The Battle of ‘Wanneminden’ 1759 (Our 2024 Christmas Game)

As mentioned in the last few articles, our 2024 Christmas Game at W.A.S.P. was a ‘bath-tubbed’, half-scale version of the Battle of Minden, 1st August 1759. 

I’m not normally a fan of ‘bath-tubbed’ scenarios.  I like to see the actual order of battle on the table or if not, a set of rules being used that’s actually intended for a higher scale of warfare (e.g. Napoleon’s Battles, or Fire & Fury, where the basic unit of manoeuvre is the brigade).  However, I wanted to get a load of troops on the table and it occurred to me that I had passed the half-way point for the Minden orbat…  So this is NOT the Battle of Minden; we will eventually do that ‘properly’.  This instead, is the fictitious Battle of ‘Wanneminden’, which might possibly bear a passing resemblance to the Battle of Minden…  Here’s the full-fat map for Minden, based on the Prussian Greater General Staff history:

As can be seen from the map above; when I eventually get around to painting all the troops for Minden, it will be something of a ‘line them up’ slug-fest, as we don’t really have the time or space for a great battle of manoeuvre.  However, ‘Wanneminden’ does allow us to play out the advance to contact phase of the battle.  I’ll post the full scenario soon, but here’s a map showing the starting-positions.  As you can see, there is a far greater amount of space and tactical options for the development of the battle:

The rough outline of the scenario is that the French have once again invaded Hesse and have captured the fortress of Wanneminden on the River Weser.  Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick’s Allied army is unable to open a formal siege due to the proximity of the main French army, so Ferdinand has baited a trap; dangling the corps of the Hanoverian General von Wangenheim as a juicy worm to tempt the big French fish to come out into the open.

Sure enough, the French corps of the Duc de Broglie has come out of Wanneminden to engage Wangenheim, with the rest of the Marquis de Contades’ main French army following not far behind.  However, Ferdinand’s outposts have failed to promptly alert him of the French attack, so will Ferdinand’s army arrive in time to save Wangenheim and destroy the French army…?

Above:  The view from behind Wanghenheim’s corps, facing south toward the walls of Wanneminden.  If this were the Battle of Minden, the city would actually be just off-table and would be replaced by a line of earthworks and redoubts.

Above:  On Wangenheim’s left flank, hard up against the Weser, is Count William of Schaumburg-Lippe’s artillery reserve.  These batteries have been dug in and are defended by Count William’s own Schaumburg-Lippe-Bückeburg Infantry Regiment.

Above:  The centre of Wangenheim’s line is formed by four single-battalion Hanoverian infantry regiments (Kielmansegg, Jung-Zastrow, Spörcken and Halberstadt) and a battalion each of British, Hessian and Brunswicker grenadiers.  On the right flank is General von Grothaus’ cavalry division, consisting of the Hessian Prinz Friedrich Dragoons and two massed regiments of Hanoverian heavy horse (the Reden and Heise Regiments).

Above:  The Duc de Broglie’s corps is deployed into three lines; the first line is formed by the Marquis de Saint-Pern’s Grenadiers de France, supported by a battery each of heavy and light artillery.

Above:  The Duc de Broglie’s second and third lines are formed from the Chevalier du Muy’s division, consisting of the Piémont Regiment, the German Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment and the Swiss Planta Regiment.  Prince Camille of Lorraine’s cavalry (the Commissaire-Général and Penthièvre Brigades) are stationed on the left.

Above:  Having judged Wangenheim’s position to be something of a tough nut to crack, Broglie pauses while he waits for the Chevalier de Nicolay’s division to move up in support.  Nicolay has five battalions from the Picardie and La Marche Regiments, together with a further battery of light artillery.

