hessen-Homburg's grenadiers and Frolich's light cavalry) are  deployed close to the road along the southern bank of the Danube.

Vandamme advanced with his two Wurttemburg divisions (Neubronn and Stockmayer) followed by Jett's light cavalry and then Ochs' Westphalian division.  His plan was for Neubronn to pin the Austrians along the Ullerwasser whilst Stockmayer outflanked them and headed for Garbershof.  Jett would take on the Austrian cavalry and Ochs support Stockmayer's attack.

Stockmayer supporting Neubronn's advance

 As Neubronn's men moved to their left and advanced on the Ullerwasser they came under artillery fire.  The Jager battalion Neuffer suffered particularly heavy casualties, but at least this allowed the other battalions to approach the stream with little difficulty.  Both battalions of the Kronprinz regiment attacked the 3rd battalion of the Weidenfeleid regiment, but were thrown back by accurate Austrian volleys.  To the right of Neubronn, Stockmayer was advancing along the valley road towards the ford over the Ullerwasser.  As they neared the
 woods on the lower slopes of the Ullersberg they came under fire from the Grenz.  Stockmayer deployed his skirmishers to meet this threat,but they were too few in number to prevent the Grenz from picking off officers from the marching line battalions.  Vandamme ordered Ochs to send forward his skirmishers to assist and this balanced the contest for a time.

GM Meyer's men hold the line of the Ullerwasser

By the ford over the Ullerwasser Stockmayer's leading battalions were now in position to attack 2nd battalion Weidenfeld.  Led by the Konig Jager regiment. the Wurttemburgers charged over the stream ignoring the rather scattered volley fired by the Austrians.  Outnumbered by 2: 1 the Austrians tried to hold their ground but were forced to fall back, leaving behind many casualties and the battered remnants took no further part in the battle.  However, the gallant stand by Weidenfeld had allowed time for GM Weiss to bring up his division and this was now deployed in line barring further Wurttemburg progress.

Pressure builds on the Austrian line

Rosenberg had seen the threat to his left and not only GM Weiss had received new orders.  The cavalry were also ordered to support GM Meyer, whilst Hessen-Homburg was to garrison Garbershof.  On the slopes of the Ullersberg the light infantry fight continued with GM Frimont feeding in another battalion of Grenz.  This increased pressure on Stockmayer's left and Vandamme sent forward another one of Ochs battalions to try and disperse the Austrians.  It was a necessary move as the Grenz had now started targeting the artillery crews, causing increasing casualties amongst the gunners.  Both Stockmayer and Ochs ordered their artillery to concentrate against the Grenz.  Canister was fired but with little effect.  Rosenberg was satisfied that his plan to deploy Frimont was in the woods was working, drawing off resources from the main attack.
 Weiss and Meyer needed all the help they could get, Neubronn and Stockmayer were attacking once again and although Neubronn's men were suffering heavy casualties and needed to pause to regroup, Stockmayer was now ready to attack the second Austrian line. With Konig Jager leading the way again the Wurttemburgers swept forward.  A volley from IR Lindenau stopped 1st battalion Prince Paul, but the remaining attackers closed to melee.  Perhaps unnerved by the resolute advance of their foes, the Austrians broke and ran, sweeping past the jeering Deutschmeister.

IR Lindenau break

However, 3rd battalion Deutschmeister would soon feel the full weight of the Wurttemburg attack.  Launching themselves forward Stockmayer's men charged the Austrians. Again a volley proved insufficient to stop the Wurttemburgers and in a short melee the Austrians were defeated, joining the fleeing Linedenau in a race towards Garbershof.  The Austrian line was now in danger of being wrapped up, but Frolich's cavalry now entered the fray.  The Carl Ludwig Uhlans charged forward and caught 1st battalion Fusiliers Von Neubronn before they could form square.  In a trice the battalion was destroyed, the survivors seeking shelter behind their supporting battalions.  Showing admirable command, the Uhlans fell back to reform, rather than plunging on with the possibility of being cut off.

