Seven Years War,  Die Kriegskunst, 28mm

This game was loosely based on the scenario by Charles S. Grant, published in the first edition of Battlegames magazine. We simply changed things a little to reflect the figures and the scenery we had available. The idea was that the Prussians had thrown a pontoon bridge across the Saale River, in an attempt to reach the French, who held the territory beyond the west bank. A strong Prussian brigade held the bridgehead, and as the game started the rest of the Prussian army were marching to its aid, approaching the pontoon bridge from the eastern side of the river.A brigade of French troops kept the Prussians under observation, loosely supported by a brigade of dragoons. The rest of the French army were also marching towards the battlefield from the west. The Prussian objective was to safeguard the bridgehead, and to secure the north-south road which lay beyond.In this situation most Prussian advanced guard commanders would be content to sit tight and wait for reinforcements. Not Roger, our visitor from Perth. On turn one he advanced on the French, leaving a couple of battalions behind to protect his flanks from the French dragoons. His troops fired a volley, then charged, and the French were pushed back up the hill behind them. Within three turns they were routing from the field, leaving their guns to be captured and spiked by the enemy. By this stage the rest of the Prussian army had appeared, and was beginning to cross the river.The French dragoons launched three near-suicidal charges against the advancing Prussians, but their sacrifice achieved little. At that point the French were buoyed by the arrival of reinforcements (my main body), which advanced up the road from the west. The race was now on as both sides tried to secure an advantageous position, and to shake their troops out into line of battle. After driving off its opponents, the Prussian advanced guard had seized the village in the centre of the table, and turned it into a strongpoint. The Prussians in the buildings opening up a harassing fire on the French army which was forming up on either side of them. To coutner them the French screened the village with a line of skirmishers, and massed two battalions of Grenadiers de France, ready to go in a la bayonette.The scene was set for the climax of the battle – which of course is where we ran out of time! A few of the players were under spousal curfew, and so we had to pack up. Our problem was that with about 12-16 battalions a side, plus about 6 regiments of horse, this was a fairly large battle. Also, the way the troops arrived on the table meant that the main armies didn’t reach the scene of the fighting until about turn 10. In hindsight we should have fought a smaller engagement (but we all wanted to use our lead), or play it over more than one day. However, we took plenty of photos, and plans were laid to continue the battle next month, picking up the game exactly where we left off. There was certainly everything to play for, with the Prussians formed into a defensive line just short of their objective road, and the French deployed for a major assault on the bridgehead. There’s still everything to play for, in what turned out to be a well-balanced game.When we refight it we’ll also run the rivers across the long side of the 8×6 foot table, and possibly add an extension, to give both commanders more room to manoeuvre. As it stood it was getting very crowded inside that Prussian bridgehead, or in the French centre.We all enjoyed ourselves though, and one of the Prussian players – figure painter Brian Phillips – promised to begin collecting his own Seven Years War army tomorrow!You’d think that having the two rules writers there would have ensured everything ran smoothly. It didn’t! You see, we’re busy working on the errata and addendum to the rules, as well as a scenario book. As a result, we spent as much time debating rules changes, or wondering how to deal with strange situations (like cavalry counter-charging while crossing a pontoon bridge) as we did actually shuffling lead around the tabletop.

Tags: Die Kriegskunst