Battle of Wittstock 1636 - a Twilight of Divine Right AAR

The next Thirty Years' War battle I have attempted with the Twilight of Divine Right rules was the Battle of Wittstock, again from the scenario in the accompanying book.

Wittstock is an interesting and unusual scenario, since it features an attack by the Swedish/Protestants on one flank then an attack on the other flank later on.

Summarized Order of Battle:

Swedish/Protestant Army:
C-in-C: Baner
Vanguard
12 units of Horse

Centre (reinforces the Vanguard):
5 units of Foot
2 units of Guns

Flanking Force:
8 units of Horse
1 unit of Dragoons
3 units of Foot

Imperial-Saxon Army:
C-in-C: Elector Johann-Georg

Left:
14 units of Horse

Centre & Right:
6 units of Horse
1 unit of Dragoons
14 units of Foot
4 units of Guns

The order of battle in the scenario book is much more detailed than this, in ways that do make a difference to the game.  This is especially true for the Imperial-Saxon side, since they re-deployed elements of the their force in specific chunks to face the Swedish threat.

The Scenario:

The Imperial-Saxon army is set-up in one direction, in entrenchments.  They are then faced by a Swedish force turning their left flank, and two contingents of Horse have been dispatched to face them.  There are a couple of different ways offered to replay this in the scenario book.  I selected the scenario when the first two Imperial-Saxon forces have already moved and Baner's Swedes are ready to attack.  However, after 10 turns, another Swedish flanking force turns up facing the edge of the Imperial-Saxon right wing; although the exact turn of arrival is diced for.  Then, more Swedish-Protestant infantry will turn up to reinforce the Swedish vanguard.
As a self-imposed rule, I forbade the Imperial-Saxon forces from advancing beyond their line of entrenchments before the arrival of the Swedish-Protestant flanking forces: it seemed unlikely and unfair to allow a re-deployment on this flank to face a basically unknown threat.

The Set-up:

The main Imperial-Saxon position is to the left behind entrenchments; the re-deployed force is on the high ground to the right whilst the Swedish vanguard has just entered (bottom-right)

The main Imperial-Saxon army behind its entrenchments

The Imperial-Saxon Horse

Baner (right) supervises the advance of Torstensson's Horse

The Battle:

Why waste time?  Baner organizes his Horse and advances; the Imperial-Saxons feel their hand is forced and get their retaliation in first, ordering a charge

First blood to the Imperials: the Swedish Horse start to take some losses (see casualty markers in Swedish front rank)

After a couple more turns of fighting, the situation has become more confused: however the Imperialists are doing quite well and more importantly, have got an organized forces around the Swedish flank (bottom-left quarter)

Elector John-George gets a detachment of Foot and Guns from his main body on the march to support the left wing

The melee continues: this time the Swedes get their charge in first to forestall an attack (centre)

Notice in the centre that the Swedes are doing quite well and have reached the higher points of the slope (top)

And...breakthrough!  The Swedes have split the Imperial-Saxon Horse in two...

Surely the Swedish left cannot hold under such pressure (bottom and centre)?

They are being pushed back, but are still basically holding out

Torstensson makes sure that he finishes the business at hand, trying to secure the slopes before helping his beleaguered left

The wider position: there are a couple of uncommitted units of Horse about to be committed by the Imperial-Saxons (centre), whilst the foot column just hoves into view (top-left)

The melee continues.  Things are beginning to look a bit bleak for the Imperial-Saxons though: they have failed to take advantage where they were strongest (foreground) but the Swedes have polished off the left-wing of the Imperials quite smartly and will soon be able to use these troops to help out

And so it is proving; the final two Imperial-Saxon Horse units charge in (left) since this is the last moment of near parity...

But without any great effect.  Torstensson will now be able to bring his victorious cavalry (top) into action onto the turned Imperialist flank

Some of the Swedish Horse units have been eliminated (see gap in centre) but their line of Horse has been reformed

But still the cavalry combat rages on...

The Imperial-Saxon foot column gets into position

The last Imperial Horse units are under heavy pressure...

When like a bolt from the blue, the Swedish-Protestant flanking force arrives! 

