Disaster on the Main

I completed the first run through of Dettingen earlier. It took me a few 1 or 2 hour sessions. I seem to have lost most of my photos. God knows how that happened. There won't be much of an account because photos normally act as an aide memoire for me. So here, in brief, is what happened. Notes explaining points about the rules are given in italics.

A reminder of the initial deployment.

And what the table looked like. Allies in the large block in the centre. French positions describe an elongated C on the other side of the Main.

The Pragmatic Army started off well. They began to deploy into several lines from their march columns by the river. In doing so they were annoyed, but only hampered a little by the French guns on the left bank. In Twilight of the Soldier Kings (TOTSK), outside short range artillery can only disrupt enemy movement (by forcing them to take an 'action test'). The French advanced force, lying across the allied line of march, reacted in a disjointed fashion. Under TOTSK, anything but a straightforward movement requires an action test to be taken and as they had to cross two streams, there were a lot of tests needed. General figures can allow retakes for any units they're attached to - provided they have command value above zero, which the GOC Grammont didn't have. In the real battle he was having a bit of an off day so I decided he would be rated as Poor.

Also, the Hanoverian artillery was having an excellent time, firing at close range causing losses successively to the Maison du Roy and the Gardes Francaises. The latter were finished off by British infantry. The Maison had to retire out of harms way, otherwise the ladies of the court at Versailles would have no beaus left to dance with at the palace balls. As well as the foot guards, two other French brigades (one foot and one horse) were ruined before the allies began to take losses.

Whilst this was happening, the King, George II, sent his young son the Duke of Cumberland off with 3 brigades of cavalry to harass and delay the French rearguard and prevent them from attacking the allies from behind. The young prince did so successfully, and the French were kept pinned in the environs of Aschaffenburg all battle.

Cumberland with one of his brigades blocking the French infantry near Aschaffenburg.

Meanwhile the baggage train was sent to lager up by the wooded hills, far from the French artillery. For his part, the overall French commander, the Duc de Noailles, rushed his main force towards the bridges at Selligenstadt to second Grammont.  After seeing the household troops badly mauled, and co-ordinated all-arms forces bearing down on him, Grammont started to become more cautious. He ordered a withdrawal so his forces would still be able to put up a fight when the reinforcements arrived.  Unfortunately by the time reinforcements arrived, Grammont's command was badly battered and morale completely collapsed. With half his units removed from play, Grammont's wing had to take a Wing Morale test. The first one was passed, but next turn the test was failed.

The large Guards Brigade (British and Hanoverian) is attacking Dettingen on the left. Between the two streams the allies attack the French (coming down from the top of the picture. A lengthy cavalry melee is taking place, centre right, with the French having the upper hand on account of numbers and weight. More French cavalry approach the allied cavalry from the right. Round bases are loss markers.

The Guards continued to attack Dettingen, which was defended with vigorous by the French. Casualties began to pile up outside the village. Attack after attack achieved nothing.

Between the streams, the French cavalry saw off both remaining allied cavalry brigades, leaving the flank of the infantry exposed. The allied infantry could do little to avoid the inevitable. Soon the inevitable happened and the foot were swept away. This provoked a chain reaction and the entire wing broke. As with Grammont's wing, the losses amounted to half the command, and on the first attempt, the Wing Morale test was failed. The King had two brigades of infantry held in reserve, but they were too far back to influence matters. Whilst technically the allies had two formations remaining and could have fought on,  they were two small to punch a hole through the French lines by Dettingen. Waiting for another wing failure was just postponing the inevitable so I called the game.

The successful French horse bear down on the allied infantry.

The King's reserve. Beyond the stream.

One final allied foot brigade broke, and then the whole wing melted away. The King could not break out of the trap and would have to ask for terms.

So this was something of a reversal of history. Without knowing what happened, a look at the map of the initial deployments might have led you to conclude that the allies would lose. So to that extent the outcome is not surprising.  Having got the table set-up, I will run this at least one more time. Before that, I'll reflect on what I could do differently, for both sides.

Incidentally, I didn't have enough Hanoverians, so I drafted in some British infantry and Austrian cavalry. I'm a bit short of Spanish and Piedmontese. Maybe I need to place a new order.