PIRNA! PIRNA! PIRNA!
Pirna! Pirna! Pirna! Remember Pirna! Was the cry roared by the victorious Saxon army under the brilliant command of Chevalier, as Brumbkow's Prussian Corps fled the field of battle on that most celebrated of days (Saxons only of course), 23/9/2009 or 1756 if you like to keep in the spirit of the report.
Well you have all heard the ending. But how, you all ask, did this turn of events and this great victory come to pass. It all started a week before, at the club, when the Napoleonic Krieg play testers all decided it was time for a break from Wellington and Blucher etc. So we all agreed it was back to Seven Years War and good old Koenig Krieg rules. There were to be three games all 1000points aside. Brad's Austrian-Allied army was to face Frasers French army, Pauls Russian army was to challenge Darren's Prussian army and my Prussian army was to match up against Steve's Saxon army. Steve is related to Einsiedel and so just had to do a Saxon Corps.
Before I go further into Brumbkow's demise, I shall briefly digress into the other two battles. Sorry I did take pictures on my mobile phone but they were atrocious!
Brad and Fraser went at it with all the finesse of players used to performing the swinging gate technique. On Fraser's right the Gendarmes went galloping off after Brad's Austrian Hussars destroying them in 1 turn but in the process they became uncontrolled and went cavorting off after the remnants of the hussars and off the table! On Brad's right flank he hurled the Austrian Cuirassiers against Frasers French Grenadiers Royale, breaking the bayonets of 1 battalion and massacring it before the brigade was decimated by the steady and controlled fire of the Grenadiers. The centre petered out after a small inconclusive amount of volleys on both sides. However an Austrian Brigade on Brad's left seeing the Gendarmes whooping off after the shattered Hussars was free to concentrate its full strength against a rather dubious French brigade composed of 4 battalions, 2 of which were 2nd Class French Line battalions with no supporting battery. Needless to say the Austrians made short work of the French brigade and by turn 8 the French were withdrawing in good order from the field.
The second game was between Paul and Darren and true to form it was the bloodiest of the three battles with the Russians running around with about 8 or so battalions down to one base and the Prussians not that much better. The battle opened up with Pauls Russian Horse Grenadiers breaking the bayonets on 2 squares and the exploiting into the flank of the Prussian army. At this stage it all looked like it was going to be a very quick game indeed. But Darren managed to keep the cavalry at bay from then on, while his own heavy cavalry sabred away at the other flank and his well trained Prussian battalions, with their Cadence step marched forward and opened up with some tremendous volleys on the Russian line. Quite a few times the battalion fire caused 5 hits out of 6 dice needing 5's to hit. This tipped the balance back into Darren's favour and at the end of the game Paul had 3 out of 4 brigades broken and Darren had 2 out of 5 broken. The Russians managed to fight to a standstill, not leaving the field but as night fell there was not much left of them to speak of.
To start the epic but quick tale of Brumbkow's demise, I had from right to left, Heavy battery, Prussian Brigade, Grenadier Brigade in the centre, Prussian Brigade all in one long line on the left flank and the Dragoon Brigade and the small Hussar Regiment behind the left flank.
Steve had working from my right flank, a Saxon Brigade, another Saxon Brigade in the centre and another Saxon brigade with the fusiliers next to them. Next to the infantry and facing my left flank infantry brigade was 2 regiments of Chevauleger, 1 Karabinier, 1 Garde Du Corps, 1 Cuirassiers and 1 Saxon Hussar regiment.
My plan was to slowly work my way through his right flank with the heavy battery and the Prussian brigade. The Grenadiers were to be a link between my right and left flank but were not to advance against Steve's centre until Steve had committed himself to trying to bash through my left flank brigade with all his cavalry brigades. The Prussian cavalry was there behind the left flank brigade just in case a single regiment of cavalry got lucky. Little was I to know that luck is Steve's middle name! (lol).
Well turn 1 and 2 went off without a hitch. My heavy battery was causing all kinds of trouble for Steve. 5 Casualties so far and soon I was certain that both battalions of the Graf Bruhl Regiment would break. Steve had marched forward with all 3 of his Saxon line brigades. One of the Rochow fusilier battalions marching up the centre got a little too close to the Prussian Grenadiers and so I marched forward 2 battalions keeping the 3rd and 4th Grenadier battalion anchoring the centre's flank against any potential cavalry threat. In that turn 2 battalions opened up and wiped out almost half the battalion.
Turn three was to be a whirlwind of sabres and blood. It started with some very disappointing and desultory musket and artillery fire by all concerned. Then came the Close Combat Phase and that is when everything happened at once! All 4 battalions of the left flank Prussian Brigade were deployed in square, seeing as how they were the flank. I had attached the Brigadier to 1 battalion of Prussian fusiliers in square and the army commander, Brumbkow, to the other battalion of fusiliers. Prussian fusilier battalions can have brittle morale, so I just wanted to ensure they remained steady under the watchful eye of their commanders.
All of my battalions were fine when charged and held. Now cavalry charging infantry in square need a 6 to break the bayonets before they can continue in melee. Well guess what, all of Steve's cavalry regiments rolled a 6 to break the bayonets. Impossible you may say! Well it happened. Needless to say that all 4 of my Prussian battalions exploded in a pink mist and bone chips! Every battalion was destroyed in that single turn. Then 6 regiments of cavalry, most of which were heavy, thundered on into my 2 regiments of Dragoons and regiment of Hussars. Again caught by overwhelming numbers and sensational dice rolling by Steve, the Prussian cavalry fled the field. In this murderous melee, I lost my army commander – Brumbkow and one of my brigade commanders. Steve lost both his cavalry brigade commanders and his army commander. It seems Chevalier must have only been slightly wounded as he was seen writing despatches later that night.
Brumbkow, on the other hand, copped a pistol shot in the chest and will never, I repeat never, command one of Frederick's forces again! Lol! Well with half the brigades destroyed and the army commander dead, I was forced to take an army morale test, despite it only being an hour into the game and only turn 3.
The Battle between the Saxons and the Prussians was over in the briefest of moments and as the smoke cleared it was a 4-1 victory to Steve. The only points I took off of him was his army general and 2 brigadiers during the whole game. Such quick and devastating victories do not happen often but kudos to Steve for pulling off the impossible. He is quite new to SYW and although new to this particular era is a very formidable cavalry general in other Horse and Musket eras and came to the fight with that assurance only good cavalry generals display.
All in all it was a great night and even though I was absolutely thrashed, Steve is a great bloke and it was an enjoyable game. All the other players really enjoyed the night too. Well back to play testing until we feel the need for another good old Koenig Krieg game and I hopefully, have my real camera there to take pictures of the games.
paints brigs for the British fleet.
