Refighting The Battle Of Pfaffenhofen (part five)

TURN FIVE
I rolled 2 (left) - 10 (centre) - 3 (right). My gun opened fire on the Wittmer Foot, scoring a potential hit but narrowly failing to convert it into an actual one (I rolled a 4 instead of the necessary minimum of 5). Every other unit in the centre advanced. On my right the Batthyány Dragoons charged the Languedoc Dragoons, who were then charged in the flank by the Nádasdy Hussars. With my final right-flank action point I could have brought the pandurs down from the hills, but instead advanced the Liechtenstein Dragoons so they could be ready to intervene in the big cavalry melee in front of them. On my left the Sachsen-Gotha Dragoons charged the Hohenzollern Dragoons, which should make for an interesting melee as both units are at 50% effectiveness and so in danger of disintegrating completely. With my other left-flank action point I advanced the lagging Modena Cuirassiers.
We had three melees to fight in all as on the Austrian right there was the second round of the combat between my von Cordova Cuirassiers and De Ségur's Mestre de Camp Général Dragoons. We fought this one first, with the cuirassiers winning by two hits to one, which meant the dragoons were eliminated. On the other flank the Sachsen-Gotha Dragoons and the Hohenzollern Dragoons each inflicted one hit, reducing both squadrons to 25% effectiveness. That left De Ségur's Languedoc Dragoons taking on the Batthyány Dragoons and the Nádasdy Hussars. We decided this should count as one melee but with two separate combats. First the two squadrons of dragoons would fight as they undoubtedly would have clashed before the hussars hit the Languedoc squadron in the flank. After that combat is decided, we will fight the hussars against the French. Only then will we work out who has won the melee. It did not go well for the French - first they lost to the Batthyány Dragoons by two hits to nil, then the remainder were wiped out in the flank attack by the hussars, although they did reduce the latter by 50% effectiveness. The French left has ceased to exist!
De Ségur rolled 1 (centre) - 4 (right). He chose to to use the centre action point first so he could get his general to catch the fleeing La Reine Cavalerie. But the general's presence was not enough - the cavalerie continued their headlong flight and exited the battlefield, as did the remainder of the von Gschray Hussars. That left just the Hohenzollern Dragoons on the French right. The second round of their melee with my Sachsen-Gotha Dragoons brought De Ségur some respite when the Hohenzollern Dragoons emerged victorious.
But with four squadrons of horse eliminated, compared with just two Austrian squadrons, and with the left flank of his infantry completely exposed, my opponent took a leaf out of the real-life de Ségur's book and conceded the field.

The final scene ... as dusk falls, the outnumbered and outflanked Franco-Palatinate forces prepare to withdraw

AFTERTHOUGHTS

The Battle of Pfaffenhfoen cannot be called a balanced scenario by any stretch of the imagination - you would need to add the Bavarians, who left de Ségur in the lurch by withdrawing before the battle, to make an Austrian defeat at all likely. In stark contrast to our refight of Dettingen, it was my turn to get 'lucky' dice. It is somewhat unfortunate that in two such lopsided battles the superior force each time found the dice on their side.
As to the rules, we felt they worked smoothly but we agreed I have debuffed artillery too much. I am returning to the old rule that a gun's potential hit is turned into an actual hit on a roll of 4 or more rather than 5 or more. This should not lead to ridiculous bloodbaths as I have already made units less brittle by making it easier for them to pass morale tests and so be less likely to lose a further 25% effectiveness after taking a hit.

War of the Austrian Succession - campaign standings after five battles (Mollwitz, Chotusitz, Sahay, Dettingen and Pfaffenhofen)
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                   4        1               3                   11           110%
Opponent         1        4               1                   3              30%
NATIONS
Austria              4        0               3                  11            137.5%
France              1        2               1                   3             50%
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.

Refighting The Battle Of Pfaffenhofen (part four)

TURN THREE
I rolled 6 (left) - 7 (centre) - 6 (right), and advanced all across the battlefield.

The Nagy-Károly Hussars sweep around Scheyern Abbey as the cavalry melee continues beyond the river and, in the distance, the Austrian main body closes on the Franco-Palatinate forces

In the cavalry melee my von Savoyen Dragoons inflicted two hits on La Reine Cavalerie. without suffering any hits in return. The cuirassiers negated one of the hits with a saving throw. They passed their morale test - just - and so did not lose further effectiveness but, having lost the melee. they had to retreat.
De Ségur rolled 4-5-1. He failed to rally the von Gschray Hussars, the attempt, which is compulsory, using up his one action point on the right. The hussars and La Reine Cavalerie had to retreat, the hussars covering almost 15cm thanks to the move-variation rule (they came up a little short of 15cm because the end of their move took them into the river). His artillery again scored a potential hit on my Deutschmeister-Los Rios Grenadiers, but again they suffered no ill-effects. The only other action point he used was to send the Count de Ségur towards the Franco-Palatinate right flank, presumably to try to rally La Reine Cavalerie, even though he has no hope of personally preventing the hussars from leaving the battlefield.

