Having played almost nothing but Seven Years War and written about nothing but tricorn hat-lace in recent months, many readers of this blog will be relieved to know that we finally played something different at club last week! đ
I write a lot of scenarios for various periods, but for a variety of reasons some of them never get played. One such scenario is ‘John Fuller’s Stand’, which I first wrote in 2009. It’s been on the Battlefront: WWII (Fire & Fury Games) Scenario Page all that time and sadly, I’ve never played it and have never heard of anyone else playing it! So after last month’s epic Leuthen refight and needing to do something far-removed from tricorns, I thought it was time to dust it off for a Thursday-night club-game.
This is a slightly simplified version of the scenario presented on the Battlefront: WWII page, covering just the first day of what was a two-day battle.
The action fought by Major John Fuller’s ‘C’ Company of 152 (Indian) Parachute Battalion on a mountain spur with the unimaginative name of Point 7378 is a largely forgotten, yet critical part of the story of the Battle of Kohima and the Siege of Imphal. The sacrifice of this heroic company of (British-officered) Indian Paras gave time for the rest of 50th Indian Parachute Brigade to establish a defensive position a few miles away at the village of Sangshak. The brigade’s subsequent sacrifice at the Battle of Sangshak in turn gave time for the defensive position at Kohima to be established and the successful defence of Kohima led directly to the successful relief of Imphal and the ultimate defeat of the Imperial Japanese Army in Burma. It’s difficult to think of another small-unit action that had such a profound impact on the course of the Second World War.
Historical Background
âBy mid-morning the enemyâs fire slackened considerably. Suddenly, from the top of the hill, a small group of about twenty men charged down towards us, firing and shouting in a counter-attack. However, between us was a wide ravine which they had been unable to see, and of those who were still alive, some fell into it in their rush onwards while the rest had no choice but to surrender. A few escaped. At the very top of the position an officer appeared in sight, put a pistol to his head and shot himself in full view of everyone below. Our men fell silent, deeply impressed by such a brave act⌠At Point 7378 the 3rd Battalion suffered 160 casualties in the action, with one company and two platoon commanders killed and another four officers wounded⌠The enemy had resisted with courage and skill.â
â Extract from diary of Colonel Utata Fukunaga, commanding the Imperial Japanese 58th Infantry Regiment and found on his body at Kohima.
If the British-Indian XIVth Army is the âForgotten Armyâ, the Battle of Sangshak is undoubtedly the âForgotten Battleâ of the Forgotten Army: Surrounded by a fanatical enemy, unsupported, running low on water, ammunition and men and without hope of relief, the 50th Indian Parachute Brigade, along with elements of the 23rd Indian Division, held out for several days, withstanding assault after assault before finally breaking out to escape in small groups. Without this battle, the Japanese 31st Division would have reached Kohima long before the famous defence there could be established and history might have been very different. There certainly would not have been a heroic defence of Kohima and relieving the Siege of Imphal would have been considerably more difficult.
But even before the Battle of Sangshak, a chain of events began that was to lead to the successful defence of KohimaâŚ
The 50th Indian Parachute Brigade was formed in 1942. The long-term plan for the brigade was that it would be the spearhead for an attempt to retake Malaya and Singapore from the Japanese (a plan that would become the much-delayed Operation âZipperâ). Its three constituent Parachute Battalions were formed from volunteers from throughout the Indian Army as well as the British Army in India. The 151st Parachute Battalion (151 Para) was formed from British volunteers, the 152nd Battalion (152 Para) was formed from Indians and the 153rd Battalion (153 Para) was formed from Gurkhas. However, 151 Para soon found itself shipped off to the 1st Airborne Division in the Mediterranean (being renumbered 156 Para as a counter-intelligence measure) and a new 154 Para, was formed from the 3/7th Gurkhas, veterans of 17th Indian Divisionâs long fighting retreat from Burma in 1942 and who had unanimously volunteered en masse for the Paras.
However, some Gurkhas clearly didnât know what they were getting into. A group of NCOs reported to their company commander that jumping from 600 feet seemed somewhat high and that jumping from 300 feet might be preferable. âBut at that height your parachutes wonât have time to open!â replied the company commander. âOh.â said the Gurkhas âSo we will have parachutes?â The Gurkhas went away, visibly relievedâŚ
By the end of 1943 the Brigade, now under the command of Brigadier Hope-Thomson, had done nothing but train, train, train for nearly two years while no fewer than eight airborne operations had been cancelled. Operation âZipperâ also looked no closer to becoming reality, thanks to a lack of landing craft. The brigade was consequently getting stale and was badly in need of fresh experience in the field. Hope-Thomson therefore asked permission to be deployed to the front line and the decision was taken in early January to place the brigade under the command of 23rd Indian Division, which as part of IV Corps was watching the hilly jungle frontier east of Imphal. The Brigade could therefore gain some valuable jungle experience, while releasing a âlineâ brigade for a long-overdue rest. There might even be the chance of action against long-range Japanese patrols. However, the newly-formed 154 Para would remain in India to continue jump training.
In mid-March 1944, the Brigade arrived at Ukhrul, in the hills of the Indian-Burmese border north-west of Imphal, to relieve the weary 49th Indian Brigade. However, 49th Brigade was in something of a flap. A Japanese offensive had apparently erupted to the south-east of Imphal and Lieutenant General Scoones, commanding the Indian IV Corps was withdrawing the corpsâ strength into the Imphal Plain, intending to fight the Japanese armies on ground of his choosing. The 23rd Indian Division suddenly found itself designated as Corps Reserve and was marching southwest to Imphal, leaving the newly-arrived Paras to take over a string of scattered hilltop positions from 49th Brigadeâs rearguard, the 4/5th Mahratta Light Infantry and the Royal Nepalese âKali-Bahadurâ Regiment.
Lt Col Paul Hopkinsonâs 152 (Indian) Para moved up to the Mahrattasâ HQ at âKidney Campâ, high in the peaks southeast of Ukhrul. From âKidneyâ he sent two companies out to relieve Mahratta companies on their hilltop eyries; Major Webbâs âBâ Company was dispatched to Point 7386 (âBadgerâ) and Point 7000 (âGammonâ), while Major Fullerâs âCâ Company was sent to the otherwise un-named Point 7378. These positions dominated the only two east-west Jeep-tracks over the hills in the area, though were not mutually supporting and were beyond the range of the Mahrattasâ mortars at âKidneyâ. The two companies were also disappointed to discover that the positions recently vacated by the Mahrattas were only half-prepared, so the Paras soon found themselves hard at work, improving their trenches, dugouts and firing positions.
