(I'm finding it difficult to match the photos in the right places for Ken's streamlined text so please bear with me and enjoy his narrative with the pics for atmosphere! - CG)
In the following sequence of four photos Von Bohlen's cavalry have been broken and are followed up by Schirmer's Horse who hit the "Hessian" infantry and are shattered. At this point it looks like Ruechel's cavalry brigade is going to try to back them up. The fourth photo shows they did but are surrounded by muskets.
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| A great aerial view which shows that while Electoral lines are now a bit ragged they still hold all the significant features |
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| Above and below: the view at this point behind Electoral lines around the hamlet of Mauthaus and along the Sattelbach |
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| At right Jungermann's brigade advances past Madling in a fine looking line but receives canister and flanking fire. Reinhart's brigade dithers behind them spurred on by Lt Gen Ulrich |
As the beaten cavalry streamed back past them, the first line of Ducal infantry was approaching Madling, their left flank open to being outflanked by the Electoral infantry. General Ruechel ordered his cavalry forward to fill the gap and charged the outflanking Electoral infantry to delay them and in the hope that they may have more success than Schirmer. They didn’t and although they inflicted casualties on the infantry, his brigade was wrecked.
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| The demise of Ruechel's cavalry; and Jungermann's infantry are having a hard time too |
With the Ducal cavalry now dispersed and retiring behind their infantry, it was going to be an infantry fight (at least near Madling) as they sought to break the Electoral line. The Malsberg Infantry and Lindstedt Grenadiers led the advancing Ducal troops.
Faced with canister from the artillery to their front, the Malsberg regiment melted away before they could come to grips with the Bornstadt Regiment. Against the most senior regiment of the Electoral army, the Garde Grenadiere, and supporting artillery, the Lindstedt Grenadiers lasted slightly longer before they too were forced to retire.
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| The first Ducal infantry attack on Madling has been repelled |
Ken's narrative overlooks the exploits in the centre of the field where another brigade of Ducal cavalry (Maj Gen Thuemen) had been lined up to threaten the western end of Schwedischer Hugel and Kaindorf, backed up by two strong infantry brigades awaiting a breakthrough. The following photos show this attack.
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| Self indulgence - my favourite RSM95 Hanoverians masquerade as the Ducal von Dickmeis brigade and von Thuemen's cavalry are on the right |
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| More of my RSM95 Hanoverians - Thuemen's cavalry charge is met by Electoral Hussars and infantry. It was to prove a hard fought part of the battle of Madling |
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| More Electoral Hussars pile in..... |
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| ....watched by reinforcing "Hessian" Fusiliers pulling battalion guns with them |
Whilst additional brigades were arriving in support, Count Guilau could also see the Electoral infantry lines thickening and knew it was going to be a hard slog to achieve any breakthrough on his right flank.
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| This aerial shot shows the difficulties of Ducal infantry before Madling village; the complete Electoral dominance of the central high ground; the cavalry charge towards Kaindorf; and on the far flank at the top of Lunzen valley, Electoral cavalry are moving forward. |
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| Von Thuemen's cavalry are forced to fall back....... |
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| .....exposing Scheither's Grenadiers to volley and artillery fire that finished them off too |
The following sequence follows up the Ducal right flank around Madling
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| The Anhalt Jagers have got in position to enfilade every Ducal advance with rifle fire across the river........ |
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| ........with predictable results |
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| More Ducal infantry are brought up....... |
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| .....with some artillery support too........ |
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| ...............but are eventually broken |
On the left, the successes of the Ducal light forces from yesterday was working against them. Reinforcements were slow to arrive in support of Cartier’s Advance Guard brigade, having to cover far greater distances (a situation not helped by a dispassionate umpire confiscating one of Count Guilau’s dice after it rolled nine 6s in a row – while he may have needed the help of the dice gods, he didn’t need that much help!). Conscious of the weakness of his position, Lt General Rosen (Steve J) content for his light troops to remain at long range, exchange fire and barrack the Ducal opposition.
A second Electoral cavalry brigade appeared south of the Schwedischer Hugel and was directed forward in support of Czettritz’s heavy cavalry brigade. Realising he at last held the advantage of numbers, Lt General Rosen ordered his brigades forward. The Kleist Jager pushed forward against the Effern Infantry Regiment who had been under fire from the Electoral artillery all morning. Now cursed by the bad luck dice, they were unable to respond effectively to several rounds of firing from the jager and broke. The heavy cavalry followed up and charged into the supporting Freytag Chasseurs who were also overthrown and pushed back towards Lunzen.
