On Saturday evening Steedo came over to revisit Maurice (an excellent war game by Sam Mustafa), using the Saxons and Bavarians I had recently finished (after many years on the painting list). The scenario was adapted from the Might and Reason on Sam’s website. The actual battle was fought between the Saxons and the Prussians in 1745 - resulting in a resounding Prussian victory. The Bavarians were being the Prussians in this game.
The map was roughly reproduced with row E and columns 1,2 and 9 missed out. The forces from the Might and Reason scenario were multiplied by 0.8 to match the figures available, giving:
The Bavarians 6 regular cavalry (1 elite), 1 irregular cavalry, 7 battalions of foot (1 elite) and 2 artillery. National characteristic - Oblique movement (probably not historically accurate, but not used much in the game.
The Saxons 4 regular cavalry, 9 battalions of foot (2 elite) and 2 artillery. National characteristic - Steady Lads (possibly not historically accurate - but as Steedo forgot to use it, not actually relevant to the game.
Both armies started with 15 Army Morale Points.
The Bavarians (me), won the scouting roll so made Steedo’s Saxons set up first as the defender.
Initial deployments saw all the cavalry on the same side of the battlefield, except the Bavarian Hussars who were on the other flank, with 2 battalions of infantry - facing off against 5 battalions of Saxons. My plan was to break Steedo’s horse and get around the back of his position.
The engagement started with an exchange of ineffective artillery bombardments. The battle was focused on the cavalry side of the field as I tried to force the Saxon cavalry to attack. I also moved the hussars forward to worry Steedo on his right … the only time either of us moved anything on that flank …
Which they did - and to my frustration Steedo had first blood as he broke one of my regiments. However the numbers did tell and the fact I took rally orders to remove disruptions.
This meant that my Bavarians overwhelmed the Saxon cavalry and to my surprise Steedo moved his infantry off the hill (and away from his artillery) towards my 2 battalions on his side of the river.
This move did destroy one of my battalions and the use of the dubious ploy of “death of a hero” left us tied on 5 morale points left each. But it also left a battalion exposed to a devastating flank attack and the Saxon artillery in a position to be ridden over! Which was the final move of the game as it broke the Saxons morale.
The final shot of the unused flank - 5 battalions of unused Saxon infantry faced off against 2 battalions of Bavarians and a unit of hussars.
The post mortem discussion focused on the lack of use of one of the flanks - on both I think Steedo could have used his infantry to screen off my cavalry - certainly after his cavalry had been defeated. I think I would have struggled force through on a firefight. We both ended up just focusing on one area of the battlefield (again), Steedo would have found some results by forcing a river crossing with his 5 battalions on his right. Making sure you rally troops is key and possibly where Steedo lost the cavalry encounter with multiple charges leaving his units weak.
An enjoyable relearning game - so now I want want to set up an Imaginations Campaign - I like the idea of picking the National Characteristics for a country and tracking the army’s progress over a number of battles and wars.
The main event were obviously Big Country - who played all of the Steeltown album. The first 4 songs were played with out any breaks. Bruce Watson really going for it on guitar - his son Jamie was having issues with his amp, through a fair bit of the gig. But they did sound awesome - a wall of guitars coming at you! I don’t know Steeltown that well, so it really kicked off for me when they started playing classics from the Crossing and the Seer!