Although the situation had changed from one of field training to alert watchfulness for invasion, the Indian Paras were confident. They were also reasonably sure that the nearest Japanese were at least forty miles away!
However, the Japanese were a lot closer than that! The Japanese 31st Division was now only twenty miles away and heading directly for Ukhrul, its mission being to cut the Imphal-Dimapur road at Kohima and to eliminate the British railhead and depot at Dimapur itself. Facing this unrealised threat, Hope-Thomson had so far been able to deploy only two companies of 152 Para! However, the remainder of the battalion would shortly be in position at âKidneyâ and at the moment, the Mahrattas, together with two companies of Kali-Bahadurs and a troop of Royal Artillery mortars, had still not departed for Imphal. However, the entire 153 (Gurkha) Para was still forty miles away at Kohima awaiting transport, while the brigadeâs headquarters, MMG and engineer elements were similarly having difficulty in securing transport to move up to the brigade positions.
Things south of the Imphal Plain meanwhile, were getting chaotic and control of the battle was slipping from Scoonesâ grasp. The plan was for 50th Para Brigade to have slowly fallen back to the Imphal perimeter in the wake of 23rd Division. Instead, the brigade seems to have been forgotten by IV Corps and instead received the mistaken order to hold its ground on current positions. This was to be a fateful order.
Then on 19th March, Lt Col Hopkinson, while on a personal recce to âBadgerâ, spotted a glint of light in the distance. Looking through his binoculars, he was astonished to see a long column of men; a full battalion, complete with pack horses and even elephants, advancing up the Homalin Road! Point 7378 lay directly in their path and Hopkinson immediately radioed a warning to Major Fuller, whose âCâ Company was clearly gong to be fighting the brigadeâs first battleâŚ
Briefing for Major John Fuller, Officer Commanding âCâ Coy, 152 (Indian) Para Bn
Situation at 1100hrs, 19th March 1944 â Point 7378, East of Ukhrul, Assam
Your company took over this position yesterday from a company of the 4/5th Mahratta Light Infantry and has spent the last 24 hours improving the fighting positions and digging in deeper. Youâre not expecting trouble, but there is a flap on at 23rd Division HQ, so itâs better to be safe than sorry.
Your position is atop a âpimpleâ on a spur of Sihorifara Hill (Point 8425), whose peak lies 2-3 miles north of your position. Your position immediately overlooks the Pushing to Ukhrul Jeep track, which is one of the few east-west routes over the range of hills separating India from Burma. There is also a mule track cutting straight through your position, which takes the direct route to Ukhrul. Some two miles south of you, further along the same spur (codenamed âNew Guineaâ), is another company outpost at Point 7386, codenamed âBadgerâ, which dominates not only this Jeep track, but also another Jeep track crossing the hills from Humine.
The bulk of 152 Para is some three miles to the southwest, at Kidney Camp, along with 4/5th Mahrattas and a couple of companies of the Nepalese âKali Bahadurâ Regiment. The rest of 23 Division, 50 Para Brigade HQ and the brigadeâs support companies are strung out along the road from Imphal to Ukhrul, while 153 Para is still some 40 miles away to the northwest, at the Kohima depot.
Suddenly, your 2ic, Captain Roseby, reports that the Colonel has just sent an urgent signal â Japs have been spotted in at least battalion strength, only one mile to the east of your position!
Mission
You are to hold until relieved, with the intention of delaying the Japanese long enough to allow the Brigade to form defensive positions.
Execution
Friendly Forces
⢠These are detailed in the attached order of battle (below). You have your own âCâ Company, with an attached section of 3-inch mortars from Battalion and a section of Vickers MMGs from the Brigade MG Company.
⢠Place 18 inches of entrenchments within your deployment area, delineated by the red circle.
⢠Deploy your forces as Hidden Unit markers within your deployment area.
⢠You may also deploy x5 Dummy Unit markers within your deployment area.
⢠You may split your command into two smaller Manoeuvre Elements if you so wish, in which case add a second, subordinate Commander unit (representing your 2ic, Captain Roseby).
⢠There is no hope of artillery support and while the RAF has gained air superiority over the Japanese Air Force within the last few weeks, there is little hope of getting any air support.
⢠Your 3-inch mortar section may pre-register three Defensive Fire targets. There is requirement to call for fire when an enemy unit enters (or has passed through) the beaten zone of this point.
⢠2-inch mortars may automatically fire at any enemy unit that has been spotted or suspected by a friendly unit, without needing to call for fire.
⢠The MMG Section may either pre-register a point for Plunging Fire or may set up a pre-planned Grazing Fire beaten zone.
Enemy Forces
⢠These are thought to consist of a battalion of infantry. Their lead company is now visible, marching along the Jeep track at Point âCâ on the map.
Recommended Optional Rules
In order to stand a fighting chance of winning, the Indian player really needs to make good use of his mortars and Vickers MMG section. To that effect, I recommend using the following optional rules to maximise Indian chances:
⢠Machine Gun Grazing Fire (or ‘Firing on Fixed Lines’)
This method creates a ‘wall of fire’ through which an enemy must advance to reach your positions. This was always carefully pre-planned by a defender as part of a deliberate defence plan and required a tripod-mounted machine gun, well-supplied with ammunition. Note that I’ve amended this method from the original Battlefront: WWII optional rules.
- Only ground-mounted, tripod-equipped MMGs and HMGs may conduct Grazing Fire.
- The MG must be in a pillbox, dug-in, or in improved positions at the start of the game.
- Before the game starts, place the Grazing Fire Template onto the planned fire-lane and mark on a map (or take a digital photo) for later reference. The Grazing Fire Template is 10 inches long and is roughly conical in shape, being 1 infantry base wide at its base and 2 bases wide at the far end.
- The Grazing Fire Template may be placed anywhere in the normal arc of fire from the MG (i.e. anywhere in the front 180-degree arc).
- The Grazing Fire Template may be placed during the player’s Defensive or Offensive Fire phase and must be placed in its pre-planned position. This may not be changed or moved, though it may be removed at the start of the next friendly player’s turn.
