Complete French Army

AS promised yesterday, I have assembled my complete mid-18th century French Army (without Bavarian allies).
It now consists of five generals, nine regular foot battalions, one grenadier battalion, one unit of light infantry, three guns, four squadrons of dragoons, six squadrons of heavy horse and one squadron of hussars.
Unless my plans change, all will see action at my Dettingen refight with the exception of the Chasseurs de Fischer and generals Saxe, Soubise and Broglie.

In the foreground are three 8pdr guns. Behind them in the front row (left-to-right) are the Beaufremont Dragoons, five battalions of foot (Alsace, Poitou, Champagne, Normandie and Touraine) and the Languedoc Dragoons. The second row of foot has a further five battalions (Wittmer, Navarre, Grenadiers de France, Piémont and Picardie). Behind them are seven squadrons of horse (Orleans Dragoons, La Reine Cavalerie, Gendarmes de la Garde, Royal-Cravate Cavalerie, Cuirassiers du Roi, Colonel-Général Cavalerie and Dragoons du Roi). Finally, at the rear, are the Bercheny Hussars, five generals (Soubise, Broglie, Saxe,  Noailles and Gramont) and the Chasseurs de Fischer

Nouveau French

BACK in March 2017, I blogged (http://timspanton.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/french-fini.html) that my mid-18th century French army was more-or-less complete.
This was especially the case, I felt, for the War of the Austrian Succession if France's Bavarian allies were taken into account.
However, since then my plans for refighting the Battle of Dettingen - the 275th anniversary is this June - have expanded considerably.
Not only have my plans expanded, but there were no Bavarian troops at Dettingen to help the French oppose George II and the Pragmatic Army.
I have therefore been busy painting more French units, as well as some generals to command them.
Two battalions of foot, three squadrons of horse and generals Broglie, Noailles and Gramont have joined Les Bleus (although, since this is pre-Revolutionary France, I guess that should be Les Blancs).

In front of the bridge, exuberantly waving his hat, is the Duc de Broglie (he was created a duke after winning the Battle of Sahay in 1742). About to cross the bridge are La Reine Cavalerie, while to the right of the larger house are the Orleans and Beaufremont Dragoons. The nearer foot battalion is from Normandie; the other is from Piémont. With the infantry are the French commanders from Dettingen - the Duc de Noailles (in blue) and his nephew, the Duc de Gramont

I hope to post a picture of my complete French forces over the weekend.

Battle of Sahay - afterthoughts

YOU do not have to be my opponent to feel there is something wrong with the Command & Control rule.
I borrowed it from Bob Cordery, who tells in The Portable Wargame how he uses it for solo battles.
Bob writes that while one side might get a run of luck, it will tend to even out in the long term, and I hoped his scheme would make a Piquet-style system for my rules.
Unfortunately, I now have to admit, and my opponent, not surprisingly agrees, that the unpredictability given by the system is more than offset by the possibility of serious imbalance.
Our Sahay refight started off fine but by the end I had registered 38 activation points to my opponent's 12.
Clearly, I will have to rethink the whole idea.

Prinz von Lobkowitz personally thanks the Marquis de Prié-Turinetti Foot, raised in the Austrian Netherlands as recently as 1725, for their outstanding contribution to his victory

So it is with some trepidation that I publish the updated standings in our War of the Austrian Succession campaign.
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......................3.............3...........0...............3.........................9............150%
Opponent............3.............0...........3...............0.........................0................0%
NATIONS
.......................Battles....Wins....Losses....Bonus Points....Total Points...Score*
Austria................3.............3...........0...............3.........................9............150%
Prussia................2.............0...........2...............0.........................0................0%
France.................1.............0...........1...............0.........................0................0%
Britain+..........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.

Battle of Sahay - the refight

PRE-TURN
My opponent, as I knew he would, chose to command the French army and so take on the persona of Marshal Broglie.
Because this is a relatively small battle, I decided each general should be allowed to re-position two units, rather than the usual three, before the battle began. As it happened, we both chose to stay pat.
I will write up the battle phase-by-phase.

TURN ONE
The first card turned over is a red 6.
I used one activation point to fire my gun at extreme range at the Touraine Foot, getting a potential hit but narrowly (I threw a 3 instead of the minimally required 4) failing to inflict casualties.
The remaining points I used to advance my three foot battalions, with the two heavy horse squadrons in support.
The next card is a black 7.
Broglie's gun fired ineffectively at my Guiterez Foot.
Most of the French foot advanced, with the Grenadiers de France just getting within range of the pandours in Sahay. They scored a hit, reducing the pandours' effectiveness by 25 percent, but the light infantry passed their subsequent morale test.

