From The Holy Mountain

IF you love travel as well as history, you will probably like a book I have just finished, From The Holy Mountain by William Dalrymple (Harper Press 2011)

Holy … A Journey In The Shadow Of Byzantium

Dalrymple journeyed extensively through the former Asian holdings of the Eastern Roman Empire, now more popularly known as Byzantium.
"A rich stew of history and travel narrative spiced with anecdote, opinion and bon mots," was a good summing up by Sara Wheeler in The Independent.
I bought it on a recent trip to Doncaster because I very much enjoyed Dalrymple's first travel-history book, In Xanadu: A Quest.
From The Holy Mountain contrasts Dalrymple's modern experiences with the region's life in the later years of the East Roman Empire, with a concentration on religious sites.
Be warned that the book is not, in my view, as compelling a read as In Xanadu, and does not live up to the numerous rave reviews it received - but then it would be hard to find any book that quite deserved as much praise as was given to From The Holy Mountain.

Royal Fusiliers War Memorial

THE Royal Fusiliers war memorial in Holborn, central London, is a reminder of times when the British army was considerably larger than today.

Memorial … in High Holborn on the edge of the City of London

Today's army has 49 infantry battalions, while the memorial to the Royal Fusiliers lists that single regiment's 46 battalions, which included battalions specialising in recruiting bankers, Jews and stockbrokers, as listed on a bronze plaque shown in the photo above.
Unusually for a memorial erected as late as 1922, it lists the Great War as running from 1914-19. This is almost certainly because two of the 46 listed battalions were raised, after WWI ended, for fighting Bolsheviks in north Russia in 1919.

Close-up … of the west side of the memorial

Almost 22,000 Royal Fusiliers were killed in WW1, and the deaths of members of the regiment in WW2 and subsequent conflicts are commemorated by additional inscriptions.

Standing tall … the 8ft 6in statue is made of bronze, standing on a 16ft 6in pedestal of Portland stone

Game Of Kings update

AS promised, I am updating my Game Of Kings rules, mainly to debuff artillery and simplify infantry movement/firing (changes below are in bold).

INTRODUCTION

The rules are, to a large extent, old school in their deliberate simplicity. I want victory to go to the player with a better understanding of generalship rather than a better understanding of the rules.
They are adapted, heavily at times, from Neil Thomas's inspiring books, specifically Wargaming: An Introduction and Napoleonic Wargaming.
To fully comprehend the thinking behind the rules, you will need to read his books; most of my explanations here will be about those instances where I have drastically changed his concepts.

Game Of Kings is designed to put you in the position of a mid-18th century European general.
He would not have known exactly how many men he had under his command. Instead, he would have known his army consisted of so many battalions of foot, squadrons of horse and guns of artillery.
European armies of this period tended to resemble each other in terms of arms, formations and tactics, eg battalions moved in columns but fought in lines, and squadrons, including so-called dragoons, charged home rather than engaging in caracoling firefights.
Unit strengths varied between armies, but they varied much more within an army. Sickness, desertion and unreplaced casualties meant the fact that nation X's squadrons had a paper strength of 15 troopers more than nation Y's squadrons was of little relevance to what turned up on the battlefield.
That is why battalions, squadrons and guns in Game Of Kings are represented by the same number of figures in each army. However, that does not mean their fighting abilities will be the same.
One of the main features of Neil Thomas's rules is that his armies have a set number of units. I think this can work well with ancient armies, where the reported numbers for the contending sides are often pretty fanciful and hard to reconstruct with any confidence.
This is much less so with the 18th century, especially when most battles have multiple contemporary accounts rather than a single author writing possibly centuries after the event.
So in Game Of Kings, when refighting a historic battle, the number of units in each army will reflect the original strengths.
There will certainly not be a 1:1 ratio in terms of battalions, squadrons and guns, but there will typically be many more units than in Neil Thomas's armies.
This required me to speed up combat mechanisms in order to prevent battles dragging on to the point where players might start looking at their watches.
Another difference between Game Of Kings and the books is that I have introduced simple command & control and morale rules.
Even so, the rules, stripped of their explanations, fit comfortably on one side of a sheet of A4 paper.

ORGANISATION
An army consists of a general on a base 20x20mm, and units of foot, horse and guns on bases 40x20mm.
A foot battalion has two bases, normally in a line, each containing eight musketmen arranged in two ranks, and an 'officer' - it could be a drummer - to indicate the unit's state of effectiveness.
The officer is placed centrally behind the bases when the unit is at 100 percent effectiveness. After it suffers a "hit," which reduces the unit's effectiveness to 75 percent, the officer is moved to behind the righthand base.
After a further hit, reducing effectiveness to 50 percent, one of the bases is removed and the officer is placed centrally behind the remaining one. A third hit, reducing effectiveness to 25 percent, sees the officer removed, and a fourth hit means the remaining base is removed.
Note that this does not mean the unit has been wiped out, nor does losing 25 percent effectiveness mean the unit has suffered 25 percent casualties. Instead it represents a loss of effectiveness, which may be a combination of casualties, faltering spirit and disintegration.
Light infantry is organised similarly, except each base has three figures.