- Any enemy units with aiming-points within the Grazing Fire Template are subjected to a Direct Fire attack using the normal Direct Fire factors, though with an additional -1 modifier.
- If enemy units attempt to take two actions within the Grazing Fire Template, any Suppression or Disorder result suffered during their first action will cancel their second action.
- If enemy units survive their first action unscathed and still have an aiming-point within the Grazing Fire Template, they will receive a second Grazing Fire attack during their second action.
- Grazing Fire is blocked by Dense Terrain and crestlines, though will attack units conformed to the edge of such terrain, as for normal Direct Fire.
- If the MG moves, falls back, panics or conducts ‘normal’ point-fire, the Grazing Fire Template is immediately removed and the unit may not conduct Grazing Fire again.
⢠Machine Gun Plunging Fire
This is a form of Indirect Fire conducted by MMGs, primarily as a means of interdicting and harassing enemy forming-up areas, lines of communication and reserves. British Commonwealth MG units equipped with Vickers MMGs were masters of this tactic.
If this option is used instead of Grazing Fire, pre-register the target using a small Indirect Fire Template and mark on a map or take a digital photo for future reference.
The method used is exactly as described in the Battlefront: WWII Support Page.
⢠Indian Fall-Back/Panic Options â A dug-in Indian unit that gets a Fall Back or Panic result on the Manoeuvre Table may instead opt to stay (Disordered) within the entrenchment. Otherwise, they will Fall Back/Panic toward the western table edge.
Briefing for Major Shimano, Commanding III Battalion, 58th Infantry Regiment
Situation at 1100hrs, 19th March 1944 â Point 7378, East of Ukhrul, Assam
Your battalion forms the extreme left flank of 31st Divisionâs advance. On your right, the regimentâs II Battalion is making for the peak of Point 8425, while I Battalion is swinging around the north side of that mountain to take Ukhrul from the rear. On your left is the 60th Infantry Regiment, which forms the extreme right flank of 15th Division. Together, your primary objective is to continue driving westward, with the intention of cutting the Imphal to Kohima road. Once that is achieved, Imphal will be cut off from reinforcements coming from Kohima and the British rail-head at Dimapur. The 60th Regiment will turn south, to keep northern escape routes from Imphal firmly shut, while the 31st Division strikes north to capture British supplies from their depot at Kohima and then continue the drive on to Dimapur.
You have been advancing along the Homalin to Ukhrul road for several days now and thus far there has been no sign of the enemy. You have an excellent guide in Captain Nishida Susumu of 9th Company â he led a long-range reconnaissance patrol as far as Kohima last year and consequently knows the route well, along with the likely points of British resistance. One of these is the village of Ukhrul and the first combat task for Colonel Fukunagaâs 58th Infantry Regiment will be to quickly destroy the British garrison there, so that the division may push on to Kohima as quickly as possible.
Your battalion is now just passing over the crest of this range of hills separating Burma from India and in the far distance, you can see the wide Imphal Plain. However, you donât have time to take in the view. Your plan here is for part of your battalion to take the winding main track, through the village of Sangshak, cutting the Ukhrul to Imphal road while the rest of your battalion takes the more direct to Ukhrul, via the mule track over the peak in front of you â marked as â7378â on your captured British map.
However, your scouts have just sent a runner back to you. They have spotted figures on the crest of the hill and signs of military activity. It looks like you will need to fight for this mountain pass after all!
Mission
You are to overcome all enemy resistance at Point 7378, with the intention of pressing on to Ukhrul as soon as possible.
Execution
Friendly Forces
⢠These are detailed in the attached order of battle (below). Your 9th Company is leading the column along the track and has just passed over the crest the pass. The rest of the battalion is strung out on the march and will take some time to assemble.
⢠9th Company begins the game deployed in close column, on the Jeep Track, within the red circle shown on the map (the rearmost base is touching the table-edge and all other bases are arranged base-to-base in front of it, in a single column with the Company Commander’s base leading).
Enemy Forces
⢠Intelligence is minimal. All your scouts can say is that they have seen activity on top of Point 7378, which dominates all routes through the pass. Colonel Fukunaga advises you that he cannot spare II Battalion to attack them from the north, so you are to deal with them yourself!
Reinforcements
⢠10th Company will arrive in close column at Point âXâ on Turn 3.
⢠11th Company will arrive in close column at Point âXâ on Turn 6.
⢠The Battalion Headquarters, with the Battalion Gun Section and MG Company, will arrive in close column at Point âXâ on Turn 8.
⢠All reinforcements will arrive in close column at Point âX’. They do not need to make a Manoeuvre Roll on the turn in which they arrive. However, they may only move for one action during the turn in which they arrive.
⢠12th Company is escorting the Regimental Gun Company and supply echelon, so is consequently delayed while trying to coax the fractious pack mules and elephants over the precipitous mountain pass. These elements will not therefore appear until tomorrow and their current location on the edge of a steep mountain pass does not permit them to engage in indirect fire against the enemy.
Game Sequence
⢠The Indian player has the first turn.
⢠The scenario ends at the end of the Japanese Turn 20.
Victory & Defeat
The scenario victory conditions are listed below.
Note that ‘victory’ for the Indians is subjective, as the Japanese still have more troops left to throw into the fight on Day 2 and will undoubtedly overwhelm the defenders. However, the defendersâ sacrifice will have delayed the Japanese long enough for a coordinated defence to be formed by 50th Parachute Brigade at Sangshak.
Total Japanese Victory: There are absolutely no un-disordered Indian troops anywhere on the table at the end of Japanese Turn 20.
Tactical Japanese Victory: There are un-disordered Indian troops still on the table, though there are none within the entrenched area on Point 7378 at the end of Turn 20.
Indian Victory: There are still un-disordered Indian troops remaining within the entrenched area on top of Point 7378 at the end of Turn 20.
Terrain Effects
Open Terrain â As per the rulebook, but note that everything south of the main crest-line (and south of the second contour line down from the peak), is classed as Steep Slopes (see below).
Dense Jungle â Dense Area Concealment. Soft Cover. Half Speed for Troops. Impassable to Guns, though they may be deployed in such terrain if they have been transported there by pack mules.
Brush â Sparse Area Concealment. Soft Cover. Half Speed for Troops. Half Speed for Guns.