This Austrian riposte emphasised the need for Jett to get his men forward, but with Frimonts men interfering with Ochs advance and the Austrian line stubbornly refusing to give way there was little room to deploy.  Neubronn's men bought that room by attacking once again towards Allmansfeld.  Ravaged by canister they struggled across the Ullerwasser and charged 3rd Weidenfeld, forcing them back.  This created just enough room for the Leib Cheveauleger to cross the Ullerwasser and form up.  This forced Weidenfeld to form square against the cavalry threat and in such a formation they were vulnerable to a further infantry attack.  Their formation broken by the infantry, the Austrians were quickly destroyed by the Wurttemburg cavalry, who followed up and cut down the gunners of the battery which had done such execution amongst Neubronn's men.

Now enjoying cavalry support, Stockmayer resumed his advance, pushing forward against 1st battalion Deutschmeister.  These proved a much tougher proposition and their volley stalled the Wurttemburg attack.  After trading volleys the Wurttemburgers charged again, this time forcing the Austrians to fall back.  Once again, the  Carl Ludwig Uhlans charged in support of their comrades and this time bested the Jager zu Pferde Konig.  Having relieved the pressure on the line the cavalry fell back to reform.

A combined attack proves too much for 2nd Deutschmeister

Having reformed, the Leib Cheveauleger now attacked the Austrian line again.  Moving round the left flank of Stockmayer's advance they caught 2nd battalion Deutschmeister in the midst of forming square, driving them from the field. Both Wurttemburg infantry divisions werenow being drawn towards Gerbarshof and they came under fire from the Austrian reserve artillery.  Hessen-Homburg's grenadiers were keen to get involved, resenting their garrison duties.  Grenadier Battalion Reuber advanced and fired a volley at 2nd battalion Fusilers Von Neubronn, whilst the Wurttemburgers were trying to restore their line, the Austrians charged and drove them from the field.

Ochs Westphalians were now embroiled in a desperate struggle with Frimont's Grenz and their supporting artillery.  The leading battalion of the 4th infantry regiment was  destroyed by successive volleys of canister and their comrades suffered heavy casualties before capturing the guns.  However, their success was short-lived as Grenz Warasdiner St Georg fired a volley which drove them back in disorder.  The Walisch Illyrian Grenz also defeated an attack by one of Stockmayer's battalions which had strayed into the woods.

The Austrian grenadiers advance

Despite some local successes, Rosenberg saw that the day was going against him.  He had inflicted heavy casualties on two of the enemy divisions, but his two line divisions were worn out.  Frolich and Frimont could delay an enemy pursuit, but it seemed the best course of action would be to cross the Ammerbach by the Garbershof bridge and join the main Austrian army.  As his aide was compiling the necessary orders, a rider appeared from Garbershof.  He had been sent by FML Hiller to say that III and V  Corps would be arriving over the next few hours and he (Rosenberg) should hold his position.

What Rosenberg could not see from the plain by the Danube, was revealed in full to Vandamme and his staff from the higher ground of the Ullersberg.  Long lines of white-coated infantry, with cavalry and artillery support, all converging on Garbershof.  There was now no way he could take the town or it's bridge.Victory had been snatched from him once again.  When would he win his Marshals baton?   

Triples

The sun shone as we crossed the Pennines and headed for the Triples show at Sheffield.  No problems unloading and setting up the game and by 10 am we were ready.   As mentioned in an earlier post the game was Bauge and I commanded the Franco-Scottish forces whilst Will took the role of Clarence, the English commander.  No doubt due to Will's influence, Clarence kept his composure and avoided charging off at the nearest enemy unit.  This enabled the combined English cavalry to act together and trample all over the French forces whilst the Scots looked on.

However, they (the Scots)  soon had problems of their own as the English archers advanced into range and targeted the Scots archers.  Douglas's archers were soon in disarray, (those that weren't casualties), and when the tardy Salisbury arrived with yet more archers, things were unlikely to improve for the Scots.  Buchan did bring on his reinforcements to help Douglas, but the pikes were unable to make an impact.

With half my force lost (5 French units, 2 units of archers and a pike block) the day belonged to the English.  A most enjoyable game which flowed well.  There was plenty of opportunity to talk to visitors to the show and discuss the rule mechanisms.  Another review of the game can be found on Will's blog together with photos of the action and of other games on display.

