It’s taken me a whole year due to various other ongoing projects, but this month I’ve finally finished enough British and Hanoverian troops to put on the table opposite the French army I completed last year! 🙂
I completed seven British infantry battalions in May least year, followed by the Hanoverian Footguards and the first Hanoverian brigade, then a second Hanoverian brigade and some Hessian and Schaumbrug-Lippe troops. However, my ACW demo game then took all my time until December and I then faffed around on various other projects until April, when I FINALLY got stuck into the waiting pile of British and Hanoverian cavalry, artillery and generals.
As discussed before, I’ve been using the order of battle for Minden 1759 as my painting ‘to do’ list, as it includes a good mix of British, Hanoverian, Hessian and Brunswicker troops, as well as the odd Prussian and Schaumburg-Lipper. The British contingent at Minden is roughly half the size it became in the latter half of the war, so it’s a good stepping-stone toward completing the whole army (even if the British cavalry refused to get ‘stuck-in’ at Minden…).
At Minden the cavalry regiments of the Allied Right Wing were commanded by Lieutenant General Lord George Sackville, who also took personal command of the First Line. This formation consisted of the Colonel Carl von Breydenbach’s Hanoverian Brigade, comprising the Garde du Corps (1 Sqn), Grenadiers à Cheval (1 Sqn) & Breydenbach Dragoons (4 Sqns) and Colonel John Mostyn’s British Brigade, which contained the Royal Horse Guards (3 Sqns), 1st (King’s) Dragoon Guards (3 Sqns) and 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons (2 Sqns).
Lieutenant General John Manners, Marquess of Granby commanded the Second Line, which consisted of Colonel Granville Elliot’s British Brigade, comprising the 3rd (Howard’s) Dragoon Guards (2 Sqns), 10th (Mordaunt’s) Dragoons (2 Sqns), 2nd (Royal North British) Dragoons (2 Sqns) and Colonel von Bock’s Hanoverian Brigade, with the Bremer Horse (2 Sqns) and Veltheim Horse (2 Sqns).
Sackville was in fact the overall commander of British troops in Germany, though at Minden was only in direct command of the British-Hanoverian cavalry of the right wing. However, Sackville disgraced himself during this battle, repeatedly ignoring orders from the Commander-in-Chief, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick to charge the enemy. As a consequence, Sackville was sacked and returned to Britain, where he continued to protest his innocence, demanding trial by Courts Martial. In 1760 he got his wish… and was found guilty, expelled from the Privy Council and cashiered from the Army…
By 1763, Sackville had quietly wheedled himself back into good odour, winning favour with the new King George III and being re-admitted to the Privy Council. This portrait (right) was painted in 1766 and he is clearly wearing Army uniform, but it isn’t clear which regiment (if any) he was re-commissioned into. In 1769 he inherited the fortune, estate and title of Lady Elizabeth Germain, widow of the 7th Duke of Norfolk and thereafter used the title Lord George Germain, presumably in an attempt to distance himself from the disgrace he had brought to the Sackville name. His new-found wealth and power saw him rise in 1775 to the post of Secretary of State for the American Department and therefore having overall responsibility for the suppression and defeat of the American Rebellion. Somewhat inevitably, his mishandling of the war led directly to the catastrophic defeats at Saratoga and Yorktown and the ultimate loss of the American colonies. After the war and suffering from ill health, he was quietly ‘promoted out of the way’ to the House of Lords, though died soon afterwards in 1785.
There was no stipulated uniform for General Officers in the British or Hanoverian Armies at this time, so generals usually wore versions of their own regimental dress. Sackville was Colonel of the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen’s Bays), whose uniform (shown right) had buff facings (including lapels) and small-clothes and yellow ‘metal’, including an aiguillette on the right shoulder. Horse furniture would be buff with gold edging.
This is a lovely British General figure by Eureka Miniatures, who appears to be holding a pocket-watch. I’ve painted him in the uniform colours of the 2nd Dragoon Guards, but this could be an officer from any one of a number of British regiments with buff facings and gold lace. Note however, that as a cavalry officer, Sackville should be wearing his sash cavalry-style, over the left shoulder. Sue me. 😉
As mentioned above, Lieutenant General John Manners, Marquess of Granby, commanded the Second Line of Sackville’s command at Minden. Following Sackville’s dismissal he was appointed as overall Commander of British Forces in Germany, which soon more than doubled in size, from 7 battalions and 14 squadrons to 20 battalions and 29 squadrons.
At the Battle of Warburg in 1760, Granby rushed his 22 squadrons to the battle at the trot for over two hours before launching a devastating charge on the French left flank. During the charge his hat and wig flew off and the sun gleamed off his bald head, giving the British troopers a very clear marker to follow! The incident gave rise to an English saying, “Going at it bald-headed” (meaning to rush in (perhaps recklessly) without fear of the danger) and the moment is wonderfully captured by Eureka Miniatures.
The French Maréchal de Broglie was mightily impressed by this dashing British cavalryman; so much so that he commissioned the greatest portrait artist of the age, Sir Joshua Reynolds, to paint this now-famous portrait of the Marquess of Granby.