Hoping to keep the pressure on and trusting in the remainder of his Horse to triumph in the main melee, Torstensson charges with his victorious Horse straight into the line of Imperial-Saxon Foot, hoping to catch the rear elements (bottom) still in column of march...

Meanwhile the flanking force, attacking with great elan, has forced its way into the fortifications (centre)

The Swedish Horse make a dent in the line of Imperial-Saxon Foot and do catch a couple of units still in column

The remainder of the Swedish Horse are slowly grinding their opponents into dust...

The battle rages on the right flank of the fortifications: the Imperials have lost some men in the fighting, but musketry from the flanks is causing the Swedish cavalry some losses too

The Imperial Horse on the left has been broken through and is on the point of collapse...

Having got into the position with great dash, the Swedish Horse is finding it difficult to cling on in the face of fire from three sides...

Losses on both sides in the battle between the Swedish Horse and Imperialist Foot for possession of the hill

Only scattered remnants of the Imperial Horse (bottom-centre-top) are still in the fight, although those that are are fighting hard

Some of the Imperialist Foot are proving tough opponents for the Swedish horsemen

Neither side is yet able to change the stalemate around the fortifications; an attack on the village (top) has been driven back with loss and the Swedish dragoons have dismounted (top-left) to try again on foot

Swedish infantry reinforcements arrive (top) and attack the Imperialists defending the buildings, but they are not to be moved!

Losses increase in the centre of this fight on both sides, without anything much being achieved...

However, the Imperialist infantry on the other flank has been attacked and routed by more Swedish cavalry (bottom and right)

Imperialist morale collapses as their left wing collapses...probably most of the remaining Imperial-Saxons can escape, since they have a body of uncommitted cavalry (centre)

Game Notes:
More good fun, and a very interesting scenario.  I remember looking at a scenario for Wittstock in Miniature Wargames 53 a while ago as part of my series of refighting scenarios from old magazine articles, but it didn't seem to me to actually be workable as a game, regardless of its merits or otherwise as an historical article.  I think it was one of the kinds of articles that Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy and Battlegames were a bit of a backlash against.  Anyway, I digress! 

The battle was close and I think the Swedes were lucky.  The Imperialists' manoeuvring was better, although let down by some tardy unit execution on occasion, but the luck of the dice was with the Swedes and sometimes that makes the difference.  On a tactical level again, there was nothing that seemed wrong, according to my admittedly limited understanding of the basic 'grammar' of the fighting of the period. 
That said, this is the game of the three in which I have had most little struggles with the rules.  This seems to have been a direct result of the circumstances, which encouraged a big, flowing cavalry fight.  I made a couple of mistakes myself, which didn't help, although I don't think they materially affected the outcome.  I struggled with two related areas:
1 - Which actions can a unit in combat perform, in particular if it is contacted in the flank or rear, presuming it survives the first round?  For instance, are columns hit in the flank, stuck in that formation, or subject to a successful action test, can they deploy?  Or are they assumed to come out of column automatically?  Since there are circumstances in which troops definitely can take action tests in combat, the second seems most natural (in the rules); but, would doing that move conflict with the "you can only advance directly towards that unit" rule in the zone-of-control section?  I am not sure.
2 - How do turns to flank work?  Are they like in Polemos, which has to be done by wheeling?  Or in Neil Thomas' rules, where you pivot from the centre?  Or can you basically do either, like in DBx?  This ends up making a lot of difference, potentially, to how flank attacks play out.
Anyway, this is reasonably marginal stuff and I made on the fly rulings according to how I thought the rules intended to go (the joys of solo gaming!) but I genuinely wasn't quite sure if I had picked the right options here.
Although the scenario as a piece of game design is very good, as a piece of writing it wasn't great, with a couple of quite confusing bits.  For example, it says that "at the start of the game,  King's and Vitzhum's commands are flank marching.  The Swedish player chooses which turn they will start to roll for their arrival".  The orders of battle have Vitzhum on the Imperial-Saxon side commanding their Foot in the entrenchments.  Is the Swedish player really meant to roll for his arrival?  The Swedish order of battle doesn't contain King at all, expect to mention that Kornis' Reserve command is under 'the King's' command. Is 'King' the same as 'the King'?  That might sound weird to read, but it actually makes equal sense to read it either way. The text doesn't mention what Shlick's Swedish Cavalry force are meant to be doing.  I am guessing that they are actually the force which arrives first with King (or 'the King').   So I made my best guesses, and the old MW053 article plus the Wikipedia entry helped a bit here, but I could have got the designer's intention quite radically wrong!  Please let me know if this is the case, any TYW experts out there.  Also the map wasn't clear if there was meant to be a village where I placed it.  It looks like the symbol for village is there, but it isn't named, so perhaps I have misinterpreted this.
Anyway, all that said, it was another very enjoyable game - recommended.  Played over a slightly bigger area than normal: 4'x2.5', using Baccus 6mm figures from my ECW armies and Leven buildings.