George II overlooks four battalions of British and Hanoverian infantry (left to right): von Klinkowström at 100% effectiveness, Royal Foot at 75%,  The Buffs at 50% and 5th Marines at 25%

Cavalry can be heavy, medium or light, but each squadron consists of two bases, each with three troopers, and an 'officer'.
Heavy and medium horse can be distinguished by their equipment, eg a heavy cavalryman often wears a cuirass, while light horse should be placed on their base in ragged formation.
Cavalry bases are positioned one behind the other. Neil Thomas, who uses a similar system, explains this is to reflect the way cavalry kept a reserve when going into combat (and remember that a tabletop squadron represents several real-life ones). The exception is that light cavalry in a screening role may operate with bases in a line.

Prussian horse parade past an isolated farmhouse, led by Brandenburg-Schwedt Cuirassiers at 100% effectiveness, followed by Posadowski Dragoons at 75%, Prinz von Preussen Cuirassiers at 50% and Bayreuth Dragoons at 25%

A gun and four gunners are arranged lengthways on a single 40x20mm base. Loss of effectiveness can be shown with a marker, eg a miniature boulder.

 

COMMAND & CONTROL
I have tried everything, from going without command and control altogether (Neil Thomas's preference), to Bob Cordery's card-based system from The Portable Wargame, which is essentially a stripped-down version of Brent Oman's Piquet set-up.
But in the end I found that what works best is Phil Barker and the Wargames Research Group's pips, or action points as I like to call them.
How it works in Game Of Kings is that an army is divided into three sectors - typically a centre composed of foot, the general and probably guns; and two flanks, each composed of horse and possibly light infantry (but the exact composition of each sector will partly depend on the particulars of the battlefield).
Players move alternately. When on turn a player rolls a 10-sided die - this is normally the only time a die other than a six-sided one is used - to see how many action points the centre gets, and two distinguishable, eg differently coloured, ordinary dice to see how many action points each flank receives.

For each sector, use action points in the following order, the player choosing which sector goes first.
1. Try to rally retreating units (this is the only compulsory use of action points).
2. Fire guns.
3. Move units (a gun that has been fired cannot also be pivoted, limbered or otherwise moved).
4. Fire muskets, carbines and any other missile weapons.
5. Resolve melees.

Two battalions of Bavarian Kurprinz Foot flank a 9pdr gun. Behind them a half-battalion of Kurprinz Grenadiers is beside a horse-and-limber team, illustrating why I no longer use limbers (the space they take up is disproportionate) 

MOVEMENT
Foot in line (as with the Kurprinz above): 6cm
Foot in column, foot retreating and light infantry: 8cm
Limbered guns: 6cm
Heavy and medium horse: 10cm
Light horse and generals: 12cm
But see The Variation below
As mentioned in the caption to the picture above, I no longer use limbers for my guns as I think they look out of proportion to other troops, but a marker can be used to show if a gun is limbered.
It takes a pip for a foot battalion to change from column to line (but changing from line to column is free), and it may not otherwise move or fire that turn.
Heavy-cavalry troopers carried more equipment than their medium-cavalry brethren, but had better mounts, hence their movement rates are identical.
A gun needs an action point to limber or unlimber, but the gun may be pivoted as part of unlimbering.
Foot and horse can make a single 180-degree about-face in a turn without loss of movement, although it does cost an action point.
All troops can pass through friendly light foot without penalty to either group, provided they have enough movement to take them beyond the light foot. Similarly, light infantry can pass through any friendly troops.
There is no bonus for charging, either in terms of movement or melee effectiveness - such matters are deemed to be at a tactical level far below the immediate concern of the general.
When a unit wheels, measure the distance from the front-centre of the unit.
The Variation
Dice are generally used to help decide the effectiveness of musketry, artillery fire, hand-to-hand fighting and morale, but in most rules movement distances are fixed.
I believe this is unrealistic - a general can order a squadron of dragoons to try to seize a hill, but he cannot know exactly how long they will take to reach the hill. Perhaps an unsuspected feature of the terrain will hold them up, or maybe they will be inspired to gallop faster than an enemy squadron trying to take the same hill.
Accordingly, uncertainty is added by rolling a die if a unit is moving three-quarters or more of its maximum move distance. If 6 is thrown, add 25 percent to the distance covered; if 1 is thrown, subtract 25 percent.
Exception: if a unit has been ordered, say, to line a river bank, it would be absurd to make it overshoot and enter the water thanks to The Variation rule.

My regular wargaming opponent is a huge Francophile, and his hero is Maurice de Saxe, shown here with the Picardie Foot in column and the Gendarmes de la Garde

MUSKETRY
A unit can fire within a 45-degree arc of its front.
Musket range: 8cm
Carbine range: 6cm
Roll a die for each 25 percent of effectiveness that is remaining and is in the front line of bases (ie the second base of infantry in column cannot fire).
Minimum score for a hit: regular foot in firing order, 4; light foot, 5; regular foot not in firing order, and dismounted horse, 6.
-1 if the unit moved this turn, is in column, or has become disorganised, eg by retreating, and has not spent a pip to reorganise.