Only the Hohenzollern Dragoons remain in good order on the Franco-Palatinate right

TURN FOUR
I rolled 3-8-4. My moves included unlimbering the gun so it will be ready to fire next turn, and charging the Hohenzollern Dragoons with my Sachsen-Gotha Dragoons. On my right, three squadrons of horse closed in on two French squadrons.

Austrian right-wing horse thunder towards the French

In the melee on the other flank, my Sachsen-Gotha Dragoons scored two hits with their three dice (they only get three as they lost 25% effectiveness to the von Gschray Hussars), beating the Hohenzollern Dragoons, who could only score one hit. The Hohenzollern Dragoons did not suffer another hit due to failing a morale test, but had to retreat for losing the melee.

Three Franco-Palatinate squadrons on de Ségur's right flee and are pursued by two Austrian squadrons, with the Nagy-Károly Hussars hoping to join in

De Ségur rolled 4-4-2. He managed to rally the Hohenzollern Dragoons, but La Reine Cavalerie and the von Gschray Hussars continued fleeing, His gun again scored a potential hit on my grenadiers, but again it came to nothing. He sent the figure of his general to keep trying to intercept the retreating La Reine Cavalerie. The other two action points in the centre he used to swing the Touraine Foot to their right so they could fire at the von Savoyen Dragoons. They scored two hits, making my dragoons the first unit to be eliminated. and giving De Ségur some much-needed cheer.
On The French left the Mestre de Camp Général Dragoons charged my von Cordova Cuirassiers. The Languedoc Dragoons tried to do the same to the Batthyány Dragoons, but came up just short of making contact this half-turn (they would have need the move-variation +25% to reach my squadron). In the melee the Mestre de Camp Général Dragoons inflicted three hits to the cuirassiers' two hits, but the cuirassiers negated one of the hits on them with a saving throw, so the melee was tied.
Victory Points: the Austrian army has 28 of 29pts remaining; the Franco-Palatinate army has all 21pts remaining.

General view from behind the Franco-Palatinate lines at the end of turn four

Refighting The Battle Of Pfaffenhofen (part three)

Final notes before we start:
A) The 'river' is fordable to all troops at half speed. Units firing or meleeing the same turn as crossing the water suffer a -1 modifier to combat rolls.
B) The wooded high-ground is only passable to light infantry, who suffer no movement penalty. The lightly wooded lower-ground is passable to other foot and horse, reducing movement by a third.
C) The command & control system needs modifying when two armies are significantly different in size, as otherwise the army with fewer units stands to get significantly better control of its forces. Accordingly, the Franco-Palatinate wings in this battle will each have a four-sided die instead of a normal six-sided one for assessing action points.
D)  Weather seems to have played no part in the battle, and we will not be using the Game Of Kings weather rules.

Looking from behind de Ségur and the Champagne Foot

The view from the centre of the Austrian lines

My opponent, as expected, chose to be de Ségur in command of the Franco-Palatinate forces. His centre, which gets the 10-sided action-points die consists of the foot, the artillery and the general; the right flank has three squadrons of horse; the left flank has two squadrons of horse.
My centre also consists of the foot (apart from the pandurs), the artillery and the general; the right flank has four squadrons of horse and the pandurs; the left flank has four squadrons of horse, including the hussars on the far side of Scheyern Abbey.
TURN ONE
I won the dice-off, and chose to move first. My plan is to advance on all fronts to give fullest effect to my advantages in numbers and quality - not a sophisticated plan, but it seems to me to fit the circumstances the two armies find themselves in.
For command & control, I rolled 4 (left) - 7 (centre) - 3 (right), ordering a general advance, but making sure to include the pandurs on the right and the Nagy-Károly Hussars on the left.

General view of the advance of the main body of the Austrian army - a slightly ragged line thanks to the move-variation rule

De Ségur rolled a stupendous 4-10-3 for command & control. He chose to stand pat with his centre (his artillery is just out of range of my leading foot) and left, but to charge forward with his right.

De Ségur's right-flank horse surges forward, apparently hoping to exploit their temporary local advantage in numbers

TURN TWO
I rolled 2-2-2 - not much use, but at least my artillery got within extreme roundshot range of the French foot, my pandurs continued infiltrating through the woods on the French left, and a cavalry melee near Scheyern Abbey became all but inevitable.

Pandurs approach the French left

Cavalry about to clash

De Ségur rolled 1-2-3. His artillery opened fire on my Deutschmesiter-Los Rios Grenadiers, who had advanced with the Austrian gun, scoring a potential hit but not reducing their effectiveness (he rolled a 2 rather than the needed 5 for converting a potential hit into an actual one). He made no other moves in the centre or on the left, but on his right La Reine Cavalerie charged into my von Savoyen Dragoons, and the von Gschray Hussars charged, somewhat presumptuously I thought, into my Sachsen-Gotha Dragoons.
In the melee between La Reine Cavalerie and the von Savoyen Dragoons, both sides scored two hits. The cavalerie, being cuirassiers, had saving throws, but both dice rolled a 5, agonisingly one pip short of negating the hits, so both sides lost 50% effectiveness and the melee is destined to continue in the next half-turn.
In the other melee, his hussars scored one hit but were out-matched by my dragoons who, getting eight dice in all (double the normal number as they were fighting light cavalry), scored three hits. The hussars survived their morale test, taken for losing a melee, but had to flee.

