By the beginning of 1747, Europe was getting war-weary. However, Maria Theresa the Austrian Empress was still angry on being forced by Britain into giving up Silesia to King Frederick of Prussia, and still maintained diplomatic talks with France as the war continued.
In turn France was angry with Frederick for making a Peace for his own ends and pulling out of the war without making it known!.
Meanwhile, the French Marshal Maurice de Saxe sat in the Low Countries ( another name for Belgium) content with the knowledge that he had numerical and logistical superiority over any opposition forces.
By taking towns in the Austrian Netherlands ( modern day Belgium ) the French were putting direct pressure on the Dutch Republic in order to force them to the Peace table and remove the British presence in doing so.
Heading towards him was the “ Pragmatic army” led once again by the rather lacklustre Duke of Cumberland. Having scored a victory against the Allied Army at Fontenoy, Maurice was prepared to lead another masterclass in the art of warfare.
Maurice decided to put Cumberland through his paces sending detachments to small towns within the area to keep Cumberland guessing as to which town was to be the target, all the time keeping one eye on Maastricht.
All these manouvres worked, and Cumberland was truly baffled as to how to counter the French movements. However, fate was to intervene in the shape of the young King Louis the 15th. Louis was tired of all these cat-and-mouse games much as they were gaining results and pestered Maurice for direct action.
The Marshal successfully gained the ground on the heights of Heerderen to the South-West of Maastricht and had his troops in order before commiting them. In the early hours on the day of battle, the Allied army was set out facing South. Initially Cornwallis ordered the villages to the front of the Allied army to be set alight and the Army to be formed behind them.
Luckily, for the Allies, the brilliant Sir John Ligonier was also present in the Allied Army. It was he who convinced Cumberland to reoccupy the villages using them as bastions of defence. Cumberland reluctantly agreed and the army moved forward to take position within and around the smoking ruins.
Observing these events, Maurice, seeing smoke bellowing skyward, at first thought that the Allies were retreating and that he would be able to set about besieging Maastricht. However when he saw the reverse happening his mind was made up.
Maurice had stripped out garrisons and raised every man he could in order to achieve his goals. Every horse that could walk was pressed into service. This was the biggest Army that the French had fielded and indeed would be the largest army to be fielded in the entire 18th century. Maurice was determined to batter the Allied army into retreat.
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On the Allied side , General Bathyanni, having the largest contingent,with his Austrian troops, took the position of honour on the right, much to Cumberlands chargrin. Next to them were the Dutch in and around Vlytingen. Beyond the left of the Dutch were the Hanoverians and British. Sandwiched between them and the Dutch was a small brigade of Hessians.
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NOTE: Many articles state that the British held the left when in fact it was the Hanoverians. As noted before, the British were Auxilliary to the Hanoverians, who supplied the bulk of the troops required. The Hanoverians wore red uniforms and had similar equipment which is usually why they are identified as “ British”.this was also because King George of Britain was also Duke of Hanover.
The whole area was studded with villages and small holdings and generally flat which made good conditions for an attacking army even though it was raining. At 10 am with drums beating as the rain fell, General de Saxe signalled the advance.
NOTE: when working out the numbers of troops present my baseline was: 450 for an Infantry Battalion and 130 for a Cavalry Squadron. All Nations were suffering manpower shortages.
FRANCE: 100,000. General Maurice De Saxe @ 2 points.
16,000 Horse in 123 Squadrons.= 16 points;
7 stands of Dragoons @ 2 points = 14 points.
1 stand of Hussars @ 1 point
General ; Louis Charles Cesar Le Tellier duc d,Estrees @ 1 point.
84,000 Foot in 210 Battalions = 84 points.
4 stands of Infantry Grenadiers @ 4 points = 16 points.
16 stands of Line Infantry @ 3 points = 48 points.
5 stands of Line Infantry @ 2 points = 10 points.
4 stands of Light Infantry @ 1 point = 4 points.