Once again there was a good variety of games on offer and here are a few photos to give a flavour

Indian Mutiny

French & Indian Wars

Zorndorf

Stalingrad (in 54mm)

The photos don't really do the games justice and there were several more games where I didn't manage to get a decent photo.  I particularly liked the 1:300 scale (?) which was in the Kriegspiel tradition.  The Almanza game was also of interest.

The next "outing" is Phalanx in June and there is plenty to organise before then.
 

Bauge

Well,we had a couple of runs through the Bauge scenario for next Saturday at Triples and the games seemed to flow well. 

The battlefield from behind Bauge

An account of the battle can be found here and of course Wikipedia.  The scenario begins with Douglas at Bauge with two units of pikes and two of archers.  Buchan, with the remainder of the Scottish forces enters on the same side of the river.  La Fayette, with the French forces is on the opposite bank, facing Clarence with the English mounted troops, who is supported by his illegitimate son and a body of archers. Salisbury, with more archers and a small unit of cavalry enters on the Bauge side of the river.  Clarence is rated as 'rash' and on rolling a 6 on a d6 he will attach himself to a body of cavalry and attack Bauge across the bridge, (the only crossing point for mounted troops).

The French contingent

In the first game Clarence behaved impeccably, resisting the urge to charge pikemen on a narrow front and instead turned his attention to La Fayette's troops.  In a series of charges the English cavalry trampled each and every French unit, whilst the Scots looked on from across the river.  To be fair, the Scots had problems of their own.  Buchan was somewhat reluctant to enter the fray, consistently rolling high dice and therefore failing his command test and thereby remaining stationary.  Salisbury's archers were also tardy in their arrival, but once on the field their fire quickly drove off one of Douglas' units of pikes. The English archers hit with five dice out of 6 and the Scots failed to save any of their casualties due to rolling miserably low dice. However, when it came to deciding on the distance the pikemen would have to fall back the 5 dice produced a total of 28! a score sufficient to have saved three of the casualties if rolled a few seconds before.    28 cms was comfortably more than the usual move for the pikes so they were deemed to have routed from the field.  his loss, taken with the French losses was sufficient for an English victory, especially as La Fayette was killed leading a charge of his last reserve in an attempt to halt the English cavalry.

The gallant La Fayette

 After a break for lunch we played the scenario again.  This time, Clarence played more to type.  Rolling a six at the first opportunity and taking the unit of English knights headed for the bridge to Bauge.  In no time at all the English knights were charging home against the Scots pikes, and acheiving no success whatsoever.  However, Carence would not be denied and the English tried again, this time they did push back the pikes before a counter push forced the knights back onto the bridge.

Clarence on the bridge

 Meanwhile, Salisbury had moved forward and arrayed his archers facing Douglas's men in Bauge.  Some Scottish archers had lined the river to fire at Clarence and thereby offered a flank to Salisbury's cavalry.  Not one to spurn an opportunity, Salisbury ordered the cavalry to attack.  They moved forward but failed a command test to charge and were left as a tempting target for the Scots archers, who redeployed and shot into them.  Flinching from their losses the cavalry fell back and ended up in the river where they milled about helplessly.  Seizing their chance the Scots pikes now charged Salisbury's archers and in a hard fought melee wiped out one unit.  However, they had suffered heavy losses and were now isolated and the remainder were driven from the field by the remaining archers.

Clarence's remaining cavalry were attacked by La Fayette's French knights and were almost wiped out.  Only the supporting archers saved the day,shooting down many of the French as they sought to close to melee.
Back on the bridge Clarence attacked for a third time and gained a little more ground.  Perhaps sensing victory was near he charged a fourth time and this time the pikes gave way, Bauge was his!  Or perhaps not.  Although again suffering poor command dice, Buchan had arrived with his pikes in the nick of time.  Deploying to face Clarence the Scots edged forward, forcing the English back onto the bridge.  It was now that Clarence found that rather than English reinforcements coming to his aid, the men advancing across the bridge were French billmen.  Trapped, he could only surrender and the remains of the English force quit the field.

Two games, a victory for each side, so the scenario was judged a success.  If you are attending Triples on the Saturday, please stop off at the Lance & Longbow stand and say hello and maybe stay and take part in the game?