Hussars flee from the von Savoyen Dragoons

Refighting The Battle Of Pfaffanhofen (part two)

For the purposes of the refight, de Ségur's Palatinate allies will be represented by Bavarian troops, which is not much of a stretch as the two armies' uniforms were very similar at this time (the armies were formally merged in 1777).
The Franco-Palatinate Army
Count Henri de Ségur
5 battalions of French foot (includes the 'Swiss' battalion Wittmer)
1 battalion of 'Palatinate' foot
1 squadron of French cuirassiers
2 squadrons of French dragoons
1 squadron of 'Palatinate' dragoons
1 squadron of 'Palatinate' hussars
1 French 8pdr gun

The Franco-Palatinate army awaits the Austrian attack ... the redcoated foot in the front rank is the Wittmer battalion, and the bluecoated foot in the second rank is the 'Palatinate' Kurprinz. The other 'Palatinate' units are the redcoated Hohenzollern Dragoons in the second rank on the right, and diagonally in front of them beside the river is von Gschray's Hussars 

The von Gschray Hussars, Kurprinz Foot and Hohenzollern Dragoons have poor morale.
The victory-points value of de Ségur's army is 21pts (3pts for the general, 2pts for each battalion, 1pt for each other unit), meaning it will have lost if the total falls below 11pts.
The Austrian Army
Count Károly Batthyány

7 battalions of foot

1 battalion of grenadiers

1 unit of pandurs

2 squadrons of cuirassiers

4 squadrons of dragoons

2 squadrons of hussars

1 howitzer

The main body of the Austrian army ... on the far left near the trees are the
Nádasdy Hussars, then front rank (left to right) Batthyány Dragoons, Cordova Cuirassiers, Sachsen-Hildburghausen Foot, Deutschmeister Foot, howitzer, Deutschmeister-Los Rios Grenadiers, Baden-Baden Foot, von Savoyen Dragoons, Sachsen-Gotha Dragoons; second rank (left to right) Liechtenstein Dragoons, Los Rios Foot, Prié-Turinetti Foot (de Ségur is alongside them), 1st Karl von Lothringen Foot, 2nd Karl von Lothringen Foot, Modena Cuirassiers

Pandurs ... are in the wooded high ground

Nagy Károly Hussars ... can just be seen on the far side of Scheyern Abbey

The grenadiers have elite morale.

The victory-points value of Count Batthyány's army is 29pts (3pts for the general, 2pts for each  battalion, 1pt for each other unit), meaning it will have lost if the total falls below 15pts.

My opponent, who is my regular wargames opponent, will have choice of armies, but I have little doubt he will want to champion the French and so sink his identity into that of Henri François, Comte de Ségur, Baron de Romainville et de Ponchat et Seigneur de Fougueyrolles - Count Henri de Ségur for short.

As usual, I will write up the refight turn by turn.

Refighting The Battle Of Pfaffenhofen

THE Battle of Pfaffenhofen was fought 275 years ago last month, near the River Ilm in Bavaria, between a Habsburg army under the Hungarian Count Károly Batthyány and a French army under Count Henri de Ségur.
Habsburg troops had been forced out of Bavaria late in 1744 by Franco-Bavarian forces, allowing Elector Charles VII, who was also Holy Roman Emperor, to reoccupy his state capital Munich, where he died in January 1745.
This opened the way for peace talks between Austria and Bavaria, but when they stalled, Maria Theresa - Queen of Hungary, Archduchess of Austria and future Holy Roman Empress (by marriage) - ordered a renewed invasion of the electorate.
Bavarian forces fell back to defensive positions behind the River Lech, apparently without informing de Ségur.
He found himself with about 7,000 men, including Palatinate troops of dubious enthusiasm, facing some 10,000 Austro-Hungarians.
The town of Pfaffenhofen quickly fell, but de Ségur formed a defensive line between wooded hills and Scheyern Abbey, which had close connections to the Bavarian ruling House of Wittelsbach.

Overview of the battlefield with the Franco-Palatinate forces in the foreground between wooded high ground and the river - little more than a stream really - beside Scheyern Abbey

Batthyány's light troops - pandurs and hussars - got around de Ségur's flanks, prompting him to order a withdrawal, which turned into a rout, at least by his German troops. In all he lost more than a third of his force and most of his munitions.*
The battle knocked Bavaria out of the War of the Austrian Succession, although Charles VII's son, Maximilian III, was confirmed in his possession of the electorate, in return agreeing to support Maria Theresa's husband, Francis of Lorraine, in upcoming elections for a new Holy Roman Emperor.
*As usual it is difficult to be sure of numbers, both for the size of the armies and the extent of casualties. Numbers used here are those taken by Wikipedia from historian David Chandler.