Steep Slopes â Half Speed for Troops. Half Speed with Bog-Down check for Guns. No Rapid Advance. Note that this penalty is cumulative and must be applied in addition to penalties for vegetation. So an infantry unit passing through jungle on a steep slope would only move a quarter of the full rate (1 inch) per action.
Deep Gully â Sparse Edge Concealment for units within the Gully. Hard Cover. Troops require a Breach action to enter and exit the gully. Guns also require a Bog-Down check. Troops may move along gullies at half speed, but Guns may not move along gullies.
Jeep Track â Unpaved Road. Classed as Open Terrain. All units on the Jeep Track are automatically spotted by any units on a higher elevation with an uninterrupted line of sight. Note that the Jeep Track has High Banks on either side (as the track is cut out of the hillside), which confer no cover bonus, but require a Breach action to cross (Guns also require a Bog-Down check).
Mule Track â Counts as Open Terrain, rather than road. The Mule Tracks take the best route up the hill, thus negating the half speed penalty.
Crest Line â Blocks line of sight, unless the observer is on a higher contour. The nature of the terrain in this part of the world results in many knife-edge ridges.
I realise that the terrain for this scenario is rather complicated, being drawn from aerial recce photos and original maps. Indeed, this is a recurring problem when attempting to recreate battles on the Burma Frontier and it is often difficult to draw a balance between accuracy and simplicity. Hex-based terrain tiles can translate accurate maps onto the table with relative ease, but you do tend to need a lot of hex tiles and theyâre not cheap! For that reason, I’ve included a simplified version of the map, which should be within the means of most wargamersâ terrain collections.
The after-action report will follow soon!
I’ve recently been writing scenarios for two of the bloodiest battles of the Seven Years War; the Battles of Prague and Kolin. Prague was particularly notable for the remarkably high attrition-rate among generals on both sides and it started me thinking once again about how generalship is reflected (or not) in much in 
The playtest rules:
* If a general is killed/captured, the formation must roll on the Formation Morale Table during the following Command Phase, applying a -1 modifier (therefore no change if the general was Poor). Use the next ‘step’ of the table; e.g. if the division hasn’t yet rolled for Formation Morale, use the 1/3rd casualties step. If it’s already rolled for 1/3rd casualties, use the 1/2 casualties step. If it’s already rolled for 1/2 casualties, roll again applying the -1 modifier. If the Army Commander is killed/captured, use the same method at the various ‘steps’ on the Army Morale Table.
* Generals apply their generalship rating to Formation Morale rolls, but may not do so when they are attached to a unit (re-living your glory-days as a Colonel is not necessarily effective generalship!). The exception to this is that divisions led by a Poor general will always apply the -1 modifier, even when the morale-sponge is away from his HQ!
Anyway, that’s it for now. Please let me know what you think.
I’m not going to cover the historical background, orbats or scenario details again, so go back to 
Above:Â Having outflanked the Austrian army, the Prussians close with the Austrian left flank.
Above:Â Away to the north, Prince Charles of Lorraine (bottom-left), his attention fixed by a phantom Prussian threat on his right, is blissfully unaware of the very real threat on his left.
Above: A closer view of the Austrian army. Frobelwitz village is in the foregrount, with Leuthen itself in the middle-distance. Although Frobelwitz is on the Austrian left flank of our scenario, it is actually in the centre of the Austrian position. Behind the camera, Kheul’s infantry and Lucchese’s cavalry extend northward to Nippern and Serbelloni’s cavalry are marching north to join them (historically, Serbelloni would actually still be in the picture at this point, marching past Frobelwitz on the left.)
Above: The view from the Prussian left flank. The left-most four battalions are actually just off-table and will arrive as the Prussian line advances. WĂźrttemberg’s advance guard cavalry (mostly hussars, though including a regiment of dragoons), job done, has formed up to the rear of the infantry as Frederick’s cavalry reserve. Driesen’s cavalry is off table to the left.
Above: A view of the Prussian right flank. Bevern’s six elite battalions form a ‘half square’, protecting the flank of Zieten’s cavalry. One battalion is actually off-table at the very corner of the position. I changed this after our game, shifting the map 6 inches southward, to ensure that Bevern’s command was all on table at the start (see the map above). This does mean that a couple of Colloredo’s Austrian battalions drop off the north edge of the map, but that won’t remotely affect the game.
Above:Â The Prussian infantry emerges from dead ground in front of Spiznass’ WĂźrttembergers; already-reluctant Austrian allies, who have the misfortune to be holding the left flank.
Above: Prince Ferdinand of Prussia commands the right wing of the Prussian first line, which has the honour of spearheading the attack. His division is led by Wedel’s Brigade of three superb battalions (I. Bn ‘Itzenplitz’ Regiment (IR 13) and the two battalions of the ‘Meyerinck’ Regiment (IR 26) with the blue & yellow flags). Immediately backing them up are three flanking grenadier battalions, the superb ‘Markgraf Karl’ Regiment (IR 19 – Maltese Cross flags), two battalions of the ‘Garde‘ Regiment (IR 15) and the single-battalion ‘Grenadiergarde‘ Regiment (IR 6). These units, having been lucky enough to avoid Kolin, represent the cream of Prussia’s infantry arm. In front of them is the cheese of the Austro-Imperial infantry…
Above: Another view of the Prussian left wing, the first line of which is commanded by General von Retzow. The second line of the army is a single command, led by General von Forceade. The second line is much weaker than the first, being only half the strength of the first line and made up of the remnants of Bevern’s beaten army.
Above: Frederick and his staff observe the attack from the high ground of the Wach-Berg. Mounted nearby in a grey coat is the veteran British correspondent, Sir Aiden Catey of the Times of London. Frederick tolerates him at present, but will probably have to have him executed when he ceases to be amusing…
Above:Â Prussian heavy guns, having deployed perilously close to the enemy, open fire from the Juden-Berg.
Above:Â On the extreme Austrian left flank, NadĂĄsdy has grouped the three Saxon chevauxleger regiments and Hungarian hussar regiments of Nostitz’s division (on the left) with the four Austrian dragoon regiments of O’Donnell’s division (on the right) and prepares to counter the Prussian attack.