Battle of Oldendorf: Twilight of Divine Right AAR

For the next battle using the Twilight of Divine Right rules, I selected the Battle of Oldendorf from the Thirty Years' War scenario book.  This features the Swedes/Protestants attacking an Imperial/Catholic force over a hilly terrain slightly broken up with streams and little villages.

Simplified Orders of Battle:

The Protestants:
C-in-C: Georg of Brunswick
11 units of Horse (3 units have Commanded Shot)
2 units of Dragoons
4 units of Foot
2 units of Guns

The Imperials:
C-in-C: Bonninghausen
7 units of Horse (6 units have Commanded Shot)
2 units of Dragoons
9 units of Foot
1 unit of Guns 

The Protestant forces are aiming to defeat the Catholic army; the latter need only hold on to succeed.

The actual order of battle is more complicated but only makes real sense if you have a copy of the rules.  It goes into the tactical detail and equipment more.  Comments on this at the end.

The Set-Up:

The field of battle, with the Protestant forces at the bottom, Catholic forces defending the top.  Oldendorf is bottom-left, Barksen bottom-right, Segelhorst top-centre-right.

The Catholic forces deployed in three lines, defending the hill and line of the stream

A closer view of the Catholic Right

and its Centre...

And its left.  The left is weaker, but is probably the most difficult to attack (the woods make flanking difficult and they are protected by both stream and slope)

The view along the lines from the Catholic Right/Protestant Left up the valley

A closer look at the Horse on the Protestant Left, raring to cross the stream and get into action

The Swedish infantry in the centre

And more Horse and Dragoons on the Protestant Right

The Battle:

Wasting little time, the Protestant left attacks!

The left-handmost regiment sends its opponent scurrying back to rally behind the third line (top) whilst it pursues over the stream...

The rest of the Protestant Horse gets stuck in

Unfortunately for the now isolated Swedish (possibly Finnish I think) they have run into the Imperial supports, who now outnumber them 3-1...

They are trapped, defeated and eliminated!

Catholic Cuirassiers prove to be made of stern stuff, throwing their opponents back down the slope.  Pike and pistol are employed in the struggle (right) between Protestant Horse and Catholic Foot...

After a little more fighting, the Protestants have recoiled with loss and are reforming back in their starting positions (bottom) on the near side of the stream

Bonninghausen (centre) surveys the fine fight his troops have made so far

However the Swedish infantry are starting to get forward in the centre...

so the Protestant Horse on the left reforms for another attack in support

The Swedish infantry push forward and over the stream (centre-right)

Can the centre hold?

The Protestant Horse has even less success in its second attack than in its first!

Having got as far as the stream, the Swedish Foot are struggling to make further headway and are slowly being shot to pieces

The Protestant Left has mainly collapsed, with only a few Horse left desperately trying to regain some of the initiative...

The Protestants make a desparate push forward again the centre...

Whilst things hang by a thread on the left!

No matter what, or how hard, they try, the Protestants cannot make the Catholic centre break...

The Swedish Right can make no impression either

The Protestant Left has collapsed totally!

The Protestants must retreat or risk encirclement or annihilation!!

