Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Battle of Chotusitz - afterthoughts

MY opponent felt his biggest mistake was allowing himself to get bogged down in cavalry melees, in which he was always second-favourite, instead of pressing home his advantage in infantry.
By the time the Prussian foot advanced in numbers, instead of just reacting to the Austrian assault on Chotusitz, the battle was effectively over.
Prince Charles of Lorraine, escorted by the Nagy-Károly Hussars, inspects Chotusitz after the battle
He also felt he was rather unlucky with the card activation system, and a quick calculation shows he was right - I received 109 activation points to Frederick's 78. Nevertheless, we agreed the system worked in that it made the battle much less predictable and so more exciting. We will definitely continue using it.
However, pleased as I was with my victory, it left a rather hollow feeling as it seemed to me that a real-life battle would have continued past the point at which my rules declared it over. After all, the Prussians fought on successfully at Mollwitz after their cavalry were driven from the field. Accordingly, I am adjusting the victory conditions for future battles.

The old rule reads:
An army has lost when its number of units, including the general, falls below half the starting number. Please note that this would not mean half the army had been destroyed - rather that half the units had lost any practical fighting effectiveness.

This is being replaced by:
For the sake of determining victory, count the general as 3pts, each infantry battalion as 2pts and each other unit, including light infantry, as 1pt. An army has lost when its points total falls below half the starting total.

That's for the future. Right now it's time for me to, perhaps immodestly, publish the campaign standings.
War of the Austrian Succession - campaign standings
2pts for a win, plus a bonus point if the win reverses a battle's historical outcome
PLAYERS
.......................Battles....Wins....Losses....Bonus Points....Total Points...Score*
Me......................2.............2...........0...............2.........................6............150%
Opponent............2.............0...........2...............0.........................0................0%
NATIONS
.......................Battles....Wins....Losses....Bonus Points....Total Points...Score*
Austria................2.............2...........0...............2.........................6............150%
Prussia................2.............0...........2...............0.........................0................0%
Britain+..........Yet to fight
France............Yet to fight
*Score is calculated on the basis that two points a battle counts as 100 percent, so it is possible with bonus points to score up to 150 percent.
+This is the Pragmatic Army. It was a thoroughly international affair, but Britain made major contributions in terms of finance and manpower as well as having overall command.

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