Above:  Some distance behind Nicolay, two more French infantry divisions are moving up in column (as indicated by the MDF arrows), past the hamlet of Finster-Reie.  The division of the Duc de Beaupréau, consists of the Touraine and d’Aumont Regiments, each with two battalions, together with a battery each of heavy and light artillery.  The blue-coated German division of the Comte de Saint-Germain comprises another four battalions from the Anhalt, Saint-Germain and Bergh Regiments.

Above:  The garrison of Wanneminden watches as the battle unfolds.  I should add that the fortress and its garrison are purely decorative and will play no part in the battle.

Above:  At the southern end of the battlefield, in the village of Hahlen, the French Vastan Regiment (from the Duc de Guerchy’s division) quickly find themselves under extreme pressure from the Prince of Anhalt’s picquets and are forced to fall back.

Above:  The rest of Guerchy’s division, consisting of the Du Roi and Aquitaine Regiments and a strong artillery complement (including some green-coated Saxon gunners), marches onto the field and deploys into line between Hahlen and Finster-Reie.  The artillery quickly goes into action, engaging Allied artillery and infantry emerging from the western woods.  To their rear, Prince Xaver’s Saxon corps (seven battalions from the Lubomirsky, Prinz Clemens, Prinz Josef, Prinz Friedrich August, Prinz Xaver and Prinz Carl Max Regiments) marches past, aiming to support the northern sector of the battlefield.

Above:  To the right of the Saxons, the Marquis de Poyanne heads his two elite cavalry regiments (the Gendarmerie de France in red and Royal-Carabiniers in blue) onto the field, while on their right, the Duc de Fitz James leads his four cavalry brigades (Colonel-Général, Mestre de Camp-Général, Du Roi and Bourgogne) northward.

Above:  The divisions of Saint-Germain and Beaupréau deploy into a single line between Finster-Reie and Malbergen.  Beaupréau’s artillery is soon in action, though quickly starts to suffer casualties from effective Allied counter-battery fire.  It soon becomes apparent that the French artillery can’t shoot for toffee

Above:  Another view of Saint-German’s and Braupréau’s divisions, with Fitz-James’ cavalry approaching from the south and the walls of Wanneminden behind.

Above:  In front of Beaupréau, the British-Hanoverian corps of General von Spörcken emerges from the western woods.  Major MacBean’s brigade of British heavy artillery is already in action on their right.  In the distance, Prince Ferdinand and his staff arrive to take control of the battle.

Above:  Spörcken’s corps consists of four British regiments; the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers, the 37th Foot (Stewart’s), the 25th Foot (Home’s) and the 51st Foot (Brudenell’s).  On their left stands the formidable Hanoverian Fußgarde Regiment.  All five regiments are brimming with confidence and don’t seem to be remotely concerned by the considerable force arrayed against them.

Above:  At the southern end of the battlefield, Lord Sackville’s corps of British and Hanoverian cavalry has arrived.  As he emerges from the woods, Lord Sackville spots the huge phalanx of Frenchmen and orders his cavalry to halt while he seeks clarification of his orders from Prince Ferdinand.

Above:  In front of Sackville, Major Foy’s Brigade of British light artillery is making an extreme nuisance of itself, despite being completely isolated and out-gunned!

Above:  Back at the northern end of the battle, the Duc de Broglie realises that his artillery is completely inadequate to the task at hand and instead orders the Grenadiers de France to decide the issue at bayonet-point!  Prince Camille’s cavalry meanwhile, launch a supporting, if somewhat suicidal, charge on the Hessian and Brunswicker grenadiers.

Above:  The brave, if somewhat foolhardy Grenadiers de France are shredded by canister fire from the Hessian and Schaumburg-Lippe batteries and their charge falters at the foot of the redoubt.  The Commissaire-Général Cavalry Brigade meanwhile, is utterly destroyed by the Brunswick and Hessian grenadiers.  The battle has not started well for the French.

Above:  Nevertheless, Broglie has every confidence in Saint-Pern and his Grenadiers de France, so instead of ordering du Muy to support the assault, orders him to wheel left and engage Wangenheim’s infantry in front of Kutenhausen.