3 Generals @ 1 point ;
General Clermont. General De Salieres. General Saint Nectaire.
ARTILLERY;
200 Guns = 200 x 50 Gunners = 10,000 = 10 points;
2 stands of Heavy Artillery @ 2 points = 4 points.
6 stands of Light Artillery @ 1 point = 6 points.
PRAGMATIC ARMY; 98,900. Nominal Commander, The Duke of Cumberland.
Note: I couldn’t find any actual information concerning the composition of the Allied Army in this battle. Therefore I’ve used “ known strength” of the individual nations based on Reed-Brownings book about the war, and Stephen Manley’s painting guides ( available from Caliver books ).
13,650 Horse in 105 Squadrons = 13.650 pts or 14 pts r/u.
20 Squadrons of British Horse = 2,600 = 2.6 or 3pts r/u = 1 stand of Dragoons @ 3pts.
6 Squadrons of Hessian Horse = 780 = 0.780 or 1pt r/u = 1 stand of Dragoons @ 1pt.
34 Squadrons of Hanovarian Horse = 4,420 or 4.420 or 4pts r/d = 2 stands of Dragoons @ 2pts = 4pts.
15 Squadrons of Dutch Horse = 1,950 = 1.950 or 2pts r/u = 2 stands of Dragoons @ 1pt = 2pts.
30 Squadrons of Austrian Horse = 3,900 = 3.900pts = 4pts r/u = 2 stands of Dragoons @ 2pts = 4pts.
85,250 Foot in 179 Battalions = 85 points;
3,600 Hessian Infantry in 9 Battalions = 3.6 or 4 points r/u = 2 stands of Hessian Line Inf @ 2pts = 4pts.
16,000 British Infantry in 40 Battalions = 16pts =;
1 stand of Grenadiers @ 4pts, 4 stands of Line Infantry @ 2pts = 8pts. 1 stand of Light Infantry @ 1 pt. The Duke of Cumberland @ 1pt. 1 General [ Ligonier ] @ 2 points.
20,000 Hanovarian Infantry in 50 Battalions = 20pts;
1 stand of Grenadiers @ 4pts. 5 stands of Line Infantry @ 3pts = 15pts. General Von Zastrow @ 1pt.
12,000 Dutch Infantry in 30 Battalions = 12 pts = 1 stand of Grenadiers @ 3pts. 4 stands of Line Infantry @ 2pts = 8pts. General Waldeck @ 1pt.
20,000 Austrian Infantry in 50 Battalions = 20pts = 1 stand of Grenadiers @ 4pts. 5 stands of Line Infantry @ 3pts = 15pts. General Bathyanni @ 1pt.
ARTILLERY;
150 Guns x 50 Gunners = 7,500 = 7.5 or 8pts r/u; =
2 stands of British Light Artillery @ 1pt = 2 points.
2 stands of Hanovarian Light Artillery @ 1pt = 2 points.
2 stands of Dutch Light Artillery @ 1pt = 2 points.
2 stands of Austrian Light Artillery @ 1pt = 2 points
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THE HISTORY;
This was the largest battle of the War of The Austrian Succession and of the whole 18th century in general. Cumberland had recently returned to the Continent after stopping the Jacobite Uprising. Defeating an outgunned, outnumbered and worn out Scottish army was one thing, but overcoming a well organised professional army led by one of the greatest Generals of the age was something else entirely.
Having marched the allied army south to forestall any French advance on Masstricht , Cumberlands only plan was to line up the army and slug it out with the French. As part of this plan, Cumberland ordered the villages in front of the Allied positions to be burnt.
As stated above, it was Ligonier who convinced the Prince to reoccupy the blackened ruins. Just as well. Maurice’s plan was to send two massive columns of Infantry crashing down onto the Allied left-centre at Lauffeldt and Vlytingen . That would be followed up with an equally massive Cavalry charge to stop the Allies from getting to Masstricht. The Allies were still not fully in position when the French began their advance.