More Medievals

Our next show is Triples on the 17th May.  The Lance and Longbow Society will be putting on Bauge (1421), a battle between the English and a Franco-Scottish army.  One month later it will be the Phalanx show at St Helens and the battle of Hedgeley Moor (1464).  So we are in the midst of sorting out rule sets and figures for these two battles.

For Bauge we will probably use Warmaster Ancients with some 'tweeks' to accommodate medieval troop types.  At St Helens we initially intended to use the Poleaxed rules, but are now not so sure.  Play testing the scenario last week we attempted to represent the Yorkist forces deploying from column to line of battle and the delays involved meant that the Yorkists suffered significant casualties from archery before battle was joined.  Once the melee started failed morale tests (due to accumulated casualties (DPs)) resulted in half the Yorkists routing in no time at all.  The main contingent, commanded by Montague held on, but quickly found itself attacked from front and both flanks.

A re-run, using the Warmaster Ancients also resulted in a Yorkist defeat,but this was more clearly identifiable as due to erratic dice rolls, with the Yorkists seemingly unable to convert any of their saving throws for casualties.  One common theme was that Percy (rated as a Rash commander),was by far the most reluctant to advance.  One of the few historical facts available about the battle is that he was killed in the fight.  Whether this was due to rash advance on his part, or that he stood his ground when the rest of the Lancastrians fled we do not know.

Any way a couple of photos showing the main melee follow

The next post should include some photos of the Bauge scenario 

Royston Bridge : an ECW scenario

This week's battle is set in the fictional county of Kelhamshire and features those determined adversaries Sir Victor Meldrew, (Parliament) and Lord Melchett, (Royalist).  The Parliamentary forces are besieging Kelham, the county town and a supply train is on its way to help them prosecute the siege.  The quickest route is by the Royston bridge over the river Kelham and Sir Victor has sent a regiment of dragoons ahead to secure the bridge.  Lord Melchett has also divined the importance of the bridge and in turn has sent a unit of dragoons to hold it against any Parliamentary reconnaissance.

This is the general layout of the table.  The river Kelham is awkward to cross, disordering any infantry or cavalry units which attempt it and requiring them to take a command test to reform.  The Royalist forces enter from the right and there is a swampy, waterlogged area (impassable to all troops) on their side of the river in the bend. Beyond this is a ford.  By Royston bridge are the enclosures where the dragoons have taken up position.

Lord Melchett has 3 units of foot, Gerrard's, Taylor's and the Kelhamshire Club men, the latter being rated raw.  He also has three units of horse, Tyldsley's, Blackadder's and the Kelhamshire Horse, all being trained, but prone to pursue a defeated foe; and a light gun.

Sir Victor has 4 units of foot, the Green, Yellow and White trained band regiments plus Carpenter's Firelocks.  There are two units of horse, Livesey's and Shuttleworth's, the latter being raw and a light gun.

Before the action starts each general decides on his order of march and also whether he approaches in one or two columns; if one, all troops appear near the bridge, if two the second column enters the table opposite the ford.  For both sides the objective is to hold the bridge.  Arguably, it would be enough for the Royalists to deny the Parliamentary forces progress beyond the bridge, but Lord Melchett is of the opinion that honour requires that he should hold the bridge.

As you would expect, both generals placed the bulk of their forces where they could attack the bridge and the battle opened with infantry units on both sides of the Kelham advancing to support their dragoons.  Having the advantage in horse, Lord Melchett ordered Tyldsley's Horse to cross the river between the marsh and the enclosures and then attack the Parliamentary foot advancing on the bridge.

Tyldsley's advanced, but found the banks of the river very marshy and required some time to reform on the far bank.  Their delay proved costly.  Sir Victor had time to deploy the Yellow regiment to face them and a volley drove the Royalist horse back over the river.

Meanwhile, the dragoons had been popping away at each other inflicting roughly equal casualties.  Down the road advanced the Green regiment.  Ignoring a volley from Gerrard's they surged onto the bridge, determined to break through the Royalist line.  As they charged home they received a second volley which caused some disruption in the ranks.  Gerrard's absorbed the Parliamentary charge and then gained the initiative, slowly pushing their adversaries back.