ARTILLERY
A gun can fire within a 45-degree arc of its front.
Canister: 0-6cm. Roll a die and halve the score to get the potential number of hits.
Roundshot: up to 24cm. Roll a die and quarter the score to get the potential number of hits.
(Separate rules for howitzers are unnecessary as they were a small part of any army, and Game Of Kings is not at the low tactical level where their different performance might become relevant.)
Halve the number of potential hits if the gun's effectiveness is 50 percent or less.
If the final result is a fraction, round the number of potential hits to the nearest whole number, but if the fraction is exactly a half, roll a die with a 50:50 chance of the half becoming a potential hit.
For each potential hit, roll a die. A 5 or more means a hit on foot or horse, but a 6 is needed if the target is a gun.

Artillery was often sited on a hill

MELEES
A melee occurs when bases of rival units come in contact and continues for each half-turn they remain in contact. No action point is charged.
Foot cannot initiate contact against horse.
Guns and light infantry never initiate contact and never inflict melee casualties (exception: light foot in a wood or built-up area can melee as regular foot).
A gun can only be contacted if it has no friendly regular foot within 4cm. Guns so contacted are automatically eliminated.
When a melee occurs, roll the following numbers of dice for each 25 percent of a unit's effectiveness (casualties are inflicted simultaneously by each meleeing unit):
Enemy unit:...……..H/MCav...Lan...LCav...Inf (ff)...Inf (oth)...LInf
Own Unit
H/MCav...…………….1...…….2...…..2...…..1...……..3...…….2
Lan...………………….1...…….1...…..1...…..1½...…...4........…4
LCav………………….1...…….2...…...1...….1...……..2...……..3
Inf...…………………..1...……..1...…..1...…..1...……..1...…….1
H/MCav = Heavy or medium cavalry
Lan = Lancers
LCav = Light cavalry
Inf (ff) = Infantry in firing order and attacked frontally
Inf (oth) = Close-order infantry at other times
LInf = Light infantry
Inf = Close-order infantry (remember, light infantry cannot inflict melee casualties except when in a wood or built-up area)
Add one die per 25 percent effectiveness when attacking in flank or rear, on higher ground, defending a river bank or defending a built-up area against troops outside the built-up area. Bonuses are cumulative. A half die has a 50:50 chance of becoming a full die.
A unit meleed from the rear rolls only half its normal dice.
For each die rolled, a 4 or more is a hit.
If infantry is contacted frontally by an enemy unit that began its move outside of musketry range, the infantry may fire prior to the melee being fought, but have a -1 modifier on each throw for a hit.

SAVING THROWS (for hits from firing and in melees)
Cuirassiers suffering a hit form anything except roundshot roll a die, needing a 6 to cancel it.
Troops suffering a hit when behind cover roll a die, needing a 4 or more to cancel it.

A large cavalry melee during my 275th anniversary refight of the Battle of Chotusitz

MORALE
Test any unit which, during a half-turn (a turn consists of Player A's actions and then Player B's), has lost effectiveness to firing or has lost a melee.
Roll a die, needing the following minimum score to avoid losing a further 25 percent effectiveness: elite, 2; regular, 3; poor, 4. (these numbers are decreased by one from the June 2018 edition of the rules)
+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 a gun) is to the rear and could reach the testing unit in two normal moves (a friendly unit can only add support in this way to one unit per half-turn).
A unit that fails its morale, and a unit that loses more hits in a melee regardless of whether it fails a morale test, immediately retreats one move (with the normal possible Variation), ending with its back to the enemy.
On subsequent turns, action points must first be used to try to rally retreating units. A 5 or better is required to halt the unit so that it can return to normal action on the following turn. A general with the unit gives +1 to the rallying throw.
A retreating unit is eliminated on the first move if a retreat is obstructed by horse or foot (except if the foot are light infantry). If the blocking unit is friendly, it must take a morale test, unless it is horse retreated into by foot.
Retreating foot that have rallied need a pip to reorganise before they can fire without suffering a -1 modifier.

Looking from behind the French lines at my refight of the Battle of Sahay

WEATHER
This, with minor amendments, comes from Charlie Wesencraft's With Pike And Musket.
At the start of the game, roll dice to determine the weather according to the weather gauge below.

A simple weather gauge

2 = fog
3 = light rain
4-10 = fair
11 = light rain
12 = heavy rain
At the start of each subsequent turn, roll one die to determine if the weather has moved down one notch (a throw of 1 or 2), stayed the same (3 or 4) or moved up one notch (5 or 6).
Weather affects units as follows:
Fog = visibility reduced to 6cm (unseen foes cannot be fired at); movement reduced by 50 percent.
Light rain = all musket and carbine firing suffers -1 per die.
Heavy rain = movement reduced by 25 percent; all musket and carbine firing suffers -2 per die.
Fair = no effect, unless the gauge stays on the same fair number for a third turn, in which case extreme heat reduces movement by 25 percent for as long as the gauge does not move.