As it is in War the situation did not go as planned. The French had to attack Lauffeldt three times to force out the British troops. Likewise, the Dutch put up an unexpected and equally valiant fight in Vlytingen. The casualties on the French side were enormous.
Maurice could see what was happening to his men but having commited his army to the plan he had no choice but to feed in more formations to the carnage. Eventually the French army prevailed, but not before Sir John Ligonier had led two cavalry charges on the left against the French cavalry to forestall an attempt to block the Allied army from Masstricht.
Sir John was captured by the French and presented to King Louis by Maurice as " the man who ruined all my plans". The situation angered many Irish Officers within the French force who were sure that they would not be treated so well by the British!!.
.FIGHTING THE BATTLE;
* The Battle will played for 8 Game-Turns.
* The French move first in the 1st Game-Turn. From Game-Turn 2 until Game-Turn 8. Both sides roll a die to determine who moves first and also gains the Initiative Point.
* A Solo rule is used, that during a Game-Turn, in the Firing Phase, both sides will roll a die to determine which side will FIRE FIRST.
* Tied results go to the side who won the Initiative Point for that Game-Turn.
THE RAVINE.
Sources differ as to whether there was a ravine in front of the Austrian position. I have followed Reed-Browning’s description of the battle.
I’ve put a section on the table to mark the area as a Ravine, Therefore;
* Any stand must stop moving once it is placed on the Ravine square. It can be moved forward in the next moving phase of the next Game-Turn.
* Any stand in combat while positioned within the Ravine suffers a 2 point deduction from its Close Combat die roll IN ADDITION to a further 2 point deduction for attacking uphill.
* Stands positioned within the Ravine cannot fire on any enemy stand positioned one square back from the edge of the hill.
* THE VILLAGES;
If a stand is in one end of a village and firing " through" the houses at a target at the other end of the village, the firing stand must have 2 points deducted from its firing die.
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VICTORY:
Both sides were relatively equal and it was a hard fought battle therefore:
* If the French occupy both Lauffeldt and Vlytingen at the end Game-Turn 8, it is a win for the French.
* If the French hold one village and they hold the road to Maastricht behind Wilre by the end of the of Game-Turn 8 it is a win for the French
* If the French only hold one of the above villages at the end of Game-Turn 8, the game is a Draw.
CREDITS:
The figures are 15mm and are mostly Miniature Figures supplemented with Essex and Peter Pig figures.
The hills are scratchbuilt as are the “ flat pack” villages. The trees are by various manufacturers. The hedge sections are from Pendraken Miniatures. The road and rivers section were cut from thin cardboard. The Ravine section was also scratchbuilt.
The stands were cut from picture-framing card, 40mm x 40mm. The round 40mm MDF stands were purchased from Sarissa Precision.
The overlay is rubber backed and printed with 2” ( 50mm ) squares. This was a custom order from Deep Cut Studios.
As always the table is 3 feet ( 90cm ) x 2 feet (60cm ).
EPILOGUE.
In the weeks after Lauffeldt, the French tried once again to invade Piedmont. At the Assieta Pass, a French army tore itself to shreds attacking a well entrenched Piedmontese force. In desperation, the two French Generals ( the Belle-Isle Brothers ) lost theirs lives while leading attacks.
In the Netherlands, Count Lowendahl marched to take the town of Bergen-Op-Zoom. Rumours were rife that the war was near to ending, so it came as a shock that the town refused to surrender. It was as they were storming the town that something snapped amongst the French troops. For three days they went on an orgy of drunken violence and murder. Followed by a torpor of despair.
General Maurice told the King that he would either have to hang the Count or give him a Marshals Baton ( which Lowendahl received).
With the failure of the French attack on Piedmont and the Empress of Austria sending out strict orders to her Generals not to engage in any further offensive actions the War staggered to an end.
There was great rejoicing amongst the people ……unaware that the King across the Elbe was keeping a beady eye on proceedings and building up his army once again…….