Known to be a gallant, humane and charitable officer (as depicted in this painting of him giving charity to a wounded soldier of the 61st Foot), Granby’s popularity with the British public was enormous and it has often been said that more British pubs are named for him than for any other person. This was partly due to his habit of setting up retired soldiers from his regiment with an inn as a form of pension, but also probably due to his undoubtedly popularity. However, following various political intrigues and poor choices, Granby died in 1770 penniless and pursued by creditors, though greatly mourned.
The Marquess of Granby was Colonel of the Royal Horse Guards (‘The Blues’ or ‘RHG’), who uniquely among British cavalry regiments of the era, wore blue coats instead of red and who can be seen following Granby in the charge above. I’ll cover the RHG in more detail next time, but the regiment had red lapels, cuffs, smalls and horse-furniture. For officers this was all heavily laced in gold. The regiment was mounted on black horses, but I’ve gone with a bay horse to match the Reynolds painting above. Buff smallclothes were a fashionable affectation for British officers of the period (the regulation RHG smallclothes were red) and Reynolds depicted him wearing such items, so I’ve gone with that.
The RHG (and two regiments of Horse) were issued with cuirasses upon arrival in Germany and these were normally worn under the coat, as depicted in the Reynolds portrait (and in the Sackville portrait above), though its worth mentioning that armour was a frequent and fanciful ‘knightly’ affectation added to officers’ portraits and was not typically worn by generals in the field. Nevertheless, Granby is here depicted with the steely ‘pigeon breast’ of a cuirass under his coat.
There are a couple of slight errors with the Granby figure. First, the lapels should be of the ‘full’ style worn by Regiments of Horse, which went all the way to the bottom of the coat. You can see these in the portrait of Granby and the David Morier painting of an RHG trooper (right). The model has the ‘half’ lapels worn by British infantry, Dragoon Guards and Light Dragoons during the period. Second, Granby is for some reason modelled with two sashes; one over the left shoulder and one around the waist. He should only have one sash. However, neither of these two very minor quibbles detract from what is a magnificent model! 🙂
At Minden the Royal Regiment of Artillery (RA) had two ‘brigades’ (batteries) of artillery; one of six 12pdrs and one of nine 6pdrs. In Tricorn that would equate to two models, but I decided to get an extra 6pdr for a bit of flexibility and to suit other orders of battle. As it happens, Eureka don’t make a British 12pdr, so I used their 9pdr model. Eureka guns are all suitable ‘meaty’, so it looks the part. I tend to use three crew figures for light guns and four crew for heavy guns.
In terms of crew figures I started with Eureka figures, but wasn’t very happy with the lack of pose-variation, so as an experiment, I bought a pack of twelve Blue Moon crew figures to man the battalion guns. By happy circumstance, the Blue Moon and Eureka figures are an almost perfect match in terms of size and sculpting-style, so I’ve totally mixed them up.
The RA uniform of the period is clearly shown in this extract from the David Morier painting of the RA on campaign in the Low Countries in 1748 (shown in full at the top of this page). The rank-and-file had dark blue coats and smallclothes, with brass buttons, red lapels, cuffs and linings, all heavily laced in yellow. Officers had basically the same uniform, except with red smallclothes, gold buttons & lace and crimson sashes. Belts were buff, while the belly-box and scabbard were black with brass fittings.
Gun-carriages were painted grey, while the ironwork was painted black. There are also some interesting details shown in the painting above: First, gun-carriages usually had a crowned GR cypher painted on the right-hand side of the carriage, roughly alongside the touch-hole of the gun. This can be seen alongside the gunner reclining against the wheel. Second, the gun as what appears to be ’12 Ps’ painted in white further back along the trail, which no doubt means ’12 Pounds’ for the calibre of the gun. Third, the gun in the background, which is viewed from the opposite side, has only ‘No.6’ painted in white on the trail, suggesting that all the guns in a company would be individually numbered. I must confess however, that I absolutely HATE painting guns, so mine are invariably slapdash and entirely devoid of markings! 🙂
Almost all British infantry battalions were issued with a pair of battalion guns. These would be crewed by RA personnel, but could use infantrymen for muscle-power when required. From 1760 the two British combined grenadier battalions in Germany, who had not previously had battalion guns, were issued with one or two guns. Highland battalions were only issued with 1pdr ‘Amusettes’, which were like very heavy muskets (akin to the ‘punt-gun’ used by wildfowlers), being usually mounted on light, manhandled wheeled carriages.
Prior to the Seven Years War, battalion guns had typically been 3pdrs, but like the Prussian Army, the RA had largely upgraded them to Light 6pdrs by the start of the Seven Years War. Being blissfully unaware of this, I ordered some 3pdr guns from Blue Moon and was quite surprised to discover that the models are absolutely TINY! Ah well, at least they’re easily identifiable on the table as being battalion guns… 🙂
That’s enough for now! British cavalry, Hanoverian cavalry and Hanoverian artillery to follow soon, as well as Ferdinand of Brunswick and his staff. We’re also doing an epic refight of Leuthen on Thursday, so there’ll be plenty of pictures of that soon! 🙂
Here are a few random bits and pieces that I’ve painted for my SYW Prussian army over the last 18 months or so. The artillery were painted only last week, but the grenadiers and adjutant were painted in January of last year and I simply forgot to post them at the time.