Above:  To the west of Kutenhausen, Grothaus waits with his cavalry to see what develops.  Nicolay’s French infantry don’t seem to be as enthusiastic to get in amongst it and seem content to engage at long range with their guns.

Above:  The Marquis de Contades and his staff have arrived.

Above:  Undeterred by their earlier rebuff, the Grenadiers de France charge again!  This time however, the Allied gunners fail to stop the vengeful fur-bonneted grenadiers, who are soon swarming over the parapet!  Neither the gunners or the supporting Bückeburg Regiment are able to stop the grenadiers and they are quickly ejected from the redoubt, abandoning the guns to the enemy!

Above:  More Allied infantry appear in the centre of the battlefield; General von Wutginau’s blue-coated Hessians (the Leibgarde zu Fuß, Toll and Bischhausen Regiments) form the first line, while General von Scheele’s red-coated Hanoverians (the Stolzenberg, Estorff and Reden Regiments) form the second line and a Schaumburg-Lippe artillery battery deploys in support.

Above:  The Schaumburg-Lippe-Bückeburg Regiment have managed to rally in the second line of entrenchments.  Two battalions of the Grenadiers de France continue the assault, but the stalwart Bückeburgers this time manage to hold their ground.

Above:  The 2nd Brigade of the Grenadiers de France rally, having failed in their first attempt to destroy the Bückeburgers.

Above:  The rest of the Grenadiers de France wheel left, to join Du Muys’ attack on Wangenheim’s infantry.  The Stammer’s Brunswick Grenadier Battalion, on Wangenheim’s left flank, is quickly overwhelmed.

Above:  With Wangenheim’s position looking precarious, Fitz James is ordered to lead his cavalry to that sector, to exploit the success and roll up the Allied left flank.

Above:  Prince Xaver’s Saxons finally move into their allotted position, in support of Saint-Germain and Beaupréau.

Above:  Nicolay’s infantry meanwhile, are happy to stand and watch their artillery achieving the sum-total of ‘Rien’.

Above:  Poyanne’s elite cavalry wait in reserve to add some dash and tone to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.

Above:  Guerchy meanwhile, is not content to wait and marches forward, thereby masking his own guns.  Guerchy’s aide asks “Are you sure that’s wise, Sir?”

Above:  Spörcken can’t believe his luck.  As the French artillery fire slackens off, his infantry advance on Guerchy.  Behind Spörcken, three batteries of Hanoverian artillery under Colonel von Braun and Major von Haase deploy and take the French artillery to task.

Above:  Spörcken of course, is working on the assumption that Lord Granby’s cavalry will be launching their own supporting attack on the right flank.  However, Granby has already ignored the orders brought to him by four ADCs…

Above:  At Hahlen meanwhile, the Vastan Regiment has finally been pushed out of the village by the Prince of Anhalt’s persistent, pesky picquets!

Above:  Guerchy’s gunners have finally re-established their guns in front of the infantry line, but Spörcken’s division is now very close!

Above:  Poyanne deploys his cavalry reserve into regimental lines and prepares to attack Spörcken.

Above:  Another view of the northern end of the battlefield.  Prince Xaver’s Saxons are completing their deployment, but are already taking casualties from ‘overs’, thanks to the large number of Allied guns being directed against Saint-Germain and Beaupréau.  One of Beaupréau’s batteries has already been knocked out by Allied counter-battery fire

Above:  Wutginau’s Hessians and Scheele’s Hanoverians have completed their deployment and prepare to attack Saint-Germain.

Above:  Fitz James’ cavalry march past Nicolay’s flank to deploy in front of Kutenhausen.

Above:  The Hessian and British grenadiers on Wangenheim’s left flank are under extreme pressure from de Broglie, but are still holding their ground.  Most of Wangenheim’s Hanoverian battalions have withdrawn into the limited cover afforded by the village.