Above: Near Leuthen, Feldmarschallieutenant von Buccow has disobeyed orders, halting his march northward in response to the new Prussian attack. He has two regiments of cuirassiers, one of dragoons and a combined regiment consisting of five squadrons of carabiniers (cuirassier elite companies).
Above: At Frobelwitz, a combined battalion of Austrian grenadiers barricades the western end of the village. Another battalion has similarly barricaded Leuthen and another further north at Nippern. All the other detached Austrian grenadier companies are busy guarding baggage or away to the north, hunting the Phantom Menace. The Wßrttembergers however, have three Prussian-style semi-permanent grenadier battalions and have posted them behind abatis defences in the woodland on the left flank.
Above:Â The battle begins.
Above: Marching forward as if on parade, the Prussian infantry goes straight for the throat. Behind them, two of Ferdniand’s four heavy batteries deploy on the Glanz-Berg, ready to put some fire down onto the Austrian reserve areas behind SagschĂźtz hamlet.
Above: The Prussians waste no time in getting stuck in! The Bavarians also waste no time in wheeling back to face the threat.
Above: Wßrttemberger artillery and musketry proves to be remarkably ineffective against the Prussian assault. [Of seven dice rolled, Andy rolled no fewer than five ones!]
Above:Â Not wishing to fight the Prussian cavalry while they have close infantry support, NadĂĄsdy decides to withdraw, hoping to draw Zieten’s cavalry out, beyond the protection of Bevern’s supporting infantry.
Above: Another view of the assault on Sagschßtz. The Austrian and Wßrttemberg artillery at this end of the line proves no more effective than the Wßrttemberg musketry. They inflict some light damage on one of the Prussian heavy batteries as it deploys, but little else.
Above:Â Boring mĂŞlĂŠe gameplay stuff (for the benefit of those who are trying out 
Above: As units break or retreat from combat, units within 6 inches to their rear have to make a morale check (roll less than their MR). If they fail they become Staggered. At the end of the turn the retreating units then try to rally (by rolling less than their MR); two of the three fail and become broken, so at the end of Turn 1 that’s six WĂźrttemberg battalions gone (I./Leib Regiment, all three grenadier battalions and I./Prinz Louis Regiment) out of a starting 13!
Above: Having already lost more than 1/3rd of his starting MR strength, Von Spiznass rolls to hold his division together and succeeds! His second line now becomes the next target of the Prussian assault…
Above: The Prussians come on in the same old way… The hamlet of SagschĂźtz offers scant cover to the Spiznass Regiment, whose 1st battalion is destroyed and 2nd battalion is forced to retreat to the Kirch-Berg. East of the hamlet, I./Prinz Louis Regiment is also forced to retreat, while II./Leib Regiment is destroyed outright. However, the WĂźrttembergers manage to restore a little honour at this moment, as on the right of their line, the II./Truchsess Regiment, along with the Bavarian Leib Regiment, manage to halt the charge of the Prussian Garde and Itzenplitz Regiments by fire, while on the left of the line the II./Prinz Louis Regiment manages by the skin of their teeth to beat off the Kremzow Grenadier Battalion. The Kremzow Grenadiers then fail to rally and scurry off to the rear!
Above:Â However, these small successes are all academic, as the WĂźrttemberger losses have been catastrophic and what’s left of the corps breaks and flees the field.
Above: A short time later, the Prussian infantry have taken SagschĂźtz and their reletless advance has destroyed half of the Bavarian Corps. The surviving Bavarians fall back to make a stand at the Kirch-Berg. Behind them, ForgĂĄch’s Austrian and Hungarian battalions similarly fall back, hoping to establish a new line facing south.
Above: At Leuthen meanwhile, Prussian heavy guns have been conducting an artillery-duel with Colloredo’s position batteries. Although being lightly damaged by return-fire, the Prussians are steadily gaining the upper hand. Note that had to use Swedish gunners for this battery, as I’d run out of Prussian artillery!
Above:Â Colloredo’s infantry seem to be catching the worst of the artillery duel, as the round-shot bounces through their ranks.
Above: At last the Austrians catch a break as Daun returns to the headquarters and manages to slap some sense into Lorraine! Two ADCs are soon galloping south toward Buccow’s cavalry.
Above:Â Up at Frobelwitz, the whitecoats wonder what all that noise is to the south…
Above:Â At Leuthen, the defenders have a much better idea of what is heading their way, but can only stand and watch, while nervously waiting for orders.
Above:Â The Prussians advance much faster than the Bavarians can possibly retire and the Bavarians are soon caught in a hail of lead.
Above: For once, the Prussians don’t even need to charge as several Bavarian battalions are completely broken up by fire. The remaining battalions follow the WĂźrttembergers in fleeing the field. It’s now the end of Turn 4 and Lorraine has lost 23 battalions and four batteries for Frederick’s loss of one grenadier battalion… Nevertheless, the Bavarian sacrifice has bought time for the Austrians; ForgĂĄch has almost completed his withdrawal to the line of the frozen Radaxdorfer-Bach.
Above: NadĂĄsdy has now completed his withdrawal, only just beating the allied infantry fugitives to the Radaxdorfer-Bach! Although Zieten’s Prussian cavalry have left their infantry support far behind, they still have a significant qualitative and numerical advantage over NadĂĄsdy’s Austrians, Hungarians and Saxons; Zieten has five cuirassier regiments (MR 6), three dragoon regiments (MR 5) and a large elite hussar regiment 0f two battalions (MR 5), versus NadĂĄsdy’s four dragoon regiments (MR 5), two hussar regiments (MR 4) and three Saxon chevauleger regiments (MR 5).
Above:Â Having cleared away the WĂźrttembergers and Bavarians, Prince Ferdinand re-orders his ranks north of SagschĂźtz before continuing the assault.
Above:Â On the Prussian left, Retzow’s division passes through the Juden-Berg battery position.
Above: Forgåch desperately attempts to order his lines before the Prussian infantry reach him. However, his troops are already suffering casualties from long-range artillery fire and one battalion has already been broken by the sheer volume of fire. The Prussian gunners are certainly earning their pay this day and the Austrian artillery seems incapable of responding in kind.