Marshal Broglie's view of the battlefield's right-centre (from his standpoint) after phase two of turn one

The next card is a red 4.
My gunners improved their accuracy, scoring a hit on the Touraine Foot, whose morale nevertheless proved satisfactory.
The pandours scored a hit on the French grenadiers, while on the other flank the Prié-Turinetti advanced and unleashed a devastating volley on the Poitou Foot, reducing them to 25 percent effectiveness. Both French battalions passed their required morale tests.
The next card is a black 5.
Broglie's gunners also found their mark, scoring a hit on the Deutschmeister Foot. Not only that, but my infantry would have failed their morale test if not for getting rear support from the Sachsen-Gotha Dragoons.
His devastated Poitou Foot failed, not altogether surprisingly, to inflict casualties on my Prié-Turinetti Foot, but his red-coated Swiss battalion of Wittmer Foot scored a hit on my Guiterez Foot, as did his grenadiers on my pandours; both units' morale held firm.
The next card is a red 6.
My gun switched targets to the Wittmer Foot (the nearest enemy within range), but missed.
The remaining Poitou Foot were destroyed. I also scored a hit, with musketry, on the Wittmer, but otherwise Austrian musketry was poor.
Austrian victory points remaining: 14 of 14.
French victory points remaining: 18 of 20.

French left-centre view of the battlefield

The next card is a red 5.
A phase taken up almost completely with firing. The Wittmer foot were reduced to 25 percent  effectiveness and the Touraine Foot to 50 percent.
My luck continues as the next card is another red 5.
My gun finished off the Wittmer, and the pandours reduced the grenadiers to 50 percent effectiveness.
But the biggest  success was scored by the Prié-Turinetti, who advanced and destroyed (three hits plus a failed morale test) the Champagne Foot.
Austrian victory points remaining: 14 of 14.
French victory points remaining: 14 of 20.

Bird's eye view from behind the surging Austrian right

The next card is a joker, ending Turn One.
TURN TWO
The first card from the reshuffled pack is a red 6.
My gun finished off the Touraine Foot, who suffered a hit and a failed morale test.
The pandours continued their heroics, completing their destruction of the Grenadiers de France.
Austrian victory points remaining: 14 of 14.
French victory points remaining: 10 of 20 (one more point lost means defeat).
The next card is a red 6.
My opponent forestalled the inevitable by conceding.

The Battle of Sahay

AUSTRIAN troops under Prinz von Lobkowitz were in May 1742 besieging Frauenberg, a Bohemian town captured by the French.
They were advanced upon by a considerably larger French force under Marshal Broglie (he was made Duc de Broglie after the battle).

General view of the battlefield

Lobkowitz had time to take up position with his right flank and rear protected by extensive forested hills.
His left rested on the village of Sahay, which he occupied with pandours. His left was further protected by a marsh and more forested upland.

Austrian troops for our refight (left to right): Prié-Turinetti Foot, Sachsen-Gotha Dragoons, Deutschmiester Foot with Prinz von Lobkowitz behind them, 12pdr gun, Guiterez Foot, Cordova Cuirassiers, pandours in Sahay, and Nagy-Károly Hussars

The hills and marsh are impassable to guns and mounted troops, but can be crossed by light infantry without penalty and by other forces on foot at half-speed.

Looking from behind the Austrian position to the French (left to right): Bercheny Hussars, Languedoc Dragoons, Grenadiers de France, Cuirassiers du Roi, Wittmer Foot with behind them Picardie Foot and Marshal Broglie, 8pdr gun, Touraine Foot, Champagne Foot, Poitou Foot and Dragoons du Roi

Broglie dismounted some cavalry to infiltrate through the marsh and attempt to attack Sahay from the flank, but the village was successfully cleared by his grenadiers.
A general French advance saw Austrian infantry driven into the woods. The Austrians rallied and counter-attacked along with their cavalry, but were again pushed back, and retreated when night fell.

Summary of the Forces for the Refight

Austria
Prinz von Lobkowitz
3 foot battalioms
1 cuirassier squadron
1 dragoon squadron
1 hussar squadron
1 gun
1 unit of pandours
Command & control activation value: 5
Victory points value: 14

France
Marshal Broglie
6 foot battalions (Grenadiers de France are elite)
1 cuirassier squadron
2 dragoon squadrons
1 hussar squadron
1 gun
Command & control activation value: 6
Victory points value: 20

Sahay & Mid-18th Century Rules Update

IT will not be possible for us to refight Sahay on the exact 275th anniversary of the battle, which took place in what is now the Czech Republic on May 25 (Wikipedia's May 24 is wrong), 1742.
And the reason has nothing to do with the paucity of English-language material on the encounter, which saw some 10,000 Frenchmen under the command of the future Duke of Broglie - he received his peerage after the battle - defeat a smaller Austrian force just eight days after Frederick the Great beat the Austrians at Chotusitz.

