Seven Years War , Die Kriegskunst, 28mm

I really haven’t been having much luck with my camera lately – a severe case of operator error. My apologies for the washed-out look of some of these pictures. Anyway, this game was all about testing out a scenario Dougie Trail concocted for our forthcoming Die Kriegskunst rules. In the rules the scenario will be presented in two forms – as a small game suitable for playing through in a normal club evening, and a larger affair, for those with lots of lead and time on their hands.The battle was were refighting was Moys (1757), where the Austrians launched a surprise attack on an isolated Prussian corps just outside Gorlitz, in eastern Saxony. We had to use Russians in place of Austrians, and are still tinkering with the forces available, the layout of the terrain and the timing of reinforcements.The battle is all a matter of timing and momentum. The Austrians have to sweep a small Prussian force off a small hill (the Jäckelsberg), then deal with the inevitable Prussian counter-attack. In this refight I didn’t do particularly well. The first wave of attackers – a brigade of grenadiers – were shredded by musketry and canister as they climbed the hill, and then the survivors were repulsed when they tried to charge into the Prussian redoubt.My reinforcements fared badly too – it took two more assaults before the hill was finally taken, and in the meantime the Prussians had managed to deploy a fresh brigade of veteran troops, and were poised for their counter-attack. My objective was to capture both the hill and the village of Moys behind it. In the end I was struggling to hold one of these objectives, and the village remained firmly in Prussian hands. Losses were prohibitively heavy, and we were only saved from disaster by the dithering of the Prussian reinforcements, who failed in their attempt to change orders, and consequently their counter-attack never materialised.Even my flanking column  – a unit of infantry operating in skirmish order (standing in for Croats), and a supporting unit of cavalry – did little to tip the scales in my favour. However, as a result of the game we now know how to balance the scenario, and to turn it into a more accurate refight. In the real battle the Austrians took the Prussians on the hill by surprise, and managed to capture it relatively easily. Then the Prussians counter-attacked, and the whole thing degenerated into a brutal fight at close-quarters, from which the Austrians eventually emerged victorious.The rules worked well, but we’re still concerned that they have a tendency to be a little slow. Consequently we’re looking at ways to streamline the systems a little more. Unfortunately deadlines are also looming, as Dave Ryan of Partizan Press wants them finished ASAP, in order to have them printed and published in time for Salute 2009 (19th April). The clock is ticking…

Tags: Die Kriegskunst