Refighting The Battle Of Dettingen (part six)

TURN 10
I rolled 4-4-5.
My main-body gun fired at the Normandie Foot in Dettingen, but a 2 meant only half a potential hit, and I then rolled a 3, so it turned out to be no hit at all. I moved the Liechtenstein Dragoons and the Prié-Turinetti Foot towards Dettingen Bridge, and the von Klinkowström Foot fired unsuccessfully at the Alsace Foot. At the bridge the third round of the epic melee between the von Aldeleben Dragoons and the Cuirassiers du Roi saw the dragoons inflict the only hit. The cuirassiers, being elite and with rear support, could not fail their subsequent morale test but, having (finally) lost the melee, had to retreat back over the bridge.
In the east, the Royal Foot again failed to rally, while the rearguard gun fired at the Touraine Foot, but without effect. The von Zastrow Foot wheeled left and just managed to get within musket range of the Bretagne Cavalerie. They rolled 5-4-1-1, which was reduced to 4-3-1-1 by the penalty for having moved. But the 3 upgraded to a 4 thanks to passing the 50:50 chance of a +1 modifier for superior fire drill. The two hits - neither was wiped out by saving throws for wearing breastplates - reduced the already depleted French unit to 25% effectiveness, but even this disappeared when Noailles could only roll a 2 for the  unit's morale check.
Undoubtedly the best half-turn so far for the Pragmatic army.
Noailles rolled 4-1-1.
The cuirassiers failed to rally, so Gramont joined them to use his +1 modifier next turn. The Dettingen battery again fired canister at the von Klinkowström Foot, and again had two potential hits, but neither became an actual hit. However, my joy was short-lived because the Alsace Foot finished off my brave Hanoverians.
The one south-bank pip was used to unsuccessfully fire roundshot at the von Aldeleben Dragoons, and the one Aschaffenburg pip was used to swing the Champagne Foot to their right, apparently as a prelude to attacking the isolated Austrian howitzer.

Temporarily undefended … but could allied troops crossing Dettingen Bridge change the course of the battle?
In the background between the houses the Duke of Gramont can be seen about to try to rally the fleeing Cuirassiers du Roi

Wheel danger … the Champagne Foot wheeling towards the howitzer's undefended flank

Army points remaining at the end of turn 10: Pragmatic, 13 of 20; French, 23 of 26.
TURN 11
I rolled 3-2-4.
My battery in front of Dettingen was masked from firing by the Liechtenstein Dragoons, but I sent all my other troops in this sector of the battlefield to make a do-or-die dash for the bridge. Belatedly perhaps, I sent King George to try to rally the Royal Foot, who continued retreating.
The battery at Aschaffenburg rolled a 6, meaning 1.5 potential hits on the Touraine Foot. The 50:50 roll for the half a potential hit failed, but the other potential hit did become an actual hit, reducing the Touraine Foot to 50% effectiveness. The von Zastrow Foot, having wheeled left to fire at and see off the Bretagne Cavalerie last turn, wheeled right to fire at the remains of the Touraine Foot. Despite apparent tiredness - a roll of 1 for move-variation meant they only covered 4.5cm - they just got into musketry range, scoring a hit. This reduced the Touraine Foot to 25% effectiveness, but they defiantly passed their morale test by rolling a 6.
Noailles rolled 6-6-5, and made a great show of inspecting the 5 die as if there might be something amiss with it.
Gramont successfully rallied the Cuirassiers du Roi (actually, they would have rallied without his help as a 6 was rolled). His Dettingen battery unsuccessfully fired at the Liechtenstein Dragoons. The Grenadiers de France filled the gap between the houses in Dettingen, and the Orléans Dragoons, who were in reserve behind Dettingen, and the Navarre Foot, who were opposite the marsh, were turned to be ready in case the von Aldeleben Dragoons rode down the Grenadiers. Altogether, five action points had been used, which meant either the Grenadiers or the Normandie Foot by the bridge would be unable to fire. Muttering to himself, my opponent decided the Normandie Foot should fire as they would get four dice to the Grenadiers' two - there was not room for the latter to have their bases in line - and they would not suffer a -1 modifier for moving. One hit was scored on the Liechtenstein Dragoons.
The south-bank battery fired at the Prié-Turinetti Foot, but missed. The Berchenny Hussars re-entered the battlefield west of Dettingen. Noailles decided not to use the rest of his south-bank pips, perhaps unsure whether the Piémont Foot should be sent east or west (or perhaps he felt it did not matter as the French seemingly had the battle well in hand).
At Aschaffenburg the Champagne Foot closed on the Austrian battery and fired, but ineffectually. It would have been simpler to have had them leave firing order, as the extra 2cm of movement would have seen them contact the gun and so eliminate it. The Touraine Foot wheeled and fired at the von Zastrow Foot, scoring a hit, while the Colonel-Général Cavalerie finished crossing the bridge over the Aschaffenburg tributary.
Two of my units - the Liechtenstein Dragoons and the von Zastrow Foot had to take morale tests as a result of their casualties. Both rolled a 1, and so lost a further 25% effectiveness and had to retreat. This was bad enough for the infantry, but the dragoons' line of retreat took them perilously close to the Prié-Turinetti Foot behind them. If they ran into the Prié-Turinetti, the dragoons would break up completely (ie be removed from the table) and the Prié-Turinetti would have to take a morale test. It was a 50:50 call as to whether the dragoons would run into the infantry, and we decided it by rolling a die, which landed in my favour.

