Hochst 1622 - A Twilight of Divine Right refight

A few days back I managed to get the Battle of Hochst to the table. This was a new one for me, a battle from the early period of the Thirty Years' War. The scenario appeared in the second of the scenario books for Twilight of Divine Right, To The Peace of the Pyrenees.

 As you would expect, I used the Twilight of Divine Right rules. Hopefully I am gradually becoming more familiar and handy with them!

This battle features a Catholic-Imperialist Army attacking a Protestant Army defending a hill (Schaperberg) and a river (Sulzbach) line, with a defended outpost (the village of Sossenheim) and the Nidda marsh on the far side of the river. The river is crossable everywhere. The Imperialist Army is somewhat larger.

The Set-Up:

The Protestants defending (bottom), the Imperialists attacking (top)

The Protestant main body defending the Schaperberg. Knyphausen commands the foot, Brunswick commands the Horse (and the army overall)

Protestant infantry defending the village and the bridge, with the supporting infantry in a redoubt. A detachment of musketeers lurks at the edge of the Nidda marsh (right).

The Imperialist Left under Pappenheim (top-right) and the Centre-Left under Anhalt (top) - masses of troops in big Tercios!

The Imperialist Centre-Right under Caracciolo (top-right) and the Imperialist Right under Cordoba (top-left); all overlooked by Knyphausen's infantry on the Schaperberg.

The Battle:

The Catholic juggernaut begins its roll forward!

Protestant musketry entirely fails to stop Tilly's tercios, and the village's defenders are routed in short order

Brunswick rushes some cavalry forward to stop the flank being overwhelmed

Pappenheim's troops move forward to clear the Protestant defenders from the marshes, and open the way to a broader flank attack

The Imperialists roll forward, but Protestant Foot and Horse resist ferociously

Anhalt tries to get a column of Tercios across the stream to outflank the village

Pappenheim's troops have quickly eliminated the defending musketeers and are pushing on

The Protestant regiments are resisting furiously at the 'hinge' of the position; it is becoming a really hot corner of the battlefield - the Catholics can't get forward, but the Protestants can't push them back properly. Casualties mount on both sides.

The bulk of the Protestant Army remains on the hill, but Brunswick tries the bold step of about facing his rear-rank regiments of Horse, ready to manouevre them

Still the battle ranges around brook and redoubt: Protestant Harquebusiers charge in to restore the situation and push back the Imperialist infantry

The Harqubusiers are soon shot down, but they have caused enough damage to really stop the Imperialist advance

Tilly's tercios have ground down the Horse opposing them, and are now on the move forward once again

Brunswick's troopers charge forward to halt the advance; meanwhile Pappenheim's units struggle forward through the marsh towards the right flank of the Protestant position

Some of the Imperialist infantry break, unable to face the furious fire of the Protestant musketeers and supporting artillery any further

This is the key sectors currently and the Protestants are holding on - just

Repeated charges by the Protestant Horse are starting to wear away at the Imperial Tercios: in any case, they are really slowing them down.

But the fighting is chewing through the Protestant cavalry squadrons too; and what's more, the musketeers in the redoubt can take no more either, and break

And suddenly the flank is looking a bit sparse

However, Brunswick's manouevre has worked and reinforcements arrive to stabilize the situation

However, although Brunswick's troopers have halted the tercios, Pappenheim has managed to get his troops around the flank and rear!

A wider shot - note that the Protestant Infantry has advanced and is starting to push against the Catholic Right (top-left)

Things looking bleak for the Protestant troopers

The Protestants are still holding on at the hot corner, and are trying to push over the stream

However, the Protestant Right is starting to cave in...

The cavalry fight on the right becomes general - Brunswick's troopers have fought heroically, but the odds are just too great here

And the collapse begins!

And spreads!

Imperialist cavalry counter-charge the advancing Protestant infantry, with some success

The Protestant Right collapses totally

And the bold Protestant attack on the Left has been held

The surviving Protestant regiments flee!

Game Notes: 

A really interesting game. I was a bit rusty - the 'small rules' in Twilight of Divine Right don't always stick in my head very well - but I soon got into it, and happily the basics are very straightforward. The Protestants had a lot of bad luck early on, which they found it a little hard to recover from, although they gave it a good go. I think I had a better feel for artillery usage and infantry defence in this game. It is quite hard to 'stack the deck' in a positive sense in this game (although it is somewhat easier to make a defence very weak!). The modifiers that made the most difference here was what we might call 'threat to flank', getting troops round the side or back would quickly unhinge a defence. I don't think there is much to argue with there. But that sets up the key tactical dynamic, whether to try and win through superior depth, or superior width. There are real trade-offs here, unless the terrain forces your hand. There were a couple of key manoeuvres in this game: Brunswick's about face and march of his cavalry took a little while but did work, whilst Pappenheim's successful extra move put his troopers into the right place at the right time. The Imperialists having more and better generals on the field helped them a lot too.

Figures by Baccus 6mm, buildings by Leven and Battlescale