Jackson Gamers' 18th Century War Game
The Struggle for Strudel
Using Rules concepts by Fr. Aelred Glidden, published in MWAN
We Played this game at HOBBYTOWN in Flowood Mississippi on March 3rd, 2007. Our rules were derived from a set printed in MWAN many years ago and found on MAGWEB. The armies were painted by Jay Stribling, and any inconsistancies in painting, uniforming, naming, or mounting the units - he does not want to hear about!
You can see our version of the rules that we used here at: Quick Tricorne.
Photo by Jim Pitts
Center and left flank of the French defensive line. The redoubts contained one battalion each. The troops inside could fire their muskets in any direction. They could not be driven from the redoubts except by cold steel, although as the game went on, several were almost depopulated by concdntrated British/Hanoverian fire.
The front line was thinly held at the start, but the French had substantial reserves to the rear of the redoubts.
Photo by Jim Pitts
Center and right of the Anglo-Allied offensive line. A very small portion of the left flank British/Hanoverian forces can be seen at the extreme bottom right.
Photo by Jim Pitts
A mass of British troops advance in the center to attack the town. Lord Orlando, the British commander (played by Jim Pitts), ignoring his often given advice of "Remember the objective!", has concentrated his attacking power in the center to capture the town of Strudel.
The objective for the British/Hanoverian force was to exit forces from the battlefield in the rear of the French army. This was their only objective.
Photo by Jim Pitts
A later view of the British center, much reduced in numbers now as one of the two elite battalions stationed there has been destroyed and the other severely reduced in numbers.
The British had 6 elite units. They placed two each in the center, left and right flanks. They did not concentrate them.
Photo by Jim Pitts
The lightly held French right flank after some severe fighting has reduced both the French and British/Hanoverian cavalry to mere shadows of their former strength. The redoubt on the far left was later discovered to have been held by a French militia battalion!
Photo by Jim Pitts
The slow advance of the British center continues. Lord Orlando seems pleased with himself at this point. The village of Strudel was the equivilant of another redoubt. These four strongpoints channelled the British/Hanoverian advance into separate thrusts.
The British-Hanoverian Players
Why did you fight this Battle?
Set in "The Age of Reason" and using our Quick Tricorne rules set, we set up a 3-game campaign. This battle was the last of the three.
The French army, was on its way to the important city and magazine of Gasthous, somewhere in Western Germany. Their British/Hanoverian opponents were unable to stop them in the first battle. Both sides freely spent their soldiers' blood in that action.
In the second battle the British stopped the French and penetrated their lines.
This, the third battle saw the French on the defensive. They fortified their position and the British attempted to penetrate their lines and exit forces into the French rear.
Photo by Jim Pitts
The French continue to stoically defend the town and the open field to its right against Lord Orlando's methodical advance.
Photo by Jim Pitts
The French right flank is still surviving, even though two fresh Hanoverian cavalry brigades had just assaulted them and were severely handled. This is near the end of the game. The French reserves have been used up. There is no depth to this line, but the enemy were even worse off on this side of the field.
The French Players
Photo by Jim Pitts
The last remnants of the three cavalry and two infantry brigades of the Anglo-Hanoverian left flank. Although the greatest opportunity was here, Lord Orlando remained fixated on the town in the center.
The blue triangles behind the troops are volley markers. The firing player places a marker (sometimes more than one) on the target unit. The target then must test morale to see the effect of the volley.
Are you certain that you played this correctly?
Finally, we believe that we obeyed most of the rules. Your game-master (Jay Stribling) made a ruling which made units which were "Locked" in melee subject to the "Staying power" test. This contributed mightily to units leaving the battlefield due to casualties.
We did remember to apply the following rules this time:
The blue triangle marker shown is a fire marker. Units which have one or more of these pointed at them by the enemy must test morale. In this rules set, there is no conventional test for fire casualties. Units either shrug off the fire (by passing a morale test) or lose a stand and fall back disordered as a result of the fire (failing the morale test).
Likewise, the target of a charge either stands and fights by passing a morale test, or fails the test and falls back disordered, losing a stand. If the target of the charge passes the morale test, then the attcking unit(s) must test. If they fail, they fall back disordered, losing a stand. If the attackers pass, and the defender has also passed this morale test, then both sides are "locked" in melee, disordered, and all particiapants lose a stand.
Who Won this Battle?
The French army did. The French held the fortified town and the three redoubts. The British were not able to pass between them. Every time that they attempted to, they failed morale due to fire from the redoubts. Has the Britisd/Hanoverian forces exited one unit into their enemy's rear, the game would have been a draw. If they had passed two units off the table edge, they would have won the game.
Since the French did NOT make it to Gasthous, the campaign can be considered a strategic victory for the British/Hanoverian forces. Of course by only counting the battles won, at 2 French victories to one Allied victory, then the French seem to be the winners.
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