Disaster (for the allies) at Aschaffenburg … the von Zastrow Foot flee in the distance and the Austrian battery is about to be eliminated

Defeat at Dettingen … is also inevitable for the Pragmatic forces, despite the bravery of the von Aldeleben Dragoons

With no hope of saving the battle, I conceded.
AFTERTHOUGHTS
Well, that was one-sided!
Dettingen is always going to be a next-to-impossible battle for the Pragmatic army to win, as long the scenario does not force the Duke of Gramont to repeat his historic blunder of leaving a strong defensive position against orders.
But I can say without fear of contradiction that I have never been involved in a wargaming battle in which the dice so favoured one side, especially in the early turns when it really mattered.

Bravo! … the Duke of Noailles, escorted by the Bercheny Hussars, inspects the over-achieving Dettingen battery, in the presence of his nephew, the Duke of Gramont

As my opponent remarked, he was glad we were using the same set of dice as otherwise even he would have had suspicions that his dice were loaded!
Going forward, and before the next battle in our 275th anniversary campaign (Hohenfriedberg on June 4), I intend to make two alterations to the Game Of Kings rules.
One is to simplify the infantry moving/firing mechanisms, and the other is to further debuff artillery. I will go into more details in the next couple of days.
Having said that, and with the caveat that Game Of Kings probably works best with larger armies than we deployed at Dettingen, we felt that overall the battle had a reasonable mid-18th century feel to it.
My opponent admitted that at one point he thought his decision to attack out of Aschaffenburg was mistaken in the same way that the historic Gramont attacked out of Dettingen. However, it worked out well for him.
The charge of the Cuirassiers du Roi over Dettingen Bridge was somewhat reminiscent of what happened in 1743, when the French cavalry also charged over the bridge - initial success, followed by defeat when the Pragmatic forces counterattacked.
If the rules used to refight Dettingen have even a very rough approximation to mid-18th century warfare, the French should win.
The result reduces my lead in our campaign's Players' standings, while France moves into second place in the Nations' standings.
There is a long way to go, but one thing that stands out so far is that all four battles have been won by the army that historically lost.
War of the Austrian Succession - campaign standings after four battles (Mollwitz, Chotusitz, Sahay and Dettingen)
2pts for a win, plus a bonus point if the win reverses a battle's historical outcome
PLAYERS
                    Wins Losses Bonus Points Total Points Score*
Me                   3        1               3                   9           112.5%
Opponent         1        3               1                   3            37.5%
NATIONS
Austria             3        0               3                   9           150%
France              1        1               1                   3             75%
Britain+             0        1               0                   0               0%
Prussia             0        2               0                   0               0%
 *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, which was led and primarily financed by Britain.