Firstly, Fred and his friends are looking a lot better than they did in 
Frederick needed an extra ADC on his staff, so here’s a cavalry Flügeladjutant of the Prussian Royal Staff. I think I must have been having a bad day when I painted this chap, as he’s more than a bit slapdash… 
The uniforms, as with most Prussian füsilier regiments, were fairly plain and lacked lapels and buttonhole-lace. The ‘Kursell’ Füsiliers had red collar, cuffs and linings with yellow ‘metal’ and white smallclothes. The ‘Kreytzen’ Füsiliers meanwhile, had white ‘metal’ and rose-pink collar, cuffs, smallclothes and (most unusually) linings. Almost all other Prussian regiments had red linings, but those of the ‘Kreytzen’ Regiment matched the facing colour. Another unusual feature of the ‘Kreytzen’ Regiment’s uniform was that the officers had lapels and silver Brandenburg buttonhole-lace. Neck-stocks were black and cuffs were of Swedish style for both regiments.
The grenadier cap front-plates matched the ‘metal’ colour for both regiments and the backs, including the head-band, matched the facing colour, with white piping for both regiments. Pompoms were white-over-red for the ‘Kursell’ Regiment and plain white for the ‘Kreytzen’ Regiment.
I needed some Prussian Jäger for our 
The Feldjäger zu Fuss and Jäger zu Pferde wore an almost identical uniform, consisting of an olive-green coat, with red collar, linings and Swedish cuffs, yellow ‘metal’ and a yellow aiguillette on the right shoulder. The waistcoat was also olive green, while breeches and gloves were buff leather. There was no cross-belt. The waist-belt was white, but was largely hidden by a natural leather cartridge-box. Neck-stocks were black and boots were of tall, cavalry style. The hat had a black cockade secured by a yellow strap and green-within-white corner-rosettes. Officers had gold scalloped hat-lace, gold aiguillettes and gold buttonhole-lace on the waistcoat.
Here’s a rear view of the Feldjäger zu Fuss, showing the yellow aiguillette. The uniform of the Feldjäger zu Fuss is very similar to that of a number of Frei-Corps Jäger detachments, so will do extra duty as stand-ins for those units (in the 
These are Eureka figures with Blue Moon 3pdr guns. I went for the Blue Moon guns, as the Eureka guns are rather ‘meaty’ and are akin to my Old Glory 12pdrs! I needed guns that would be recognisable as light battalion guns, without the need for a label.
There is a popular misconception that battalion guns were manned by the infantry. While the infantry may have provided some extra muscle-power when necessary, Prussian battalion guns were in fact manned by detachments from the Prussian 
Above: Prussian artillery uniforms were relatively plain, being a blue coat without collar or lapels. The cuffs were Brandenburg-style and were blue, as was the shoulder-strap. The neck-stocks, coat-linings and the piping on pockets and cuff-flaps were red. ‘Metal’ was yellow. Smallclothes were straw. Belts were white and the circular powder-flask was black, bound in brass with a brass central plate. Hats had white lace and pompoms coloured (from top to bottom) yellow, black, red and white. Guns were brass and had light blue carriages with ironwork painted black.
That’s it for now. There’s lots more SYW stuff to come, including the British-Hanoverian cavalry, artillery and generals, the ongoing Bohemia Campaign, a French v British-Hanoverian battle, a scenario and battle report for the Combat of Pretzsch and I’m presently painting a load of Austrian artillery and yet more Prussians in preparation for a forthcoming Leuthen game…
In my recent account of our refight of the 
The 
The uniforms of the 
The 
Here’s another view of the 
The 
The uniforms of the 
As only one battalion of the 
The 
The uniforms of the 
The Colonel’s Colour of the 
Upper Saxon District (Obersachsischen-Kreis)
The Pfalz 
The Pfalz 
That’s it for now! Lots more SYW stuff to come, as in addition to the Reichsarmee I’ve been painting a lot of Prussians, Austrians, British and Hanoverians. The 
Thanks to Maurizio’s efforts, we’ve found an error in the 
In 
Having generated the potential battlefields, Königsegg chose 09, 17 and 58 as his final three maps. A d3 was then rolled to decide which of these would be the final battlefield, resulting in map 58 being the final map.
During secret deployment, both sides opted to place their infantry on the eastern side of the field, where the spring crops would make going difficult for the cavalry. The cavalry were all massed in the more open ground on the western flank.
Above: The view of the battlefield from behind Austrian lines as the troops start moving. Königsegg has grouped all his dragoons and hussars on the left under Maquire, while the cuirassiers are all massed in reserve behind the left flank. His two leading infantry divisions have six battalions apiece (one also having a battalion of Grenzer deployed in skirmish order).
Above: The third division consists of five infantry battalions and two grenadier battalions and remains on the Fickmühlenberg, along with the bulk of the artillery (two heavy batteries and three light batteries), who are content to fire long-range over the heads of the leading divisions.