Above:Â NadĂĄsdy’s men draw swords and prepare to charge…
Above: To NadĂĄsdy’s rear, Buccow’s cavalry are on the move. However, to everypne’s surprise, they aren’t going to reinforce NadĂĄsdy against Zieten! Instead, they move forward, aiming for the gap between ForgĂĄch and Colloredo, with orders to remove the troublesome battery from the Butter-Berg and then to engage what they presume to be the Prussian left flank (they don’t know yet about Driesen’s massive cavalry wing lurking in the dead ground, just beyond the Butter-Berg and who is waiting for just such a move).
Above:Â At Frobelwitz, some Austrian reinforcements arrive, in the form of part of Arenberg’s Reserve Division of the Right Wing.
Above: Having drawn Zieten out onto ground of his choosing, Nadåsdy finally orders tyhe charge! Two Austrian dragoon and three Saxon chevauleger regiments smash into four Prussian cuirassier regiments.
Above:Â Concerned by the cavalry battle on his flank, Prince Ferdinand turns the I./Markgraf Frederick Regiment, II. Standing Grenadier Battalion and a detachment of battalion guns to protect the flank.
Above: The ‘scores on the doors’ once again! For the Prussians (on the left) the red dice are the modified mĂŞlĂŠe modifiers, while the blue dice is the rolled d6. The Austrians are using white dice for the mĂŞlĂŠe modifiers and are rolling blue d6 (except for one red d6 at the top).
Above: At the end of the combat, the Prussians have astonishingly, lost three combats and won only one! However, the Prussians have a significant advantage in numbers.
Above: Neither side sees advantage in launching breakthrough charges with their winning regiments, so opt to rally back behind their supporting lines. A breakthrough charge would have been especially unwise for the Austrians, as even if successful, it would have left them milling around in front of the Prussian third line. Combats done, both sides successfully rally all their retreating cavalry regiments. It’s now the end of Turn 6.
Above: In Turn 7 the cavalry charge again! The Austrians have the initiative, so get their charge in first (units blown from combat cannot provide rear support and are easy meat, so despite his regiments’ quality disadvantage, NadĂĄsdy needs to put distance between the Prussians and his rallying regiments.
Above: On the flank, the Austrian Hessen-Darmstädt Dragoons charge over the Kirch-Berg to hit the supported line of the Markfraf Karl Infantry. In response, Zieten throws in the Markgraf Friedrich Cuirassiers! Fighting both units at a significant disadvantage, it doesn’t appear as though the Hessen-Darmstädt Dragoons have a chance!
Above: In the main cavalry battle the two sides are evenly matched in terms of numbers, but the two Austrian hussar regiments have only MR 4 and are faced by Prussian dragoons with MR 5 and rear support.  The Desewffy Hussars (on the left) face the the Normann Dragoons and are destroyed outright. In the centre, the Nadåsdy Hussars are beaten by the Czetteritz Dragoons and are forced to retreat with 2 casualties. On the right the Austrian Sachsen-Gotha Dragoons are evenly-matched against the Prussian Stechow Dragoons and fight them to a draw. However, as the Austrians charged first, they have the advantage and the Stechow Dragoons are forced to retreat.
Above: On the Kirch-Berg, the Hessen-Darmstädt Dragoons win against astonishing odds! As mentioned above, they were fighting against two units; the elite I./Markgraf Karl Regiment (MR 5 with +1 for rear support provided by the II. Standing Grenadier Battalion) and the Markgraf Friedrich Cuirassiers (MR 6 though not quite a flanking charge). Tragically for the Prussians, neither the battalion guns or the infantry manage to do any damage and the dragoons charge home completely fresh! The dice gods are with the Austrians on this occasion, as neither the infantry or the cuirassiers manage to beat the dragoons! The cuirassiers are able to retreat, but infantry beaten by cavalry are automatically broken.
Above:Â To add insult to injury, the Prussian Markgraf Friedrich Cuirassiers and Czetteritz Dragoons both fail to rally from retreat and go back into the box!
Above: By contrast, the NadĂĄsdy Hussars manage to rally, though are still ‘blown’ and are now parked in front of the already-rallied Saxon Prinz Carl Chevaulegers. The victorious Hessen-Darmstädt Dragoons meanwhile are rallying and blown on the Kirch-Berg and right in front of some Prussian battalion guns. They have also now drawn the attention of the heavy artillery positioned on the Glanz-Berg… The sudden storm of shot soon wipes the jubilation from Austrian faces as the dragoons are broken and sent packing!
Above: NadĂĄsdy is pleased with his men’s performance thus far, but the destruction of the Hessen-Darmstädt Dragoons has sharply reminded him that he is still at a significant disadvantage and his luck can’t hold forever.
Above: Turn 7 brings a slight ‘operational pause’ as the Prussian infantry closes to musketry range with ForgĂĄch and the two cavalry wings re-order their lines. On the Prussian left, Prince Eugene of WĂźrttemberg receives orders from Frederick to move to the left flank and counter Buccow’s cavalry with his hussars (note that the Swedish horse have now been replaced with zombie dragoons from the right flank).
Above: Buccow, having been forced to contract his frontage to squeeze between Colloredo and ForgĂĄch, charges into Retzow’s infantry! Retzow’s command has become somewhat disordered during the advance (the King will have to have a word with him later). Nevertheless, the Kalckreuth Cuirassiers are subjected to a devastating volley from the two battalions of the Winterfeldt Infantry Regiment, but that doesn’t stop the cuirassiers from sabering a battery before retiring to lick their wounds.
Above:Â In the meantime, NadĂĄsdy’s cavalry have charged again, but this time it ends in disaster, with the NadĂĄsdy Hussars broken and the Sachsen-Gotha Dragoons, Prinz Carl Chevaulegers and Graf BrĂźhl Chevaulegers thrown back to the Radaxdorfer-Bach!
Above: Zieten orders the Jung-Krockow Dragoons and his own hussar regiment to continue the charge on into the sparse second line of Austrian cavalry! The Austrian Jung-Modena Dragoons are utterly broken and the Prinz Albrecht Chevaulegers are thrown back to join their compatriots.
Above: The heroic Saxon horsemen rally once again, but Nadåsdy knows that they cannot do much more. With losses nearing catastrophic levels, his men are now demoralised [in game terms this inflicts a permanent -1 on their mêlÊe rolls and any unit being forced to retreat will automatically break].