RANDOM TERRAIN GENERATOR
For non-historic battles, a random terrain generator can be used.
Because my figures are 10mm scale, and the move distances and firing ranges are suitably small, my 6ft by 2ft 6in table might seem overkill.
In fact I deliberately went for an oversize table to prevent a flanking edge-of-the-world effect that in my opinion spoils too many wargame set-ups.
Anyway, here is how the random terrain generator works.
1. Mentally divide the board into 12 sectors (two rows of six) each 1ft by 1ft 3in.
2. Roll a die for each sector, a 4-6 indicating a terrain piece.
3. If a terrain piece is indicated, roll again: 1-hill, 2-water (stream, river, lake or marsh, etc), 3-wood, 4-built-up area (anything from a farmstead to a walled town), 5-Player A's choice, 6-Player B's choice.
If the exact nature and size of the feature cannot be agreed by the players, more dicing will be necessary. This is also a good way to decide the route a river takes across the board.
Note that on average a battlefield generated under this system will have six terrain features, but a stream or river might well run through several sectors while still counting as a single feature.

NATIONAL/ARMY CHARACTERISTICS
Decide these on a battle-by-battle basis.
For example, Prussian foot at my Mollwitz refight added 1 to musketry throws, while Prussian horse in melees inflicted a hit on a throw of 5-6 instead of 4-6.

VICTORY
Total each side's army points at the start of a battle using 3pts for a general, 2pts for a foot battalion and 1pt for each other unit (including light infantry).
Unless specific objectives have been agreed, an army loses when its army points fall below half the starting total.

 

KEY SUMMARY

MOVEMENT
Foot in line and limbered guns: 6cm
Other foot: 8cm
Heavy and medium horse: 10cm
Light horse and generals: 12cm
Variation die throw: 6 +25%; 1 -25%
MUSKETRY
Musket: 8cm
Carbine: 6cm
One die per 25% effectiveness
Score needed for a hit: firing-order foot, 4; light foot, 5; other foot and dismounted horse, 6.
-1 if firers moved, in column or disorganised.
ARTILLERY
Canister: 6cm. Die halved gives potential hits.
Roundshot: 24cm. Die quartered gives potential hits.
Halve hits if gun's effectiveness is 50% or less.
Fractions rounded to nearest whole number, but a half is diced for.
Roll each potential hit, needing a 5 against foot and horse, a 6 against guns.
MELEES
Enemy unit:...……..H/MCav...Lan...LCav...Inf (ff)...Inf (oth)...LInf
Own Unit
H/MCav...…………….1...…….2...…..2...…..1...……..3...…….2
Lan...………………….1...…….1...…..1...…..1½...…...4........…4
LCav………………….1...…….2...…...1...….1...……..2...……..3
Inf...…………………..1...……..1...…..1...…..1...……..1...…….1
Add one die per 25% effectiveness for each of the following: flank/rear attack, uphill, defending river bank or built-up area.
Unit meleed from rear only rolls half its normal dice.
4 or more scores a hit.
SAVING THROWS
Cuirassiers: 6, except if hit by roundshot.
Behind cover: 4.
MORALE
Test after losing effectiveness to firing or losing a melee.
Score needed to avoid losing further 25%: elite, 2; regular, 3, poor, 4.
+1 general attached.
+1 friendly horse or foot (not light) to rear and within two moves.
Unit that fails morale or loses a melee retreats one move (include variation roll). Needs 5 to rally (general +1).

Battles Of The Bible

HAVE just finished rereading Battles Of The Bible by Chaim Herzog and Mordechai Gichon (Book Club Associates 1978).
The authors, both former military men who served in the British and Israeli armed forces, examine more than 30 battles, plus a lot of sieges, fought by Israelites against a large range of enemies, including Assyrians, Egyptians and Philistines.

Testament … to ancient warfare

Many of the Old Testament accounts are terse, to say the least, but Herzog & Gichon use their military expertise, and other contemporary sources where available, to flesh out the bare details.
I bought the book secondhand - I cannot recall where or when - but regard it as one of the best returns I have ever had for spending a fiver, which seems to be what it cost me.

Whoops!

MY Dettingen opponent rang this morning and asked: "Guess what we got wrong?"
Immediately he spoke, it flashed into my head  - command & control.
Usually in Game Of Kings, we use a 10-sided die to decide action points, or pips, for the main body of an army, and two distinguishable six-sided dice for the other two sections of an army.
But because the forces we used for refighting Dettingen were smaller than usual, I changed this to a six-sided die and two four-sided dice.
However, instead of using actual four-sided dice, we used six-sided ones, with the intention of re-rolling if they came up 5 or 6.
We remembered this most of the time, but occasionally, in the heat of battle, we forgot.
As the Duke of Noailles might have said: "C'est la vie." Or, more aptly: "C'est la guerre."

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.