Above: To everyone’s surprise, the Austrian line abandons its lovely defensive position and advances under the barrage… As the Whitecoats close with the Prussian line, the Holy Roman Umpire spots a flaw in Königsegg’s Cunning Plan… 
Above: The dragoons and hussars of the Austrian left wing. 
Above: The Prussian left wing, its flanks secured by the villages of Gross-Fahrtgasse and Klein-Fahrtgasse, contains all the ‘regular’ infantry and grenadier battalions, plus an additional artillery battery. 
Above: The Prussian centre contains all of Frederick’s Guard infantry battalions (three battalions of the Garde Regiment (IR 15) and the solitary battalion of the Grenadiergarde Regiment (IR 6), as well as the reserve heavy artillery batteries.
Above: The Prussian right wing consists of all Frederick’s cavalry in a single formation; two regiments of cuirassiers, two regiments of dragoons and an elite battalion (half-regiment) of hussars, plus the reserve regiment of Guard cuirassiers (the Gensd’Armes (CR 10), incorporating the Garde du Corps (CR 13). 
Above: The overall view of the battlefield from the Prussian side.
Above: The Prussian cavalry move quickly to secure the gap between the villages of Fickmühlen and Poppenweiler.
Above: The Austrian cuirassiers seem content for the time being, to watch the cavalry battle from their hilltop. On their right, the Austrian light artillery, finding itself out of range of the Prussian lines, limbers up and moves forward.
Above: The Austrian right wing advances on Klein-Fahrtgasse. However, as the Austrian heavy guns fall silent, it’s now Gesichts-Handflächen all round at Königsegg’s headquarters as they realise that the infantry have now masked their own guns!
Above: The Prussians breathe a sigh of relief, as a few battalions were really starting to suffer from the Austrian bombardment!
Above: At Grosse-Fahrtgasse, Frederick and his staff observe as the heavy guns tear lumps out of the Austrian centre.
Above: Grenzer work their way forward through the Fahrtgasse-Holz and start sniping at gunners on the Prussian left wing.
Above: At Fickmühlen, the cavalry clash! The leading two regiments of Prussian cuirassiers, with the Gensd’Armes and hussars in support, charge the two regiments of Austrian dragoons. A regiment of Austrian hussars, with the second regiment in support, attempts to intervene.
Above: The odds are not in the Austrians’ favour. Just to go all ‘gamey for a second; the baseline numbers are shown on the dice; 6 for the cuirassiers, 5 for the dragoons and 4 for the hussars. The Prussian cuirassiers and the Austrian hussars get +1 for having rear support, while the central Austrian dragoon regiment gets +1 for secured flanks. Nobody has casualties and nobody is staggered, so no negative modifiers.
Above: On the left, the Prussians win by 4, so the Austrian dragoons take 4 casualties and retreat. The Prussians elect to rally in place. On the right, the best Austrian result still means that the Prussians win by 1, so the Austrian dragoons and hussars both take 1 casualty and retreat, while the Prussian cuirassiers retire to rally behind their hussars. With no more mêlées to fight, both Prussian cuirassier regiments now take a single casualty for cavalry fatigue.
Above: Both Austrian dragoon regiments managed to rally from their retreat, but sadly for the Austrians the hussars couldn’t be persuaded to hang around! However, the great mass of Austrian cuirassiers has now moved down off the Fickmühlenberg and looks set to intervene…
Above: In the centre, the Austrian infantry have been taking a pasting from the Prussian heavy guns and have now attracted the attention of two regiments of Prussian dragoons.
Above: On the Austrian right, the advance has slowed in order to allow their battalion guns to keep up with the advance through the fields of spring crops.
Above: Frederick watches as his dragoons advance on the Whitecoats!
Above: As the Prussian dragoons charge, the surviving Austrian hussar regiment attempts to intervene… and is utterly smashed! The dragoons ride on into the infantry, but the Whitecoats stand their ground and the dragoons are sent packing! However, the second regiment of Prussian dragoons don’t seem bothered by the flight of their comrades and advance on the Austrian infantry…
Above: At last, the Austrian cuirassiers engage the Prussians.
Above: As the cavalry clash for the second time, the Austrians generally gain the upper hand: Near Fickmühlen the Prussian hussars are swept from the field and the Austrian cuirassiers (with the blue standard) charge on, also defeating the supporting Prussian cuirassiers. On their left, the next Austrian cuirassier regiment (with the red standard) throws back the first line and breaks through, but is in turn thrown back by the Prussian Gensd’Armes.
Above: However, although things are suddenly going well for the Austrians on the left flank, Königsegg had suffered a crisis of confidence and had already ordered the right wing to withdraw (while reinforcing them with the reserve).
Above: Another view from behind the Austrian right flank.
Above: And another view from the Austrian right flank…
Above: The view from behind the Prussian right flank. No expense was spent in the making of this report…
Above: The second wave of Prussian dragoons charges the Austrian infantry!
Above: Once again, the heroic Austrian infantry repel the Prussian dragoons! However, this Austrian division has already lost one battalion to the intense Prussian gunnery.
Above: The Prussian cavalry very much got the worst of the last round of combat, with one hussar regiment broken outright. To make matters worse, one regiment each of dragoons and cuirassiers fail to rally and also flee, leaving only the Gensd’Armes, a cuirassier regiment and a dragoon regiment on the field. Nevertheless, they are still game for a fight, despite losing over a third of their starting strength.