Above:  At last, Spörcken’s division passes through the storm of canister and launches its charge on Guerchy’s line.  However, the 2nd & 3rd Battalions of the Du Roi Regiment hold firm and manage to halt the British 37th and 23rd Regiments through firepower alone.

Above:  On Spörcken’s left flank, the Hanoverian Fußgarde manage to weather the storm of musketry and charge home on the 1st Battalion of Du Roi.  However, they are counter-charged in turn by the Gendarmerie de France!  Nevertheless, the elite guardsmen earn their pay and manage to defeat both enemy units, throwing them back in disorder!

Above:  In the centre, Wutginau’s Hessians advance past the hamlet of Malbergen.

Above:  In front of them, the French and Saxon infantry are starting to suffer significant casualties from the persistent Allied artillery.

Above:  Wangenheim’s left flank meanwhile, continues to hold out.  Donop’s heroic Hessian grenadier battalion even manages to defeat a charge by the 3rd Brigade of the Grenadiers de France on its open flank!

Above:  Fitz James’ cavalry continue their deployment, but in so doing mask de Broglie’s guns.  

Above:  Fitz James was rather hoping that de Broglie would by now, have defeated Wangenheim and cleared away the enemy infantry!

Above:  To add to Fitz James’ woes, the previously-identified ‘clear space’ between the villages of Stemmer and Malbergen (which he’d planned to ride through in order to roll up the Allied flank) is now being filled by the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp’s Allied cavalry.

Above:  Holstein-Gottorp’s column is led by a brigade of Hessian heavy horse (the Miltitz & Prüschenck Regiments), followed by a brigade of Hanoverian horse (the Leib and Hammerstein Regiments) and Holstein-Gottorp’s own regiment of Prussian dragoons.

Above:  In addition, General von Imhoff’s division of Hessian and Brunswick infantry has now arrived (the Hessian Gilsa Regiment and Grenadierregiment and two battalions of the Brunswick Imhoff Regiment).

Above:  Spörcken charges again and this time succeeds in throwing back the 2nd & 3rd Battalions of the Du Roi Regiment.

Above:  The French might not be able to roll shooting and combat dice for toffee, but they do have a remarkable ability to rally every retreating unit!  The Du Roi Regiment and the Gendarmerie de France therefore halt their retreat and face the enemy once again.

Above:  At Hahlen, a vicious firefight develops between the Vastan Regiment and their tormentors.  The Vastan Regiment have taken heavy losses, but at long last are managing to damage the Allied picquets.

Above:  The formed main body of the Allied picquets moves forward to join the firefight, just as the Allied skirmishers, having taken too many losses, decide to flee the field. 

Above:  As Allied roundshot continues to bound through the French ranks, Prince Xaver pushes Saxon battalions forward to plug emerging gaps in the first line.  Beaupréau’s heavy guns are too busy engaging the approaching Allied infantry to conduct counter-battery fire.

Above:  Nevertheless, Beaupréau’s guns have only done marginal damage to the enemy infantry, who now close in for the kill.

Above:  Saint-Germain’s Germans and Prince Xaver’s Saxons fail to stop the Hessians through musketry, so the combat is resolved in the old-fashioned way.  The Saxon Lubomirsky Regiment somehow manages to destroy the Hessian Bischhausen Regiment, and the Fußgarde Regiment is halted by fire from the Bergh Regiment.  However, the Hessian Toll Regiment charges home and simply destroys Saint-Germain’s own regiment.

Above:  With the loss of two out of four German battalions, Saint-Germain’s division breaks and runs from the battle!  Thankfully, Prince Xaver’s Saxons are in place to plug the gap, but at present are somewhat widely-spread, having been used to plug gaps in the French line.  Prince Xaver, Beaupréau and Nicolay frantically order battalions to counter the Allied breakthrough.

