Last Stand - or Great Escape?

Over the chilly Easter Weekend, what better than to fight out the final battle at Rahden in my 'Soldier King' campaign?  The Austrian force, attempting to escape had been overhauled by pursuing Prussians, and ( perhaps rather desperately )  turned to fight..  

Austrians Await Assault

The terrain took the main road  from the 'mini-campaign' map, and added further features by dice-rolling using Bob Codery's patent random Terrain Generator -  this rather pleasingly gave a nice cluster of  small hills,  some woods and a marsh close to the road. They afforded something of a defensive position, with a stream protecitng their right flank - albeit a very open left flank.    

The Austrian force was as follows ( Strength Points (SP) and ratings for The Portable Wargame ), with some units having taken losses in the earlier battle. I allowed  1 SP of losses to be recovered from each unit, as stragglers returned to the ranks - except for artillery units, where I assumed that damaged guns could not be quickly repaired. 

        Brigadier-General Rupert den Baren :  6SP    

        1st Battalion Botta d'Adorno Infantry , rated Elite :  4SP

        2nd and 3rd Battalions Botta d'Adorno , rated Elite : each 5 SP 

        2nd Squadron Cuirassiers Erzherhog Ferdinand , rated Elite,  3SP  

        Field Gun and crew,  rated Average,  2SP. 

  Total : 25 SP , with exhaustion point  at 9 SP. 

In the attacking Prussian Force, made up of pursuing Cavalry plus re-grouped foot from the earlier battle: 

    Generalleutnant  von Gehirne :    6 SP

    1st and 2nd Squadron von Preussen Cuirassiers,  rated Elite,  each 4 SP

    1st Squadron von Kleist Horse Grenadiers, rated Elite,  4 SP

    2nd Battalion 44th Fusiliers, rated Average , 4 SP

    1st Battalion von Kleist Frei Korps,  rated Average, 4 SP

     Field Gun and crew,  rated Average,  1 SP 

Total : 27 SP, Exhaustion Point also 9 SP. 

So an evenly-matched encounter at first, on points at least, though that Prussian cavalry force looks scary.  But the Prussians also had reinforcements on the way, in the form of no less than four more battalions marching from Rahden, towards the sound of the guns. These were 1 and 1/2 map moves away, hence I decided they would appear on the table after at least six game turns had elapsed. So,  on Turn 7, roll a dice, and they appear if 4, 5, or 6 is scored. If not, roll again on Turn 8, needing 3 to 6, and so on. 

The Prussian reinforcements as follows: 

        1st Battalion 44th Fusliers, rated Elite , 5 SP

        2nd Battalion von Kleist Frei Korps, rated Average, 4 SP 

        1st Battalion 'Wildganse' Jaegers , rated Average,  4 SP

        2nd Battalion  Jaegers,  rated Poor ( new Levies ),   3 SP

        Field Gun and crew, rated Average,  2 SP. 

Altogether a further 18 SPs, giving the Prussians a total of 45 SP with  Exhaustion Point 15 SP when these latter arrived on the table - but not before, I decided, as that would give the Austrians  very little chance! 

This level of forces is stretching my resources a little - the Prussian Jaegers made a welcome return their 'home' army ( after fighting for the Austrians in previous battles ) to give sufficent troops for the reinforcement group to appear. It also allowed the first appearance of some of the Spencer-Smith plastics recently gifted to me by Neil Patterson - two squadrons of  Cavalry appearing as the 'Yellow Riders' of the Prince Von Preussen Kuirassiers - and I'm pleased to see those familiar poses appearing the pictures here, 'proper old school'.     

If the Austrians could just hold off the initial attack and exhaust the Prussian first wave, they might just be able to slip away before the reinforcing infantry arrived to most likely overwhelm them. Not easy, however.. The Prussians leading troops need to hold the enemy in place and wear them down, until their main body of infantry can arrive and apply decisive force.

General den Baren  hurriedly  deployed his men, with the 1st and 2nd Battalions and the gun using the woods by the road for cover, and his Cuirassiers  on the hill to the right, ready to charge downhill, while the 3rd battalion was held back in reserve. 

Turn 1 : 'Yellow Riders'  Charge!

 

As in the last game, I used Bob Cordery's 'Portable Napoleonic Wargame' Brigade level rules, with my in-house tweaks for 7YW flavour, plus part of Mike Lewis' amendments to melee rules.  Bob's card-driven activation system ( from the original 'The Portable Wargame' )  was also used, allowing on average about half of each army's units to be activated each turn.

And so to Turn 1,  and immediate action! The two  Prussian 'Yellow Riders' Cuirassier  units entered from the North - and the 1st squadron promptly charged 1st Austrian infantry at the heart of the position,  holding the road  where it passed through woods.  The Cuirassiers's dice roll was enough to win the ensuing close combat, but  the Austrians held their ground , opting to take a 1 SP loss. First blood to Prussia: meanwhile the 2nd squadron Cuirassiers advanced to the East of the road, tempting their  Austrian counterparts to fight. Over to the West both the Prussian infantry units and their gun arrived, the foot advancing in column to quickly threaten the Austrian left flank.   

Austrian Cuirassiers counterstroke

 

The Austrian response was decisive.  2nd Battalion Botta opened musketry fire at long range and rolled high, taking 1 SP from von Kleist foot, and Erzherhog Ferdinand Cuirassiers swept down from their hill to charge the 1st von Preussen, who were still entangled in melee with the Austrian infantry - the Prussian Cuirassiers took a 1 SP loss under the combined assault. Turn 1 ended with losses of 2 SP for the Prussians, 1 SP for the Austrians.  This looks like it will be a fast-moving fight! 

      

Battle well and truly joined

Now with battle well and truly joined, I hear Mr Bennet intoning 'you have delighted us long enough, my child',  and I must not overstay my welcome.  Watch out for the next instalment to see how events unfold, and in the meantime keep safe and well, everyone.