Above: Opposing them are four largely-intact regiments of Austrian cuirassiers (two of them completely fresh) and two regiments of dragoons, though the dragoon division is still demoralised due to losing the two hussar regiments earlier.
Above: As the Austrian infantry tries to withdraw (covered by their battalion guns), the Prussian left wing advances!
Above: King Frederick decided to retreat only one ‘dot’, to Niemes. The Austrians now had the option to pursue…
According to Da Roolz, both participants in a battle must remain stationary to reorganise for the turn following a battle, so Frederick remains at Niemes, while Königsegg remains at Münchengrätz. Bevern meanwhile, has finally obeyed his orders and has marched from Kratzau to Liebenau, in a belated pursuit of Königsegg!
Here’s my version of the campaign map:
Austrian Army List:
The only change I’ve made to the procedure is that a defender in mountainous terrain can add or subtract 1 from his roll. You may wonder why he’d want to subtract 1… If he can force a draw in the first round, he can defend behind pre-prepared defences.
Turn 1:
In my last post I presented 
Above: The Austro-Imperial forces are shown in white and the Prussians in blue. Only the Trautmannsdorff Cuirassiers and the Grenzer were Austrian Army units. The rest of the army was made up of units from the Imperial Reichsarmee of dubious value. The Imperial cavalry were particularly bad, though the Pfalz Garde zu Fuss Regiment and the Hessen-Darmstädt Regiment were reliable troops. On the Prussian side, this bunch of Frei-Battalions and high-numbered Fusilier Regiments would normally be assumed to be the worst of the Prussian Army, but in fact, these units repeatedly proved themselves to be the equals of the better-regarded Prussian regiments.
Above: The Reichsarmee deploy as per the map. They are essentially in their camp positions and have just formed up from their tents, so if you’re planning on refighting the battle, I wouldn’t allow any form of flexible deployment for the Reichsarmee.
Above: The Reichsarmee are also limited in that they have enforced Defend orders. Under the standard rules, ADCs cannot be sent with fresh orders until the end of Turn 2, so they can’t do much except passively react to the Prussian attack until Turn 4 at the earliest. They can however re-deploy within their allotted sectors of the line once the Prussians come within 12 inches.
Above: A close-up of the Reichsarmee cavalry. The Austrian Trautmansdorff Cuirassiers (on the right of the first line) are the best regiment on the table, in either army (Morale 6 and a large unit, meaning that they can take an extra hit). The rest of the cavalry is awful (Morale 3).
Above: The view of the Reichsarmee from Zinna. There is only a single cavalry regiment, the bloody awful Kurpfalz Cuirassiers, posted on this flank. The remnants of the Grenzer skirmish out in front, haven fallen back from the Ratsweinberg.
Above: The painfully-thin line of Wunsch’s Prussian army deploys on the forward slopes of the Ratsweinberg. Lossberg’s combined unit of hussar and dragoon squadrons is hidden beyond the Zinna Ridge, formed up in column and preparing to ride around the enemy’s left flank. While I did have the option to completely change Wunsch’s historical deployment, it seemed perfectly good as it was, so I went with the historical line-up.
Above: Unlike the Reichsarmee, I had hardly any of the necessary Prussian units for this battle; just the Willemy Grenadier Battalion (4/16) and the Hoffmann Füsiliers (IR 41), plus a couple of Lossberg’s hussar squadrons. However, the Wunsch Frei-Regiment wore very similar uniforms to my two recently-painted Frei-Battalions and the rose-pink saddlery of the Meinicke Dragoons (DR 3) in my collection looks very similar to that of the Plettenberg Dragoons (DR 7), although the Plettenberg Dragoons had coats with red facings. I just used random Füsilier and Grenadier Battalions for the remaining units. 
Above: Wunsch’s Jäger Detachment moves forward to engage the Grenzer. I actually had some very similarly-uniformed regular Fuss-Jäger waiting to be painted, so quickly knocked these up before the game.
Above: Wunsch’s 12pdrs deploy on the Ratsweinberg and prepare to fire. The enemy are only just in range, but the 12pdrs should be able to shake the nerves of the inexperienced Reichsarmee troops.
Above: As the Prussians move forward, Major Lossberg’s cavalry move quickly to outflank the enemy.
Above: The Prussian right wing moves forward to engage the Reichsarmee left. 
Above: Wolfersdorff’s left wing has delayed its march by a turn, in an effort to refuse the left wing. Pogrell’s Dragoons wait to see what the Imperial cavalry do.
Above: An overview of the battlefield at the end of Turn 2.
Above: The 12pdrs have started to do their work, causing casualties and disruption among the Kurmainz Regiment. 
Above: Lossberg makes his move and charges over the ridge! 
Above: Historically, Lossberg’s attack came as a complete surprise and fell upon the flanks and rear of the Reichsarmee. However, I was feeling generous as Andy hasn’t played since the 90s and allowed him to turn the Kurpfalz Cuirassiers to face when Lossberg came within 12 inches (a fleeing Grenzer must have shouted a warning as he came sprinting past…). I was going to attack with Lossberg in column to maximise speed and surprise, but as this was going to be a frontal mêlée, I formed Lossberg’s lads into line before charging.