Refighting The Battle Of Dettingen (part five)

TURN SEVEN
I rolled a better, but still below-average, 3-2-2.
In front of Dettingen I continued advancing, with the Prinz von Sachsen-Hildburghausen Foot getting close enough to open fire on the Normandie Foot, but inflicting no damage.
The two rearguard pips I used to get the Royal Foot to advance and fire a volley at the Champagne Foot, reducing the French by 25% effectiveness (they were to pass their morale test).
Noailles rolled 5-1-3.
The French gun at Dettingen fired canister at the Prinz von Sachsen-Hildburghausen Foot, scoring two hits and so reducing their effectiveness to 25%. This remnant was quickly finished off by a volley from the Normandie Foot that produced overkill in scoring three hits.
Noailles used his one south-bank pip to continue moving the Bercheny Hussars (they need to spend two turns moving off the table before being allowed to rejoin on the north bank).
In Aschaffenburg he continued advancing the Touraine Foot and the Colonel-Général Cavalerie through the town, saving the last pip for the Champagne Foot to fire at the Royal Foot. They scored one hit, which I was not too upset about. But then the Royal Foot, despite being an elite unit and so only needing a 2 to hold steady, failed their morale test, thus losing a further 25% effectiveness and causing them to turn and flee.

Looking from Aschaffenburg … the fleeing Royal Foot can be seen in the middle-distance near Kleinostheim

Army points remaining at the end of turn seven: Pragmatic, 16 of 20; French, 24 of 26.
TURN EIGHT
I rolled 3-6-3 - hurrah!
The gun at Dettingen fired at the Normandie Foot, but a potential hit turned out not to have any effect. For the rest of the Dettingen pips, I advanced troops as I could, but keeping out of the range of French musketry. In particular I manoeuvred the King's Own Horse to be in position to charge the bridge and attack the Cuirassiers du Roi.
My attempt to rally the Royal Foot retreating from Aschaffenburg failed, meaning they fled a further move.
That left me with two Aschaffenburg action points (an attempted rally costs a pip, but the compulsory retreat does not). I used one to fire the howitzer at the Champagne Foot, scoring a hit (they only rolled a 2 for their subsequent morale test, but held steady thanks to rear support from the Touraine Foot).
The other pip I used to wheel the von Zastrow Foot to the right so they would be in position to attack, depending on circumstances, the Champagne Foot or the Bretagne Cavalerie.
Noailles rolled 5-1-2.
First he fired his Dettingen gun at the von Klinkowström Foot, but for a change the gunners' aim was off.
The only other Dettingen pip he used was to send the Cuirassiers du Roi over the bridge on a pre-emptive charge against the King's Own Horse. Being on a bridge does not count as 'higher ground', but the French did not need it, scoring three hits to the British one (even the one was nearly wiped out, when the cuirassiers' saving throw for wearing cuirasses came up 5, just one short). Worst was to follow when the surviving King's Own Horse failed their morale test, losing their remaining 25% effectiveness.
The south-bank pip was used to fire the gun at the von Aldeleben Dragoons, whose advanced had taken them into the gun's arc. A potential git was scored, but it did no harm.
At Aschaffenburg the French used one pip to send the Champagne Foot in the general direction of Kleinostheim and the fleeing Royal Foot, but obliquely away from the Austrian battery. The other pip was used to finish getting the Touraine Foot across the Aschaffenburg tributary bridge.

A bridge too far … for the King's Own Horse, but not for the Cuirassiers du Roi

Army points remaining at the end of turn eight: Pragmatic, 15 of 20; French, 24 of 26.
TURN NINE
I rolled 3-6-2.
My main-body gun scored a hit on the Normandie Foot, but it was negated by a behind-cover saving throw. The von Klinkowström Foot advanced and fired at the blue-coated Alsace Foot, but rolled a pair of 1s. But the main action came when the von Aldeleben Dragoons charged the Cuirassiers du Roi. The dragoons scored two hits with their four dice, but one was negated by a saving throw; the cuirassiers scored one hit with their three dice, so the melee was tied.
With the rearguard, I had to use one pip to try, in vain, to rally the Royal Foot. The other I used to fire the howitzer at the Touraine Foot, who suffered a hit but passed their subsequent morale test.
Noailles rolled an unnecessarily stupendous 5-6-4.
He fired canister at the von Klinkowström Foot, scoring two potential hits, but neither caused harm. The Alsace Foot, however, despite only being allowed to roll two dice because of their deep formation, caused by being squeezed between the marsh and the Normandie Foot, did score a hit, reducing the von Klinkowström Foot to 25% effectiveness. The Hanoverians clung on by later passing their morale test.
A second round of meleeing at Dettingen Bridge saw the apparently exhausted troopers on both sides fail to score a hit, which was also true of the gun with Noailles when it fired at the Prié-Turinetti Foot.
Nothing of great interest happened in this half-turn at Aschaffenburg, although the Touraine Foot got into firing order, presumably ready to advance on the depleted Pragmatic reargaurd.