Broglie, in understandable high spirits

As might be expected, French-language sources cover the clash rather more adequately. In particular there is a series of contemporary maps showing how the battle unfolded, and I will be following these for our refight.

Here is the latest summary of my rules, as they will apply at Sahay.

COMMAND & CONTROL
Number of units, divided by 2 (a half is rounded up), gives an army's median card activation value.

MOVEMENT
Foot in firing order and so able to fire volleys: 6cm
Other foot: 8cm
Limbered guns: 6cm
Heavy horse: 10cm
Light horse and generals: 12cm
It takes an activation point to adopt firing order, and the unit may not otherwise move or fire that phase.
Horse take half a phase to mount or dismount.
Guns take an activation point to limber or unlimber, but the gun may be pivoted as part of unlimbering. Guns must be stationary to fire, so may not pivot and fire in the same phase.
One about-face of 180 degrees is free, but a second in the same phase reduces movement by half.
All troops can pass through light infantry without penalty, provided they have enough movement to take them beyond the light infantry. Similarly, light infantry can interpenetrate any friendly troops.
The Variation
Roll a die if a unit is moving three-quarters or more of its maximum move distance. 6, add 25%; 1, subtract 25%.

MUSKETRY
45-degree arc.
Muskets: 8cm. Carbines 6cm.
Roll one die for each 25% of effectiveness remaining and in a single line of bases.
Minimum score for a hit: Regular foot in firing order, 4; Light foot, 5; Dismounted horse and regular foot not in firing order, 6.
-1 if unit moved that phase.

ARTILLERY
45-degree arc.
Canister: 0-6cm. Roll a die and halve the score to get the number of potential hits.
Roundshot: up to 24cm. Roll a die and quarter the score.
Halve the number of potential hits if unit effectiveness 50% or under. Round to nearest fraction, but an exact half has a 50:50 chance of becoming a potential hit.
Dice for each potential hit. 4 or more becomes a hit on infantry and cavalry, but 6 is needed if the target is a gun.

MELEES
A melee happens when the bases of rival units come in contact.
Foot may not initiate contact against horse.
Guns and light foot never initiate contact and never inflict melee casualties (exception: light foot in a wood or built-up area melee as regular foot).
Guns can only be contacted if they have no friendly close-order foot within 4cm. Guns so contacted are automatically eliminated.
Roll the following numbers of dice per 25% of a unit's remaining effectiveness.
Enemy unit...........Hvy Cav...Lance...Lt Cav...Inf fir ord*...Other Inf...Lt Inf
Own unit
Heavy Cavalry.........1................2..........2...............1.................3................2
Lancers.....................1................1..........1...............1.5..............4................4
Light Cavalry...........1................2..........1...............1.................2................3
Inf (not Lt)................1................1.........1................1.................1................1
*Infantry in firing order and attacked frontally
+1 die per 25% when attacking in flank or rear, on higher ground, defending a river bank or defending a built-up area from troops outside the BUA. Bonuses are cumulative. An exact half has a 50:50 chance of becoming a potential hit.
For each die rolled, a 4 or more is a hit.

SAVING THROWS
Behind cover: 4 or more cancels a hit.
Cuirassiers: 6 cancels a hit.

MORALE
Test at the end of any phase in which a unit has lost effectiveness to firing or has lost a melee.
Roll a die, needing the following minimum score not to lose a further 25% effectiveness.
Elite, 3; Regular, 4; Poor, 5.
+1 if a general is attached to the unit. He is eliminated if the unit is eliminated.
+1 if a friendly unit (not light infantry or guns) is to the rear and could reach the unit in two moves.
A unit that fails its morale, and a unit that loses more hits in a melee regardless of whether it fails its morale, retreats one move (with the normal possible variation), ending with its back to the enemy.
A retreating unit is eliminated if the first move of a retreat is obstructed by regular foot (not light infantry) or horse. If the blocking unit is friendly, it must take a morale test unless its horse retreated into by foot.
On subsequent phases in which a retreating unit's army has activation points, it will be rallied for at the start of the phase, requiring a 5 or better to halt and being able to subsequently return to normal action. A general with a unit adds one to the rallying throw.
Note that regular foot lose firing order when retreating and so have an 8cm move.

VICTORY
General, 3pts; Infantry battalion, 2pts, Other unit, 1pt.
Army is defeated when points fall below half the starting total.