Adding The Armies

AS very much expected, my opponent ,a dyed-in-the-wool Francophile, chose to take the Franco-Bavarians, and to sink his identity in that of his hero, Maurice de Saxe.
I was tempted to put the famous von Kornberg is charge of the Pragmatic Army as he served me so well in winning our refight of Blasthof Bridge from Charge!, and in leading the Austrians to victory over Frederick's Prussians at the Battle of Christmas Eve (both engagements were covered extensively in my previous blog).
But the Pragmatic Army was really a mostly British-run affair, so I plumped for being represented on the table by the illustrious figure of King George II.
We diced for choice of long side, and I won 6-5 after the first roll resulted in a 6-6 tie (perhaps the dice should have been checked at this point for loading).
I chose the side with the Einsamenhügel, and we proceeded to make sketches of our intended deployments before enacting them on the table.

The Pragmatic Army

Because I had the Einsamenhügel in my deployment area, I went for an aggressive formation as I was able to site my two batteries of Royal Artillery on the crest. From there they could survey the whole battlefield and be high enough to fire over friendly troops in front of them, at least until the armies came too close together.
In the front line, left to right in the photo, are Austrian Csáky de Keresztszegh Hussars and Modena Cuirassiers. Then come four battalions of British foot: Royal-Buff Grenadiers, Royal Foot, The Buffs and the 5th Marines, and on the extreme right is a squadron of the King's Own Horse.
Both the Modena and King's Own squadrons have cuirasses, and the combined grenadier battalion counts as elite for morale purposes.
The 5th Marines are a tribute to my paternal grandfather's regiment (he was a sergeant in the Royal Marines and won numerous fencing trophies at The Royal Tournament). They count as regular line infantry but can also fight as light infantry if needed.
In the second line, again left to right, is a second squadron of Modena Cuirassiers, a battalion of Dutch Buddenbrock Foot and, after the guns, two Hanoverian units: a battalion of Friedrich Wilhelm von Klinkowström Foot and a squadron of Von Aldeleben Dragoons.
My opponent, whom I shall refer to as his chosen alter ego Maurice for the rest of this battle report, selected an even more aggressive line-up, no doubt worried about my terrain advantage.

Looking from behind the Pragmatic lines to Maurice's Franco-Bavarians

In the front line on the far left are three squadrons of horse:  Bercheny Hussars, Cuirassiers du Roy and Colonel General Cavalerie. Both the squadrons of heavy horse have cuirasses, and the du Roy are elite. Maurice has positioned himself with them.
Between these cavalry and the two batteries of French 8pdrs are two battalions of foot: Grenadiers de France and Picardie. The Grenadiers are elite. Behind these battalions are two more: Navarre and Champagne.
Maurice has tasked the Bavarians with holding his clearly refused left flank. There are two battalions of Kurprinz Foot and two squadrons of Hohenzollern Dragoons.
There is a general view that the firepower of British foot at the time of the War of the Austrian Succession was superior to that of most other nations, but almost certainly not a match for the Prussians.
Accordingly, for this battle at least, the four battalions of British foot will have a 50:50 chance of adding 1 to every musketry throw.