Above: Not that it mattered, as the Dice Gods were with the Kurpfalz Cuirassiers… (The small dice show the starting factors (5 v 3) and the large dice show the subsequent roll (3 v 6), making a total of 8 v 9 to the Kurpfalz Cuirassiers! With a difference of 1, Lossberg takes the casualty and retreats… Bah!
Above: A Breakthrough charge takes the victorious Kurpfalz Cuirassiers to the top of the ridge, where they will have a +1 defensive advantage when/if Lossberg charges again. However, they now take 1 casualty for cavalry fatigue, so Lossberg won’t have the -1 disadvantage for having more casualties. It could have all gone horribly wrong if Lossberg failed to rally his cavalry, but he thankfully manages to halt the retreat (by rolling less than their MR of 5). The cavalry of both sides now mill about rallying for a turn, shouting insults. Even if Lossberg finally wins, the taunting afterwards is going to be intolerable…
Above: Near Zinna, skirmisher fire also starts to find its mark as both the Jäger and the Grenzer suffer casualties. The battalion guns are also now starting to do damage. In the Imperial 2nd line, Ernestinisch-Sachsen Regiment refuses its flank, in case the Prussian cavalry reappears.
Above: By the end of Turn 5, the Imperial cavalry are on the move! One ADC carrying the order had failed to arrive, but Saint-André had wisely sent two ADCs with the same message. The Prussian 12pdrs slew their guns around and open fire from the Ratsweinberg, but only do very minor damage to the Trautmansdorff Cuirassiers.
Above: Having seen the ADCs galloping toward the enemy cavalry, Wolfersdorff wisely decided to refuse his left flank with the 2nd Battalion of the Wunsch Frei-Regiment, the Burgsdorf Grenadier Battalion and the battalion guns. Expecting the Imperial cavalry to attack the flank of the infantry, Wunsch sends an ADC to Oberst Pogrel, ordering him and his Dragoons t0 attack!
Above: However, the Imperial cavalry don’t seem interested in Wolfersdorff’s infantry and are instead making a bee-line for the Plettenberg Dragoons. The arrival of the ADC with his packet of orders now seems somewhat superfluous…
Above: At last, the Prussian line closes to within musketry range…
Above: As the two lines open fire on each other, the field is suddenly wreathed in strangely-fibrous powder-smoke… The 2nd Battalion of the Kurmainz Regiment take the worst of it and are already close to breaking.
Above: Anticipating the forthcoming assault, Saint-André shifts his second line over to the left and brings the Alt-Wurttemberg Regiment (in their funky little yellow hats that they decided to wear against all historical advice) across the river.
Above: The Kurmainz Regiment might be getting hammered, but they’re also dishing it out to the Hessen-Kassel Füsiliers.
Above: On the Prussian left flank, the 2nd Battalion of Frei-Regiment Wunsch fires a volley at the Imperial cuirassiers, but to no effect.
Above: Having shaken the Kurmainz Regiment with firepower, the Prussian infantry launch their first charge, as the Willemy Grenadier Battalion and both battalions of the Hessen-Kassel Füsiliers charge into the 1st & 2nd Battalions of the Kurmainz Regiment. At Zinna, Frei-Regiment Wunsch has cleared away the last of the Grenzer, so the Jäger switch to harassing the Ernestinisch-Sachsen Regiment in the Imperial second line.
Above: Assisted by battalion guns, the Kurmainz Regiment halt the 1st Battalion of the Hessen-Kassel Füsiliers, but the 2nd Battalion charges home, as does the Willemy Grenadier Battalion.
Above: Although one battalion didn’t make it into contact, the remaining two Prussian battalions smash the Kurmainz Regiment; the 2nd Battalion is destroyed outright, while the 1st Battalion flees with heavy casualties, disordering the Ernestinisch-Sachsen Regiment as they do so. The 1st Battalion then fails to rally from its retreat and the survivors flee into the forest to the rear. Some very startled regimental gunners also take to their heels!
Above: Back at Zinna, Lossberg has issued a tot of brandy to his cavalrymen (he rolled a 6 on his initiative die and was able to restore the lost casualty) and charges back up the ridge against the Kurpfalz Cuirassiers! Again, the basic MR odds are 5 versus 3, but the cuirassiers are now defending the ridge, so bump their number up to 4. However, as the Prussians have made good their losses, the Imperials suffer -1 for greater losses, so the odds go back to 5 v 3.
Above: On the opposite flank, Pogrell and the Plettenburg Dragoons, full of confidence in the Superiority of Prussian Arms (except in the Artillery Arm, who can’t hit a verdammt barn door, it seems!), charge into the Trautmansdorff Cuirassiers, who remain largely untroubled by the Prussian 12pdrs… In a show of solidarity, the Reichsarmee’s Bayreuth Cuirassiers also throw themselves into the fight. 
Above: It might have been an even fight between the Prussian Dragoons and Austrian Cuirassiers, but the Dice Gods inflict a crushing defeat on Pogrell and his dragoons flee with four hits (one more hit before they break)! Having defeated the Prussian dragoons, the Imperial cuirassiers decide to make breakthrough charges in order to get out of the 12pdrs’ arc of fire.