Game Notes:
A good game this one, in which I initially though the Catholics were going to be defeated but quickly the chance of battle ebbed to the other side and the Protestants simply could never get going.  The Swedish Foot failed a lot of manouevre rolls early on whilst crossing the stream and this led to the slightly disjointed attack.  That said, the main problem was that the Protestants won combats but generally failed to do decisive damage, whilst the Catholics seemed to only lose at non-vital moments. Although the game did not follow history very closely, I don't think that anything that happened seemed too implausible. I think that maybe my poor tactics have a lot to answer for too!  It is sometimes a bit harder for me to get a good idea of "what to do", compared to Napoleonic or WW2 warfare, for example.
 I don't think I made too many mistakes in this game, since the game mechanics are pretty straightforward, generally speaking.  The only comment I would make is that you do have to remember a bit of stuff in combat (what happened or failed to happen in the round before can have an effect in the current round).  With this amount of units not too much of a problem, but it could be in a bigger game.  There was one item in the rules I genuinely did not understand was that the combat factor:

"-1 At least one enemy element entirely behind flank within 2BW (unless the unit is enemy LH)"

is immediately followed by:

"-2 At least one enemy element entirely behind flank within 2BW (unless the unit is enemy LH) (ET only -1)"

I must confess I could not really tell what the author was getting at here - a mistake, perhaps?

One other thing - which is absolutely not a complaint, just a point to note - is that there can be a lot of variance in troop types even on the same side.  The Protestant Cavalry is a mixture of 'Dutch-style', 'Swedish-style', 'Gallopers', 'Dragoons' and 'Cuirassiers', and could have included 'Harquebusiers' and 'Light Horse' as well.  These can all be Raw, Trained or Elite*, have Commanded Shot attached or not, be of small, standard or large size, and be 'Poor' or not.  The infantry is nearly as variable.  "Charge" this is not: so what you will have to do for the best game experience is to have a visual system which allows you to see at a glance which of these things applies.  Units can take a varying amount of 'hits' too, which also need to be marked.

(* - there is also a variable morale system is well, as an option)

  Anyway, all great fun and recommended.  As previously, I am using a half-sized version which is easily playable on a 3'x2' board, but the mechanics are exactly the same.  Figures by Baccus 6mm, with my ECW soldiers doughtily standing in for their continental contemporaries. Buildings by Leven.

The Bottom of the Barrel

This morning, I have reached what might be termed the bottom of the barrel.  I can't say with perfect truth that I have no lead mountain/plastic pile; but I have painted everything that was really on my list.  Everything else is basically spares, some of which I could paint up and base into something I might use and some of which I would be struggling to.

So what does the bottom of the barrel look like?

1. A small number of WW2 soft-skinned vehicles, a GHQ horse-drawn cart I have no recollection of purchasing at all (did it turn up in an eBay package I wonder?) and some loose infantry, including some GHQ, Adler & H&R Germans and British.

2. Some spare painted 6mm Baccus Vikings (these will be used for markers and extra command bases, should I need them).

3. A few spare painted 6mm Medieval Arabs (ditto).

4.  A small number of spare 6mm Gothic spearmen (survivors of a Late Roman and Goth project I did as a present for someone 10 years back).

5.  Some spare 6mm Napoleonics.  There are a reasonable number in aggregate, but I don't think I have enough of anything to make a unit out of, except maybe some extra skirmish bases for the Old Guard, Austrian Grenadiers, Austrian Landwehr and Russian Grenadiers; possibly I could also make a couple of bases of British / Dutch / United States infantry, but with only improvised commanders, drummers etc.

6. Some 6mm Brigade models Polish SF.  Nice models, but no clear idea what to paint them as, or what to do with them if they were ever to be painted.

7. A few spare painted 6mm WotTK commanders (for extra command stands or individual officers/couriers, if the need should arise).

8.  Some very small quantities of other 6mm stuff (a few WotR spearmen, an Amazon command strip, that kind of thing).

9.  Some 28mm 40k stuff.  Some are painted, some are painted but need a touch up, some are undercoated only (this is stuff collected from eBay over the years).

10. A spare QRF 15mm British anti-tank gun (a 6lber, I think)...

I am hoping this situation won't last long: I am very much looking forward to the forthcoming releases by Baccus 6mm of their Highlanders and their civilians for the WotTK.  After that, I am considering some Napoleonic Wurttembergers and some TYW Cuirassiers.  But for the moment, I am pretty much at a loose end, painting wise.  Maybe I will tackle the 40K stuff next.