Winter Wargaming

Frederick and his staff at Leuthen. (click on all pictures to enlarge)

We received our first dusting of winter snow overnight here in Hesse Seewald and thoughts naturally turn to the Christmas season and all of the fellowship and good cheer that it brings. 

The first battalion of the Itzenplitz (IR13) marching through the Winter snow.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland, a view of my street today.

I went crazy on the outdoor lights this year and probably put up twice what I normally do. I would finish a section of the front yard, step back across the street to view my work, and then decide that I needed just a few more lights on the right side of the house.

A view of the outdoor lights at Schloss Seewald

Needless to say, the outside of Schloss Seewald is looking very festive. We are going to purchase our Christmas tree this afternoon and decorate it today. Somehow, it doesn't seem like the holiday season until the tree goes up.

Winter Wargames

I am fortunate to have purchased some Winter terrain mats from The Terrain Guy five or six years ago, before the gentleman closed down his business. The mats are made of canvas with some kind of flock (I'm guessing) adhered to the canvas. Some bits of brown and grey coloring were added to the mats to create a realistic Winter look. Herb Gundt scratch built the snow clad buildings, the roads and frozen streams, and the leafless Winter trees in keeping with the Winter theme. Yes, I actually have buildings and terrain specifically for snow battles and conventional terrain for the non-winter season.

Over the years, I have used these mats to fight battles such as Trenton, Mollwitz and Leuthen along with several fictional battles from my Hesse Seewald collection of figures.

On the Road to Leuthen

Another view of the Itzenplitz regiment on the march. Winter roads, trees and buildings for snowscapes were  made by H.G. Walls major domo, Herb Gundt. The figures shown in the pictures are Minden Miniatures.

I have refought Leuthen a number of times over the years. At least two of them were fought using our 60-figure big battalions for the Batailles dans l'Ancien Regime rules. More recent versions of Leuthen were fought with my Minden Austrian and Prussian armies using a more manageable 30 figure battalions.

The pictures posted in this thread are from a large solo Leuthen game that I played in early 2017, if I recall correctly.

The iconic Leuthen church, manned by the heroic Rot Wurzburg regiment.

Linear warfare at its best - the Austrians form their battle line to stop the Prussian assault.

The Prussian Guards finish off the Reichsarmee troops.

Battle of Trenton

I fought the Battle of Trenton on, appropriately, Christmas Day in 2015. History repeated itself as Washington's army prevailed over the poor Hessians. The figures used in the battle were from my Fife & Drum Miniatures line of AWI figures.

View of Trenton on Christmas Day 1776.

Frozen streams, snow on the ground and bare Winter trees make for a bone-chilling scene.

The Chew House from Germantown doing double duty in Trenton.

The Battle of Mollwitz

This iconic battle was Frederick the Great's first battle (and sort of his first victory). Frederick wasn't so great that day as he allowed Marshal Schwerin to wisk him off the field to safety. He only found out the following day that Schwerin had won a convincing victory over the Austrians.

For wargamers, the Battle of Mollwitz evokes thoughts of the book "The War Game" by Charles Grant Sr.

Long ordered lines of Prussians advance on the Austrian army at Mollwitz. There is a reason for calling this the Age of Linear Warfare.

Austrian counter-attack aims to outflank the Prussian left wing.

The Prussian center is gaining the upper hand in front of Mollwitz.

The Army of Hesse Seewald

In December 2016, my nephew Alex and I played a game over the Christmas holiday, as my Hesse Seewald army "saw the elephant" for its initial battle. The green clad Hesse Seewalders prevailed, just barely, over the white clad Saxon army.

The Saxon camp on a quiet Winter's morning.

But things quickly heat up as Hesse Seewals dragoons (in green on the right)
launch a surprise attack and are met by Saxon dragoons.

the largely green clad Hesse Seewald army advances towards the Saxon camp.

The Saxons fall back from their camp, save for one lonely regiment
that is trying to buy some time for the rest of the army.

The Liebgarde of the Hesse Seewald army are the exception to the rule of wearing green uniforms.

Close combat ensues with the Hesse Seewalders gaining the upper hand in the fire fight.

Winter warfare is a fun change of pace style of tabletop warfare. I am fortunate to have been able to collect some beautiful terrain pieces over the years and refight some of the famous historical battles fought in the 18th Century - the Age of Linear Warfare.