Meanwhile, on the other flank, near the ford, Blackadder was leading forward the remainder of the Royalist cavalry.  Opposing him were Livesey's Horse and the White regiment.  The Parliamentary horse reached the ford first and managed to cross and form up before the Royalists could intervene.  Blackadder sent forward the Kelhamshire horse, retaining his own regiment as a reserve.  The melee was a confused affair, the impetus swinging back and forth.  Blackadder committed a troop of his regiment and this gained the Royalists the upper hand.  Perhaps acting too quickly, Blackadder recalled his troop and watched as the Kelhamshire horse drove back Livesey's first troop.  Livesey's second troop manoeuvred to avoid being swept away if their colleagues were routed and Blackadder reformed his lines to meet this threat to his flank.  The Kelhamshire horse lost all cohesion in the melee, whilst their opponents retained their discipline and began to regain the initiative.  Suddenly, the Royalists broke and galloped off the field, pursued by the troop of Parliamentary horse.

Livesey's second troop now charged Blackadder's men.  Outnumbered, they could make little progress and were slowly pushed back towards the waterlogged ground near the river.  Trapped by the impassable terrain they lost all cohesion and were driven from the field.  Blackadder's men now found themselves in an awkward position, isolated and within musketry range of the White regiment who were  on the far bank of the river and thus safe from being charged.  Heavy casualties were sustained before Blackadder could draw back his men to safety to reform.

At the bridge Lord Melchett had enjoyed some success.  His light gun had reached the enclosures and was supporting the fire of the dragoons.  Sir Victor had committed Carpenter's firelocks to the firefight and even though they lost several casualties to the fire of the gun they quickly established fire superiority over the Royalist dragoons.  Drastically reduced in numbers, the dragoons fell back, leaving the gun crew unsupported and they quickly quit the field as bullets sang past their ears.
Gerrard's regiment pushed back the Green regiment and in the confusion and press of the struggle on the bridge, it was the Parliamentary infantry which cracked first and routed.  Lord Melchett, ordered Gerrard to hold his men in check and reform ready to advance.  In retrospect a pursuit may have won the day for the Royalists, but Melchett was far too cautious to hazard his best regiment in a pursuit into the unknown.  His attention was taken by the deployment of his two remaining regiments, Taylor's and the Club men, both understrength.  He determined to send them to the right of the bridge to take on the Yellow regiment which was holding the river line in this area.  The fire of the Yellow regiment drove off the remaining dragoons and inflicted heavy casualties on the Club men as they advanced into the enclosures.  Lord Melchett had to gallop over and encourage them with a few well chosen words.  The Parliamentary gun also added its fire to that of the Yellow regiment, targeting the packed ranks of the Club men.

Even with the support of Taylor's regiment the Club men began to waver and once again, Lord Melchett had to intervene to steady them.  At the bridge Gerrard had reformed his men and led them forward. As they crossed the bridge they were subjected to fire from Carpenter's firelocks, but they pressed on.  Sir Victor had not been idle, he had galloped over to the Green regiment and forced them to stand and reform.  So, as Gerrard's reached the far side of the bridge they were charged by the Green regiment.  In the narrow confines of the bridge and lane both sides found it difficult to gain the upper hand and the fighting swayed back and forth.

Sir Victor now committed his remaining cavalry unit, Shuttleworth's.  In spite of seeing the difficulties experienced by Tyldsley's men, Sir Victor ordered his cavalry to cross the river and take on the Royalist cavalry. He hoped that this would allow the Yellow regiment to cross and take on the weakened Royalist foot.    Shuttleworth'sfared no better than Tyldsley's, disorganised by the crossing, they struggled to contain the Royalist charge,though their continued resistance drew in all the available cavalry in the area.

Unfortunately, time now ran out for us (the generals).  We adjudged that it was a winning draw for the Parliamentary forces.  At the bridge the Green regiment had the advantage over Gerrard's, the Yellow regiment had fire superiority over the Club men and Taylor's regiments and although Shuttleworth's cavalry were on the brink of defeat, it was likely that the Royalist cavalry would pursue any rout and thus leave a gap for Parliament to exploit.

Towton Commemoration event

An early start on Sunday to head off over the Pennines to attend the Towton Commemoration event.  The Lance & Longbow Society were putting on a game based on the revised location for the battle of Bosworth. 

