The Fight for Der Sachsenhügel

There's been a distinct lack of actual gaming on this blog in recent weeks ( in fact, probably months), and the newly-painted 1750s Saxons needed some experience, so I thought it was time to get a Seven Years War period game on the table. I had a look through Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames - always a good source of simple scenarios - and came up with Scenario 4 'Take the High Ground'. The attraction was that it involves one army ( 'Red' )  being split into two contingents, which I could set up as an allied army of Austrian and Saxon troops, facing Prussian  ('Blue') opposition. The scenario specifies six units per side, and  I used the 'OHW' army selection charts - the dice gave an interesting setup, as neither side received any cavalry! 

The selected forces were as follows: 

'Red' ( Allies ) : 4 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 'Skirmish' ( which I counted as Light Infantry ). 

'Blue' ( Prussians ):  3 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 2 Skirmish/Light Infantry :

Using my own 18th Century variant of Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame rules, this translated as 

Allies: 

- 1st and 2nd Battalions Saxon Regiment Friedrich August, each  4 Strength Points (SP)

- 1st and 2nd Battalions Austrian Botta d'Adorno Regiment , each 4 SP

- one Battalion Austrian  Grenzer Light Infantry, 3SP 

- one battery of Austrian Guns,  2SP 

- Commander - our old favourite  General Dachs,  6SP

Total 27 SP, Exhaustion Point =  9 SP

Allies..

 

and Prussians :

- 1st and 2nd Battalions 9th Line Infantry 'Jung Kleist'  each 4SP

- 1st Battalion 44th Fusilier regiment, 4SP

- one battalion Jaegers ( Light Infantry ) ,  3SP

- one battalion Von Kleist Frei Korps ( Light Infantry ), 3SP 

-  one battery of Prussian Guns, 2SP 

- Commander  Generalleutnant von Gehirne -  6SP

Total 26SP,  Exhaustion Point = 9SP.  

.. and Prussians

For simplicity, all units and commanders are rated 'Average'.

The scenario specifies that the Allies must place just  two units on the table initially, holding a hill in the middle of the battlefield,  with the rest of the force entering from the North table edge on turn 2, while the Prussians can bring on their entire force from the South table edge on Turn 1. It seemed appropriate  that the two Allied units deployed on the hill should be the two Saxon infantry battalions, hoping to hold the position until their Austrian confederates could reinforce them. And thus we have the fight for Der Sachsenhügel (  'The Saxon Hill', if I can trust Google Translate ),

Here is the initial setup, with North at the top and the novice Saxons in position on a pretty simple terrain. Let the battle commence.. 

 

I used Bob's card-driven activation system, which essentially allowed each side to activate 3, 4 or 5 units each turn, depending on a card draw (I decided that shooting,  or continuing an ongoing  close combat, does not require an activation).  The 'One Hour Wargame' scenario allows all the Prussian   units to enter on Turn 1, but I allowed the activation mechanism to limit that slightly - the Prussians  only scored 3 activations that turn, so only 3 units could enter. Accordingly, they brought on both battalions of 9th Jung Kleist infantry, and the Jaegers. The Allies only had the two Saxon units on the table - they opened musketry fire on the Prussian line infantry, and 1st Friedrich August scored an immediate success, taking 1 SP from 1st Jung Kleist. First blood to the Saxons! 

Opening volley from the Saxons..

In Turn 2,  the Allies only scored 3 activations so only 3 units could enter. For both sides I decided that their units arriving at the table would be in a pre-determined 'marching order', representing a column of march coming up the road - it seemed only sensible, for example,  to put Light Infantry units at the front ( and where available, another as rearguard ). Allied troops could only enter by the road or East of it, while Prussians could enter anywhere along their baseline,  but in reality the advantage of increased  movement tended to dictate that units entered via the road.   Wearing my  'Prussian hat', perhaps I should have considered advancing  several units up the Western side of the table to take the hill in flank, knowing that the Allies would have a long march to counter such a move?  Oh well, maybe next time..

Turn 4: Frei Korps in flanking move?

By Turn 4 both sides had a mix of Line and Light Infantry ( Botta D'Adorno and Grenzers vs. 44th Fusiliers and Jaegers )  disputing possession of the road, while the Prussian gun had opened a bombardment of the Saxons on the hill. Saxon musketry scored more successes, further reducing both battalions of 9th regiment Jung Kliest, but in turn the Prussian volleys had forced  one of the Saxon units to retire  from the crest of the hill.  The Prussians had made a tentative move on their left flank, bringing on the Von Kleist Frei  Korps to threaten  West of the hill, and forcing 1st August Freidrich to re-position to face them. Losses by this point were Prussians 3 SP, Allies 1SP. 