Locked in combat … French cuirassiers and Hanoverian dragoons at Dettingen Bridge

Refighting The Battle Of Dettingen (part four)

TURN FOUR
My action points were two 1s for the main body, and a 2 for the rearguard.
I sent the King's Own Horse forward so they would take any firing from the gun with Noailles (something similar happened in the real battle, or at least the British horse advanced at the same time as the frontline foot, and so it was the cavalry that got fired at rather than the infantry. I should have done the same thing, as if Dettingen is to be captured, it will likely be done by infantry rather than cavalry).
I ordered the Prinz von Sachsen-Hildburghausen Foot forward from the second line but, perhaps understandably, they dragged their feet about it (I rolled 1 for the move variation, which reduced their forward progress to 4.5cm).
The rearguard gun fired at and hit the Poitou Foot, reducing their effectiveness by 25%. They rolled a 2 on their subsequent morale test, but rear support from the Champagne battalion meant they held steady. With my other rearguard pip, I ordered the Royal Foot to advance on the Poitou.
Noailles rolled 1, 2 and 4 for Dettingen, the south bank and Aschaffenburg respectively.
He used the 1 to fire the Dettingen gun at the von Klinkowström Foot, scoring a potential hit but inflicting no casualties.
The gun with Noallies fired at the King's Own Horse. A roll of 2 quartered to 0.5 potential hits. Noailles successfully turned that into a potential hit, but it did no harm. The other pip he used to continue the Bercheny Hussars towards the pontoon bridges, which they did enthusiastically (they covered 15cm thanks to a move-variation throw of 6).
The Poitou Foot advanced and fired at the Royal Foot, but their dice throws of 4-3-1 (only three dice because they are at 75% effectiveness) were not enough once the -1 modifier for moving was taken into account. The other two rearguard pips were used to advance the Champagne and Touraine Foot.

Looking … from Kleinostheim at the Royal Foot and Poitou Foot advancing on each other, with the Champagne Foot to Poitou's rear

TURN FIVE
I rolled 1-3-1, using the first 1 to fire my main-body gun at extreme roundshot range at the Normandie Foot in Dettingen. I rolled a 5, which quartered gave me 1.25 potential hits. That rounded down to one, but I could only roll a 3 when trying to turn it into an actual hit.
With the 3 pips I advanced the Prinz von Sachsen-Hildburghausen Foot, attached King George to the Prié-Turinetti Foot (this will save him needing a separate action point to move) and re-limbered the gun, since I had earlier unlimbered it too early for it to have an effective arc of fire for long.
The 1 for the rearguard I used to get the Royal Foot to open fire on the Poitou Foot, and they did so with devastating effect, scoring three hits, meaning the French battalion disappeared from the table as it had already lost 25% effectiveness to artillery fire.
Noailles rolled 5-2-1. He only had use for one of Gramont's pips, but the Dettingen artillery battery again came up trumps when it scored 1.5 potential hits on the von Klinkowström Foot. The 1.5 became two, and both potential hits became actual hits - another 47-1 shot!
By contrast, the artillery on the south bank fired at but missed the King's Own Horse. Noailles used his other south-bank pip to continue sending the Bercheny Hussars towards the pontoon bridges.
The single Aschaffenburg pip was used to put the Champagne Foot in firing order.
Thankfully, for me anyway, the von Klinkowström Foot survived passed their mandatory morale test with flying colours by rolling a 6.

Vantage point … the Duke of Noailles' hilltop view of the allied advance on Dettingen (just before the von Klinkowström Foot in the distance lost 50% effectiveness)

Close-up … the over-achieving French artillery in Dettingen

Army points at the end of turn five: the Pragmatic army has 18 of 20pts remaining; the French army has 24 of 26pts.
TURN SIX
I rolled 2-1-2, using the first two sets of action points to continue my slow advance on Dettingen (perhaps I should point out, for those of a cynical mind, that my opponent and I were using the same dice - but not to the same effect!).
The rearguard gun was masked by the Royal Foot from firing at the Champagne Foot, so instead fired at the Bretagne Cavalerie north of Aschaffenburg, causing them to lose 25% effectiveness (they were to easily pass their subsequent morale test). The other rearguard pip was used to advance the von Zastrow Foot 7.5cm (thanks to rolling a 6 for move variation).
Noailles rolled 1-2-5. He used the 1 to get the Dettingen artillery to switch targets and successfully fire at the Prinz von Sachsen-Hildburghausen Foot, causing them to lose 25% effectiveness (they were to easily pass the necessary morale test).
The gun with Noailles again failed to score a hit on the King's Own Horse, and the Bercheny Hussars finally exited the table to reach the pontoon bridges.
Noailles used three of his five Aschaffenburg pips to advance the surviving infantry and the Colonel-Général Cavalerie. He left the Bretagne Cavalerie where they were as they were masked from the Austrian gun by the von Zastrow Foot who, despite their quick-paced advance, were out of musket range. To his chagrin, Noailles found the Poitou Foot were also agonisingly just too far away from being able to fire at the Royal Foot.