Above: The Prussian cavalry rally following their decisive charge. However, on their left the Austrian ZweibrĂźcken Dragoons fight on! Nevertheless, the Seydlitz Cuirassiers have returned and are thirsty for revenge…
Above: The Prussian infantry continue their relentless march through Lorraine’s army. Although the Austrian Macquire Regiment (on the left flank), manages to halt the charge of the Prussian Meyerinck Regiment, the rest of ForgĂĽch’s first line is completely smashed. One battalion of the Heinrich Daun Regiment manages to rally, but the other three battalions (from the Heinrich Daun, Leopold PĂĄlffy & Haller Regiments) are broken by the Prussian Garde and Grenadiergarde.
Above:Â With four of his original ten battalions broken, ForgĂĄch has now suffered 1/3rd losses, but his remaining battalions stand!
Above: At the start of Turn 9, most of Zieten’s and NadĂĄsdy’s cavalry are blown following the previous combat. However, the Seydlitz Cuirassiers charge over the Kirch-Berg to contact the ZweibrĂźcken Dragoons. The result is a draw, but the Prussian cuirassiers have the qualitative edge and force the Austrian dragoons to retreat.
Above: Somewhat astonishingly, ForgĂĄch has decided to go down fighting and launches a charge on the Prussian infantry! This is unlikely to end well…
Above: Buccow is also in an aggressive mood, as he throws his cavalry once again against Retzow’s left flank. The massed Carabiniers are on the left and the Erzherzog Ferdinand Cuirassiers are on the right, with the BatthiĂĄny Dragoons in support. The Carabiniers suffer heavy casualties from the muskets of the I./Winterfeldt Regiment and are beaten off in mĂŞlĂŠe, though manage to rally. The cuirassiers fare better however and despite being staggered by earlier artillery fire, manage to break the II./Winterfeldt Regiment before retiring back behind the dragoons.
Above: At long last, Colloredo’s infantry are on the move! One of the left-flanking battalions has already been broken by fire from the Butter-Berg and their comrades now fall back to defend Leuthen. The rest of the division is ordered to form a new line facing south and a few battalions push out to remove the Prussian guns and establish the new right flank on the Butter-Berg (they are still unaware of the lurking presence of Driesen’s cavalry and somewhat remarkably, Driesen has decided not to move forward in response to Buccow’s attack on Retzow).
Above:Â Arenberg’s division finally reaches Leuthen and not a moment too soon!
Above:Â On the Prussian side, Forcade has gathered in his second line of infantry to establish a more concentrated infantry reserve in the centre.
Above:Â WĂźrttemberg’s hussars stand ready to counter the unlikely possibility of any breakthrough by Buccow.
Above: As expected, ForgĂĄch’s desperate counter-attack does not go well and his division is destroyed! The only obstacle between them and Leuthen is Buccow’s battered cavalry division.
Above:Â On the eastern flank of the battle, the Austrian ZweibrĂźcken Dragoons failed to rally after retreating from their combat with the Seydlitz Cuirassiers, so now its all down to the three Saxon Chevauleger regiments to hold the flank.
Above: Another view of the Prussian advance. There are remarkably few casualty-markers behind Prince Ferdinand’s divisions. Most of the leading battalions have suffered a casualty and the II./Meyerinck (second from right with the blue flag) has suffered three, but that’s it, apart from the three battalions lost earlier on the right flank. Retzow’s left-hand division has suffered higher casualties due to being faced by larger numbers of Austrian guns and by Buccow’s cavalry (oddly enough, in the actual battle, Retzow also suffered heavily from artillery fire, being more visible to the main Austrian line).
Above: Serbelloni’s right wing is also now moving south toward Leuthen. Note that as most units are based in line on a single base, we used MDF arrow markers to indicate direction of travel when in column. It’s not to everyone’s taste, but it’s FAR easier than fiddling with individual four-figure bases, especially in games of this size.
Above: Buccow charges again! Now it’s the turn of the BatthiĂĄny Dragoons, who smash into the II./Alt-Braunschweig Regiment, who have just moved forward to plug the gap left by the II./Winterfeldt Regiment, who were broken by the previous charge.
Above: Astonishingly, the Batthiyåni Dragoons smash the II./Alt-Braunschweig and charge on through the gap! The Kurszell Fusiliers have the misfortune to be in the way and have just become staggered thanks to the broken infantry in front. The dragoons ride them down without mercy, taking some small revenge for the disaster that is unfolding on their left!
Above:Â WĂźrttemberg knows that Austrian cavalry are causing havoc to his front, but his path is blocked by thousands of friendly infantry!
Above:Â On the Prussian right flank, Zieten’s cavalry FINALLY secure the flank of the infantry.
Above: Concerned by Serbelloni’s move toward the Butter-Berg, Frederick finally orders Driesen’s cavalry to advance. As if things weren’t already bad enough for the whitecoats…
Above: However, the cavalry are riding to the rescue! Lucchese’s Austrian right wing cavalry appear on the crest of the SchĂśn-Berg and move to intercept Driesen! However, I must confess that I brought these on two turns early for the ‘look of the thing’ as we were running out of time and they wouldn’t see combat. It’s now Turn 10 and Lucchese isn’t scheduled to turn up until Turn 12.
Above: As mentioned above, we were sadly running out of club-time for the game. We’d played for six hours and 10 turns (good going for such a large game and fairly inexperienced players). However, that suddenly became academic, as the Austrians suffered a thunderbolt from the Dice Gods!
Historical Background
Early on the following morning, at the snow-dusted village of Borne, the Prussian advance guard under the Prince of WĂźrttemberg surprised and defeated the Austrian advance guard, commanded by the Saxon General Nostitz. Frederick, right up with the advance guard, immediately galloped forward to the high ground beyond the village and was greeted by the incredible sight of a huge army of whitecoats, stretched out over three miles, from the hamlet of SagschĂźtz in the south, through the villages of Leuthen and Frobelwitz, to Nippern in the north. Frederick had seen a very similar sight nearly six months earlier, at Kolin. However, this time his army was completely hidden from observation by the gently rolling landscape and Lorraine’s main reconnaissance asset had just been swept from the field, leaving the Austrians completely blind. Frederick also had an ace up his sleeve; he knew the ground intimately, thanks to exercising his army on this very ground during peacetime.
