Battle of Fontenoy: The Austrian Netherlands 1st May 1745.

Prior to this battle, the French Army had not done very well in Northern Italy. It was decided in Council that the Austrian Netherlands being on France's Northern border would be an easier target. The King of France, Louis 15th was also keen to campaign with his army so this would allow him to do so without being in harm's way much to the relief of his Generals.

The French army at this time was being led by possibly the best General of the age; Maurice of Saxony. He knew where the Allied army was likely to advance South. Therefore knowing that his troops were not at their best when going toe-to-toe with the English, he set up a killing field to channel the allied attack.

If the French army were being led by the best, the Allied Army had one of the worst. The Duke of Cumberland was the son of King George 2nd, King of Britain and Elector of Hanover. He did bring in some much needed improvements to the life of his troops, however his grasp of tactics was limited to leading his men into the heaviest enemy fire and keeping them there!

The British army at this point in time was not the finely honed force it would become under the Duke of Wellington. It was, when on the Continent, an auxiliary force to the Hanovarian Army. The Duke of Cumberland was in command of the Pragmatic Army because his social rank. The Pragmatic Army was the name given to the nation's allied to Austria, these being ; Hanover ( with Britain ), Holland,( at this time known as The United Provinces ) and Piedmont-Sardinia.

The opposition consisted of Prussia, France/Spain ( a family alliance ) along with Bavaria.

The Pragmatic Army.

The British;
16,000 foot inc Artillery and Generals.
16 points x 2 = 32 points.
4,500 horse = 4.5 points x 2 = 9 points.

C-in-C Duke of Cumberland = 1 point.
General John Ligonier = 1 point.
2 stands of Grenadier Infantry @ 4 points = 8 points.
5 stands of Line Infantry @ 3 points = 15 points.
2 stands of Scots light Infantry Skirmishers @ 2 points = 4 points.
2 stands of Light Artillery @ 1 point = 2 points.
3 stands of Dragoon Cavalry @ 3 points = 9 points.

The Hanoverian Brigade.

4,000 foot inc Artillery and Generals.
4 points x 2 = 8 points.
2,000 horse = 2 points x 2 = 4 points.

General Zastrow = 1 point.
1 stand of Light Artillery @ 1 point.
2 stands of Line Infantry @ 3 points = 6 points.
2 stands of Lìght Dragoons @ 2 points = 4 points.

The Dutch Army ( also known as the United Provinces ).

22,000 foot ìnc Artillery and Generals.
22 points x 2 = 44 points.
3,000 Horse = 3 points x 2 = 6 points.

General Karl August, Prince of Waldecķ @ 1 point.
General Constrom @ 1 point.
2 stands of Grenadier Ìnfantry @ 4 points = 8 points.
10 stands of Line Infantry @ 3points = 30 points.
4 stands of Light Artillery @ 1 point = 4 points.
3 stands of Light Dragoon Cavalry @ 2 points = 6 points.

The Austrian Netherlands Brigade.

1,500 Horse = 1.5 points x 2 = 3 points ( inc a General ).
500 foot = 0.5 points x 2 = 1 points.

General Count Lothar Konigsegg = 1point.
1 stand of  Light Dragoon Cavalry = 2 points.
1 stand of Militia Line Infantry = 1 point.

The French Army.

32,000 foot inc Artillery and Generals.
32 points x 2 = 64 points.
14,000 cavalry.
14 points x 2 = 28 points.

C-in-C General Maurice De Saxe @ 3 points.
General Vauguyon @ 1 point.
General Lutteaux @ 1 point.

3 stands of Grenadier Infantry @ 4 points = 12 points.
11 stands Line Infantry @ 3 points = 33 points.
3 stands Light Infantry Skirmishers @ 2 points = 6 points.

4 stands of Heavy Artillery @ 2 points = 8 points.

8 stands of Line Dragoon Cavalry @ 3 points = 24 points.
2 stands of Light Dragoon Cavalry @ 2 points = 4 points.

Here is a map of the battle;

Here is the armies laid out;

Notes;

● The ground in front of the British/ Hanovarians sloped up toward the French position. It did not seem to make any difference to the movement so I left it flat.

● The French troops facing the Dutch troops were positioned behind a raised track which ran between Anthoing and Fontenoy. As with the British, it didn't affect the battle in any way so, once again I left it flat.

● King Louis 15th was present at the battle but he did not take command.

● The French Artillery cannot move. If any model gets a "move-back" result from fire or combat, 2 points will be removed from the die roll of each gun model firing back during the same Game-Turn.

● The defense works are treated as trenches. Stands positioned behind them get cover from fire. In combat, both sides use the normal rules.

● The Duke of Cumberland dismounted to lead the British Infantry attack. The British player can have a dismounted version of Cumberland if desired. The model will move at infantry speed.  The Duke ignored advice from his Generals about the redoubt in the woods of Barry!.

● If any British stand has to move back as a result of Fire while the army is positioned on the board edge, the stand is removed!.

● Initial Moves;

On the British side, only the Dutch army moves on the first Game-Turn. From the second Game-Turn onward the game is played as normal.

The Solo Game;

On the British side, only the Dutch army is moved for the first two Game-Turns. From the third Game Turn onward, the British Player uses two thirds of their points for the British/ Hanovarian group first. This is because the Dutch attack was not pushed home.

CREDITS.

The figures are mostly Miniature Figurines supplemented with Peter Pig and Essex miniatures. There are also a stand of Hallmark pioneers. The coach in the bottom corner is from Essex.

