Hohenfriedberg: the Refight

So on to the game. Played this afternoon and evening in two parts with a break for dinner and Around the World in Eighty Days. The account is given below in photos.

Prussians to the right, main Austrian position to the bottom left, Saxons and more Austrians to the top left. I decided to start with the Prussians across the Striegauerwasser, and with the Allies already out of their camps.

The Saxons. The village of Pilgramshain to the right and the area of boggy land known as the Gule  in the rear.

The min Austrian infantry with the low ridge and Thomaswaldau in the foreground.

The Austrian right wing seen from across the Striegauerwasser. Thomaswaldau on the ridge in the background.

Prussian cavalry of the left wing form up having crossed the stream.

Having driven off the Allies left wing of cavalry the Prussians (above the blue line) are beginning to feed troops to the flanks. They are particularly needed to re-inforce their left (right of the picture) where the Austrians have the stronger cavalry force.

The Prussians have gained an overwhelming advantage on their right, with just a sole Austrian cuirassier brigade left (centre of picture).

Austrian infantry advance onto the low ridge.

The cavalry action between Thomaswaldau and Halbendorf. Ebb and flo was the order of the day. The Prussian wing would eventually be the first to break, taking Ziethen with it. The Prussians needed the Bayreuth dragoons on this wing (they are fighting Austrian cuirassiers upper left) so no heroic charge against the infantry this time.

A more general view round about the same time. Prussian cavalry squeeze the last of the Saxon cavalry (the Uhlans) from two directions whilst infantry pin the Saxon grenadiers in Pilgramshain. Meanwhile Frederick's bluecoats march slowly in the centre.

As above but from behind the Prussian positions.

The first wing has broken! And it's the Allies left. The one unit left here are Austrian hussars sent from the centre to try to slow up the Prussians.

Back to the Austrian right flank. Having seen off the Bayreuth Dragoons (and a cuirassiers brigade before that) the Austrian cuirassiers have turned to tackle a Prussian cuirassier brigade. By the village at the top several lines of Prussian cavalry remain. But each has suffered losses already.....

Heavy going for the Prussians in the centre.

And there we have it! The Prussian left wing cavalry has had enough and beatled back across the bridges whence they came........

But a moment later the morale of the Austrian cavalry on this wing has also collapsed. They decide that they have done enough for the Empress-Queen today.

Prussian horse and foot stream to the south to crush the Austrian centre. With no cavalry left, bar one brigade of hussars, for Charles of Lorraine the day is lost. Frederick has shown that once he has his hands on Silesia, it is going to take a lot to wrest it back off him.

The Reckoning

Post game thoughts.

Once again, Twilight of the Soldier Kings proves that it fairly trips along. This was by far the largest battle I have gamed with these rules (twice the number of units as Kesselsdorf) and yet it only took 3 1/2 hours. Even with a slow start re-reading sections of the rules. It was a convincing win for the Prussians, as it was historically, although the Austrian right wing was engaged before the Saxons were beaten. Also the Austrians did better on their right than they did historically. Without holding off until more help arrives, the Prussian cavalry on that wing need a lot of luck to win in this game. On the other flank a clear advantage in cavalry for the Prussians was telling. It was probably a mistake on my part (acting as Frederick) not to send more cavalry to the Prussian left right from the start. It was so close and the Prussians were perhaps a little bit lucky not to fold sooner on their left. 

This is a very challenging battle for the Austro-Saxons. The numbers of units that I came up with show a much more balanced number of troops than traditional accounts, and the Prussians have the edge in quality of infantry having many more grenadiers. To add to the Allies woe, the Saxon foot is rather poor. At the last minute I reduced the number of Prussian artillery brigades from 3 to 2, with one being large, to reduce the overall advantage. It's hard to see how the Allies can win this.