This article is my own interpretation of events in this era. Any mistakes are my own. Once again I’ve used the Peter Dennis Paperboys I used in the Edgehill scenario.
The conflict that became known as The Thirty Years War in Europe started in 1618. The social and economic situation was complicated, not only amongst the Germanic Principalities, but also between members of the Hapsburg family, however the central basic reason was confessional politics.
The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and his Council came up with a Law that the people of a State within the Empire must follow the religion of the leader.
Naturally, most of the major leaders were Catholic, and there was a concerted effort to remove Protestants from positions of power and ruin them financially.
After one heated meeting between the Emperors representatives and Protestant delegates, three Catholic Ministers were thrown out of a high window! This incident became known as the Defenestration of Prague. Luckily the three men survived by landing on a dung heap!.
The Protestant Leaders raised military forces and there were battles, but their efforts were disorganised and the Catholic Imperial military were more than capable of defeating them. The Battle of the White Mountain is one example.
Another major stumbling block was money. Very often forces of militia and mercenaries were raised, then defrauded of their pay. This led to banditry and looting which became worse as the War progressed.
Then, in 1631 the Protestants found a Champion. King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, who landed at Pomerania. King Gustavus wasn’t there just to help the Protestant cause. The King was concerned about the Emperor’s plans to wrest control of the Baltic from the Swedish Kingdom. While the Protestant Princes dithered, Magdeburg was sacked by the Catholic Imperial army led by General Ferdinand.
King Gustav marched his army to Leipzig. Offering John Georg better terms, the Saxon Monarch was persuaded to join the Protestant side. The Catholic Army, now led by Count Tilly ( Ferdinand having been sacked by the Emperor ) marched into Saxony intent on destroying the Swedish army along with its Saxon allies.
The two opposing armies faced each other across an undulating plain North- East of Leipzig near a village that was to give the battle its name.
THE SWEDISH ARMY; 23,000 = 23 points x 2 = 46 points.
15,000 Infantry = 15 points x 2 = 30 points.
8 stands of Muskets @ 2 points = 16 points.
4 stands of Pike. @. 3 points = 12 points.
1 General ( Gustav Horn ). @ 2 points.
8,000 Cavalry = 8 points x 2 =16 points.
6 stands of Cavalry. @ 2 points. = 12 points.
1 General ( Sir Johann Baner ) @ 2 points.
1 General ( King Gustavus ). @. 2 point.
THE SAXON ARMY: 12,000 = 12 points x 2 = 24 Points.
7,000 Infantry = 7 points x 2 = 14 points.
2 stands of Pikemen @ 3 points = 6 points.
4 stands of muskets. @ 2 points. = 8 points.
5,000 Cavalry. = 5 points x 2 = 10 points.
4 stands of Cavalry @ 2 points. = 8 points.
1 stand of Dragoon Cavalry @ 1 point.
1 General ( John George ) @ 1 point.
COMBINED ARTILLERY: 70 Guns + 1,400 Gunners.=
1.4 x 2 = 2.8 or 3 points r/u = 3 stands of Light Artillery @ 1pt = 3 points.
THE IMPERIAL ARMY: 37,000 = 37 points x 2 = 74 Points.
28,000 Infantry = 28 points x 2 = 56 points.
10 stands of Pikemen @ 3 points = 30 points.
12 stands of muskets @ 2 points = 24 points.
1 General ( Count Ergon 8th of Furstenburg ) @ 1 point.
1 General ( Johann Tserclaes Count of Tilly ) @ 1 point.
9,000 Cavalry = 9 points x 2 = 18 points.
6 stands of Cavalry @ 2 points = 12 points.
5 stands of Dragoon Cavalry @ 1 point =5 points
1 General ( Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim ) @ 1 point.
ARTILLERY:
46 Guns with 920 Gunners = 0.920 pts x 2 = 2pts r/u.=
2 stands of Light Artillery @ 1 point = 2 points.
BATTLE NOTES;
* All the Infantry, Cavalry, Imperial and Saxon Artillery stands must move through the face of a square not a diagonal.
* Dragoon Cavalry of 1 point and the Swedish Artillery of 1 point can move in any direction.
* The Swedish Army retains the Initiative Point for the duration of the battle. This does not include the Saxons. This is because the Saxon Army were mostly Militia.
* The Imperial Army moves first on the first Game-Turn. From Game-Turn 2 until Game-Turn 8, the Swedish Army moves first. ( including the Saxons ).
* The Swedish Army fires first on every Game-Turn.
* The Swedish Army gets 1 extra point on every Firing and Combat die. ( NOT THE SAXONS).
Note: The Swedish army at this time, was a well trained force with superior fire and movement tactics against the Imperial Army which were still using old doctrine.
* At the start of the 3rd Game-Turn, a 6 sided die is rolled for the Saxon army. On a roll of 1,2 or 3 the entire Saxon Wing is removed from the board.! This test takes place at the start of every Game-Turn, after Game-Turn 3 while the Saxons are on the board.
* The Swedish army wins any tied results.
* ARTILLERY:
* The artillery of the Swedish Army can move and fire. The Artillery of the Imperial and Saxon Army must remain static.
Note: I’ve played this game using normal procedures and the Swedish army becomes overwhelmed without their abilities and training being reflected.
* At the end of the 8th Game-Turn, the side with the higher number of stands lost, looses the battle. The Saxons that run off are NOT included in that total.
THE SET-UP.
The blocks of figures, the trees and the villages were made up using the illustrations from the English Civil War book by Peter Dennis and printed by Helion and Co. The prints were reproduced in A5. See the previous blog on “ The Paperboys of Peter Dennis”——.
The road was made from thin card obtained from Amazon. The cloth is a 3 foot x 2 foot ( 90cm x 60cm) piece of felt cloth marked in 2 inch ( 50mm ) squares.
The windmills were scratchbuilt using foam board, thin cardboard and matchsticks. I used a piece of paintbrush tubing and a dressmakers pin to attach the sails.
The flags were made from sticky labels and cocktail sticks, then hand painted also using a 0.5 marker pen.
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