The Battle of Trentonberg

Saxon camp at dawn of Christmas Eve Day

Yesterday my nephew Alex (the Heir Apparent) and I decided to cross swords in my basement and go at it with a war-game. It took me an hour to tear down the Leuthen terrain, but as long as I had the Winter ground cloth, trees, roads and buildings, I decided to organize a scenario based in the Winter.

I decided that it was time for my Hesse Seewald army to have its very first battle against their hated enemy, the Saxons. Since I only had three squadrons of Saxon cavalry in my so-called Saxon army, I recruited some Austrian infantry and cavalry into the Saxon army. Since the Hesse Seewald army is clad mostly in green coats, I added the Austrian de Ligne Dragoons to the HS army.

Since Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were but a day or two off, what better scenario could I do than to run a sort of Trenton game!

Thus 4 battalions of Saxon infantry was posted in the town of Trentonberg, 2 battalions of Croats were deployed in a screen forward of the town, and 4 regiments of cavalry were deployed on the wings (2 regiments per wing). In addition, two more Saxon regiments would be on the march to the sound of the guns and enter the table at a later date (determined by the roll of a D6 die to decide which turn their arrival would occur). Additionally, a squadron of light Uhlans were posted as a cavalry vedette to the west of the town.

The Hesse Seewalders would deploy on their table edge and get two free turns of movement before we reverted to an initiative die roll each turn hence.

On Turn 3, each Saxon battalion would roll a D10 to determine whether or not they were aroused from their brandy-induced slumber: odd number = No; even number= Yes. It would take one full turn for a Saxon battalion to form up after it was ordered to Stand To. The first battalion of the Gyuli Regiment rolled the requisite even number and so it began to form up. The second battalion was called to on Turn 4. The two battalions of the Prinz Sincere regiment did not form up until Turn 6. The reserve battalions also entered the table on Turn 6 (I decided that the reserves would not reach the table until the 4 battalions in camp were formed up.

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Erbprinz Friedrich of Hesse Seewald (commanded by Alex, the Heir Apparent) received a scouting report that the Saxon army had taken up winter quarters in nearby Trentonberg. Their camp was established too close to the Hesse Seewald army, which had taken up quarters on the west bank of the Saale River in Thuringia. His mentor, Marshal von Glasenap agreed that now would be an opportune time to strike a blow against the Saxons and disrupt their plans for the coming Spring Campaign.

The Erbprinz gathered up his small army of 8 battalions (including the Garde and a battalion of converged grenadiers) and 6 cavalry squadrons and make a night march towards Trentonberg. The infantry was divided into two brigades of 4 battalions, one commanded by his brother Prinz Heinrich and the other commanded by General Alberti. The cavalry on both wings were commanded by their regimental commanders.

At dawn, having been undetected by the Saxons (commanded by me), the Hesse Seewalders methodically deployed from their march columns and conducted the minuet of deploying into two lines of battle. Their deployment was virtually completed before a company of Croats fired off a volley at the HS Jagers, who preceded the army just to handle events such as this. The Croats took casualties from the return fire and then retired back towards Trentonberg in good order.

Another brigade of Saxons winter down in their camp too.

An aerial view of the Saxon camp at Trentonberg.

The Heese Seewald army advances

The first brigade of Prinz Heinrich deploys into line and advances toward Trentonberg.

Hesse Seewald Corps of Guides (Light Dragoons) pass through the village of Donopdorf.

The General Alberti's second brigade of the Hesse Seewalders deploys from column into line in preparation for the battle.

Both brigades are now deployed and advance towards the Saxon camp in Trentonberg. So far they are undetected.

An overview of the battle lines. Saxon Uhlans de Saxe provide a vedette line on the left flank of the Saxon camp. Trentonberg is seen on the right. Another village, whose name has been forgotten by History, anchors the HS right flank. More jagers and Croats have it with each other in that village.

The Uhlans fall back in face of the advance of formed enemy cavalry. The HS Corps of Guides preceed the Buddenbrock Dragoons.

A large cavalry melee forms on the left flank of the Saxon camp. The Hesse Seewald dragoons prevail and run the Saxon cavalry from the field.