Above:  At long last, Fitz James’ four cavalry brigades (with Prince Camille’s remaining brigade in support) ride out to meet the Allied horse!

Above:  Holstein-Gottorp forms up to meet them and will soon be joined by Grothaus’s division from the left.  Cavalry numbers are roughly equal, though the Allies have a slight qualitative edge.

Above:  Back on the southern flank, the Royal-Carabiniers have also had a go at the Hanoverian Fußgarde, but have also been beaten off and are now rallying under the walls of Wanneminden.  The Fußgarde are very vulnerable on the flank of the line, but they are the best unit in the army, so are just the lads you want holding the flank!  The Gendarmerie de France charge again, but now have the additional problem of the British 51st Foot (with the green colour), who have moved from the second line to support the left flank of the Fußgarde.  The additional musketry causes heavy losses to the Gendarmerie, who are finally broken when they charge home on the wall of redcoats.

Above:  At Hahlen, the Prince of Anhalt’s picquets have suffered very heavy losses, despite their tactical successes.  Determined to go down fighting, the Prince leads a desperate charge out of the village with his main body!  Astonishingly, this desperate act succeeds in breaking a battalion of the Vastan Regiment, though the picquets can take no more and soon join their comrades in fleeing the field.

Above:  The final removal of the threat at Hahlen is of small comfort to Guerchy, as his division is being taken apart by Spörcken’s British battalions!  The 4th Battalion of the Du Roi Regiment has broken following a protracted firefight with the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers, while two of Guerchy’s three batteries have been destroyed, while the third battery is forced to pull back.

Above:  The Royal-Carabiniers are rallying from their previous exertions, though as fugitives flee past them from the broken Gendarmerie de France, they too break and run to the safety of Wanneminden!

Above:  Spörcken’s division charges again!  On the extreme flank, the isolated British 37th Regiment is halted by fire from the Vastan and Aquitaine Regiments.  However, the Du Roi Regiment is simply destroyed.  With the loss of over half of Guerchy’s division, the remaining formed units (the Aquitaine Regiment, one battalion of Vastan, a light artillery battery and the massed Chasseur companies) are suffering a severe crisis of confidence!  Spörcken looks around, expecting to see Lord Sackville’s cavalry riding down the remnants of the French infantry, but the British horse are nowhere to be seen…

Above:  In the centre, Prince Xaver, Beaupréau and Nicolay desperately attempt to form a new line against the Allied infantry.  Beaupréau’s artillery are doing damage to the approaching lines, but it’s simply not enough.  The Allied artillery meanwhile, continue to hammer away and succeed in breaking up the two battalions of the Saxon Prince Xaver Regiment, thus weakening the new line.

Above:  On the extreme northern flank, the situation remains unchanged as Wangenheim’s grenadiers beat off assault after assault!  In the entrenchments, the heroic Bückeburgers continue to hold out against the Grenadiers de France.

Above:  As the French cavalry advance, the Penthièvre Brigade on the right flank, suffers casualties from the Hanoverian infantry lurking in the village.  Although only light, those casualties will put them at a slight further disadvantage in the mêlée.

Above:  The Allied horse charge to meet the French!  Although there are no disastrous failures, the French horse are beaten all along the line.  The groans of dismay can be heard from Contades’ headquarters…

Above:  In the centre, Wutginau’s surviving Hessians charge again, with Scheele’s Hanoverians in close support and Imhoff’s Hessians and Brunswickers in reserve.

Above:  The Saxons fail to stop the Hessians through musketry and somewhat inevitably, the Saxon Prinz Josef and Prinz Clemenz Regiments are broken by the Hessian steamroller.  With four out of seven battalions now broken, Prince Xaver’s remaining Saxons decide that they’ve had enough and are soon following their comrades in the general direction of ‘Away’.

Above:  With the first line of French cavalry in full retreat, the Prussian Holstein-Gottorp Dragoons exploit the situation and charge Prince Camille’s second line.  Once again the French horsemen are put to flight.  Nevertheless, all five French cavalry brigades rally and prepare to fight again.