Looking down … from the Spessart foothills to the French position around Dettingen

Refighting The Battle Of Dettingen (part three)

WE will be using my Game Of Kings rules for the battle, with slight modifications to take into account the particularities of Dettingen and the way it is being refought.
A) Command & Control
The two armies are formed of fewer units than I usually field, partly because of space taken up by the Spessart foothills, and partly because the battle is being fought lengthways on the table.
With hindsight it might have been better to use two tables, but it will make an interesting change having a smaller scenario.
But this means the command & control rules, which use pips or action points, will need to be modified. Instead of using a 10-sided die and two normal dice, we will use a six-sided die and two four-sided ones.
The six-sided die will be for the main sector of each army. In the case of the French, that will be the troops under the Duke of Gramont in and around Dettingen; for the Pragmatic army, it will be the front line of the force facing Dettingen.
The other two sectors for the French will be men with the Duke of Noailles, and the troops at Aschaffenburg.
The other two Pragmatic sectors will be the second line facing Dettingen, and the troops facing Aschaffenburg.
B) Army Characteristics
British and British-trained Hanoverian foot had better fire-drill than French and Austrian infantry, and this will be reflected in giving them a 50:50 chance of a +1 modifier for every die thrown when they fire.
British cavalry at Dettingen turned out to be in a poor state of training, and will suffer a -1 modifier for every die thrown for combat in a melee.
C) Army Points
The Pragmatic army consists of the commander King George (3pts), six foot battalions (12pts), three cavalry squadrons (3pts) and two guns (2pts). That is 20pts in all, meaning it will have lost if its total falls below 10.
The French army consists of the commander the Duke of Noailles* (3pts), eight foot battalions (16pts), five cavalry squadrons (5pts) and two guns (2pts). That is 26pts in all, meaning it will have lost if its total falls bellow 13.
*Although Noailles is the commander, Gramont will exercise the commander's +1 morale modifiers as long as Noailles remains on the south bank of the Main. The French will suffer no loss of army points if Gramont becomes a casualty.
D) Special Terrain Rules
The embanked west bank of the tributary at Dettingen counts as cover up to where the marsh starts. Crossing it requires 4cm of movement, and puts foot out of firing order. The marsh reduces troops to quarter speed (no extra penalty for crossing the tributary in the marsh). Troops in the marsh suffer a -1 modifier to every die thrown for meleeing or firing.
Crossing the tributary at Aschaffenburg requires 3cm of movement and forces foot out of firing order.
The River Main, which is unfordable, is wider than shown. It counts as 8cm for purposes of movement, ie crossing the bridge at Aschaffenburg, and for firing, which rules out cross-river musketry and canister.
Artillery can only cross the tributaries by bridge. Troops using a bridge suffer no movement penalty, but foot lose firing order.
The forested Spessart foothills are impassable to all but light infantry, which neither army has.
E) Pontoon Bridges
The pontoon bridges west of Dettingen are not shown, but may be used by any unit exiting the table while within a normal move of the River Main. Troops on foot can exit and return on the opposite bank three moves later; horse can exit and return two moves later.
F) Weather
This seems to have played no part in the battle and so will stay fair for the duration.
G) Special Victory Condition
The French will have won if King George and at least one unit of the Pragmatic army have not exited the table to the west by the end of turn 20 (exception: if French army points fall below 13, the allies immediately win). This prevents the Pragmatic player from staying pat and daring the French to attack, which reflects the fact that the Pragmatic army was trapped, cut off from its supplies, and had to break out to avoid defeat.
H) First Move
Since the French have taken up defensive positions, at least in Dettingen, the Pragmatic army will move first, rather than the two players dicing for the privilege.
I) Pre-Battle Movement
I usually allow each general to reposition up to three units before a battle commences, but I am not allowing that here as I think it could radically alter the starting conditions, eg King George could dispense with a rearguard, or the French could beef up Dettingen by adding their south-bank reserves.
J) Unit Ratings
The Pragmatic army's Royal Foot and France's Cuirassiers du Roi are elite units.
**********
My opponent, who is my regular wargames adversary, will, as my guest, have choice of armies, but since he is a huge Francophile I have no doubt he will sink his identity into that of Noailles/Gramont.
As usual, I will write the game up turn-by-turn.
So what is my plan? Well, there is nothing for it but to advance on Dettingen and hope the dice favour me. Meanwhile, the rearguard will try to hold off any French advance from the east.
**********
TURN ONE
I threw 1s for action points where I wanted them (in front of Dettingen), and a 4 where I did not need them. ie the rearguard.
I used the Dettingen action points to advance my right-flank infantry, with the von Klinkowström Foot showing particularly commendable zeal (although in firing order, they advanced 7.5cm thanks to the movement-variation rule).
Unfortunately for me, the zeal of the Hanoverian infantry brought them within range of both French guns.
Gramont used his one Dettingen action point to fire his artillery. He threw a 5, meaning 1.25 potential hits. That rounds to one, but the hit-effect roll turned up a one, meaning the shot di no harm.
Noailles had three action points, and used one of them to fire his gun, but its score of 2 was quartered to 0.25, meaning no potential hit.
The French at Aschaffenburg had three action points, using two of them to advance the Bretagne Cavalerie and the Poitou Foot across the stream, the former making it thanks to getting a 25% movement-variation bonus. The remaining action was used to complete the Champagne Foot's crossing of the Main and to start them crossing the tributary.

