Die Winterschlacht - distractions

Something reminded me of this fairly recent release* from Helion. A battle that doesn't get much coverage in its own right and which, the author argues, was that rare battle in that it actually finished a war. The Second Silesian War (part of the inter-connected conflicts know as the War of the Austrian Succession) ended in December 1745 shortly after the Battle of Kesselsdorf on 15th of that month.

* 2023.  It was previously published in German in 2022, and I believe Amtmann of the Wackershofen Anno Domini blog read that version and commented on an earlier blogpost.

 I need to thank my wife for this anniversary present. She's a good sort like that. She doesn't yet realise she bought it me mind.

Querengässer posits that Kesselsdorf has been overlooked in Saxony because it "is eclipsed by the occupation of the Electorate [of Saxony] in the Seven Years War" and the breakup of the Saxon-Polish union; and it was overlooked in Prussia because it was a victory, not of its King Frederick, but of his former tutor, Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau.

I've re-played the battle twice: once against my son with some iffy self-written rules; once using Twilight of the Soldier Kings. Here https://horseandmusketgaming.blogspot.com/2021/10/in-jesu-nahmen-marsch.html and here:

Saxons to the left, Prussians to the right

Austrians advance up to the stream. In the winter gloom Kesselsdorf can be seen in the distance.

The Brandenburg army marches out of the night, under the watchful eye of the Old Dessauer. I include these to show how far digital photography has come since those days.

Getting back to the book, there's some nice maps and colour plates of various troop types, including this splendid Hungarian musketeer. The SYW uniforms are a lot less interesting. This would maybe pose a good conversion challenge for those of you with larger scale figures.

I haven't gone beyond the Introduction yet, and I must resist the temptation of reading the whole thing for now as I have the small matter of an unstarted solo campaign to run. The other big distraction this week (apart from that 4-letter word beginning with W) was the small matter of a game at Chateau (Schloß?) Freitag. You can see a full report here: https://palousewargamingjournal.blogspot.com/2024/02/battle-of-lake-trasimene-217bce.html

Saturday will see little time for wargaming as after my Saturday morning swim I have a hospital appointment and then a late, late anniversary lunch in That London.