Above: The right wing of the Reichsarmee infantry waits for the battle to come to them.
Above: As the Prussian infantry begin breaking through on the Reichsarmee left, the rest of the Reichsarmee infantry slowly start wheeling back away from the breakthrough, in an attempt to prevent them from being rolled up.
Above: Another view of the same action: On the left, the 2nd Battalion of the Ernestisnich-Sachsen Regiment is utterly smashed by the combined weight of the Willemy Grenadiers and the 1st Battalion of the Hessen-Kassel Füsiliers.
Above: On the right flank of the Reichsarmee infantry, the 1st Battalion of the Franconian Hohenlohe Regiment crosses over the stream to more closely support the rest of the first line.
Above: Spurred on by the success of the first line of cavalry, the second line now has a crack at Wolfendorff’s left-flanking battalions. Carefuly staying out of the line of fire of the Burgsdorf Grenadiers, the Hohenzollern Cuirassiers (manfully ignoring the fact that they’ve already taken long-range hits from the Prussian 12pdrs) charge the 2nd Battalion of the Wunsch Frei-Regiment… and are slaughtered…
Above: The Prussian right wing charges again, this time victimising the 1st Battalion of the Ernestinisch-Sachsen Regiment and their supporting battalion guns. The other three Füsilier battalions move forward to engage in a sharp firefight with the 3rd & 4th Battalions of the Kurmainz Regiment. The Jäger and Lossberg’s cavalry meanwhile move down from the ridge to assist with rolling up the Imperial flank
Above: The Ernestinisch-Sachsen Regiment is overwhelmed by the assault, but on the left of the Prussian line, the Hoffmann Füsiliers are being shredded by fire from the Kurmainz Regiment, the Pfalz Garde zu Fuss and their supporting battalion guns.
Above: Wolfersdorf could really use his two remaining battalions about now, but they’re busy fending off the Ansbach Dragoons, who have wisely decided not to attack the angry Prussian infantry! Wolfersdorff’s battalion guns are busy banging away at the threatening Imperial right wing, but are most surprised to see a pair of Austrian ADCs galloping through their position (note to self: add a rule, stating that ADCs must stay at least 6 inches away from enemy units)!
Above: The ADCs are on their way to the commander of the Imperial cavalry, who is now once again engaging the rallied remnants of the Plettenberg Dragoons at the foot of the Ratsweinberg. Saint-André has realised that the cavalry orders only told them to attack the enemy dragoons and then the Ratsweinberg battery. He needs them to come back urgently and attack the rear of the Prussian infantry!
Above: The Prussian 12pdrs try to save the Plettenberg Dragoons, but to little effect. The Dice Gods are not with the Prussian gunners today.
Above: The Imperial left wing has now been completely destroyed by the Prussian assault. However, the Prussian Hoffmann Füsiliers, on the left of the Prussian line, have been broken by Imperial fire. And the next two battalions are also being heavily damaged by the surprising weight of fire from the two surviving battalions of the Kurmainz Regiment!
Above: Both Imperial infantry commands are now demoralised, which means that all units get a -1 mêlée modifier and will automatically break if they are forced to retreat from combat. The Imperial infantry are split into 1st Line and 2nd Line commands, so have both suffered roughly equal casualties (3 battalions plus guns from the 1st Line and 2 battalions plus guns from the 2nd Line). If they had been split like the Prussians, into Left & Right Wings, the Left Wing would now be completely broken, while the Right Wing would be completely intact. The best Imperial troops, namely the Pfalz Garde zu Fuss and the Hessen-Darmstädt Regiments, have yet to be seriously engaged, though the Garde have suffered casualties from artillery.
Above: The Ansbach Dragoons retire from the threat of Prussian musketry (not really in the spirit of ‘Attack’ orders! 🙂 ). This gives Wolfersdorff the opportunity to get those two battalions moving and attack the Imperial infantry.
Above: Sadly it wasn’t to be Oberst Pogrell’s day, as his dragoons were finished off in short order by the Trautmansdorff Cuirassiers. A slightly panicking General Wunsch orders his artillery commander to start slewing his 12pdrs around!
Above: Lossberg’s cavalry now re-enter the battle, launching a charge deep into the Imperial flank. The 2nd Battalion of the Baden-Baden Regiment stands no chance as the vengeful Prussian horsemen hit their open flank. The Alt-Württemberg Regiment fires a volley in support, but to no effect and the Badeners are annihilated!
Above: Having broken the Badeners, Lossberg launches an immediate breakthrough charge against the Alt-Württemberg Regiment. The Württembergers have already fired a volley, so present bayonets to receive the charge. 
The Württembergers are clearly made of sterner stuff and repulse Lossberg’s cavalry with ease!
Above: Near the bridge, Wolfersdorff has cunningly used his infantry’s superior abilities at foot-drill to insert a column behind the Imperial infantry’s right flank (note the use of MDF arrow markers to show that the Prussian infantry are in column). However, the Ansbach Dragoons aren’t going to let them off the hook that easily!