French leave … foot and horse cross the Aschaffenburg tributary

TURN TWO
It was only as we were about to play turn two that we realised we forgot, when calculating the range of the artillery with Noailles, that the Main counts as being 8cm wide, meaning the von Klinkowström Foot were out of range. Fortunately no harm was done as the gun missed.
I rolled slightly more useful pips this turn, continuing my advance on Dettingen.
The gun at Aschaffenburg fired at the Bretagne Cavalerie, scoring a potential hit, but the roll for the hit turned up a 3 - one short.
Gramont's artillery opened fire on The Buffs and scored a hit, causing the battalion to lose 25% effectiveness. It narrowly passed its subsequent morale test, but only thanks to having a friendly unit to the rear.
Gramont also sent the Cuirassiers du Roi, from their position west of Dettingen, forward towards the Dettingen bridge.
The Buffs were also fired on by Noailles' artillery, but it missed.
The French at Aschaffenburg only had one action point, and that was used to complete the Poitou Foot's crossing of the tributary bridge.

Approaching Dettingen … the officer of The Buffs has been moved to the right to show the unit has lost 25% effectiveness

TURN THREE
I threw a 5 and two 4s, allowing me to order every unit in front of Dettingen to advance, with the exception of the gun, which unlimbered so as to fire next turn.
The rearguard gun fired at the Poitou Foot, but to no effect.
The French gun at Dettingen continued firing at The Buffs, scoring a 6. Quartered, this made 1.5 potential hits, but Gramont successfully rolled to upgrade the half, so two potential hits. He then successfully rolled to turn both potential hits into actual hits, reducing The Buffs to 25% effectiveness (and with a morale test to come).
(This was phenomenal dice-rolling by my opponent, as a calculation of the odds will show. Only a 6 can give 1.5 potential hits, and the chance of doing that is obviously one in six. To turn the half potential-hit into a full hit requires a further throw of 4-6, so one chance in two. He then needed to throw a 4-6 to turn each potential hit into an actual hit, so one chance in two twice more. All in all, to get two hits from one battery can be calculated as 1/6 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2, or one chance in 48; in other words, in bookmakers' terms, 47-1 against.)
Gramont had five action pips in all, but the only other one he used was to finish manoeuvring the Cuirassiers du Roi to take up position at the western end of Dettingen Bridge.
Noailles had two action points. He used one for the artillery to fire at the poor old Buffs, who took another hit and so cased to be as a unit. The second pip he used to send the Bercheny Hussars in the direction of the pontoon bridges west of Dettingen.
The French at Aschaffenburg had four action points. One was used to put the Poitou Foot into firing order, and the other three to advance the Champagne and Touraine Foot and the Colonel-Général Cavalerie.

On the march … French troops pour through Aschaffenburg

Bird's eye view … from above the Duke of Noailles, looking towards the depleted Pragmatic forces

Army points at the end of turn three: the Pragmatic army has 18 of 20pts remaining; the French still have all 26pts.

Refighting The Battle Of Dettingen (part two)

The allied generals, or at least King George and his Hanoverian commanders, decided their only hope was to force their way through Dettingen.
They must have considered turning around and attacking the smaller French force assembling in Aschaffenburg, but success there would still have left them cut off from their supply lines to Flanders.
With the wooded mountains to the north impassable, as is the Main River to the south, Dettingen was truly the only option, short of surrendering.
But it would take time to organise an assault on Dettingen, and there was a danger the army would be attacked from behind from the troops in Aschaffenburg.
Accordingly, a small but powerful force was detached to keep a watch on Aschaffenburg, while the rest of the army prepared for a frontal attack on the main French force under the Duke of Gramont.

Pragmatic rear … Britain's Royal Foot (nearest the Main), an Austrian howitzer and Hanover's von Zastrow foot

Eyes front … the main Pragmatic force, with in the frontline (south to north) the King's Own Horse, The Buffs, a Royal Artillery 9pdr gun, Hanoverian von Klinkowström Foot and Austrian Liechtenstein Dragoons. Behind them (south to north) are Hanoverian von Aldeleben Dragoons, Austrian Prinz von Hildburghausen Foot, King George and Austrian Prié-Turinetti Foot

It is surely no exaggeration to say the fate of much of Europe was at stake.
The total loss of the Pragmatic army would be bad enough, but if the king of the country that was largely financing the allied war effort were to be captured into the bargain, the result would be catastrophic for the balance of power.

The whole battlefield … from behind the French lines at Dettingen

But, just as the perfect mousetrap is yet to be invented, so too no battleplan can be foolproof.
And in June 1743 the biggest fool turned out to be the Duke of Gramont who, apparently impatient at the slowness of the allied advance, ordered his troops to pre-empt it by launching their own attack.
This was in direct defiance of orders from his uncle, the Duke of Noailles - orders which, according to one source, were given no less than three times.
Some have tried to excuse Gramont by saying his men attacked without orders. But he is said to have explained his actions by saying he thought it had taken so long for his men to cross the pontoon bridges and occupy Dettingen, that most of the Pragmatic army had escaped and he was only facing the rearguard
At any event, the French attack was launched with gusto, helped by the inexperience and allegedly poor training of the British cavalry on the left flank.
But the attack was soon thrown back, and a general rout ensued in which many casualties were suffered when one of the pontoon bridges collapsed under the weight of too many fleeing Frenchmen.
King George and his troops had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat … or rather the French had grabbed defeat from the jaws of almost-certain victory.
(Next: the refight)