This is another battle of the Great Northern War where an outnumbered Swedish army took on a larger force. However a few incidents happened which favoured the Swedes in winning this battle and I have tried to reflect this in the reconstruction.
The Swedish Army;
Infantry ; 8000 = 8 points x 3 = 24 points.
Cavalry ; 4000 = 4 points x 3 = 12 points.
Artillery ; This was available but was left trailing in order to get the army into battle formation as soon as possible.
1) General Carl Gustav Rehnskiold= 1 point.
2) General Knut Goransson Posse = 1 point.
3) General Frederick 4th Duke
of Holstein-Gottorp = 2 points.
4 stands of Line Cavalry @ 3 points = 12 points.
7 stands of Line Muskets @ 2 points = 14 points.
2 stands of Pikemen @ 3points = 6 points.
Saxony Army.
Infantry ; 7000 = 7 points x 3 = 21 points.
Cavalry ; 9000 = 9 points x 3 = 27 points.
46 guns ( ÷10 ) = 4 guns.
A) General Adam Heinrich von Steinau = 1point.
B) Johann von Der Schulenburg = 1 point.
C) Jacob Heinrich von Fleming = 1 point.
Poland
Cavalry; 5000 = 5 points x 3 = 15 points.
Winged Hussars 1,250 = 1.250 points x 3 = 4 points.
Polish Infantry 660 = 0.660 points x 3 = 2 points.
D) General Hieronim Augustyn Lubomirski = 1 point.
7 stands of Saxon Line Cavalry @ 3 points = 21 points.
2 stands of Saxon Light Dragoons @ 2 points = 4 points.
10 stands of Saxon Line Infantry @ 2 points = 20 points.
4 stands of heavy guns @ 2 points = 8 points.
The Polish Wing.
4 stands of Line Cavalry @ 3points = 12 points.
1 stand of Line Dragoons @ 2 points = 2 points.
1 stand of Winged Hussars @ 4 points = 4 points.
1 stand of Line Infantry @ 2 points= 2 points.
Special notes;
This is another battle that needs a few special rules in order to obtain a reasonable outcome. The Swedes did win despite being outnumbered!! but the Saxons and Poles did put up a bit of a fight and I wanted to give
both sides a chance of victory.
● If cavalry attack enemy infantry within the marshy area they do not get the 3 points for attacking Infantry on flat open ground.
● Any stands moving into the marshy ground on each side of the stream plus the stream itself can only move one square each Game Turn.
● The Saxon artillery cannot move.
● The artillery has only two squares range.
● Stands cannot be moved through the trees.
● The Nida river cannot be crossed.
●The Swedish army gets the Initiative point every Game-Turn and also moves first every Game Turn.
● The Swedish player can move all their stands
on the movement phase. The Saxon player however has to throw a 12 sided die, the result showing the number of stands that can be, prior to the to the Saxon movement phase.
The above hopefully reflects the conditions of
the actual battle. Despite the Saxons having the
preponderance of artillery it didn't seem to affect the Swedish manoeuvres.
The Saxons attacked twice along with the Polish wing. After being beaten back twice the Swedes advanced. For some reason both Generals Fleming and Lubomirski
decided to withdraw their commands!!
The entire Polish wing plus the Saxon right wing cavalry and Dragoons left the field, leaving General Steinau's Cavalry and General Schulenbergs infantry ( which up to this point seemed to be doing little ) to fight a rearguard action!.
As the Swedes overan the Saxon artillery the guns were turned on their former owners.
● Ok, to reflect this, if a Swedish infantry stand moves into an adjacent square to a Saxon artillery stand and, the Swedes are not in combat the gun becomes Swedish!.
A couple of important points;
● Duke Frederick was mortally wounded at one point in the battle so the Swedish King himself took command of the Swedish left wing ( 2 points ).
● At the start of GAME TURN 6, All the Polish stands plus the Saxon right wing cavalry along with general's Fleming and Lubomirski are taken Off The Board! The Swedish player then moves their stands.
Winning the game.
Having played this game three times I have found that numbers do count and, without the above restrictions the Swedes cannot win.
So, at the end of Game Turn 8, the Swedish player must have a minimum of Three Stands on the South Side of the stream within the marshy ground in order to win the game. The small red lines on each side of the map delianate how far forward the stands must be..
The Saxons win if they can prevent this.
One last historical note. This appears to be the
last battle in which the famous Polish Winged
Hussars took the field ( so it was nice to have a
historical reason to include a stand of these
famous troops on the table!!)
As before , I used a 3 foot x 2 foot ( 90 cm x 60 cm )
table with a 2 inch ( 50mm ) square grid.
Here is the map;
This is the board showing the set up;
All the figures are 15mm from either Essex Miniatures or Minifigs.
Finally, here's a glimpse of those famous horsemen from the Essex Miniatures range;