Above: Back at the Ratsweinberg meanwhile, the Imperial Bayreuth Cuirassiers have a rush of blood to the pallasch and charge the guns! Wunsch has a spectacular view of the action as the Prussian gunners pick up rammers, buckets and worm-screws to comprehensively defeat the Imperial horsemen!
Above: “MARIA THERESA ON A VELOCIPEDE!” What’s happened here?!
Above: The Prussian centre has completely collapsed in a single charge by the Reichsarmee infantry! The 1st Battalion of the Baden-Baden Regiment took revenge for the loss of their 2nd Battalion by routing the 1st Battalion of the Hessen-Kassel Füsiliers, while the Kurmainz Regiment routed the Hessen-Kassel 2nd Battalion and completely destroyed the Salmuth Füsiliers!
Above: Obviously, this was all part of Wunsch’s plan… Inspired by Hannibal at Cannae, he’s planned for his centre to give ground, allowing his elites to then crush the enemy flanks inward… Obviously…
Above: We might be demoralised, but we’re determined to give those uppity Imperials a damned-good taste of our Prussian spunk! With that in mind, the Burgsdorf Grenadiers insert themselves into the Hohenlohes’ rear!
Above: Meanwhile, the 2nd Battalion of the Wunsch Frei-Regiment successfully fend off the unwanted attentions of the Ansbach Dragoons! 
Above: I’m not sure what they are worried about, but the Alt-Württemberg Regiment and Pfalz Garde zu Fuss back away to the riverbank, along with the last remaining battalion guns.
Above: The two surviving battalions of the Kurmainz Regiment advance and deliver a crushing volley into the surviving Prussian battalion guns. The gunners flee, taking with them two more morale points… With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Wunsch checks his roster and realises that his right wing has now reached exactly 50% losses… 🙁
Above: Back at the Ratsweinberg, the Trautmansdorff Cuirassiers might be demoralised, but they’re more than a match for those Prussian gunners! 
Above: Which of course they do… Then followed up by a breakthrough charge, which destroys the second 12pdr battery, right in front of the horrified Wunsch!
Above: Lossberg has taken casualties, but his men are still keen for a scrap. However, there’s nothing he can do to save the situation.
Above: The Wunsch Jäger continue to take pot-shots at the Württembergers. While not exactly battle-winners, this tiny group of skirmishers has been a constant pain in the arse to the Imperial left flank throughout the day, rolling a remarkable number of sixes!
Above: However, with the 50% casualty threshold having been reached (two elite battalions with MR 5 and the battalion guns with MR 2 = 12. The remaining units are the grenadiers with MR 5, the Frei-Battalion with MR 4 and the Jäger with MR 3 = 12), the Prussian right wing requires a morale-check. We roll a 2 and the right wing disintegrates! 🙁
Above: The gleeful Reichsarmee jeers the fleeing Prussians on their way… We’re never going to hear the bloody end of this… 🙁
I knew it wouldn’t take long for people to find the flaws in 
When a rare opportunity for a game presented itself a couple of weeks ago, I had a quick trawl of potential Seven Years War battles to find one that would be small enough to serve as a simple introductory 
Following a brief refreshment break to fortify themselves in the western suburbs of Torgau (Wunsch had given each battalion a barrel of wine from a local winery), Wunsch’s force emerged from Torgau. His artillery quickly deployed and brought a heavy fire down upon the grenadiers and Grenzer on the Ratswein. This bombardment was followed up with a swift bayonet-charge by the ‘Willemy’ Grenadier Battalion and I./’Wunsch’ Frei-Regiment and the enemy was quickly put to flight. With the enemy outpost routed, Wunsch wasted no time in occupying the high ground, establishing a thin line of infantry and all of his heavy guns (ten 12-pounders) on the crest.
However, Oberst von Pogrell of the ‘Plettenberg’ Dragoons had a plan to deal with the enemy cavalry. He had only three squadrons against fifteen, but nevertheless led his dragoons forward in a feint, before rapidly turning about in an attempt to entice the Imperial cavalry to pursue. As Pogrell had hoped, the Imperial horsemen took the bait and charged straight into the sights of the 12-pounders now positioned on the Ratsweinberg. Shocked by this sudden, devastating bombardment, the Imperial horse milled about in confusion as Pogrell turned his dragoons about and charged! The Imperial cavalry broke and fled straight through the lines of Imperial infantry, causing much dismay among the footsloggers.
It would perhaps be easy to pass off this incredible victory as a mere fluke against low-quality opponents, but Wunsch followed it up by driving a French force out of Leipzig and on 29th October won another astonishing victory, this time against Austrian regulars, at the 
Terrain
Well it’s taken a while, but here is the first draft of Tricorn, being my adaptation of Shako Napoleonic rules for the wars of the mid-18th Century. 
Tricorn has actually been around since the mid-1990s, when the 
Although these rules are aimed initially at the Seven Years War, they’re also eminently suitable for the War of Austrian Succession, the War of Polish Succession and the Silesian Wars in the European Theatre. I will expand these to include North America, India, the Turkish Wars and the ’45 Jacobite Rebellion and I’ll also add army lists for pick-up games.
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Designer’s Notes
