SYW All-Cavalry Battle Part II - the Heavies

 

Prussian cuirassiers (backs to camera) and Russian cuirassiers (facing the camera)
chop, hack and thrust one another in a grand melee. Minden Miniatures exclusively.

CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO ENLARGE

I finally got around to finishing my SYW battle that featured only cavalry and no infantry. In Part I of this report, the Prussian and Russian light cavalry forces came to blows in a meeting engagement. The Prussians were able to drive back the Russians and take possession of the key land feature called the Kammin Heide.

The Cavalry Rules

One of the benefits of staging an all-cavalry battle is that it gives your cavalry melee rules a good work out. I haven't used my Der Alte Fritz rules in quite awhile so it took me awhile to remember what to do mechanically and discover why I made the rules the way they are in the first place.

I did not like the way that my cavalry melee rules with respect to (1) the sequence of charging and counter-charging; (2) some of the morale elements; and (3) the rallying and pursuit mechanics in the rules. As a result, I developed a number of tweaks to the rules that I feel should make for a better game, going forward. After I make all of the rules changes, I will post a new version on the Fife and Drum Miniatures web site so that readers can download copies for free.

Notable and likely changes will include charge declarations without the need to roll for morale to see if the squadron will actually charge. Both sides should just automatically go into melee when one side or the other declares a charge. The only exception will be if the defending cavalry unit has been "caught at the halt" position.

My original rules only allowed for one round of melee in order to speed up this part of the game. However, for an all-cavalry game, melee is all that the squadrons can do so I increased the number of melee rounds in a melee to two rounds of combat. After that the possible outcomes are (1) tie, both units retire a full move back to their own lines and are disordered for a full turn, (2) loser routs and winner rolls a D6 to see if it will pursue, or (3) winner halts in place and becomes disordered for a full turn, unless it is rallied by a leader.

In order to rally, I now allow a squadron of cavalry to remain in place, neither moving or charging, for one turn after which it returns to a good order state. Units can also attempt to rally by moving a leader into contact with the unit and attempting a rally dice roll (it's about a 50-50 chance of success) so most players will likely opt to rest their cavalry for a full turn and not risk the possibility of a rout if it attempts to use the dice rally mechanism in the rules.

The Heavy Cavalry Battle Report

Part II of the cavalry battle featured the arrival of the heavy cavalry brigades for both armies, so we are talking dragoons, horse grenadiers and cuirassiers in this battle. The Prussians started the battle with the terrain advantage since they held the high ground and were well positioned to bottle up the arrival of the Russian heavy cavalry. The map believe depicts the terrain features and locations of key locations on the tabletop terrain. This is the light cavalry map and I apologize for not having a similar map for the heavy cavalry action.

The Prussians begin the game with their dragoons deployed on the high ground called the Kammin Heide. They are supported by a second line of cuirassiers hidden behind the ridge. There are a few remnants of light cavalry hussars milling around the flanks of the Prussian position. The Prussian cavalry commander, yes Him, is Lt. General von Seydlitz. His plan is to lure the Russian cavalry onto the Kammin Heide and then surprise them with a counter attack from the hidden Prussian cuirassiers.

The Russian heavy cavalry is entering the table on the hill where the remnants of their hussars and Cossacks are shown on Map 1.

I place a couple of light infantry units on the table for both sides, but these were 
really placed there "for looks only" and did not contribute to the battle.
Here we have some Prussian Frei Korps troops, using a mix of Mindens, 
Fife and Drum Hessians and some AWI Continentals, converted by paint.

The initial deployment of the Prussian heavy cavalry regiments. Hussars in the first line
 (right hand side of the picture), dragoons in the second line and a third line of Cuirassiers

Some left over light cavalry from the previous game: Prussian Black Hussars (L)
and Russian Yellow Hussars (R)

Russian Horse Grenadiers and Cuirassiers charge

Russian cuirassiers provide support to the Horse Grenadiers

But wait! Prussian CR8 Seydlitz Cuirassiers seemingly come out of nowhere
and charge into the flank of the Russian Horse Grenadiers. This demonstrates
the advantage of winning the initiative die roll at the beginning of each turn.

Closer view of the Prussian flank charge.

We get even closer.