The following sequence charts the progress of the Electoral cavalry attack on their right flank which helped decide the battle.
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| Electoral Jagers and artillery fire manages to shatter the weakened Effern infantry regiment |
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| Allowing Czettritz to engage the Freytag Chasseurs |
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Brandenburg's Electoral cavalry then attack the supporting Ducal Cuirassiers of Serbelloni,
some of whom had already broken the Jagers and chased them up Schwedischer Hugel |
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| A mutual exchange of cavalry defeats at the head of the valley..... |
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| But the Electoral side looked as if it had come off best in the end |
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| View from where the senior Electoral commanders had stayed safely on the reverse slope! |
And there we pause, as Count Guilau and General Ulrich concede having recognised the strength of the electoral position and their attempt to bludgeon their way past having failed. The Ducal forces will retire blooded but with a large proportion of their army still intact. Congratulations to the two Steves and Kevin, and commiserations to Paul, Keith and Chris.
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| An overview at the point we stopped- a decision had been reached |
Overall, I’d consider the battle a success although with scope for improvement if playing again. The participants appear to have enjoyed it which is my main measure. Day 1 was required to achieve a partial result and provide the space for the Ducal forces to deploy on day 2, whilst not significantly handicapping the Electoral side. This happened but the subsequent timing of the Electoral arrivals left the Ducal forces with an uphill struggle that they never mastered.
The arrival of Electoral reinforcements was also key to the result on day 1. If Czettritz’s brigade had not arrived when it did, the Electoral right flank was close to collapse. Omitting a couple of brigades from the Electoral line up would have helped, as would the umpire intervening in the timing of those arrivals. That requires the umpire to be prepared to take on more of a games master role than traditional for this type of game.
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| The Ducal Army had to retreat and recuperate over Winter |
For now, the armies have been returned to their storage boxes, the dice (including the loaded one) are back in their bags, Madling is again a quiet backwater somewhere to the East of the Mur valley and we can await the next phase in the campaign as our two protagonists plot their next moves.
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| This photo captures the intensity and concentration which everyone except me showed the proceedings |
Afterwords
Ducal
In a small office in the Ducal palace, the Grand Duke waited until Count Guilau closed the door behind him before turning to his War Minister.
‘So he may have been unlucky, he may have been outclassed or he may have been outnumbered. Either way, we are blocked from moving along the Stronbach and we lack the means to cross it. We will not evict the despot from our land this year’.
His Minister nodded. Years of dealing with his master had taught him when to get concerned, and whilst Count Guilau’s defeat was inconvenient, the Grand Duke had already accepted it and moved onto future planning. There weren’t going to be wholesale recriminations over this setback.
‘Yes Sire. I agree this is a missed opportunity but it does have benefits. We still have most of the army and more importantly the coalition forces were not heavily engaged. When I first heard the news I was worried that our more nervous partners would use this as an excuse to withdraw their troops but I don’t believe that will happen. Most of the damage was to our cavalry and we can rebuild those units over Winter.’
The Grand Duke thought for a moment.
‘Our light troops appear to have performed well. Let them loose over winter to harry the enemy and we’ll see if we can persuade them that the price of our land is more than they can afford.
For next year we also need a bridging train. Talk to our allies and find out if anyone has those resources. If not, we need to build one.
And find out about this General von Stutterheim. If we are now faced by an Electoral officer who knows his job, that’s a problem. Previously, although they had more troops, we relied on their officers being incompetent and not knowing how to use them. If they are starting to become competent then we have more than one minor defeat to worry about.’
Recognising his dismissal, the Minister stood, bowed and walked towards the door. There was much to do.
Electoral
In his headquarters South of Tamsweg, the Elector paused his interrogation of his two aides and looked again at the crumpled report in his left hand. It was from von Stutterheim (thanks to Steve Pearse for the report), giving an account of an action around Madling, and the General appeared to be claiming a victory against the Grand Duke.
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Gentlemen at War - Lt Gen Ulrich helps General von Stutterheim
clarify a point in his rules of war! |
"Your Highness,
I have the honour to report that the forces, which you bestowed on me the honour to command, have been completely successful in defeating your enemies. The Ducal forces attempted to gain advantage against your Highness’s army by advancing through the valley of Lunzen, and seizing the crossings of the Stronbach at Madling.
General von Stutterheim"
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| Our record of Initiative success and when reinforcing brigades would arrive |
Both Steve J and Keith have written very nice succinct accounts of their day at this game on their blogs and I recommend them both for a different perspective and loads more photos;