Mollwitz Again - this time with the rules

I had another run through of the Twilight of the Soldier Kings rules tonight. My first whilst actually in possession of the rules. If that sounds bizarre, if you are thinking "how did he manage without the rules", then I refer you to my previous post on the subject when I played a solo game on the strength of what I learned from the videos Hwicce (aka Nick Dorrell the author) posted on You Tube. See YouTube link also on the previous post on Mollwitz.

Reading the scenario for Mollwitz given in the back of the rules, I noticed that the space allowed was c 90cm by 90cm. Enough space for me to set-up the game on Sunday night and still have enough room on the dining room table to work comfortably today!

This time round I took on board some of the nuances of the rules which I hadn't picked up from the videos (although they were there!). Namely Improved Movement ("IM") for the Prussians and Rapid Fire ("RF") for the Prussians. IM allows for some advantages in formation changes and in making extra moves. RF permits the Prussian player to insist the opponent retake one of the D6 rolls if he thinks there is a chance of a worse result for the opponent. E.G. In the morale test when under fire, the unit taking the test rolls two D6. The pass score is 8. Various modifiers are applied. If say the testing unit rolls a 5 and a 3 the Prussians could make the defender retake the 5, given there's a good chance of it resulting in a lower score. These two mechanisms are excellent ways of representing the superiority of Prussian infantry without giving them the traditional overall higher troop rating.

* another innovation which I think represents the Prussian doctrine very well is the use in the rules of Bayonet Tactics or "BT". BT are used by the Prussian infantry in the latter part of the Silesian Wars and the army part of the SYW (roughly 1744-mid-1757). This rule represents Frederick's belief at the time that the moral force of lines of silent, Prussian infantry marching mechanically toward them would be enough to see off any opponent. Fritz was keen to avoid getting bogged down in fruitless firefights, and no doubt save some money on powder and lead at the same time. The rules means that Prussian infantry cannot voluntarily stop and fire until they have made a failed close combat attack. This is a fantastic innovation in my opinion, and stops the bluecoats from becoming invincible. 

When playing the Prussian side I made 'the Austrian' me re-roll several times and on only one occasion did it backfire. In this one case it meant the Austrians passed the test - I was gambling on them getting a score low enough that would make them rout rather than simply suffer a loss.

The other thing I applied in this game that I forgot last time was the Wing Morale Test, when a Wing loses fifty per cent of its units. Then when fifty percent of an army's wings go (in this game there were 3 each, left, right and centre), it has to take an army morale test. 

So how did the game play out? The Prussians advanced on the right and centre, whilst their left were slightly refused. The Austrian left wing charged in as soon as possible. Unlike in the real battle the Prussian cavalry proved stubborn. The opposing horse got bogged down for a long time, as first one side, then the other would pass morale tests. The Prussian left was also a stand off although the Austrians got the upper hand. They tried without success to turn their second line cavalry onto the Prussian infantry but with the lack of space the manoeuvre was too tricky. Meanwhile the bluecoats advanced to firing range, saw off one small unit of hussars then started to shred the whitecoated infantry opposite. Outnumbered and outshot, the Austrians lost three out of their five foot units and failed the subsequent Wing Morale Test. So that was two out of three wings gone**, and with both Neipperg and Römer out of the picture, the Queen of Hungary's army dissolved into the darkening April gloom.

**The Prussian right wing cavalry wing went at about the same time as the Austrian cavalry.

The only snap I took. End of the game shortly before the Prussian Right Wing failed its morale test and the Austrians failed their army morale. Round bases indicate 'morale failures'.

The game took me just over an hour to complete, so pretty much in line with the last attempt. Even allowing for the fact an opposed game would take longer, this is still a fast play game. I will work up to something more ambitious next time.