This manoeuvre worked brilliantly as Lucchese, commanding the Austrian cavalry of the right wing, became convinced that he was about to become the focus of the Prussian attack and begged Lorraine for reinforcements. Lorraine agreed and ordered all the reserve cavalry, including Serbelloni’s division on the left wing, to march north, while the bulk of the Grenzer and grenadiers were ordered to skirmish out in front of Nippern, in search of the phantom Prussian army. Marschall Daun, Lorraine’s 2ic and the victor of Kolin, disagreed with this decision (he believed the Prussians to be retiring), but accompanied the troops northward, in order to gain a better appreciation of the situation at Nippern.
The Prussian Army â King Frederick II
Prussian Notes
Prussian Formation Breakpoints
The Austrian Army â Feldmarschall Prince Charles of Lorraine
Austrian Notes
Austrian Formation Breakpoints
Terrain
Game Length & Victory Conditi0ns
In 
As previously discussed, I’m using the order of battle for the Battle of Minden as a ‘to do’ list for my collecting and painting. At Minden the cavalry regiments of the Allied Right Wing were commanded by 
As with 
Above:Â The 
Above:Â These figures, as with all my British, Hanoverian and French cavalry thus far, are by 
Above: The Scots Greys had blue facings, small-clothes and horse-furniture, with white ‘metal’ (i.e. buttons and lace) and yellow lace edging to the horse furniture, with a central blue stripe. Drummers wore a shorter version of the mitre-cap with a loose ‘bag’ and wore Royal Livery. The Light Dragoon Troop wore the same uniform with a shorter version of the mitre cap, though I haven’t modelled these, as they were detached on coastal raiding duties around the French coast.
Above:Â The 
Above: Regiments of Dragoons and Dragoon Guards during this period always had drummers, not trumpeters, though Dragoon Guards also had oboists and kettle-drummers. Regiments of Light Horse had drummers and hunting-hornists, while Regiments of Horse had trumpeters and kettle-drummers. Musicians usually rode grey horses and wore very heavily-laced ‘livery coats’ that were normally in the facing colour (as here), though Royal Regiments wore Royal Livery. Drummers wore a short mitre-cap much like those of the infantry drummers, but with a tasseled bag hanging at the rear.
Above:Â The 
Above: For the 10th Dragoons I’ve again gone for a yellow Regimental Guidon (by Maverick Models), rather than the crimson King’s Guidon. Note that the fringed edge was of mixed silver and green cords, again reflecting the central stripe colour of the lace edging.
Above:Â The 
As it happens, Eureka don’t do Dragoon Guards’ figures, so I had to choose between Dragoons or Horse. Due to the lapels, I foolishly opted for Horse, completely forgetting that Horse had two broad cross-belts, instead of the single Dragoon-style buckled cross-belt worn by Dragoon Guards. I SHOULD have gone for Dragoon figures and then just painted in the lapels… Ah, well… As with the Scots Greys, I just painted in the aiguillettes.
Above: I’ve used a white Regimental Guidon for the 3rd Dragoon Guards, again by Maverick Models. The fringe this time was mixed gold and silver. While they used Dragoon-style swallow-tailed Regimental Guidons, the Dragoon Guards had square King’s Standards, reflecting their origins as Regiments of Horse. In the British Army, a Guidon was always swallow-tailed, while a Standard was always square; the Horse and Royal Horse Guards had only Standards, the Dragoons and Light Horse had only Guidons and the Dragoon Guards and Household Cavalry had both styles.
Above:Â The 
Above: The 1st (King’s) Dragoon Guards had blue facings, though had red horse-furniture. The ‘metal’ was yellow and the horse-furniture was edged with yellow lace with a blue stripe. Drummers wore Royal Livery.
Above: The 1st (King’s) Dragoon Guards are known to have ridden black horses. For black horses I mix a small amount of red-brown with the black to produce a very dark brown highlight colour. The manes and tails then get a light dry-brush of dark grey. I tend to find that just using plain black makes them look too ‘flat’.
Above: As they’re a full ‘unit’, I decided to give the 1st (King’s) Dragoon Guards both the King’s Standard (the square crimson flag) and a Regimental Guidon (swallow-tailed blue flag). Again, these are by Maverick Models.
Above:Â 
Above: Uniquely among the British cavalry of the era, the Royal Horse Guards wore blue coats. The facings, small-clothes and horse-furniture were red, including the full-length lapels that were a distinctive feature of the uniforms of Regiments of Horse (not that they’re really visible at this scale). ‘Metal’ was yellow, though the other ranks’ coats were very plain, being devoid of lace or aiguillettes. Officers’ coats by contrast, were heavily laced with gold, as can be seen in this portrait of General Ligonier, Colonel of the regiment, circa 1754 (note the full-length lapels).
Above: The King’s and Regimental Standards of the Royal Horse Guards were all square, crimson in colour and fringed in gold. All three were very similar, having a prominent crown, flanked by the letters G & R. Each standard then had a different heraldic device in the centre. Again, I’ve gone with Maverick Models’ offerings.
Above: I do like the Eureka figures, as the quality of sculpting and casting is exceptional. However, in the interests of journalistic balance, I do have a couple of issues with them:
Anyway, that’s it from me for now. I’m now off on my hols for a week, but when I get back I’ll start writing the after-action report for last week’s epic Leuthen refight. Here’s a taster…
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! đ 
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
At the 
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 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.
At Minden the Royal Regiment of Artillery (RA) had two ‘brigades’ (batteries) of artillery; one of six 12pdrs and one of nine 6pdrs. In 
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.
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… đ
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.
Frederick needed an extra ADC on his staff, so here’s a cavalry FlĂźgeladjutant 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 fĂźsilier regiments, were fairly plain and lacked lapels and buttonhole-lace. The ‘Kursell’ FĂźsiliers had red collar, cuffs and linings with yellow ‘metal’ and white smallclothes. The ‘Kreytzen’ FĂźsiliers 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, KĂśnigsegg 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. KĂśnigsegg 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 FickmĂźhlenberg, 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 KĂśnigsegg’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 FickmĂźhlen 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 KĂśnigsegg’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 FickmĂźhlen, 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 mĂŞlĂŠes 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 FickmĂźhlenberg 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 FickmĂźhlen 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, KĂśnigsegg 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 KÜnigsegg remains at Mßnchengrätz. Bevern meanwhile, has finally obeyed his orders and has marched from Kratzau to Liebenau, in a belated pursuit of KÜnigsegg!