Crossing the Lech / Battle of Rain 1632 - Twilight of Divine Right

Next up in this series of Thirty Years' War refights is the Crossing of the Lech, otherwise known as the  Battle of Rain. This scenario is published in the second TYW scenario book for Twilight of Divine Right, "To the Peace of the Pyrenees".

 

 

 

Here, Tilly's Imperial troops are on the strategic defensive. Gustavus has made a bridgehead over the Lech but has also sent a flanking force to ford the Lech and outflank any force the Imperialists send against the bridgehead...

 

It is up to the Swedes/Protestants to win the battle, a draw favours the Imperialists/Catholics.

 

The Forces:

 More detailed forces are in the scenario book, but in general terms:

The Imperialists (C-in-C: Tilly)

5 Tercios (very large!)

10 Cavalry units

1 Light Cavalry unit

 

The Swedish (C-in-C: Gustavus)

5 Infantry brigades

11 Cavalry units

3 Dragoon units

3 Artillery units 

These are slightly modified from the forces in the book.

 

The Set-Up:

The Swedish forces around the bridgehead, the Imperialists facing them (top-left); both sides are expecting reinforcements.

Another view - apologies, some of the shadows weren't too kind to game photos

A closer look at the Swedish bridgehead: two brigades with regimental guns occupy the earthworks; cavalry are on the near side of the river, with the supporting artillery; the Dragoons to the left are in position to ford the Lech here, if necessary (the Lech can be forded to the left of the pontoon, but not the right)

The Imperialists are formed up in two large blocks, one of infantry tercios and the other of Horse, ready to attack the bridgehead; somewhat unusually, a tercio guards the open flank (right), whilst the Light Horse watch the other flank (left)

The Battle:

The Imperial troops lumber forward, subtlety be damned!  The Swedish musketry and artillery fire was less potent than they may have hoped. Swedish Dragoons have forded the Lech and dismounted, ready to  move through the woods (left)

The Swedes are holding on around the emplacements and have pushed the Imperialists back; meanwhile, the first elements of Saxe-Weimar's flanking force have arrived (right)

More of Saxe-Weimar's troops have followed up (right), but Billehe's Imperial cavalry have arrived to challenge them (top-left); Tilly and Aldringer's forces renew their assault on the emplacements, but they haven't broken in yet - and Swedish Dragoons have begun to threaten their flank in the woods (bottom-left)

A wider shot of this stage of the battle

A third (or is it fourth?!?) major Imperial assault goes in - this time, the Swedes waver...

...and break! A foothold at last?

Saxe-Weimar's forces and the Imperial Left Flank have now come to grips in earnest

Meanwhile, Tilly's tercios are still making progress around the pontoon bridge, seeing off some of the Swedish cavalry reserves

The lone Imperial Tercio on the flank has held back the Swedes for a while, but has suffered quite heavy casualties

...and then they break and run!

The Imperialists extemporize some new defences, but their position is very awkward, as well as being somewhat outnumbered

Now that the Imperial infantry have pushed onto the bridge, the Tercios in the rear divert towards the wood, to clear out the Dragoons who have been such a drag on the advance.

The Imperialist Cavalry is simultaneously in deep trouble, and yet hanging on slightly better than one might expect

But that doesn't last for long; however the Imperialists have cleared the far side of the river and have nearly finished off the Dragoons in the wood (left)

But Saxe-Weimar's Horse and Foot are just mopping up the remnants of the Imperialists' left flank; both sides are on the point of imminent collapse!

A fierce cavalry charge holds back an Imperial Tercio by the bank of the river - and the Swedish cavalry have pretty much wiped out everything to the Imperial rear. Suddenly, it is all over - the surviving Imperialists - many in their moment of victory - realize the battle is lost and run!

Game Notes: 

A real nail-biter this one, as both sides had a Wing more-or-less destroyed, but morale would just not collapse for either side!!! It did make it very exciting though for the last few turns of the game, although there was also a sense of nothing else matters, apart from those wing morale rolls!!

I slightly reduced the playing area for this one, to 2'x2' instead of 2.5'x2.5' (in the half-sized battles I play). It worked fine, I simply added a bit of time for when the reinforcements to both sides arrived (two turns, so a force that in the scenario as written would arrive on turn 3 would arrive on turn 5 instead).

I played this one before the recent discussion on the Breitenfeld refight, which usefully clarified a couple of rules' points. I don't think it made too much difference here, except the shape of the Imperial assault may have been somewhat different. Overall, the game played pretty smoothly, although the Swedes do have certain evolutions to go through to maximize their combat effectiveness...although with Gustavus nearby, these are relatively guaranteed to occur (Generalship in this game is mainly reflected through re-rolls).

Tactically I think this battle is really interesting for the Imperial player; the Imperialists can sit tight and fight it defensively or they can take the initiative and attack. On balance, I still think the latter is the way to go, despite it not working in this game - but if Gustavus is reduced to praying for 'Heads' on tail flip, Tilly is probably doing okay. Anyway, a new battle to me, but a very interesting one.

Figures and the pontoon by Baccus, emplacements by Irregular.