Best of 3 - Rossbach final

I ran the scenario again, for one last time, and I can tell you it was a close run thing at the end. It could have gone either way on the last turn.

The Prussians took a shorter route to cut across the allies line of march. Again they used their hussars effectively, slowing down the allies' pace. In TOTSK if you are more than 6 base widths from the enemy you can use a 'strategic march' rate. By shadowing the allied columns within 6 base widths but far enough away to escape, the Prussian hussars negated this, allowing the rest of the Prussian army time to 'cross the T'.

The French also begin to turn across the field in an attempt to win space to deploy.

Prussians turning across the allied line of march. Prussian hussars  in the centre near the Imperial cavalry.

Seydlitz's men, with proper reserves, bear down on the Austrian cuirassiers.

Wider view of the previous picture. Prussians to the right, from the white building to the bottom left.  In the centre left the French and Imperial infantry have begun to wheel their columns across the field so they can deploy into line*.

* Another good feature of TOSK is that most armies have to deploy from column into line by a 'parallel march'. I.E. they approach from either wing at right angles to their intended line of battle. Then they have to wheel until they reach the point where they want to turn into line. Time consuming and it needs a lot of space! The Prussians in the SYW have what is termed 'Improved Mobility' in TOSK, which means that they can deploy direct from column with their constituent units deploying to the left and/or right of the front unit (the 'deployiren'). Much faster! Improved Mobility brings some other benefits in terms of making manoeuvres easier. Along with the Rapid Fire feature referred to in a previous post, the Prussians clearly have some advantages but are not necessarily a higher morale class. In my opinion this makes the rules a better representation of Frederician warfare than any others I've seen.

Having seen off the Austro-Imperial cavalry and some of the French, the large Prussian cuirassier brigade (3 base unit in centre) head off to cross swords with French cavalry coming up from their left. In amongst the general carnage, the Imperialists lost their fifth base and the remaining troops left the field leaving the French to their own devices! Curs!

But the large Prussian unit are repulsed! You can see them recovering behind the infantry, right. Bottom left: the dragoons have crashed into a unit of Swiss. As before, the men from the Alpine cantons perform well, eventually driving off the Prussian dragoons with disciplined volleys, even if neither side suffers many casualties.

Like a red brick wall! Focus on the Swiss.

Meanwhile the Prussian guard cuirassiers (Garde du Corps and Gensdarmes) and the Regiment Garde and Grenadier Garde battalion have caught a French foot brigade in a pincer and wipe them out. 

At this point in the game, whilst the Prussians had routed many more French units than they had lost (something like 7 or 8 to 1, a lot of Prussians were close to exhaustion. Then a sudden surge of volleys from the French swept away many of Frederick's blue coats. 3 Prussian units disappeared, and some more French. Amongst the French losses were the slaw art Swiss who had beaten off the dragoons - Prussian Rapid Fire put paid to their resistance.

Turn 25 ended 4:9 in terms of units. Victory would be at 5 Prussian losses or 10 French remember. Who would get the last one?

The Prussian guard foot attack the French artillery that has been making a nuisance of itself. and another brigade of Swiss that had been sheltering in Obschütz storm out to assault the Prussian heavy guns. 

Alas for the French, their gunners flee the field and the Prussians notch up the final unit to finish 4:10. By the game clock it is gone 5 and rapidly getting dark. The Prussians have the clear advantage in cavalry, but it is largely spent. Only the dragoons are relatively unscathed. There won't be a pursuit á l'outrance.

Positions at the end. Prussians to the right of the red line.

Top down view of the final positions.

Up by Rossbach, a French infantry unit has manfully resisted being assaulted in front and flank. Another heroic performance.

The reckoning. Imperialists top left, French bottom left, Prussians top right.

So 3 games with the final score at 1 to the Franco-Imperial armies and 2 to the Prussians. I've enjoyed the challenge of coming up with the scenario and, I think, got something which is reasonably robust and competitive. I hope others will pick up the baton!

What's next? Well, I mentioned before about future phases of my expansion into the French side of the wars of the mid-18th century. I will be working out my order for more French and the Pragmatic Army /His Britannic Majesty's Army. Fontenoy and Minden were clearly in my sights, but I've been reading up on Hastenbeck. However, re-reading the books on the Rossbach-Leuthen campaigns has brought Breslau to my attention. A bit one-sided, but I get the sense there are more of you looking for Austrian victories than Prussian ones!