Turn 5 : Prussians in diagonal line from bottom left

 

Perhaps more by accident than design, by Turn 5 the Prussian force was arranged in a nice diagonal line - a sort of 'oblique order' ?  The Austrian artillery had deployed in the wood, aiming to dominate the road and give fire support to their comrades on the hill - but were promptly attacked by Prussian Jaegers sneaking up on them through the trees, and forced to retire. The Austrian guns took little part in events after this. 

Grenzers ( left ) and Jaegers skirmish on the wood

On Turn 6,  Prussian musketry having previously forced both Saxon units to step back, both battalions of  9th Jung Kleist regiment stormed onto the hill (despite the Allies now having 3 battalions there ) , and in the ensuing close combat 2nd  Saxon battalion suffered 2 SP losses - and was now reduced to 1 SP ( the Saxons on the whole seemed to be better at shooting than melee, I wonder if that reputation will stick to them?).  Meanwhile in the Eastern woods Prussian Jaegers and Austrian Grenzers fought it out, and the Grenzers came off worst to start with. By the end of the turn, Losses were Prussians 4 SP, Allies 5SP , which looked like something of a turning point. 

Jung Kleist storms the hill

 

Fighting continued on the hill, with the stronger 1st Saxon battalion being forced to retire, but the Prussians unable to finish off the crippled 2nd battalion - in fact losing 1 SP to the plucky Saxons in close combat. In the East, 1st Botta d'Adorno got the better of a musketry duel with Prussian 44th Fusiliers, and Grenzers and Jaegers still disputed the wood, with Grenzers now  getting the upper hand.  At the end of Turn 8 things had turned around again, and  losses were Allies 6SP, Prussians 7SP. 

Turn 8 : Action all along the line

 

For Turn 9, the Allies won the initiative and moved first, with 1st Botta d'Adorno forcing 44th Fusiliers to retreat, but making no progress in the fight for  the hill - indeed the Saxon 1st battalion took another 1 SP loss. And then the Prussians struck back - in the wood, their Jaegers' musketry took another 1 SP from the Austrian Grenzers, and in close combat on the hill, von Kleist Frei Korps took a further  1 SP from Saxon 1st  Friedrich August battalion. Thus the Allies had suffered the loss of 3SP in a single turn, and this was too much - total losses now stood at  Prussians 7SP, Allies 9SP, which meant that General Dachs' Austrians and Saxons had reached their Exhaustion Point.  Being now unable to take offensive action, the Allies could only try to fend off further Prussian attacks, and they would be unlikely to be able to throw the Prussians off the vital hill - so the chance of an allied victory now looked very slim. I decided to call the game there, with General Dachs conceding defeat.  A hard-fought victory for the Prussians, and a bit of a bruising first combat for my newly-raised Saxons! 

Still, a nice fun game, with a real see-saw, back-and-forth affair, the Prussians suffering more losses early on, getting ahead when they stormed onto the hill, only to suffer reverses in the woods and along the road,  before finally the tide turned decisively on Turn 9.   The rules work pretty well, Bob Cordery's basic Portable Wargame engine is lovely and simple, great for small-ish games like this, and a good base for 'tinkering', of course! I quite like the variable activation card draw, which puts a moderate, not excessive, limit on players actions and forces them to prioritise. I think the close combat system is a bit indecisive and maybe tends to draw out melees for longer than necessary, and  I have seen some suggested amendments which I think I may adopt. Of course, many thanks once again  to Bob for getting me started with this!

And many thanks also to Jon Freitag at Palouse Wargaming Journal who provided my other recent gaming experience, with his fantastic 'Hammering Sickles'  ACW Gettysburg game, which I was privileged to take part in a recent iteration of. Great fun, despite being thoroughly trounced by Johnny (or rather, Mark and Chris) Reb.  I can't possibly better Jon's report of the game, which you may well have already enjoyed. If not, it's thoroughly recommended! 

Sickles getting roundly hammered..

 

Having 'scratched the itch' of gaming a bit, there's plenty of painting to do, and some interesting recent purchases to join the - ahem -  Garrison... about which, more next time. Until then, keep well, everyone.