It's a bad day for these particular Russians as they get cut down by
the Seydlitz CR8 cuirassiers.

Prussian dragoons advance at the trot looking for someone to melee with.

Many individual squadron melees erupt all over the Kammin Heide.
Such action is typical of cavalry melees in my rules. The Black Hussars in the 
right foreground have Lt. General von Zeiten attached to the squadron to give
them a morale boost (one extra D10 in a morale dice throw).

Russian Cuirassiers finally seem to have an advantage over their foe: cuirasses vs no cuirasses.

Alas, the worst possible melee morale throw. All that the Russian cuirassiers
needed was anything but a "ten' (or double zero) on just two of the three dice.

Post melee, some of the Prussian squadrons have to fall back towards their own
lines, in disordered status, where they will recover in two turns.

Some of the non-viable Prussian squadrons have been removed from the table. Now there is 
a more open look to the battlefield. When a cavalry unit is down to only two stands
 (out of six to start with in a squadron) then it is removed from the game.

Russian heavy cavalry squadrons fall back to reform, hoping to deter the 
Prussian cavalry from making any further attacks.

After ten game turns I decided that the cavalry of both sides was knackered and ready to call it a day. The butcher's bill saw the Prussians losing 34 of 60 figures from their squadrons engaged, and they also had 24 more cuirassiers that were held back in a third line and were unengaged in the battle. The Russians registered 36 casualties out of a starting total of 84 figures and all of their forces were engaged.

At the end of the day it looked like neither side was in good enough condition to carry on the cavalry battle, although the Prussians had a substantial reserve of 24 cuirassiers that they could have committed to a renewal of the battle. Doing a little bit of free kriegspeiling in my head, it seemed reasonable that even as bold a cavalry general as von Seydlitz would have decided that further charges would not result in any significant gain. Thus von Seydlitz, who held the initiative in the battle, decided that his cavalry had done enough for the day. The Russians were likely grateful to see an end to the cavalry battle, but they were confident that they still had enough viable squadrons to stop the Prussians. So they too broke off the fight and reformed on top of their hill.

Perhaps some Russian and Prussian infantry will come up and renew the battle on the 'morrow. Who knows?

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British Loyalist Regiment

 

British Loyalist regiment of 24 figures,
Fife and Drum Miniatures

I recently finished a regiment of Loyalists wearing red coats to use in the various theaters of the American Revolutionary War. I used a mix of figure packs for American militia, armed civilians and some British light company figures (with bayonets clipped off). 

The figures can be used as either a 32 figure regiment with 8 figures per stand, or as two small regiments of 16 figures. I use a figure to man ratio of 1:10 so the Loyalist regiment could be 320 men or two regiments of 160 men.

Two stands of advancing Loyalists.
Fife and Drum Miniatures

Two stands of Loyalists in firing poses.
Fife and Drum Miniatures

I painted two stands of figures in a firing line and two stands of figures advancing so if I want to break the unit down into two 16 figure regiments, then they can be easily delineated from each other by the type of pose in the unit.

Both sections of the Loyalist regiment
Fife and Drum Miniatures

For the basing, I tried out a method of using two different heights of static grass: 4mm and 7mm. This is a method used by model railroaders and I am pleased with the way that the basing turned out.

As I usually do, I use a mixture of light wall board paste (Red Devil or DAP brands) and brown acrylic paint that I purchase at Michael's Stores. By the way, make sure that you purchase the "light" spackle and not the "heavy spackle". You will know the difference when you pick of the container, believe you me.

I stir the brown paint into the pint or quart plastic container of spackle, add just a touch of water to thin it down, and then start stirring the mixture with a spoon until the mix looks like chocolate pudding. You can use different color paints if you wish. For example, I keep a container of light tan goop on hand that I use to make dirt roads.

The goop is then spread around the base and pushed between the feet of the figures using a small artists' spatula. Sometimes a touch of water is added to thin down the goop, which makes it easier to trowel around the figures on the base. While the goop is still wet, I place it in a container of fine railroad ballast from Woodland Scenics and let the base dry overnight. The next day I do a little bit of dry brushing with a contrasting color of paint and then I start affixing tufts of grass, maybe some flowers and then static grass. I like to keep a few brown patches on the base to depict dirt and to break up the solid mass of static grass. For this Loyalist unit, I used the two different heights of static grass for the first time.