All the figures were provided by Roman Pronyszyn and they attracted a lot of attention throughout the day.  Below are the Yorkist forces, with Richard, (plus his mounted bodyguard), following Norfolk, with Northumberland waiting in reserve.

In the morning, I was allocated the Lancastrians and decided that in view of Yorkist superiority in missile troops attack was preferable over defence.  So the gallant Lancastrians advanced across the board, going down in heaps to archery and artillery.  I was in a particularly rich vein of throwing 1's and 2's at this point and Stanley, watching from the hilltop must have thought that it would all be over before he had to make a decision on which side to support.  However, the Lancastrian cause was saved by a young boy who asked if he could roll a few dice.  His offer was taken up with alacrity and soon it was the Yorkists who were suffering, 5's and 6's flowed from the young man's hands as if there was no tomorrow.

The Lancastrian advance

Bouyed with success the Lancastrian pike blocks (French and Scots) crashed through Norfolk's line

Lancastrian pikes advancing

With Northumberland still resolutely holding his position and declining to advance and Stanley bestirring himself and seemingly committing himself to the Lancastrian cause; Richard resolved to 'conquer or die'.  Gathering his household troops together he charged the advancing Scots pikes and in the ensuing melee perished, leaving Henry the victor.

Richard about to come off worst against the pikes

After a break for dinner we ran the game again.  This time I was Stanley whilst Roman took on the role of Henry.  Again the Lancastrians advanced and again the pikes were successful (this time without the aid of the young man!).  However, their very success made their flanks vulnerable to counter attacks and Richard moved his Household troops to the right to capitalise on this.

Richard leading his household troops

Henry was making increasingly anxious enquiries as to when Stanley would intervene, but again I was having a few problems with the dice (consistently rolling 1 fewer than the number required).  Fortunately, Northumberland was once again refusing to join the action.  Again, Richard seized the initiative and challenged Henry to personal combat. Following a short melee Richard emerged the winner with Stanley arriving just in time to congratulate him on his victory!

A really enjoyable day with plenty of opportunity to chat to the visiting public and answer their questions on the battle, heraldry and wargames figures.  

Battle of Riga, 17th June 1701

It is back to the Great Northern Wars for our battle this week, which represents the Swedish attack on the Saxon army which was besieging Riga.  The overall situation can be seen in the map below.

Riga lies on the eastern bank of the Dvina river and when news of the approaching Swedish army arrived, the Saxon commander, Von Thielau placed his forces on the western bank to oppose any Swedish crossing.  Charles XII ordered boats to be gathered and planned to send a strong force over the river to cover the building of a pontoon bridge to allow his whole army to cross to the western bank. Our scenario concerned the attempt by the Swedes to establish a bridgehead on the western bank.  They began with 4 infantry battalions, (one of which was guard). Eight further units were available, 5 units of infantry, two of horse and one light battery.  These would arrive by boat in two 'waves' each of four units.  The composition of each wave would have to be decided by the Swedish commander before the game began.

The Saxons had 5 battalions ready to attack, with two more plus a regiment of dragoons close by.  A further reinforcement of Russian troops, 12 battalions and 4 regiments of dragoons, plus two batteries of artillery would arrive later.  Victory condition for the Saxon/Russian forces were simple, drive the Swedish forces back into the river.  For the Swedes, all(?) that was required was to establish a bridgehead to cover the construction of the pontoon bridge.

The table layout was very basic.  A two foot length of one of the long (6ft) edges was designated as the beach on which the Swedes would land. This was at the northern (right hand top) corner and along the adjacent short (4ft) edge was a swamp and wooded area.  A gap of 12" was left for the arrival of the Saxon reinforcements.  A river flowed between the two long edges of the table, with a ford on the left hand edge.  If the Swedes established a line along this river it was taken that they had formed the required bridgehead.  The Russian force would arrive at the bottom left hand corner.