Hesse Seewald Garde in their red coats spearhead the attack on the Saxon camp.

The Garde engages the 1st Battalion of the Gyulai Regiment, which has roused themselves from the camp.

The Garde has had enough of the firefight and decide to charge the Gyulai Regiment.

The Garde routs! However, other Hesse Seewald regiments advance through a gap in the lines which was defended only by a battery of Saxon 3-pounders. However, the second battalion of Gyulai is engaged in melee with one HS battalion and is about to flanked by another battalion. Not a good thing.

At this point in the battle, The Heir Apparent and I decided to call a halt to the game and assess the winner and loser. We both argued that our own side was losing the battle at this time. Here is my assessment (which counts the most LOL):

The HS cavalry has run all of the Saxon cavalry off on the Saxon left flank. It will be free to reform and within two turns it will run amok in the rear of the Saxon positions around Trentonberg. In the center, the Gyulai regiment was resisting remarkably well as both battalions were holding fast and preventing the HS infantry from extending their battle line. A sort of traffic jam had battalions stacked up behind each other in Prinz Heinrich's brigade. The veteran General Alberti's brigade would likely clear out the 2nd Gyulai battalion and capture a part of the town. So I would award the center to the HS army. Total numbers: 3 battalions versus 1 battalion would eventual play out in the Hesse Seewalders' favor on the right flank.

The rest of the Saxon army (4 battalions) were fresh and firmly ensconced in the part of Trentonberg that was on the back table of my battlefield and I didn't see the HS battalions rousting them out of the village.

Thus my assessment is that the Battle of Trentonberg was a victory for Hesse Seewald. The HS army gave the Saxons a bloody nose, but the Saxons gave as good as they got and conducted a heroic stand in the town. The Saxons would be able to retire back a few miles to safety and they were not captured or destroyed.

By the way, all of the figures used in this battle were either Minden Miniatures or Fife & Drum light dragoons, which look very smart in their Tarleton helmets.

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I would like to wish my readers a Merry Christmas and Boxing Day and hope that you get all of the books and war-game figures that were on your wish list. We are having 23 guests at Schloss Seewald tomorrow, after which the Princess and I are going to serve a Christmas meal in the nearby homeless shelter. It should be a fun and very busy day in our home.

Something Is Brewing

I want to draw your attention to the Kingdom of Hesse Seewald blog ( Here )where a lot of things are happening of late. The Hesse Seewald army is growing at a rapid clip with two new regiments being added within the past 30 days and a couple more on the painting table nearly ready to go.

Please click on the link above and visit the Kingdom of Hesse Seewald.  While you are there, why not become a Follower so that you can keep up to date on events. Suffice to say that dark war clouds are on the horizon.

Back here on this blog, I expect to start the Battle of Mollwitz on Friday night, with pictorial updates to be posted over the weekend.

The Hesse Seewald Army Adds a New Regiment

IR5 Prinz Heinrich Fusilier Regiment

Since I could not make it to the Seven Years War Association Convention in South Bend, Indiana this weekend, I compensated myself by spending a fair amount of time at the painting table, working on a new fusilier regiment for the Hesse Seewald Arm.

The new Prinz Heinrich Fusiliers are the first fusilier regiment in the army and I am very happy with the way that they are turning out. I chose the traditional green Hesse Seewald uniform coat with red facings. Since IR1 von Glasenap has the same colors, I changed the color of the small clothes (breeches and waistcoat) to a light straw.

Of course, the fusilier mitre also distinguishes the regiment from IR1. The mitre has a silver front plate, red mitre bag piped in white, and a green base at the back of the mitre. The base band is decorated with silver grenades. All buttons are silver colored, except for the gaitor buttons, which are brass.

I have decided to add a fifth company of musketeers to each regiment. Thus when the grenadier company is hived off and converged with other grenadier companies, then the line regiment will still be able to field 30 figures in 5 stands, each stand representing a company. This will be the normal wartime footing of the regiment.

The full Hesse Seewald Army of 6 batalions, excluding the Garde Regiment.

A New Blog For Hesse Seewald

I have set up a new blog in the Der Alte Fritz family of blogs that will be devoted entirely to the happenings and goings on in the Kingdom of Hesse Seewald. Eventually I will post pictures of the regiments in the Hesse Seewald Heere and post stories about the pending war with Saxony.