And finally, here is a picture of a test piece of small terrain board:

This board measures 16" by 8" and is meant to be used with a small farm in Europe or North America. I am not planning on making large terrain boards for my games. The Cigar Box mats work just fine.

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Saratoga Anniversary on September 19th

 

Battle of Freeman's Farm at Saratoga. British figures are depicted in the cut down
uniforms and caps used in General Burgoyne's army.

Benedict Arnold directs the New Hampshire brigade into battle at Freeman's Farm
Fife and Drum Miniatures

CLICK ON ALL PICTURES TO ENLARGE THE VIEW

Is anyone thinking about war gaming the Battle of Saratoga on its anniversary date September 19th (1777)? Actually, this is the date of the First Battle of Saratoga, more commonly known as the Battle of Freeman's Farm. Below is a link to the American Battlefield Trust's website and their rather extensive description of the Saratoga Campaign and the battle at Freeman's Farm. It is well worth the look:

Freeman's Farm

Fife and Drum Miniatures added the British infantry wearing its Saratoga Campaign uniforms. Their jackets are cut down (turn backs removed), they are wearing "overalls" (what we would call pants or trousers) and their unique cap that was made by cutting off the brims of their hats and adding a front plate to the head gear.

Fife and Drum Miniatures web store: British

Note that all British and Hessian/Brunswick infantry and Mohawk Indians can be found in the "British Infantry" pull down menu on the web site.

The British in Saratoga uniforms and their Mohawk Indian allies were added to the Fife and Drum figure range in early 2020. The figures were sculpted by Richard Ansell. Below are some representative "greens" of some of the new figures. The British are available as center company and flank company figures in marching poses as well as in skirmish poses. Highlanders for the same campaign are also available. The Mohawk have firing poses and melee weapons poses.

Fraser's brigade of converged British flank companies at Freeman's Farm.

One of the appeals, to me, of the Saratoga Campaign is that you have two evenly matched British and Continental armies along with the British allies, Brunswickers and Iroquois. The Americans have a mix of Continental regiments wearing uniform coats or hunting shirts. And they have lots and lots of militia that were well suited for skirmish warfare in the forests that played such a key role in the campaign. 

And did I mention the terrain?

This is one of my all time favorite pictures that I took. American militia
defend a fence line against a party of British skirmishers.

Vast wooded areas of terrain, broken up by individual farmsteads that were carved out of the forests.

Lots and lots of trees of all different sizes add visual impact to the table top terrain.

Finally, the Saratoga Campaign is well-suited for smaller skirmish games that can employ as few as a dozen figures per side (or more if that is your preference). Thus it takes but a small investment in figures to get started in the Saratoga Campaign.

Cossacks!

Cossacks doing what they do best: burn and pillage an East Prussian village.
RSM figures mounted on Minden horses.

Click on pictures to enlarge

If one is going to have a Russian army for Seven Years War games then one of the key components of that army is the irregular light cavalry soldiers known as Cossacks. And while the Minden Miniatures figure range does not have Cossacks (at least not yet, but a likely addition), I have found that the RSM Cossacks are a perfect fit with Minden Miniatures cavalry. My force of Cossacks are RSM figures that I have mounted on my own Minden/Fife and Drum horses.

Cossacks are useful for screening infantry or cavalry movements of the main Russian army as well as causing havoc on the flanks and rear of the Prussian army. They can be a real nuisance but they are not particularly effective as battle field cavalry. In my rules, Cossacks can only be "unformed" troops and so they would fight "formed" regular trained cavalry at a great disadvantage. In fact, in my rules when a formed unit makes contact with an unformed unit, the latter is vaporized and removed from the table top. 

On the other hand, Cossacks move at a faster rate than regular cavalry hussars and so they can outrun them if need be. Cossacks are not allowed to charge formed units from the front, but they may charge into the flanks or rear of formed troops. 

Cossacks ride into town. The bits of kapok on the tips of some of the spears 
represent flaming torches that will be used to set fire to the town.

A Prussian field bakery provides a juicy target for the Cossacks. Here they set fire 
to the ovens and related equipment.

Here the Cossacks are burning potential forage to deprive the Prussian food for their horses.

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