"Rear Guard" Topic

Rear Guard – Speed Gaming Bash

Last night a friend and I dusted off our Koenig Krieg armies and decided to have a quick game using the new FREE PDF from Siege works Studios – Speed Gaming. The mission was "Rear Guard". I was the Russians and the Russians were attacking. Because it was a one off game both players decided there were no restrictions on Battle, Support or Reserve Line options, so long as both sides had no more than 500 points. It was a Russian vs Holy Roman Empire list (Württemberg I believe). The basic lists are as follows:

Wurttemberg:
Class 1 General
2x Infantry Brigades each with 4 Class 4 battalions and a light battery
1x Cuirassier Brigade with 2 regiments upgraded to Class 7
1x Hussars
1x Light Battalion

Russia:
Class 0 General
2x Musketeer Brigades each with a light battery
1x Hussar regiment
1x Light Battalion
3x Cossack regiments

The Russian plan was to pin the HRE forces while the Cossacks and Light battalion snuck into the rear via a "Battlefield Flanks March" hopefully arriving down the right flank on turn 4. The Flank March was to be supported by the Hussars and the other Cossack regiment which were assigned to the frontal attack force. If the Russians could successfully pull off a flank march and have at least one of the light regiments sneak through the gaps in the enemy defence by turn 6 the Russians would most likely win. That is of course providing they survive an army morale test!

The Wurttemberg player decided from the very start that crushing the Russian on table troops prior to a successful flank march would ensure a victory to the HRE. Deployed facing the 2 brigades of Russians, Hussar regiment and Cossack regiment was a Light Battalion, 2 Brigades of Wurttemberg infantry, the Wurttemberg Cuirassier Brigade and a small Hussar regiment. The blinds markers would be used to block the flank marches from gaining maximum ground at least for the turn any flank march arrived.

Turn 1:

Both the Russian and HRE brigades march towards each other, the Wurttemberg infantry moving rather tardily so they could maximise the firepower by their supporting artillery. It worked hits were scored by both batteries.

Turn 2:

The Russians now move slowly as well towards the Empire troops so that they can also use their guns. Both Russian batteries open up in a very successful counter battery fire, causing hits on both Wurttemberg batteries. The Wurttemberg light batteries undaunted kept up a steady and telling fire on the Russian musketeers. The Russian light cavalry not wanting to get entangled with the HRE heavy cavalry brigade tried to scoot over to the other flank, however decent musketry fire from the Wurttemberg lights and a line battalion resulting in sever losses to the Hussars.

Turn 3:

I could see that the Wurttemberg player was getting anxious, knowing that I had not declared a flank march yet and it was already turn 3. He could not hope to cover all the rear zones with his markers and hussars against my flank march. Consequently the poor Russian on board forces really copped a hammering that turn. The Cuirassiers ran down a Russian light battery and a battalion of infantry but suffered heavily from defensive fire, losing 4 figures out of 8 from a single round of fire. Meanwhile the Hussars on the other flank were pounded again by canister and musketry fire resulting in them to retreat to a safer place behind the second Russian Musketeer Brigade. In retaliation the remaining Russian light battery destroyed the opposite HRE battery already damaged from ball shot earlier. As all this was going on the Cossack regiment had managed to sneak around the flank of the lights and into the Wurttemberg Rear Guards rear zone. So far the plan was working, even if it was not as well I would have liked!

Turn 4:

The Russian declares their flank march and rolls the dice to see if it arrives, is delayed or is lost. It was a few tense seconds let me tell you, with a 33% chance that the whole flanking force would be lost and not arrive in time for the battle. A roll of 6 would ensure they arrived immediately on turn 4. A 6! Whew! Deployed in the rear top corner of the enemy lines the Cossacks and light battalion just had to wait till turn 6 to achieve their mission objectives. The Württemberg Hussars now too far away on the other flank to have any affect upon the outcome of the flank march.

The Wurttemberg battalions from both brigades were now in range and with a Class 1 general were able to seize the initiative against the Russians easily. However, the musketry was appalling and did very little damage to the Russian infantry. The Russian return fire chipped away at their opposite infantry while the Russian musketeers dealt with the Wurttemberg heavy cavalry with more telling fire, which destroyed the already damaged 8 figure regiment. The other Cuirassier regiment failed to break the bayonets as they charged in and that was the end of that.

Army Morale:

The Russians brigades were still intact – just, while the Wurttemberg forces had a broken cavalry brigade. With 1 out of 3 formed brigades broken the rear guard of the Holy Roman Empire had to take an army morale test. On a result of a 5-6 the army would withdraw and the Russians would strategically be able to continue there advance and harry the enemy. Unluckily for the HRE player he rolled a 5 and the game ended. After points were added up the result was only a disappointing 2-1 to the Russians. The HRE force had broken before the Russian flanking forces could gain the mission points on turn 6.

It was a great game, with plenty of opportunities for both sides. The battle lasted 1 hour, which was handy because it was a mid week, Wednesday night bash. I look forward to our next thrust into the world of the Koenig Krieg Speed Gaming!

Nice looking game.

Sounds like a great game