The first wave of Swedish infantry come ashore

Before the action started each commander rolled an average dice (in secret), to see how many turns would elapse before their first reinforcements would arrive .  The dice had already decreed that Steve would take the part of Charles XII and I would be Von Steinau.  Both of us had decided that attack was the best policy so the two infantry lines were soon in musketry range.  All the Swedish line infantry were rated as veteran, whereas the Saxons were trained.  However, the Saxons were rated better for musketry whilst the Swedes had the edge in combat.  As the first volleys were exchanged the honours were fairly even, both sides had units disorganised by the casualties from enemy fire,although, significantly, the Swedish guards were unaffected.  The guards surged forward and the Saxon regiment Von Der Goltz was seen to be wavering.  Von Steinau quickly galloped over to stiffen their resolve.  As he rode up to the unit a second volley from the guards inflicted further casualties.  Amongst them was Von Steinau, who had to be led to the rear to have his wound dressed.  This left the Saxon army 'out of commnad' for two moves.

Von Steinau is wounded

Seeing their commander carried from the field, the Von der Goltz regiment routed, but their supports, regiment Ansbach-Kavanagh, stood firm.

In the centre, the Smalands regiment was encountering stiff opposition from regiment Von Thielau. The first battalion of Smalands was shredded by two devastating volleys from the Saxons and took no further part in the action.  (Some lucky Saxon dice imposed two step losses on the hapless Swedes destroying the unit).    Into the breach marched the second battalion of Smalands only to receive casualties themselves and they had to fall back to reform.  Meanwhile on the Swedish left a prolonged fire fight was developing; neither side being able to gain the upper hand.

Fortunately for Charles, the first wave of Swedish reinforcements now arrived, two units of infantry, a unit of cavalry and a light gun.  Reinforcing success, the infantry were sent forward to support the attack by the guards.  The artillery was sent to the left to help the Jonkopping regiment and the cavalry were sent forward to plug the gap left by the Smalands regiment.  Fortunately for the Saxons they too received some reinforcements.  Even better, they arrived in a position which threatened the flank of the Swedish guards.  However, without orders, the leading unit, the dragoons, charged the Swedish line.  The guards waited until the horse were in close range and then fired a telling volley.  All impetus and order lost, the Saxon dragoons fell back and took no further part in the action.

The Saxon dragoons are driven off

They were not the only cavalry to suffer.  In the centre, the Swedish cavalry advanced too close to the Von Thielau regiment and suffered heavy casualties when the infantry fired a volley.  This unit too was out of actiion for the rest of the battle.

Von Steinau was now able to return to take up command and not a moment too soon.  His left wing was streaming for the rear, regiment Ansbach-Kavanagh also having been routed by the Swedish guards.  The infantry which had arrived with the dragoons was still holding its position, but had no orders and was threatened by the guards and also the two supporting infantry battalions.  His centre was advancing, but had both flanks 'in the air' and on the right, his own regiment was beginning to suffer from the attentions of the Swedish artillery.  The first priority was rallying the battalions from the left and this he achieved, forming a line which now threatened the flank of the guards.

Further Swedish reinforcements now arrived, three infantry battalions and a cavalry regiment.  The infantry moved forward and began to envelop the Von Thielau regiment, whilst the cavalry moved to the left where there was more open ground.  Von Steinau could see in the distance the leading units of Repnin's Russian troops, but he knew that it would take some time before they could affect his battle.  His troops had fought well, and were becoming weary but they still possessed a bite.  The Swedish guards now became victims of their success.  Advancing too far from their supports they staggered under volleys from the reformed Swedish left wing and also the reinforcements.  Outnumbered four to one even these elite troops found their limit and much reduced in numbeers they were driven from the field.

The Swedish artillery fires on Von Steinau

On the Saxon right Von Steinau's own regiment had held the line valiantly, but they too were reaching their limit.  Under the combined fire of the Swedish artillery and infantry the first battalion broke and the second suffered heavy casulaties.

Unfortunately, with the battle in the balance we ran out of time.  My wargames table is not a permanent fixture,so we cannot leave the battle to continue next week.  I did run through a couple of moves on the following morning before tidying the troops away and this found the Saxons driven off  just before the Russians arrived.  With work on the pontoon bridge already under way and facing the Swedish forces alone, Repnin decided to fall back. Victory for the Swedes, but at a price, veteran troops are difficult to replace quickly.

Historically, the Swedes did far better, inflicting twice as many casualties on the Saxons as they received.  They also subdued a redoubt which had been constructed to provide artillery fire against any  landing.  In the event I decided to ignore the redoubt, which was just as well for the balance of the game.