The defense works are from a company called Last Man Last Bullet, and supplemented by sections from the Fire and Sword company.

The buildings are from Total Battle Miniatures.

The little supply waggon and the tent base is from Peter Pig.

All the items listed are 15mm and the interpretation of the battle is my own. The flags are hand painted by myself on masking tape.

Battle of Fraustadt; 3rd February 1706 : Western Poland.

On a cold February morning in 1706, two armies faced each other across a  frozen plain. Facing East, a combined army of Saxon and Russian troops in a prepared position.

Facing West, a much smaller but very determined army of Swedish infantry and cavalry. There were no artillery pieces amongst these formations as their General, Rehnskoild had decided on a very rapid advance.

The two armies differed in composition. The Swedish army had all the cavalry and very little infantry. The Saxons along with their Russian allies had the infantry and guns, but very few cavalry.

Why was this?. Further East, the Swedish army led by their King, Charles 12th, besieged the Russian held town of Grodno. He had most of his infantry with him. The Saxon commander King Augustus " The Strong" had taken most of his cavalry in an attempt to break the siege.

General Schulenburg, the Russo- Saxon General left Saxony to attack what he thought would be a very weak Swedish battle group. On that cold February morning he had a very rude awakening.

Rather than retreating, that weak Swedish army led by a very resolute General had decided to attack!!

This is the opposing forces;

Saxony-Russia.

10,300 Saxon Infantry and artillerymen.
2,700 Saxon Cavalry.
40 Field Guns.
5,000 Russian Infantry.

Total: 18,000 = 18 points x 3 = 54 points.

The Saxons;
8 stands of Line Muskets @ 2 points each = 16 points.
2 stands of Pikemen @ 3points each = 6 points.
4 stands of Heavy Field Guns @ 2 points each = 8 points.
4 stands of Line Cavalry @ 2 points each = 8 points.
1 General ( Schulenburg ) @ 1 point.

The Russians;
4 stands of Line Muskets @ 2 points = 8 points.
1 stand of Pikemen @ 2 points = 2 points.
1 stand of Grenadier Muskets @ 3 points.
1 General ( Goltz ) @ 1 point.

The Swedish Army;

6,000 Cavalry.
4,600 Infantry.

Total; 10,600 = 10.6 points x 3 = 32 points ( rounded up).

1 General Rehnskoild @ 2 points.
1 General Von Krassow @ 1 point.
1 General Hummerhelm @ 1 point.

6 stands of Line Muskets @ 1 point each = 6 points.
2 stands of Pikemen @ 3 points each = 6 points.
8 stands of Line Cavalry @ 2 points each = 16 points,

Here is a map of the battle;

NOTES:
With a battle such as this where there are a disparity of forces special rules have to be introduced. The circumstances themselves played a part also.

● The Swedish stands are moved first on every Game-Turn.

●The Swedish Army gets the Initiative Point every Game-Turn.

● On every Game-Turn every Stand of the Swedish Army can be moved if desired. Before the Saxon-Russian Army can move, a 12 sided die is thrown. The result of the throw is the number of stands within the Saxon-Russian army that can be moved including Command stands. The type of stand to be moved is at the discretion of the player.

This rule is used because, during the actual battle there no clear command decisions being made within the allied army.

● The only stands that cannot be moved are the Russian Guns. If a gun stand suffers a " Move Back" as a result of firing it is given a "cannot fire" marker ( or a marker of any description ) which remains in play for that Game-Turn. If the Gun Stand suffers a "Move-Back as a result of Combat, it is removed from the table altogether. ( the crew have been killed and the gun dragged out of position).

● During the Firing Phrase of every Game-Turn, the Swedish Army always fires first, with every stand that can fire. The Saxon-Russian Army has a 12 sided die thrown for it. The result will show the number of stands that can fire. Any Artillery stands that are to fire are included in that number.

● Combat is played out as normal. The Swedish horses did not have shoes fitted so a number of them fell over on the icy ground during the advance,but this did not seem to effect their attack.

Removing a Defence-work;

The front of the Russo-Saxon army was cover by sections of Chevau-de-Frise. If a Swedish infantry stand is adjacent to a section at the start of a Game-Turn with no enemy stand adjacent to the same section, the Swedish stand can try to remove it.
Roll a 6sided die. If the result is 3,4,5 or 6 the section of defence work can be removed.

Final thoughts: When I read about this battle, French Grenadiers and line infantry were mentioned as being present in the Saxon ranks but as there was no further information on the actions of these units I have not included them in the initial deployment.
The battle was fought on a 3 foot x 2 foot ( 90cm x 60cm ) table of 2 inch ( 50mm ) squares.

The Winner.
This will be the side with the lower number of stands lost at the end of eight Game- Turns.
If both sides are equal in the number of stands lost, the Winner will be the side which lost the least total of points in stands lost.

CREDITS;

The figures are a mixture of Miniature Figurines and Peter Pig. The Chavau-de-Frise sections are from Irregular Miniatures.

The flags are pieces of masking tape roughly hand painted by myself.
The buildings were painted and supplied by Total Battle Miniatures.
The trees were from Amazon and decorated with a snow paint by Tamiya and a snow kit from www. Scenics.com
The log sections were from Blotz ( I think?)
The snow field, river and roads were made from sections of thin cardboard bought from Wilkinson and The Works ( two local stores).
The backdrop and square 40mm bases were made from picture-framing cardboard supplied by The Works.
Finally. The round 40mm command bases were supplied by Minibits.