New Hesse Seewald Blog

Click on the link and if you have the time, add yourself as a "follower" so that I can tell if that gadget is working properly. A few comments would also help me see how that aspect is working out.

Originally I set up this blog to experiment with some design elements that I might use on this blog. The principal experiment was with adding wallpaper background to the blog.

Health Update
My wrist is healing up nicely and I'm pretty close to normal again. I can type without any pain or symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome so the surgery was very successful. The other evening I gave the paint brushes a work and finished a dozen of the Volontaires de Saxe lancers that had been sitting on the painting table since December. I hope to get the unit based and grassed over the weekend so that I can take a picture for the blog.

Good Bye 2014 - Year In Review

Liebgarde of Hesse Seewald (click to enlarge view)

As the last few hours of 2014 draw to a close, I thought that I would take a quick look back at the year and review what happened. If you click on any picture, it will enlarge the size for better viewing.

First some statistics:

The blog had 67,616 visitors which averages out to 5,635 visits per month or 185 visits per day. The peak month for visits was in January 2014 when the site logged 7,384 visits.

In June the Der Alte Fritz Journal received its 500,000th visitor. Wow!

Approximately 29% of the visitors are from the United States, followed by the UK with 20%, Germany with 8% and Australia with 4%. The category "Unknown" logged 27% of the visits. I suspect that most of these came from the United States and the UK.

As I scrolled through the posts for 2014, I realized that I only played in 4 four wargames and one of those was actually the game(s) that I hosted at the Seven Years War Association convention in March 2014. That seems like a severe drop in gaming as I think that I usually do six to eight games a year. I'm not sure what happened there, but I resolve to play in more games in 2015.

Business Highlights:

In October, Fife & Drum Miniatures successfully launched its second Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, raising enough funds to add four Austrian cannon, two Austrian supply wagons, four Russian cannon, eight Russian artillery crew, and two Russian supply wagons.

Austrian 12-pounder funded through Kickstarter

Fife & Drum Miniatures also placed 32 AWI dragoons and 3 AWI personality figures into production during 2014. These were also funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign that was launched in 2013.

British Legion Dragoons

British 17th Light Dragoons

Minden Miniatures also added new figures to the SYW and War of Austrian Succession ranges, including the Volontaires de Saxe lancers, Maurice de Saxe riding in his wicker carriage at Fontenoy, the French Cuirassiers de Roi, two new civilian limber team drivers, one Austrian team driver and one Prussian team driver. We also added three new limber horses.

Maurice de Saxe Personality Figure (this was a joint project between Westphalia Miniatures, who made the wicker carriage, and Minden Miniatures, with Richard Ansell sculpting a seated Maurice).

Volontaires de Saxe Lancer

French Cuirassiers du Roi

Artillery Train Drivers (Prussian - Left; Austrian - Right)

In September, we announced our partnership with Crann Tara Miniatures in the UK. Crann Tara is now the distributor of all Fife & Drum AWI figures and artillery equipment in Europe. Crann Tara also distributes a limited portion of the Minden figure range (SYW Highlanders and Hanoverians; civilians, Volontaires de Saxe and SYW artillery equipment).

War Game Hobby Highlights:

2014 saw the beginning of the fictional Hesse Seewald army using Minden Miniatures Prussian figures. By the end of the year, I had completed four infantry battalions (30 figures each), one squadron of mounted Guides (12 cavalry),  a two gun section of foot artillery using 6-pounders, and two 3-pound battalion guns.

Hesse Seewald Field Artillery 6-pounder Battery

Hesse Seewald Corps of Guides

Charlottenburg Grenadiers in Hesse Seewald Service

Von Glasenap Regiment of Hesse Seewald

Wargames played included:

The Battle of Pirna (February) - Austrian-Saxon victory over Prussia

Battle of Pirna - February

Lobositz (March) - Prussian victory at the SYWA convention

Battle of Lobositz - March

The Battle of Sonnenfeld in East Prussia - Prussian victory over the Russians

Battle of Sonnenfeld in East Prussia - August

Gildershaven - The Annual Light Infantry Game (December) - everyone's a winner in this game!

Battle of Gildershaven - December