However, with Guerchy’s, Saint-Germain’s, Prince Xaver’s and Poyanne’s divisions all broken and with little prospect of success, Contades orders the general retreat.  Most critically, the Marquis de Broglie’s corps is now over-extended and is seriously in danger of being cut off from their line of retreat through Wanneminden.  It will be a challenge to extricate them from the trap and the French horse will need to sell their lives dearly to hold off the enemy until that withdrawal can be executed…

However, we wouldn’t get to play that out, as the French players’ personal morale was broken and the pub was calling…

My thanks to the players; Kirk French and Dennis Lisle for the Allies and Dave Llewellyn, Jack Thomas, Bruce Castle and Tane Castle for the French.  Also to the W.A.S.P. Old Guard, Al Broughton, Mike Lisle and Gareth Beamish for hosting and providing the ‘touchline banter/abuse’, as always.

Sadly, our mate Andy pulled a sickie again, so missed the game and is keen to get another one organised.  I think it might be something Napoleonic next time…

This entry was posted in 15mm Figures, Eighteenth Century, Games, Seven Years War & War of Austrian Succession, Shako Rules, Tricorn (18th Century Shako Rules). Bookmark the permalink.

13 Responses to The Battle of ‘Wanneminden’ 1759 (Our 2024 Christmas Game)

  1. Jason Evans says:

    Great write up – entertaining battle and the French army looks magnifique!

  2. That is a wonderful sight to see. So many great photos of what sounds like an excellent game.
    Richard

  3. Nick Atkinson says:

    Great report with lovely pictures

    I am so jealous

  4. Ian Wilson says:

    Fantastic report, great pics.
    We are also pursuing that holy grail of re-fighting Minden (did it once before with another club back in the 80’s) but it is a monster of a battle and I’m not convinced it’s worth the slog but the British player is mad keen so Partizan 26 maybe…..

    • jemima_fawr says:

      Thanks Ian!

      Yes, it certainly is a whopper and difficult to see how you could do much more than just ‘march forward and get stuck in’, unless you’ve got the sort of set-up we used to have years ago at the AB Figures Wargames Weekends – three parallel 16×6-foot tables. This scenario was rather fun for that reason, in that it was more of an advance-to-contact and the French in particular, didn’t know what was going to appear next.

      We will of course, HAVE to do the straightforward ‘line-’em-up-and-bash’ Minden one day, though. In the meantime I’m directing my painting towards doing the northern flank at Vellinghausen (Granby v Broglie). That’s a very interesting encounter battle in pretty difficult terrain and an interesting mix of units; I’ll need the entire Maison du Roi, more British infantry, the 15th Light Dragoons, Grenadiers-Royaux, another four French dragoon regiments and basically ALL of the Brunswickers for that one. 🙂

      Mark

  5. Andy says:

    Great pictures, and the French Army does look impressive.

    Perhaps we should do something to celebrate the club’s 45th Birthday in May!

    Hopefully see you next month(I may have to break the habit of a lifetime and play French😉)

  6. Pingback: The Battle of ‘Wanneminden’ 1759 (The Scenario) | Jemima Fawr's Miniature Wargames Blog

  7. Paul Smith says:

    Hi Mark

    Great write up as usual. The French in particular seem to have fought a lot harder than they did in the real encounter and just wondering about all those units being able to rally, seems easier to do with these rules than reality perhaps (just a thought)?

    Thanks again.

    Cheers Paul

    • jemima_fawr says:

      Cheers Paul!

      That was just karma evening out; the French seemed unable to kit a barn door and had bayonets made out of foam-rubber, but had the Luck Of The Irish (Brigade?) when it came to rallying! As shooting and combat require you to roll high and rallying requires you to roll low, it would seem that they were persistently rolling 1s… 🙂

      Mark

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