SYW - Die Kriegskunst

Last weekend we had a special guest at the Mess in Chris Packer, a North Island wargamer who has transferred to Christchurch from Upper Hutt. Chris has a massive collection of Napoleonic and SYW figures and kindly offered to put on a game using the Die Kriegskunst rules (try saying that in mixed company with a few beers on board!) created by Angus Konstam and the Edingburgh Wargaming group. A couple of the other Southern Strategists came along and a convivial Sunday afternnoon of wargaming and jovial banter was had by all. We were all impressed with how well the rules played, giving a fast and bloody result. We only used a fraction of Chris's SYW collection in a small game that saw an Austrian force defending a town against a Prussian force of equal size. A hard task for the Prussians, especially when the cavalry on their right flank routed and the attack on their left flank suffered heavy casualties. However, one Prussian battalion managed to force its way into the town before the Prussian commander conceded that he had insufficient forces left to win the action. Great fun was had by all and hopefully this will be the first of many such games with Chris.

Prussian jagers

Prussian fusiliers

Prussian fusilier command

Austrian commander, Gavin Bowden (left), contemplates his defence while  Chris Packer and Dave Houston (right) plan the Prussian attack. Seamus Stack (foreground) proved an able subordinate of his father who commanded the Austrian right flank.

The Austrian left flank 

Two Austrian battalions held the town

A view of the town from the Prussian lines

Old Fritz himself with his senior commanders

An Austrian German battalion prepared to defend the town

The Prussian cavalry (commanded by Chris) brigade (in blue) charging the Austrian  cavalry

Dave's Prussian infantry launch an attack on the Austrian right flank

Cavalry melee

The first Prussian musketeer battalion decimated by Austrian  artillery and musketry

The Austrian right flank ready to receive the Prussians

The Prussian centre advancing on the town

"The way is forward, mein kinder!'

The Austrian centre defending a road  

The Prussians attempting to turn the Austrian right flank, now minus a destroyed musketeer battalion  

The Prussian cavalry on their right have been repulsed 

Any chance of a Prussian victory relies on victory in the centre 

Mein Gott! The Prussian cavalry are routing!

Prussian grenadier battalions are given the job of taking the town

Before the exchange of musketry

The Prussians charge in on the Austrian right flank

The Austrian musketeer battalion falls back, leaving it to the grenadiers and artillery to hold the flank  

The Prussians moving forward while receiving flanking fire from the town

A Prussian fusilier battalion charging the artillery

Where did those Prussian fusiliers go?...Shot to bits by the canister of the Austrian guns

The Prussians now don't have enough strength to turn the Austrian flank

The Prussian attack succeeds in forcing an Austrian battalion to withdraw 

A Prussian grenadier battalion forces its way into the town  while  a musketeer battalion is in melee with a Hungarian battalion  

The Prussian hopes of victory are dashed as the Austrian left flank prepares to  get behind the exposed Prussian centre 

The victorious Austrian high command breathes a sigh of relief and prepares to celebrate at the local  tavern

Bavarians in Austrian service

A battalion of Austrian light troops

An Austrian Hungarian musketeer battalion

An Austrian musketeer battalion on the march

The successful Austrian cavalry brigade commander, Graf Von Bowden  

Austrian dragoons

Superbly painted Front Rank Prussian musketeers

French & Indian War

The game last week with the Southern Strategists at the Redwood Redoubt gave me reason to celebrate. It was the first 28mm French & Indian War game that we have put on and also proved a personal milestone for me as it was the first time my British and French SYW troops got to experience combat. Some of my units had been painted and based for a number of years and after managing to survive a 7.1 magnitude earthquake where my figure cabinets smashed to the floor, they still remained languishing in my new cabinets until now.

Another reason to celebrate was the unveiling of a frontier stockade and blockhouse that had been scratch built by Rodger Wood, one of our resident terrain experts. He's made a great job of putting it together and I felt a bit guilty after he had told me he had spent two weeks building it after I had jokingly suggested that he make one. The fort is now residing at the Mess due to limited terrain space at the Redoubt....bugger! I'm sure it will see plenty of action in the years to come.

Rodger's frontier fort and French colonial artillery battery

The fort manned by a battalion of Compagnie Franches

A battalion of the La Reine regiment marching to the rescue

The 42nd Foot advancing through the woods

A warband of Mohawks about the deal to Canadian militia

A battalion of Compagnie Franches supported by French colonial artillery and a battalion of the Royal Rousillon regiment.

The Royal Rousillon and artillery exchange a series of volleys with the Highlanders

A view of the action from the blockhouse of the fort

The British force moving towards the fort

A view of the action just before the Royal Rousillon battalion was destroyed in their first engaement

The 1st Foot and 48th Foot refuse to advance after twice being ordered forward. Hardly an auspicious start to their military career!

A birds-eye view of the layout

As my thesis and book writing is taking precedent over painting figures at the moment I thought I would publish some shots of my troops in their first action on the superb terrain layout that was put together by Rodger, Gavin and Geoff. All the photos were taken by Rodger, our resident photographic war correspondent. A report of the game can be found on the Southern Strategists' blog:

http://southern-strategists.blogspot.com